December 11, 1998
On the UK team
“We,ve been trying to get ready for this Maryland game since ourhard-fought game against Indiana. When you have those highs throughout theseason, it,s a matter of how you react and respond. We had a big gameagainst Indiana and this game has been hyped a lot as well, becauseMaryland is a highly ranked team. It will be interesting to see how ourteam responds tomorrow. We were a little sluggish in practice this week,but that,s understandable, since we were coming off a hard-fought andemotionally charged game against Indiana. We look forward to a toughcontest tomorrow.”
On Maryland
“Being rated so high and getting off to one of their best starts ever,they,ll want to prove they are worthy of their ranking. This is the bestplace to do itin front of a national audience. Against Stanford, they wenton some big runs. They,re capable of getting lots of points off turnovers.They are very good in transition and they are very athletic.”
On keys to playing pressing teams
“If you force them to play their game and control the tempo, you usuallywin. We like to run and press also. Our press is not as all-out trapping assome presses are.”
On Maryland guard Steve Francis
“I like his versatility. He is a very multitalented player. He can play onthe perimeter and he can shoot with range. He can go inside, pass the ballwell and handle the ball. I,ve also been impressed with his competitivenesson the court.”
Comparing Maryland and UK
“Laron Profit, Terrell Stokes, and Steve Francis have very good perimeterskills. But our guys have proven they are also skilled on the perimeter. Itshould be a great match-up. They,ve got a pretty good inside game as well.But their front line is very similar to our front line. As far as talent isconcerned, we,re pretty evenly matched at all of the positions.”
On Tayshaun Prince
“He still needs to be a little more physical, although he showed some realtenacity and hard-nosed play in the Indiana game. He needs to improve onhis shooting, but I like the way he,s progressing.”
On the UK shooting
“We,ve been shooting the ball well. We need to be patient and not takequick shots, but take good shots. If the press leads to good, open,uncontested shots, then we should take them. I think we can make them nowthat we,re starting to shoot better from the outside.”
“The guys are starting to understand where the shots are going to comefrom, who is going to get shots and when to pass the ball. You,ve got toadapt during the course of the game.”
On the significance of the game
“This is an early season game. Hopefully, we,re not where we need to be, orcan be, or will be, come SEC play and tournament time. We also realize thatwe have to measure ourselves against the best every time we go out, andthat we have to give our best effort. Guys have to know what theirlimitations and potential are, and they need to keep working toward thatgame by game.”
On how UK is improving
“One thing we,re doing well is we are recovering, responding and reactingto adversity when things aren,t going well. Like in the Indiana game whenthey made all those shots [three straight three-pointers to forceovertime], we didn,t get down. Those are things you look foremotional andmental growth in kids, especially the young players.”
On Jamaal Magloire
“I have the same concern I had with Scott Padgett last week. He needs toshoot better and he will. It would affect the team in a positive way if hecould make more shots, but it won,t make or break us. His job is to go inand rebound the ball, play great defense, get some offensive rebounds andmake some stick-backs. I don,t want him to get caught up thinking he needsto go in and score. We,re getting some pretty good scoring right now.”
On what UK needs to improve
“We need to be more patient, execute and finish. We didn,t finish at thebasket well against Indiana. We didn,t capitalize and make them come afterus and have to foul us. When you are coming from behind like Indiana was,we should have taken care of the ball better and made them put us on theline sooner.”
On Maryland,s athleticism
“They are the most athletic team I,ve seen so far this year. Having saidthat, we,re going to have to play better than we have all year long.They,re very talented and very skilled. Not only are they very skilled,they play together and they play smart. They can play different styles,half-court and up-and-down. They can do so many different things.”
