Nov. 9, 2001
KENTUCKY VS. ATHLETES IN ACTION
BASKETBALL PRESS CONFERENCE
NOVEMBER 9, 2001
MEMORIAL COLISEUM
Head Coach Tubby Smith
On the state of the team:
“We are working on trying to get healthy. We are happy to be getting Marquis Estill back on the court and we hope to have him back for the Western Kentucky game. He will not be available for the Athletes in Action exhibition, however. Rashaad Carruth and Adam Chiles’ one-game suspensions have been lifted and they should be available for tomorrow night.”
On the exhibition against Nike Elite:
“I thought we played well. I was impressed with our effort. After watching the tape, I thought we did some very good things defensively.”
On Athletes In Action:
“They are a group of guys that played Division I ball. They will probably mix their offensive and defensive sets more than Nike Elite did. They will attack us more offensively and defensively than Nike Elite.”
On Tayshaun Prince:
“I want to publicly congratulate Tayshaun on being named an Associated Press Preseason All-American. It is the first time in a while that someone from UK has been given that recognition. I am really happy for him. Now it is time for him to go out and prove he is an All-American.”
On Marquis Estill:
“Marquis is able to run. He has been in the pool and he was out shooting the other day. He’s been busy on the bike as well, but he has not done anything from the team standpoint in 10 days.”
On rebounding:
“We are a good rebounding team right now. We need to be a great rebounding team, especially with our size.”
On Marvin Stone:
“Marvin played good post defense against Nike Elite. We know what he is capable of doing. I liked his offense and he needs to do more of that. He’s a good passer most of the time. He is working hard right now and doing the things we want him to do.”
G J.P. Blevins
On his injured finger:
“The swelling’s down and it’s getting a lot better. When it was injured I didn’t think I’d be able to play much Tuesday, but once I got in there, I hardly noticed it. It was almost pain-free.”
On the first exhibition game:
“I thought we played pretty well. Seeing everyone play confirmed to me that we have a very deep team.”
“We’ve been practicing and playing against each other for three or four weeks. It was definitely good to get out there and test our skills against someone else.”
G Keith Bogans
On his zero-rebound performance against Nike Elite:
“When I went into practice Wednesday, I got a look from Coach letting me know that I have to pick it up on the boards.”
On team rebounds:
“We don’t want the rebound margin to be close at all. With the team we have, there’s no reason we shouldn’t outrebound our opponents by a lot.”
F/C Jules Camara
On his position:
“It all depends on which lineup Coach wants to go with. I can play a four or five depending on what other big man we have in the game at the time.”
On the fans:
“The fans have been real supportive and forgiving of me. We have the best fans in the country.”
On improvements:
“We need to play more aggressive defense. I need to concentrate on boxing my man out and going after rebounds.”
F Tayshaun Prince
On what the team has done to prepare for Athletes in Action:
“Over the past couple days of practice, we’ve been working on going harder to the offensive glass. We need to go to the offensive boards more. The wing guys tend to stand around and get ready to play defense. But we need to work on hitting the boards harder. We have just been continuing to focus on our defense.”
On how exhibition games help:
“Exhibitions are good to see where you stand early on, but if you go out and build a big lead, the guys tend to let up. It isn’t hard to get up for these games. We’re anxious to get out there and play. We want to try to get off to a better start than last time.”
On the team’s roles:
“Yes they are (beginning to define themselves). Everybody is working hard to see where they fit in, and we are beginning to work really well together.”
F/C Marvin Stone
On playing a physical game:
“I learned a lot from Jamaal (Magloire). He was a physical guy. Playing physical is just pushing, shoving and boxing out. But you have to be smart when you do it. Udonis Haslem at Florida is one of the best I have faced.”
On accepting his role as a defensive rebounder after being a scorer in high school:
“I’m very comfortable with my role on this team because we have a great shot to win a national championship. I just go out and do what coach says.”
