NO. 20/22 KENTUCKY (3-2, 0-0 SEC)
vs. College of Charleston (2-1, 0-0 C-USA)
Tuesday, November 28 – 7:00 p.m. Rupp Arena (23,000) – Lexington, Ky.
TV: FSN South [delayed on BBSN]
Having opened the season with five games in eight days, Kentucky returns to Rupp Arena from Maui to host College of Charleston and coach Bobby Cremins Tuesday. UK is facing the Cougars for the first time since the 1997-98 season, a game the Cats won handily 92-65 at the Great Alaska Shootout. Cremins, who went 1-6 against Kentucky while coaching at Georgia Tech, is in his first season at the College of Charleston.
The Wildcats posted a fourth-place finish in the 2006 EA Sports Maui Invitational, defeating DePaul before dropping a tight semifinal matchup against fifth-ranked UCLA and another game to 12th-ranked Memphis Tigers. UK returned home from Hawaii late Friday night.
The Wildcats have posted a 2-0 record at home so far this season, claiming victories over Miami (OH) (57-46) and Mississippi Valley State (79-56).
PRESS CONFERENCE QUOTES – NOV. 27
Head Coach Tubby Smith
Opening statement?
?I hope everybody had a good Thanksgiving. I know that we?re happy to be back here. Although Maui is a beautiful place, we didn?t play particularly well. I thought we learned a lot about ourselves, about our team. We learned we can play with just about anybody, we just need to execute and finish plays, defend better, rebound better and if we do those things we?re going to be a pretty good team. I was impressed with Randolph (Morris), I thought he stepped up and really played well inside, rebounding. We just are going to have to find ways to get him the ball with an opportunity for more shots in the paint. We have to score better in the paint because we really got beat by all three teams in the paint, DePaul, UCLA and Memphis, by them beating us outside it really hurt us inside. That shouldn?t happen, and it?s something we are really going to have to work on. We?re going to need to join the crowd and look to penetrate it a little more, spread it out and get it inside. Or learn to stop people from doing that. Tomorrow?s game, again it?s good to get back here and get back into our regular routine. I think that is going to really help the guys, because we really put them behind the eight-ball with five games in eight days. We went really hard on Saturday and Sunday, so hopefully that will pay off for us. It?s good to get back here and get some practice in. That?s where we really had some breakdowns, was in defense and transition defense. It was really poor. So those are the areas we really need to get better at. As far as College of Charleston, Bobby Cremins and I are actually good friends; we?ve known one another for some time. I?ve had the good fortune to coach against his teams for a number of years. It?s good to have him back in the game, and I know he?ll have his team ready to play. They had a big win last night against UNC-Wilmington. I like the way his team plays. His team is playing extremely hard for him. He has a little guard (Dontaye Draper) there who is really lighting it up. Dontaye Draper has been really impressive, but all of these guys have been impressive. After watching some film on them and going over some things with our guys, I told them they are going to have to bring their ?A? game and have to be ready to play; especially after coming off of two losses guys tend to be a little more on edge; edgy as far as what you want to see happen and guys coming with the right attitude. Hopefully, we will respond in the right way tomorrow night.?
On the defensive heavy practices this weekend?
?I think the guys responded well. They were a little sluggish this morning, but on Saturday and Sunday I thought we had some very good practices. They responded in a very positive way. They were aggressive in the way that we want them to be. It was a way for them to be able to get their legs back under them.?
On defending Dontaye Draper?
?We did a very nice job against Darren Collins; we got him into foul trouble. What will give us a lot of problems with this kid (Draper) is he is very aggressive, he can shoot the ball and he can put it on the floor. Bobby (Cremins) has always had some very gifted point guards over the years. He?s had a lot of NBA players, and with him being a point guard himself he understands that position. He can teach them how to play that role and how to play that position extremely well. Ramel (Bradley) or anybody who guards Dontaye is really going to have their hands full trying to contain him. They don?t just have one player though; they have a number of players who can really play. That?s the thing that has really been a challenge for us, because we really didn?t play very good team defense in Maui. We allowed guys to set screens; we didn?t really help out on screens. I?m just thinking about the UCLA game, they must have scored about seven or eight times on one play, the very same play. I drew it up and told them how to defend it and we still didn?t defend it. That?s my biggest concern, our understanding of team defense. I will say that tomorrow will be a good challenge for us, because College of Charleston runs a lot of staggered screens, a lot of flare screens and then they can put it on the floor and go by you. A mobile player like Philip McCandies who is a guy that Randolph (Morris) is really going to have to sit down and guard him. He (McCandies) can put the ball on the floor and he can also shoot the ball, he?s shooting 66 percent from the floor. Bobby (Perry) will have a challenge guarding an athletic guy who can really shoot the ball in David Lawrence. They have a lot of veteran players this season and they have a very solid ball club. They are shooting the ball extremely well.?
On whether or not he is going to change his starting lineup?
?We might make a change. I think Perry (Stevenson) is a little beat up. He hasn?t really been himself and I?m not sure why, he had a turned ankle. People scout you and I know he got banged around really good. You can tell he took a couple of good shots, a couple of bumps but, he has to learn to respond in a more aggressive way. There might be a change there, but I?m not sure right now. Possibly, Sheray (Thomas), but we do have Jared (Carter) back and hopefully Jared will be able to play some. He?s bounced back a lot sooner than I thought. He?s a little sore after this morning?s practice. It was really the first time that he?s had some contact. So, he?s still a little sore. I like the way he?s been working, even in Maui he did a lot of conditioning and strength training.?
On his defensive strategy?
?We weren?t pushing people to the sides. We always teach them to keep the ball out of the middle of the floor and force it towards the sideline. Some people want it towards the middle, but we aren?t one of those teams and I?m not sure where that came from. A lot of teams are taking the ball and penetrating and if you aren?t taking something away from the ball handler he?s going to go either left or right on you and you have a lot of problems. We?re trying to work on getting up and pressuring the ball a little more. It was the help defense too, nobody rotated over to try to help and recover.?
Kentucky Players
Bobby Perry, #13
On having to play three games in three days?
?It?s tough having to play three games in a row like that. We have to tip our hats to UCLA and Memphis though; they came out and got the job done. Right now we are just preparing for Charleston, trying to improve. We have seen film from all three games in Maui, so we just have to pick it up.?
On giving up points in the paint on defense?
?We?re just going back to fundamentals, and getting to the right spot (on defense). Giving up that many points in the paint – that should never happen. We need to play better team defense, have better communication out there and rotate into the spot. I think the most important thing is just doing your job and doing what you can do to stop your man.?
On stopping opposing teams? offensive penetration to the basket?
?We?ve done a lot of one-on-one work these last few days in practice. We focused on stopping our individual man both in transition and in the half-court and keeping the ball out of the middle. That (weakness) really showed up against Memphis, when they got the ball in the middle they pretty much did whatever they wanted to with it. Also when it gets down low near the baseline, we need to push them back towards the middle where we have a lot of help.?
On recovering from the trip back from Hawaii?
?You feel the effects (of the trip) but it is more just sleepiness, not so much tired legs. We have still been working really hard in practice. We?re not making any excuses about playing out in Hawaii. We still have to put in the work.?
Randolph Morris, #33
On the aftermath of the Maui Invitational tournament?
?We still think about the whole tournament. We think about all of the things we could have done differently or better. The tournament really helped us improve because we had the opportunity to play such great teams. Now we just have to move on and get ready for the rest of the season.?
On the team?s play in the Maui Invitational tournament?
?We thought our offensive play was fine in both games. We need to focus on the defense, especially stopping points in the paint. We are going to continue to build on what we learned in Maui. We?ve identified our weaknesses, and we?re going to keep working on them in practice.?
On the fans? reaction to the Maui Invitational tournament?
?We know that our fans have high expectations of us. We have two losses early in the season, but I think the fans realize that both of those losses came from very solid teams. We have two big games coming up this week (College of Charleston and North Carolina). We?re staying focused on taking one game at a time and playing our best each game.?
On playing against top competition early in the season?
?Playing such great teams forces us to take the games very seriously. Some teams don?t play teams of such caliber early in the season and they end up getting shocked later in the season. It?s better for us to get this experience in early; it will prepare us for the rest of the season. Also, it gives the freshmen an opportunity to get used to the great competition we have ahead of us.?
Joe Crawford, #32
On the team?s play in the Maui Invitational tournament?
?I think we played well against UCLA, but we looked tired against Memphis. I know we?ll bounce back. Two things we know we need to work on is getting beat off the dribble and trapping the post. Since we?ve been back in Kentucky, we?ve had two great practices, and we?re starting to look sharp again.?
On his personal improvements since last season?
?I feel like I?m in better shape since last season. I don?t think I could have played as many minutes as I did in Maui, last season. When I drive, I look for contact. I just wish I could get more fouls called so that I could go to the line more. I feel more comfortable and I think I am much stronger and faster than I was last season.?
On what the team learned in the Maui Invitational?
?We proved to ourselves that we are a good team and we can play with anybody. We know we still have to work on making defensive stops but I think that will continue to get better as the season goes.?
On starting the season against tough competition?
?It?s a lot different. There?s a lot of contact and the players are smarter. When you play tough competition they can see your weaknesses. We need to play those kinds of games to get ready for other big games, like North Carolina (on Saturday). We will be more prepared because we got experience in playing a couple of top teams.?
