March 6, 2002
Orlando “Tubby” Smith
On where the team is now…
“We’re excited about finishing the season on an up tick as we have, even though we may not have won every game we wanted to win or played as well as we’d of liked. But we seem to be responding the right way at the right time, so I’m very pleased where we are at this point in time with the team and with the players.”
On the retirement of Athletics Director Larry Ivy and former A.D. C.M. Newton…
“I had a great working relationship with Larry Ivy. He did an awful lot for Kentucky basketball, the University of Kentucky and for me. I got a new contract through Larry Ivy and certainly C.M. Newton was responsible for me being here. So I owe a lot to both of those gentlemen.”
On the two possible opponents, South Carolina and Mississippi…
“Obviously they are two good teams. Mississippi coming off a great win against a good Alabama team is enough concern for anyone. But then again you can’t look past South Carolina because they have been playing very well also.”
On South Carolina…
“I have been very impressed with (USC Coach) Dave Odom. They gave us trouble down there. Their trapping on the ball forced a lot of turnovers. I think we had 20 turnovers in the first game. We did a better job here, we made shots and played pretty well.”
On the conference as a whole…
“I thought this year would be as competitive as it has ever been and this year has proven me right. Other than Alabama winning the league by a two-game margin, it has been a very competitive league throughout.”
On what USC and Ole Miss do to create problems…
“I think both teams run a type of offense that creates a lot of problems for you with their motion offense. South Carolina is a probably a little more inside oriented, but Chuck Eidson is really coming on and playing well. I know in Jamel Bradley they have an outstanding shooter. For Mississippi, you have Jason Harrison and Justin Reid, two premier players who can really get things done for you. And both are teams that we were fortunate enough to beat, so that will be a lot of motivation for them.”
On what UK may do differently this weekend…
“I think at this point in time, you have to look at little wrinkles that you might have to change or adapt or adjust because now everyone has seen everybody play. Now it’s a matter of execution, it’s not a matter of doing anything differently.”
On Cliff Hawkins’ free throw shooting…
“He’s been shooting them a lot better in practice and so it’s carried over into the game.”
On playing at a neutral site…
“We’ve been a very good road team. We are not going to play with a lot of emotion. We have to play with emotion, but you can’t be emotional, and I think that’s been a big key to our success over the years. When you do get into the hyper situation, you don’t change your demeanor because you practice the same way all the time.”
On what it takes to win in the postseason…
“You have to be able to make shots. Making shots is critical in postseason play. Sharing the ball, playing with energy, your defense has to be solid – that is where you have to raise your level of play because everyone else is executing pretty well at this time of the year.”
On how UK has gotten to the free throw line more lately…
“We were settling for the jump shot too much so we wanted to make a commitment to get the ball inside. I think Tayshuan (Prince) and Marquis (Estill) were both able to get the ball inside a little better. Attacking the basket is the key. We really don’t have a real physical team per se, so we needed to get more guys’ shots closer to the basket and I think we’re seeing that.”
On how Keith Bogan’s postseason experience will help the team…
“He’s done it, not just in college, but he’s done it before. Being able to do it again, or help the other players understand what they have to do in postseason play will be important. I think he is practicing extremely well right now. He’s got to be able to make shots, so that’s why we’ve made the commitment to do what we can to help him reach his potential.”
