February 12, 1999
On practice
“We’ve had a week to correct the mistakes we made in the Alabama andFlorida games. I was most concerned with our confidence and our ability tostay focused on the present. This time of year, you don’t want to have guyslook past the next game and start to look into the future. So much iswritten and talked about postseason play this time of year. We need toconcentrate on getting better, especially in the ballhandling area. AgainstAlabama, we had a lot of mistakes and turnovers that were unforced.”
On South Carolina
“South Carolina is struggling this year but they have potential. Theyplayed well against Arkansas the other night. B.J. McKie scored 25 points.He is always ready to play. B.J. is probably the most consistent player inthe league. William Gallman has stepped up and taken a lot moreresponsibility and he has picked up a lot more of the scoring load. We’llhave to be ready to play tomorrow.”
On why South Carolina has been struggling
“You can only do so much. Personnel-wise, they had a big kid [TonyKitchings] go down early in the year. That hurt their inside game. He gothurt and he would have been a big help to them. That threw them a realcurve. They’re bringing along Aaron Lucas slowly at point guard. All thosethings take their toll. You look to the future. Eddie [Fogler] is probablythinking that we’re not playing that well here at Kentucky. So this may bea great opportunity to motivate his team and get them ready to play. Sothat’s why we have to focus on our best game and not really look at recordsor what they’ve accomplished.”
On how practice has been different this week
“We did a lot more scrimmaging, a lot more full-court work and situationalplays. We broke down the Tennessee and Alabama tapes because we didn’tcapitalize on opportunities late in those games. We’ve got to learn how towin close games. We’ve had more individual workouts and early morningpractices. We’ve been teaching more and talking more. Communicatingdefensively is where we’ve had major breakdowns. We’ve practicedout-of-bounds plays, and situations with the score where we’re one up, onedown and tied. We’ve tried to create scenarios that may come up.”
On the team’s turnovers against Alabama
“We were trying to make something happen that wasn’t there. Our top fivehad 16 of the 20 turnovers, and Alabama wasn’t really pressing. We weretrying to force and create something that wasn’t there.”
On practicing for South Carolina
“We’ve been working on recognizing the fast break and putting the ball inthe right playmaker’s hands. They’re going to try to take your best playerout of the game so we have to learn how to get the ball to people who areopen.”
On helping the team refocus
“What is discouraging is when one guy has a breakdown, the whole teamdefense suffers. But that’s something you have to work on all the time. Ihad to do it with last year’s team, and we got better because of it. We’llget better this time because of the re-teaching and refocusing on thoseareas.”
On the team’s shooting
“We’re not a bad shooting team. We just haven’t made some clutch shots whenwe needed them. We had three chances to win the Tennessee game and wedidn’t. Against Alabama, we had that block and save at the end. But outsideshooting is an area we need to be more consistent. That will draw peopleaway form the basket more. Tayshaun Prince is shooting it better from theoutside. A lot of the guys are, especially guys coming off the bench. Weneed to find people who can score. We need to find the guy who has the hothand at the time and continue to go back to him. We just haven’t been thatconsistent.”
On Wayne Turner
“His consistency is what makes him so good. He’s very creative and youcan’t stop him one-on-one. He’s such an unselfish player, you have to tellhim to take control of the game and be creative. You have to tell him,’They’re out there guarding Scott and playing Heshimu, they’re taking thesethings away from us, but you can beat your guy. There’s nobody who can stopyou one-on-one. Break your man down off the dribble and create anopportunity for us.’ He’s the best at it, and that’s why he’s invaluable.That’s why at this time of year, he stands out.”
