Nov. 24, 2001
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KENTUCKY VS. MOREHEAD STATE
POST-GAME QUOTES
NOVEMBER 24, 2001
Head Coach Tubby Smith
On win…
“It was good to play better tonight and get the win. Once our athletes got out of the press we did a better job of defending Morehead in the half-court set. At first we were not matching up, we weren’t picking up people and they were able to get easy baskets.”
On UK defense…
“We just did a very poor job defensively but Morehead is also a very much-improved team. They’re very athletic and obviously (Ricky) Minard and (Chez) Marks are outstanding players — they did a great job of knocking down the threes and we did a poor job of defending them.”
On positives…
“We have a lot we have to improve on. We still didn’t shoot the ball as well as I would have hoped especially from the three-point line, but we had some positive things tonight. I thought Tayshaun’s shooting has improved and I’m glad to see him come out of the slump he’s had, Keith (Bogans) shot the ball well and had six assists and only two turnovers. I thought Chuck (Hayes) had the best all-around game. He did a good job inside and really banged around in there.”
On defending the dribble…
“It’s a toughness thing. To stand there and let someone put a knee in your chest takes guts. We’re not rotating over to be in position to take that charge and that’s what we’ve been working hard on. Guys are going by us too quickly. (Morehead) showed me a lot of athleticism, or our lack of athleticism.”
On ball movement…
“There is a lot to improve on. We have to take care of the ball better. We had a lot of people handling the ball and I was proud of J.P. (Blevins). He didn’t shoot particularly well, but he took care of the ball when he was in there and I think he’s going to be fine.”
On big men…
“I think that’s where we wore them down some, when we were able to get the ball inside. We still need to take the ball to the basket with more authority. Marvin was taking the ball to the basket, Jules chest (bruised sternum) is not as sore as it was before and that’s what I saw from our big men, taking the ball strongly to the basket.”
On going 8-of-30 from 3-point line…
“We had open looks, uncontested shots. The ball wouldn’t go inside and back out, which is the best time to shoot the three. We did that too much tonight and we need to work on that. They were more man-to-man oriented but played more zone than they have been.”
On Marquis Estill…
“He’s active, he has good hands, he makes his free throws, he’s a good passer and he’s more aggressive than any of our post men. He’s just more physical.”
On chemistry…
“With 18 turnovers, there is not a real smooth flow to our offense. That concerns me. We have to have more smoothness. Maybe it’s because we have so many guys and so many different combinations. It’s just going to take some time.”
UK Players
Tayshaun Prince, F
“The shots were there from the outside. I got a lot of great looks. Our effort was there. We played hard and I think that’s why we got it done on the offensive end.”
On Tubby’s response…
“Coach knows we could’ve done better. We gave up a lot of shots. We just didn’t stop their penetration.”
On Kentucky’s press…
“We’ve got to make sure that we hurry up and get back. Our press is definitely still a work in progress.”
Marquis Estill, C
“We played alright but there were a lot of things we could have done better. The main thing was that we just didn’t communicate on defense. I thought we moved the ball well. We were unselfish, but we needed to attack the ball more and communicate better.”
“We got the ball inside, but we just didn’t take it up strong. We’ve got to go out and play the same game no matter who we play.”
Keith Bogans, G
“There is a lot of talent on this team. We will find the chemistry we are missing, but it is still early.”
On Morehead State’s play…
“They executed well. They are a fundamental team. We had seen a lot of those guys play before so we knew they were a good team.”
On what Coach Smith said at the half…
“He wanted us to get more aggressive on defense, take charges, and block shots.”
Chuck Hayes, F
“I am always going to make the extra pass. I take what the defense gives me. Why should I force a shot when I have a teammate wide open?”
“We have a tendency to start out slow. We have to come out with a killer instinct and let them know Kentucky is ready to play.”
On the team’s chemistry…
“We are still working on it. It is early in the season and it will come.”
JP Blevins, G
On Morehead State…
“They are another in-state school. We knew they would come in here and play as hard as they can. We were playing hard, but they were hanging in there with us for a while.”
On his ankle…
“My ankle held up well. I couldn’t believe my legs cramped up. I might get through a full game some time this season.”
Morehead State Head Coach Kyle Macy
On the overall play of the Eagles…
“We felt like we played well until 3:47 left in the first half. We took bad shots and missed some offensive rebounds and we went into the half down seven instead of being up or even tied.”
On what this game means to MSU…
“I think this will make us a better team. Take away the last 3:47 of the first and the start of the second half and I was pleased with our effort.”
On why MSU plays UK…
“One of the reasons we play games like this is so that if we win our conference tournament and make the NCAA tournament, we will have the experience playing a high-caliber team.”
On the MSU guards breaking down the UK defense…
“We don’t have the size that Kentucky has, so we tried to utilize our speed by opening up the space on the floor and making them play defense.”
On MSU center Kyle Umberger…
“We know what we have in Kyle and in our conference he is going to be a really good center.”
Morehead State Players
#24 Ricky Minard
“I felt like we could have surprised Kentucky. They’re the 12th-ranked team and we could have come in here and shocked them.”
On Erik Daniels…
“Well, I’ve played with Erik before. We’re from the same state. I fouled him trying to steal the ball from him and he was telling me I couldn’t take the ball away. He was trying to prove why he’s here and I’m trying to prove why I’m where I am.”
#55 Kyle Umberger
“We came out with a lot of energy and played most of the first half with a lot of energy. In the second half, we lost some of our edge that we had in the first half.”
On UK players…
“They’re good players. They’re a lot quicker than most of the players we play against. They’re more agile and can really run the floor really well.”
#35 Ike Lopez
“We played pretty good in the first half. Then we started to not hit our shots and not playing defense at all and they started to beat us. We didn’t show up in the second half and you can’t do that with one of the best teams in the country. You have to focused the whole game – 40 minutes.”
