KENTUCKY (3-1)
vs Stony Brook (0-5)
Tuesday, Nov. 27 ? 7:00 p.m.
Lexington, Ky. – (23,000)
TV: FSN South –
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Kentucky takes on Stony Brook in its fifth-straight game at Rupp Arena, part of a season-opening, six-game homestand.
Kentucky posted an 83-35 win over Texas Southern Saturday night thanks to strong performances from several Wildcats. Senior Joe Crawford led the way offensively with a career high 32 points. Senior guard Ramel Bradley finished with 17 points, nine assists, seven rebounds and four steals while freshman Patrick Patterson contributed 21 points, seven rebounds, five assists, five steals and two blocks.
The Wildcats are led offensively Crawford (19.5) and Ramel Bradley (15.3), as they each approach the 1,000-point club. Crawford (978) is 22 points shy of the mark, while Bradley (909) needs 91. Patterson, who ranks third on the team in scoring (15.0), leads the club in rebounding, averaging 8.0 rpg which ranks seventh in the Southeastern Conference.
Kentucky closes out its six-game homestand on Saturday, Dec. 1 against North Carolina.
SCOUTING STONY BROOK
Representing the America East Conference, Stony Brook hails from Stony Brook, N.Y. (761 miles northeast of Lexington). With an enrollment of 21,685, Stony Brook enters Tuesday?s game with an 0-5 record.
The Seawolves are led by senior guard Ricky Lucas who?s averaging 12.2 ppg. Senior center Emanuel Neto is the team leader in rebounding averaging 8.0 rpg.
Steve Pikiell (13-49, .210/career) enters his third year at the helm of the Seawolves basketball program after being named the 10th coach in Stony Brook men’s basketball history on April 13, 2005.
Last season under Pikiell’s direction the Seawolves more than doubled their win total from the previous season, going 9-20, including a stunning 59-51 road victory over Big Ten opponent Penn State. The Seawolves also doubled their conference victory total (four), picking up their first conference road victory since February 21, 2005 against UMBC.
CAT SCRATCHES
Kentucky is in its 105th season of basketball. Kentucky is the all-time NCAA leader in wins with 1,951. Joe Crawford ranks second in the SEC in scoring (19.5 ppg). Through four games, Kentucky is shooting 77 percent (53-69) from the free throw line, tops in the Southeastern Conference. The Wildcats also lead the league in scoring defense (53.2), field goal percentage defense (.319) and three-point field goal defense (.218). Kentucky is the only team in the SEC to have three players in the Top 15 in scoring: Joe Crawford (2nd – 19.5); Ramel Bradley (11th – 15.3) and Patrick Patterson (12th – 15.0). Once again, every Wildcat basketball game will be televised live, including UK?s two exhibition games. UK is on CBS seven times, ESPN/ESPN2 nine times, ESPNU twice, FSN South five times and Lincoln Financial Sports six times.
PRESS CONFERENCE QUOTES – NOV. 26
Head Coach Billy Gillispie
On how far along the team has come on knowing where to be at each end of court?
?Ramel [Bradley] has to be the leader on the court for the most part; he or Mike [Porter] has to initiate the offense for us. We have to get enough practice repetition to know exactly what we want to do. We might recognize it, but not really know where to put the guys. We need to do a better job. No matter how much leadership you have, everyone has a responsibility to know where to go and how to play in a particular spot. We need some repetition against those things. I like playing against teams that change and seeing how much more quickly we can respond to them. Or if you don?t respond at all, knowing you still have a lot of learning to do – and we do.?
On Ramel Bradley?s play at the point ?
?I?m very demanding of all of the players and especially the guy who is supposed to be leading your team out there each possession. His responsibility is enormous and he has to start our offense. A lot of times he has to start our defense and talk continuously. Ramel [Bradley] is a very good talker, he?s not always talking about offense or defense, but he?s a great talker. But he does like to chirp and that?s at least a start. I think he commands respect at that position because he is an aggressive player. But he does have a lot to learn. I think he is really accepting responsibility and he is trying as hard as he possibly can now. What makes it more difficult for him is not playing with a bunch of experienced players that could help him help himself. It just takes more time when you have that situation I think.?
On how the team is coming along learning terminology and things he wants ?
?It takes time, but it?s coming along fine. The thing that has been the most difficult is not having the same guys out there day after day. That?s not an excuse, that?s just reality and a fact. But hopefully that?s going to pay dividends in the long run. I think they are trying extremely hard. I think they have tried and will continue to try hard. I think they are gaining spirit and gaining confidence. I think they are gaining confidence in their ability to guard somebody and be able to help out a teammate. I think they are gaining confidence on blocking a man out on the weak side and still going after the ball. I think they are gaining confidence on making a hard back-door cut and knowing where to go without the ball. I think they are gaining confidence in squaring up stronger to the basket even though we have a long ways to go in that respect. They?re getting better. We just have a long ways to go.?
On the status of players who have missed practice time due to injury?
?I don?t know. Ramon [Harris] did a little bit today. Derrick [Jasper] is running around a little bit out there. Mark Krebs got a good report today. Jodie [Meeks] ? there is no change on him. He hasn?t been able to do anything. That?s pretty disappointing to me. I am more concerned about his return than the return of Derrick Jasper at this point. I?m not a doctor. I just go on what I see and if you can?t do anything after two weeks, it?s not very encouraging.?
On if playing a team like Stony Brook tests his players? abilities?
?We learned our lesson in that respect. I don?t think we have any disrespect for our opponents. But I don?t think that we?re in any position right now with the way that we?ve played to think we are greater than anyone. We have unbelievable respect for our opponents. I think even though we talked a good game at one point, now I think we have learned to really have great respect for our opponent. That?s the sign of a team that?s getting much smarter and maturing. But the time is coming when we are not going to have the best player at each position. The best way to get better as a team is to get better in practice. The games are a byproduct of what you do in practice. I see great improvement in practice. I am really encouraged by the way that they are starting to practice and hopefully that?s going to continue. That?s going to give us a chance to become a much better team as the year wears on. I don?t think anybody thought it was easy on Saturday. I think the score may lead you to think it was easy but on each possession we struggled. A lot of times your biggest opponent is you.?
On how the team is improving this season ?
?I think we are starting to compete a little bit and embracing competition more so than we have. I think that some guys are getting in better condition that allows them to compete at a higher level. I think there is greater attention to detail. We?re catching the ball with two hands, trying to take care of the ball, squaring up to the basket, those types of things that coaches see more than most.?
On things he liked on Saturday versus Texas Southern?
?I thought we tried really hard to guard them. We made a lot of improvement from Wednesday to Saturday in the area of really wanting to guard somebody. Sometimes those kinds of teams are the hardest to guard because they spread you out and they?re going to be patient and reverse the ball to take a quick shot. Sometimes the easiest way to play Texas Southern is to sit back and let them move the ball and run the clock for 15 seconds. We were guarding them all the way to the half-court stripe which is a challenge. A lot of those teams have good quickness and extend your defense and extend your help. I saw a lot of good things. I don?t think there is anything we can hang our hat on right now. As a young team, with developing leadership, I think you really have to start developing things you can hang your hat on. Are you going to be a great defensive team or a great rebounding team? Are we never going to turn the ball over? What are we going to hang our hat on? I haven?t seen anything like that yet.?
On what he?d like to hang his hat on?
?I?d like to have our hat hung on getting one or more good shots per possession on offense and giving up one or less shots per possession on defense. You usually have a really good chance at success if you do that. That?s our basic philosophy.?
On what A.J. Stewart has given the team recently?
?He?s giving us great energy. He gave us better energy Wednesday than he did on Saturday. Hopefully he will continue to progress like we all are, not only in energy, but also in understanding and making plays in the right position and limiting mistakes. He had five turnovers in the first half. You can?t do that no matter your experience level. Hopefully he learned a lesson there and will move on from it. I think the sky is the limit for him because of his size and ability. He?s a good shooter when he gets on balance. He has the capability of being a good finisher around the basket. He should be a really good offensive rebounder because he has a long, athletic body. But he?s probably thinking right now instead of reacting and that?s what most freshmen are doing at this point. Hopefully he will get a lot more comfortable and make some athletic plays which should be his forte I think.?
On how his team practices?
?You have to want to beat the guy you are playing against. If you don?t have competitive greatness, you are not going to be a good player at this level. You have to want to not let someone get a rebound. You have to want to not let your man catch the ball. If he does catch the ball, you have to want to not let him force help from your teammates. You have to really want to get open on the wing. You have to put pressure on the defense. I think some competitive drills are good. I think you can increase the competitive level of some guys but I don?t know if you can get them from a real low point to a real high point. We don?t have enough guys that totally live and breathe to compete. I don?t know if we have anybody that won?t compete. I think a lot of it has to do with inexperience. I think you might have an instinct to be competitive, but you think too much. And sometimes when you are thinking all of the time you can?t react normally. I am okay with our competitive club.?
On the team?s defensive rebounding ?
?It really got better on Saturday even though we won by three on the boards. I know they had four offensive rebounds in one possession right there at the end. It?s not nearly where it needs to be. But we have a better awareness of it and I think we?re starting to be more physical. Most of our teams have not been great defensive rebounding teams early in the year. One of the reasons is because we like to pressure the ball, and the best way to get an offensive rebound, is to beat somebody off a drive and force them to help and get everybody into rotation, and then shoot it because everyone is out of position for a defensive rebound. I think once you get better guarding the ball, and you get better guarding the post, you quit giving so many angles for people to grab offensive rebounds. I think we?ll improve in that area.?
On players not answering questions or looking ahead to Saturday?s game against North Carolina?
?Well I think unfortunately we got the best lesson that anyone at Kentucky has ever had as a basketball player. But it is what it is and you move on and hopefully never have that happen to you again in your life. Some hard lessons are the best lessons. You would prefer you don?t have to go through hard lessons, but sometimes you do. I don?t tell our guys what to say when they talk. I know some people do. I just tell them to say whatever you want to say, but be honest.?
On if he looks to recruit only competitive players?
?I think you want to get the guys that are the most skilled, tall, strongest guys that have good grades that will compete. But it?s not always going to be easy to get a squad full of those. The best way to have a competitive team is to have a competitive practice. We don?t have enough players now to compete the way we need on every single possession in practice to where if you don?t play right or practice right, someone is going to take your spot. That?s the best way. A coach can yell and scream and motivate all they want to, and pat you on the back, but the best way to embrace competition is to think ?hey, if I don?t do this I might lose my job.? The best way is to have 17 players that want to breathe fire every single day they come to practice. We?re going to work towards that, I promise you that much.?
On team?s transition from last year to this year ?
?I think anyone who is successful does a lot of the same things. They really guard, they get a lot of rebounds and try to get transition points. They limit turnovers and those types of things. So I think philosophies are very, very similar. As far as style, I think we try to extend the court a little bit more. We probably look for ball reversal a little bit more. I think our shot selection will continue to get better as we go. I don?t think they are having as hard a time adapting to being able to compete for as long as practice. I think that?s where the biggest adaptation has been difficult for those guys, trying to compete harder in practice for a longer period of time. Not to say they didn?t before, but for a longer period of time and differently.?
Kentucky Players
#42 Mark Coury
On how they want to play?
?We want to play with a high level of intensity. We need to have great defensive presence, limit the turnovers and work harder to get offensive rebounds. If we do all of that then we will win games. Our confidence is getting better as a team and we will need that confidence to win future games. We have to continue to play hard and come prepared for every game.?
On not looking ahead to North Carolina?
?We have to stay focused on every game. It is always one game at a time and our next game is against Stony Brook. That is the only team we need to be thinking about right now. We want to come out hard and carry over the positive energy from practice into tomorrow nights game.?
On what he does in practice?
?You have to be ready to compete everyday in practice. We compete in everything in practice, it doesn?t matter what it is. We have to step up the level and intensity everyday, so that we can be a better team come game day.?
#1 Alex Legion
On practice?
?Coach Gillispie is always telling us to get after it and play better defense. Sometimes he will yell a little to help get us motivated. It is always high energy with a lot of talking and a lot of hustling. I feel like I have had a 360 degree turnaround as far as how vocal I have become. I used to be shy and quiet, but now I am more vocal. Coach has gotten me to be especially more talkative on defense.?
On the transition to playing in college?
?It is a little weird because you go from being one of the great players on the team to a mix of everyone being a great player at Kentucky. The best part is how we are all coming together and starting to play together.?
On what kind of team they want to be?
?We want to be a tough, in your face, kind of team. We have a lot of talent, but we want to be known as tough. We want to be the team that nobody will want to play twice.?
#13 Michael Porter
On the intensity of practices ?
?Our practices have been more intense lately, and also very competitive. Everyone is bringing more to practice, and I think it has made the team better by doing this.?
On how the offense is coming along ?
?Our offense has not come far at all. During practice we have been working on scoring faster and pushing the ball during transition.? On not overlooking Stony Brook? ?We aren?t even looking towards Saturday yet. We still have a game to play tomorrow night. You can never look pass any team when you play them. We try to get better everyday, so we will play just as hard tomorrow as we would against any other team.?
On how the team is finding an identity?
?This team can be a very good defensive of team. We want teams to say that they never want to play us again. If we keep competing in practice I know we will be that team later in the season.?
On what A.J. Stewart brings to the team?
?A.J. brings a lot of energy to this team; everyone is constantly feeding off of him. If everyone on the team plays with the same edge that he does, we will be a much better team.?
On having a competitive nature?
?I have always been very competitive, but I think last year it got away from me. I was discouraged last season, but lately the whole team has been very competitive. The coaches bring the best out of everyone.?
On the advice his dad gave him?
?My dad said to listen to the coaches, and to always play as hard as I can no matter what the situation is. If I stay positive, then everything will work out in the end.?
