Jan. 25, 2002
Kentucky vs. Alabama
Pregame Press Conference
Coach Orlando “Tubby” Smith
On preparing for Alabama…
“We’ve had some good practices in preparation for an Alabama team that we’re very similar to in a lot of ways. When you look at the stats, we’re pretty evenly matched in many areas statistically. We’ll have to play well because they’re a team that’s playing with a lot of confidence right now. We have to be able to neutralize their inside play. They do a good job there with guys like Rod Grizzard, Erwin Dudley and Kenny Walker.”
On Alabama being ranked No. 14…
“They are a very good team. They really execute well and are very similar to Georgia. Mark Gottfried worked with Jim Harrick at UCLA and their offenses are very similar- a high-post type offense. This type of offense gives them a lot of versatility and they are executing it very well right now.”
On Alabama swingman Rod Grizzard…
“He’s always a top priority to try to contain because of his mobility and versatility. He is a very talented player and he does things to beat you in so many different ways. He can hit the three and he’s an excellent free throw shooter. He’s averaging six rebounds a game, 82 percent from free throw line this year and he’s putting up All-American-type numbers. He’s a guy that wants and will take the big shot. Containing him will be critical.”
On Tayshaun Prince…
“What he has to be careful of is his tendency to dribble a lot. We want to make sure that when he sees that double team coming, get rid of it quicker so we can find the open man. The defense will have to recover and we can catch them in the middle of it instead of allowing them to set the double team. When that happens, it’s difficult for him to get the ball out. I think he’s improving in this area and we were able to burn Auburn because they were trying to double.”
On free throw shooting…
“Everyone has to get better after the game against Auburn. We were all very disappointed in the way we shot the ball from the free throw line. We’re disappointed this year in our free throw shooting, we should be better because we’ve worked extremely hard before the season, and are working hard in-season, and it just hasn’t materialized in the statistics. It’s something we’re not doing well right now and we’ll spend more time on it.”
On possibility of Marquis Estill cracking the starting lineup…
“Statistics don’t mean a thing to me. I want everything else done well. Stats can say a lot different things, they look good in print, but there is another part of the game that is much more important than scoring and he needs to continue to improve in that area. I think he probably deserves to start the way he’s been playing. We believe in rewarding guys for the right things and that doesn’t always mean statistics. He’s been playing extremely well and his numbers have been outstanding, but the last thing I’ll evaluate a player on is statistics.”
On J.P. Blevins…
“J.P.’s an extremely hard worker. He’s been getting his treatment and has been doing everything he’s supposed to do. He’ll be able to get back in game shape quickly. Mentally, he’ll be ready and we look forward to getting him back with us.”
Tayshaun Prince
On their preparations…
“We are concentrating as a team and not looking past Alabama. This next stretch of games is very important to us, be we are concentrating on Alabama right now.”
On the athleticism of Alabama…
“As far as the SEC goes, this will be the most athletic team we will face. They have great inside guys and they have great outside guys.”
On the double-teams he has been seeing…
“Ever since the South Carolina game, people have been double-teaming me. But since that has happened, everyone else has stepped up. Keith has stepped up. Gerald has given us great minutes at the point and Marquis has been coming in and playing very well.”
On the dangers of the SEC…
“Everybody is dangerous. Things go different ways in SEC play. That’s why you have to show up for every game.”
Keith Bogans
On his shooting the past two games…
“I knew I couldn’t play that bad for too long. I would come through sooner or later. These past two games I feel like my regular self.”
On practices…
“Free throws have been the key. After the way we shot the ball down in Auburn, we had to come back and get a lot of practice in.”
On Marquis Estill…
“Quis has been very important. He’s big, he’s physical, he can step out and shoot a jump-shot. I think teams are going to start to double-down on him. And they can’t double both him and Tayshaun, so if they double him, he’ll get the ball out to the perimeter guys, and if they’re out pressing the perimeter, we’ll get the ball into Quis.”
Cliff Hawkins
On Alabama…
“They are a very good team. I’ve seen them play a little. We’ll get the scouting report tonight. We are trying to win the SEC, so we have to go out and play hard.”
On hitting free throws at crunch time…
“We have all been in those game situations (where free throws are critical). Sometimes a guy misses because of form, but we just have to keep practicing and work hard to hit them.”
On letting teams back into the game after getting a big lead…
“Every team we play is a good team. They will always fight back, like we will if we are down. We just have to make sure to play as hard as we can to keep that from happening.”
Gerald Fitch
On playing point-guard…
“I’m still trying to adapt to it. There are a lot of things I have to learn. My main focus is not turning the ball over and getting us into our offense.”
On confidence…
“We have a lot of confidence, but it’s not like it was at the beginning of the year. When you lose some games, you lose some confidence. But it will just take a couple more games to get us back to where we were.”
Erik Daniels
On Alabama…
“Last year it was real intense down there. The crowd got into it and we couldn’t put it away.”
On Rod Grizzard…
“He’s a tough player and their main man. We’ll have to key on him and make sure he doesn’t get off.”
On their lack of putting teams away in recent games…
“We work on that in practice every day – trying to keep our attention up the whole 40 minutes and putting people away.”
