Dec. 3, 1999
Tubby Smith Quotes
“Anytime we play against Indiana, we are in for a real battle. We arecoming off two losses, so it should be interesting to see how we respond.We had a few good days of practice. I have been impressed with Indiana’smotion offense. A.J. Guyton is playing really well, and Kirk Haston isplaying really well inside. They are scoring about 70 to 72 points a gameand are looking to push the ball up the court. They are a really sound,fundamental team, and you have to really execute and be patient on offense,set good screens, and be very shot conscious as far as shots that you take.Our execution is going to be a real key for us because they are anexcellent defensive team. They play man-to-man and try to deny the wings totake you out of your offense.”
On the rivalry between Indiana and UK:
“It would not matter who we play at this time, we just need to get back toplaying a winning style of basketball after losing two straight. Thisseries is always going to be an intense rivalry because we are neighboringstates and both schools are excellent programs. We’ll be trying to makesure that our young players understand the intensity you have to play within this series.”
On UK’s poor shooting due to bad shot selection or good defense:
“It’s due to a combination of both. We just haven’t been comfortableshooting the ball and that’s probably because we don’t have a lot of realcontinuity in our offense. We try to play a motion offense, and I thinkguys are still trying to understand and identify where the shots are goingto come from in our system. Until we played our first game against Penn, weonly had three weeks of practice so it takes time. We have a good shootingteam and it’s just a matter of time before we start shooting the ball well.Some of the veteran players are the ones that concern me who aren’tshooting the ball well in the post. That is where you should shoot the bestpercentage.”
On who he wants shooting the ball:
“I don’t care who is shooting, I just want the shots to go down. I thinkthat comes with confidence, getting back in the gym, and getting moreindividual workouts like we’ve done the last few days. I have never been acoach that says who shoots and who doesn’t. I think Jamaal understands thata highest percentage shot will be around the basket. I think it’s obviousshooting 30 percent, that he is not a very good outside shooter. The samething holds true for Jules. I think Saul needs to understand where hisshots need to come from.”
On coaching with the adversity after losing two games:
“It’s human nature to see how people respond to adversity or being put in atough situation and that is why we try to create it in practice. On thesidelines, the intensity that I try to create is playing harder, gettingloose balls, the effort areas. What I see them doing is too much thinkinginstead of playing on instinct. It’s an adjustment for most of the youngerplayers. Jules Camara is in a different role now. Last year, he was okaycoming off the bench and now he’s being hollered at. Now he has to adjustto the intensity they have to play at for them to reach their full potential.”
On trying to run the motion offense or push the ball up the court:
“It’s not that we are going to one or the other. They have to know when thetime to penetrate is, when the time is to push it is and when the time isto settle down and run the set plays. We made some adjustments in ouroffense and I think that should alleviate some of the problems.”
On who is playing the best:
“I think everybody is playing fairly well. I am disappointed in our fieldgoal percentage and the shot selection hasn’t been that bad. It is adifferent mentality when they are thrust into the role of having to makethe play. Some of them haven’t had to do it in a while. That’s the thingabout Jamaal. He hasn’t had to be them man since high school. I thinkthat’s what you have when you lose four starters. It’s probably toughersince you’ve been there rather than a guy who just got here. It seems likeKeith Bogans, other than shooting, has played pretty well.
On his worries about players losing confidence:
“I think the guys are still pretty confident. We knew we didn’t score in along stretch against Arizona and Dayton. I don’t think they feel likepeople were stopping us, but rather we were stopping ourselves. We had goodlooks at the basket in all those games. Our defense did a good job for usas far as turning people over. Even against Dayton, we had a 10-point lead,they turned the ball over three straight times and we couldn’t capitalize.”
On Jamaal’s poor shot selection in the last few games:
“I think quickness as far as getting the ball to the basket. He’s had atendency to try and muscle the ball when he gets it inside. He needs totake it up quickly and not bring it down. That is why everybody is gettinga piece of the ball. He is taking too long to get the shot up. He is notrebounding the ball as well as I’d like because he is not attacking theglass. He has been too far from the basket. One of his goals is to averagedouble-figure rebounds.”
Player Quotes:
#21 Tayshaun Prince
“It’s been a long week, but practice has been going well. We’re confident going into the game, and we’re expecting our shots to go down. It should be a boost for our team to get out there tomorrow and get back on the right track.”
“I think that the large crowd at the RCA Dome will be a great experience for the young guys on the team. I expect them to play well. I think the fans will see a better team than they have in the last week. It really doesn’t matter how many people are at the game, we have to concentrate on the people on the court.”
#42 Jamaal Magloire
“We’ve been working hard in practice all week and that will be the key to any success we achieve this weekend. I know that it is important that I do whatever I can to help the team out. We need to focus on rebounding and playing defense and the shots will come.”
“When you go 13 minutes without a field goal, it hurts your confidence. We need to focus more on executing plays. We should be going down low more often. I feel like fans will see a more in-sync team this weekend.”
#24 Marvin Stone
“This is a big game. Saul, Jamaal and Steve are all real excited. We are all real excited. We’re ready to play.”
On the two-game losing streak:
“It’s been tough. We are ready to get back on the road and are excited to play.”
“We know what we need to do to win. There isn’t a whole lot of pressure.”
“We have been working on the transition from offense to defense. We need to move more on offense.”
On the possibility of getting more minutes:
“Coach hasn’t talked about it nor do I care.”
#40 Jules Camara
On the IU/UK game:
“It’s a great experience. We are going to learn a lot before we get into the tournament. We are going to get more experience. We are playing a great team and we know what we need to do.”
“(Indiana) is the best screening team in the country. We have been getting ready for it since we got back to practice.”
“Since we have come back to practice, we have been working on our jump shots. We come back in every morning. We need to keep our heads up. We know what we need to do.”
#32 Desmond Allison
On the team’s confidence after losing two straight:
“After two losses, I think we started to lose a little confidence. We have practiced hard since Monday though and I really think we are getting our shooting touch back. J.P. (Blevins) has really started shooting well this week.”
On playing Indiana:
“This will just be another big test for us. Playing a talented team like Indiana could really help us get our confidence back if we play well.”
On playing in front of 40,000 fans:
“I’m sure our freshmen will be a little nervous. We just have to put the crowd out of our mind, play hard and do our best to get the job done.”
On playing so many talented teams:
“I like our tough schedule. I think that it really helps us get ready for the tough SEC schedule and the postseason. You can’t get that kind of preparation by blowing out cream-puff teams every night.”
