Nov. 18, 2002
Kentucky Head Coach Tubby Smith
KENTUCKY PLAYERS
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.”
