Nov. 18, 2002
Recap?|?Box Score?|?Notes?|?Photo Gallery
Kentucky Head Coach Tubby Smith
Opening remarks…
“We wanted to improve defensively from our last game and we didn’t. That’s pretty disappointing. We have to learn to contest every shot, take charges, challenge every pass, every cut. It was an all-around poor performance tonight. We had a tough game last time and I thought we would learn from that. We had some good point guard play from Antwain (Barbour), but we had bad shooting from our perimeter players.”
On tonight’s game…
“When the Nike team has their full complement of talent, which they did tonight, they’re pretty good. They forced us to experiment a lot tonight. I thought we didn’t have enough effort tonight. We’re supposed to be playing a pressure defense and we’re not deflecting any passes. They were running by us, throwing over the top. We allowed them to break us down. We’d go under screens when we should have been over-the-top. We were outrebounded. We did a poor job taking charges. I thought (Nike point guard) Cordell Henry was outstanding. We had a real problem containing him.”
On Kentucky’s performance offensively…
“I still don’t think we’re quite comfortable with this offense. I saw a lot of standing tonight. [Nike was] switching on us tonight and making us think about the offense too much. We work better in transition. But we did have a lot of open looks that didn’t go down. We have to concentrate and make those shots. There was a lot of indecision. We were hesitant and there was no smooth flow to anything we did. When we got the ball inside, we were pretty productive. There just weren’t enough shots for the inside guys.”
On defensive miscues…
“Our offense changed, but our defense stayed the same, so we shouldn’t be having the problems. Teams don’t usually shoot over 50 percent against us. We’ll have a tough time winning if we don’t defend better.”
KENTUCKY PLAYERS
Chuck Hayes
On the defensive play of the team…
“I can’t tell you what exactly is wrong. If you don’t have five guys playing the whole time, if one person takes a rest it hurts the whole team. We need to have everybody playing hard all the time.”
On the impact of an exhibition loss…
“We didn’t play well. An exhibition should be a 20- or 30-point win, not a one- or nine-point loss.”
On how good the team can be…
“We can be a really good team. We just all need to get on the same page and play the way we’re capable of playing.”
On the absence of Cliff Hawkins…
“I think we miss him more than we thought we would. He’s a key player. He’s the one the sets up the offense and gets everyone involved in the game.”
Keith Bogans
On the play of the team…
“We didn’t get any stops on the defensive end and on the offensive end we didn’t hit any shots. When that’s going on you’re not going to win.”
On the confidence of the team…
“We won’t lose any confidence. Some of these guys are young and we’re still getting to know each other. We’ll get it worked out and we’ll be fine.”
On the trip to Hawaii and how important it is for the team to play well…
“Our main focus going to Maui is going to be basketball. It’ll be fun but we’re going to be there to win.”
“It’s very important for us to play well, especially after tonight. A lot of people are doubting us. We need to go out and play the way we’re capable of playing.”
Antwain Barbour
“We’ll take this as a stepping stone but it’s a long year and we’re just starting out. Everything can be fixed with practice and repetition. The errors are always correctable.”
“We need to get back and play harder on defense. We need to close out and play better helper-D [help defense]. I just have to settle down and play basketball.”
“We have a talented team but tonight things just didn’t go our way. We missed some easy shots.”
Jules Camara
On being back …
“It felt good. There was a little rust but I’ll get better.”
On the loss …
“It seemed like there was a lot of standing out there. We’re not running as we should. We didn’t get into our offense and we took shots too quickly. We should have learned from last week. The good news is, we have a week to get ready and make our adjustments.”
Team Nike Head Coach Bill Frieder
On winning at Rupp Arena…
“I could never do it as a coach — it’s a very tough place to play. But he has some young kids and I think our experience showed down the stretch. We also were at full strength tonight with eight of our nine ready to go and that helped. This is a good bunch of guys and they worked hard.”
On the win…
“Winning at North Carolina and Kentucky is big. That’s what our job is — to give our Nike schools good competition so they can go to the drawing board and learn from it.”
On Donald Little fouling out…
“I went with four guards down the stretch and it worked out. Sometimes that backfires but basically I wanted guys who could handle the press. I wanted shooters on the floor so I went with four guards as much as I could.”
On UK’s strengths…
“I think they have great shooters. I know that (Keith) Bogans can play and I think that (Jules) Camara can play much better than he did tonight. They’re a solid team, but he’s had a couple of defections and when that happens it takes a little longer to get your crew together. I don’t worry about Kentucky and I don’t worry about Tubby. He’ll have a really good basketball team.”
On guard Terrell Baker…
“I love the kid. He plays hard. He gives you a great effort and he’s a great kid. I’m hopeful I can find him a place to play when this thing is over in a day or two.”
TEAM NIKE PLAYERS
1 Cordell Henry, Guard
On how Kentucky compares to other teams Nike has faced…
“Kentucky has some areas where they need to improve, but it’s early in the season. This is the time where they have a chance to see what they need to work on and get all their kinks worked out. I know Coach (Tubby) Smith is a great coach and he’ll get them ready to play by the start of the season.”
On the play of UK’s guards…
“They did a good job defensively. We tried to space them out as much as we could because they are great on-the-ball defenders. Every shot I put up was contested. They have a good group of quick guards that can carry them during the season.”
On the atmosphere of Rupp Arena…
“When we came onto the floor we could feel the presence of the student body and the entire crowd. Tonight was similar to an NCAA tournament feel. We feel fortunate to get the opportunity to play in front of this type of crowd.”
12 David Graves, Forward
On where Kentucky falls relative to the rest of Nike’s schedule…
“Kentucky is hands down the best team we’ve played, there’s no doubt about that. Unfortunately for them they’re forced to play some players out of position, but they definitely have the pieces necessary for a great team. Coach Smith is a terrific coach and he’ll definitely have this group in a position to win once they jell together as a unit.”
On what impressed him about UK’s wing players…
“Those guys are consistent. You know what you’re going to get from (Keith) Bogans and (Gerald) Fitch – they’re great players. I was impressed with (Kelenna) Azubuike and (Antwain) Barbour. Those two guys have all the talent and the tools to be great players. Once they get some experience under their belt they are going to be two premier players.”
