Dec. 14, 2001
Kentucky vs. Kentucky State
Basketball Press Conference
Memorial Coliseum
Head Coach Tubby Smith
On Kentucky State…
“I know Winston (Bennett) is looking forward to coming back having played his collegiate career here. Watching the film on his team, they are going to be a very good team although they are young and he’s still establishing his philosophy and his style of play. I think he has some talented guys and he’ll win his share of games. They are fundamentally sound, they play extremely hard and they are very active.”
On Kentucky’s focus for KSU game…
“The big key for us is to not have any letdowns and not look past Kentucky State. Everybody knows the Duke game is coming up, but our players are starting to mature and understand how important it is to take it one day at a time, one game at a time and try to build on that.”
On being exam week…
“We have time to do some extra shooting for those guys who do not have a full load as far as exams are concerned. Hopefully everybody will be alert and ready to play tomorrow.”
On areas to improve on…
“We talked about guarding people off the dribble as being one of the big concerns we’ve had all year long. One-on-one defense as well as team defense, we’ve gotten better each game in knowing where we are supposed to be and being in the right place at the right time.”
On shooting…
“We’ve spent a lot of time just shooting the ball in practice because we haven’t been shooting the ball well. We put in a lot of time this week doing individual shooting and I think it has helped. We’ve had our guys come out earlier for warm-ups at the games and hopefully those things are paying off and we’ll continue to shoot the ball better.”
On challenges of coaching early in a career (Winston Bennett in second year)…
“Remaining focused, especially if it’s your first head coaching job. You start questioning yourself and your philosophy. You look internally and you say, ‘Am I teaching the game the right way, can we do this, can I win playing this way?’ I know for me that was always critical. Once you decide on something, you are not going to change your entire philosophy.”
On playing between exams and Duke…
“I think you need to play. You get in a certain routine in which you’re playing twice a week then you don’t play for another 10 days, that’s quite a bit. We played last Saturday and need to play again. You try to build your schedule so that if you are having some issues or problems that you can work on fixing them. I think it helps us.”
On playing KSU…
“It was something (Kentucky State Athletics Director) Derrick Ramsey and I talked about and it was something that we thought would be beneficial. Fort Kentucky State, it’s good financially and it’s good because it’s an in-state program. We are allowed to play non-Division I schools and I thought it’d be a good opportunity for us this year. We’ve never played before, so I think it’s a good choice, and it’s good that they have two UK administrators in Winston Bennett and Derrick Ramsey.”
Guard J.P. Blevins
On not looking past Kentucky State in anticipation of playing Duke…
“It’s tough. As a player it’s something you have to do. We have to keep our focus on getting ready for Kentucky State.”
On Kentucky State…
“We don’t know a lot about them right now. Tonight we’ll get the scouting report and watch some film. From there, we’ll just get ready to play.”
On his health…
“I’m feeling good. My ankle is a lot better, and I’m ready to go. I can move well laterally.”
On Duke…
“They’re good, very good. They aren’t ranked No. 1 for nothing. We’re going to go up there to win. It’s going to be a tough battle, but everyone’s looking forward to it. It’s going to be exciting.”
Forward Keith Bogans
On upcoming games…
“We’ve been taking it one day at a time and coach has been stressing that we have to focus on Kentucky State and then we’ll have to worry about our next game.”
On his poor shooting performance against North Carolina…
“It should be easy to bounce back after my bad game. I’m not the type of player to get down on myself. I’ve been taking extra shots this week. I’m not too worried about it. I’m sure my shots will fall.
“I missed two or three early and it just felt like it wasn’t my day last Saturday. I couldn’t get anything to fall. One shot looked like it was down in the rim and it popped out. Right there I just figured it wasn’t my day.”
On rebounding…
“We watch film and you can see yourself not attacking the glass on a shot and it looks bad. I’ve seen myself do that in the past but now, every time the ball goes up, I do my best to go in there and get a rebound.”
Guard Rashaad Carruth
On Tayshaun’s game against North Carolina…
“I wanted to get out there and join him. I think two people can get the crowd really pumped. I was ready to get out there and I had to just wait my turn. When I got out there I tried to do what I could but I don’t think anyone’s going to top what Tayshaun did that night.”
On the upcoming Duke game…
“We just have to focus. We do believe we can beat them if we play defense and knock down our shots. But we have to take the Kentucky State game first.”
On Duke point guard Jason Williams…
“I’ve been wanting to play against Jason Williams since 11th grade when I saw him in Richmond. He’s one of the best players in college basketball right now and I have to step up and take the challenge.”
On his injury…
“It bothers me just a little. But I think right now I’m about 90 percent. I’ve been going to therapy every day so I think I’ll be alright for Duke.”
Forward Tayshaun Prince
On the 30-foot three-pointer against North Carolina…
“When I was out there, I really didn’t realize how far out I was. I was just in a groove. I was amazed by it. It was an unbelievable shot. When you are knocking down shots like I was, it got the crowd into the game.”
On the talk on campus about the shot against UNC…
“I walk into class and that’s the first thing everyone says – even the teachers.”
On what UK needs to do against Kentucky State…
“The keys to tomorrow’s game are to get off to a good start and to get everyone some playing time because we are going to need everybody for Tuesday. We need to do some positive things tomorrow and get guys in so I don’t have to play 30-plus minutes.”
On the match-up with Duke on Tuesday…
“It goes back to the Southern Cal game last year. Not that we were overlooking USC by any means, but everyone wanted it, the fans wanted it.”
