Nov. 24, 2008
Recap | Box Score | Notes | Photo Gallery 
Kentucky Head Coach Billy Gillispie
On Patrick Patterson …
“I thought Patterson played really well. Sometimes statistics don’t really tellthe most accurate story of the game. He was the dominate player on both endsand he was very active tonight. He had six assists and four blocks with threesteals. That is a really good night. We did a better job looking for him andhe did a better job posting and receiving. He played the way he should play tonightwith more confidence and more energy.”
On the high-low game …
“It should be a good way for us to play. We did get some because of their lackof size tonight. We did better on offense tonight and getting the ball reversedon offense. Our guys also posted harder than they have been posting. We havebeen hiding ourselves in the post a little and tonight they really presentedthemselves to the ball better. We got more high-low action, but we have to continueto get much better. We have to get open on the wing, make good passes and makethose catches.”
On substitutions …
“I thought we had one of the hardest practices that we have ever had today. Wewent about as physical as you can for around 50 minutes. Some guys have not beengetting the job done either mentally or physically and when that happens we aregoing to make some changes. The best motivator is the bench. That is what wechoose to do today.”
On energy of play …
“It was really good. I thought they played tough all game. We started to geta little tired towards the end of the game. We played a bunch of different combinations.Our level of energy was much better than we have had all season.”
On lead guard play …
“We had some mistakes tonight but we are still continuing to get much better.We are much better now than we were 10 days ago. We are improving leaps and boundson a daily basis. We will have some setbacks because teams will do differentthings defensively. It is a very tough position, but we are getting better allthe time.”
Kentucky Player Quotes
#23 Jodie Meeks
On the game …
“We went out there to play and got the win. That’s the most important thing.”
On how prepared the team was for this game …
“We had a good day of practice yesterday and came in and got prepared today.I think we prepared well. It showed tonight when we got off to a good start.”
On the upcoming game in Las Vegas …
“We are very excited about going to Las Vegas and having the opportunity to showwhat we can do again. I don’t think that was our real team last week againstNorth Carolina . We just had a pretty bad game. We’ll get another chance to showwhat we can do and show what this team is made of.”
On if the team is looking forward to the trip to Las Vegas …
“I think (we are looking forward to this trip). It will give us a chance to redeemourselves, as well as to get out there and play hard and well.”
Darius Miller, #1
On his first college start …
“It was a lot of fun and I was really excited about it. It caught me off guard,because I didn’t know it was going to happen until right before the game. I playedalright and I could have played a lot better. I made a few mistakes here andthere, but it was still my first start so I am excited about it.”
On his rebounding performance …
“Coach wasn’t too happy about my performance on the rebounding end. I don’t knowwhat was going on with me, but I just wasn’t getting a lot of rebounds tonight.I just had one and he (Coach Gillispie) wasn’t too happy about that.”
On how he takes Coach Gillispie’s statements …
“I just take what he says and go with it. I will try to work harder getting reboundsand try to use his coaching as a learning experience.”
On if he feels he will be the superstar Coach Gillispie says he will become …
“Coach sees a lot of things in me and has brought a lot of things out of me.Hopefully he is right. He has made me work a lot harder than I use to and hehas made my intensity better. I am a quicker and stronger play now. He has donea lot of things for me.”
#54 Patrick Patterson
On his career-high performance …
“I think I did pretty well. The first half started off well. My teammates wereable to find me inside the post and I was able to move my feet and get open.I was able to take advantage of the size difference.”
On what the team did well …
“We were able to execute and pass the ball around the perimeter. The guards wereable to drive to the basket and create open gaps.”
On how hard he was working in the game …
“(I was working) really hard. The coaches were emphasizing the (post position)today. They said we had a huge size difference and needed to take advantage ofthat. We tried to look for each other more this game. We just tried to take advantageof our strength.”
On if his slow start in games was related to his recovering from his ankle injury …
“Somewhat. It’s just confidence. That’s pretty much it. I’ve had a slow startthe first three games and I’m just trying to turn it around. I’m trying to buildmy confidence up and get back to where I was last year.”
On Coach Gillispie saying that freshman Darius Miller can be a superstar …
“No, I’m not surprised. (Darius Miller) can be a superstar. He can do all thethings out there. He can play defense, he can rebound. He can post down low.He can shoot the ball from the outside and drive to the basket. As his confidencebuilds up and his game strengthens, he can be a superstar out there.”
Longwood Head Coach Mike Gillian
Opening statement …
“First of all, when you have situations like us, at the stage we’re at and whatwe build as a Division I program, these are fantastic opportunities for our kidsto get out of this environment. We want to take them around the country and putthem in these situations whenever possible for a number of different reasons.But the main reason for us, as we make improvements, is to figure out where weare as a program. We always try to prepare the same and put ourselves in situationswhere we can win games. When you go and play against very good teams, you figureout for some of your guys what they need to do in order to be competitive atthat level. I have to give credit when credit is due. If Patrick Patterson hasa game like he did, it makes it very difficult for us to defend. There’s a lotof learning for our guys in those circumstances. As we put it together, we notat the level that Kentucky is at right now.”
On Patrick Patterson’s play …
“I think it says a lot about the coaches and their ability to work towards acommon goal when you say, `We’re going to throw it to him and he’s going to score.’Now obviously they have a big size advantage there but you still have to makethe pass, you still have to catch it and you have to put it in. Everyone hasto believe that, so obviously that has occurred. Being a fan of college basketball,it’s nice to have the opportunity to watch a guy play like that. Obviously wedon’t want him playing against us with 22-points, 10-rebounds and three assistsin the first half, finishing 12-for-15 from the floor. Maybe we could have donea few things differently but the effort is there.”
Longwood Players
#23 Ryan Bogan
On the Kentucky team overall…
“I thought they were a good team. They were everything we expected. They werea big team, and we were a little smaller. It made it a little tough to rebound,but it was everything we expected coming into the game. They work well togetherand they move the ball fast. They are pretty good defensively. I mean, we lostby 30 points.”
On Kentucky versus West Virginia …
“They are definitely at West Virginia ‘s level. I’m not going to go too far intoit because they have to play each other next week. They do have different stylesof play. Obviously, Kentucky attacked the glass a little stronger, but that’sabout it.”
On Jodie Meeks’ play…
“He is a tough kid. We tried to shut him down a little here and there, but heshoots the ball pretty well. I think that he has a pretty good season ahead ofhim.”
On Patrick Patterson’s play…
“He is a big strong guy. We have only played six games this year, so I can’tsay that he was the best. I could say that he was the best so far though. Hehits the glass and he knows how to work for position.”
#22 Dana Smith
On playing in Rupp Arena against a team like Kentucky …
“I used to come here every summer for basketball camp, so I’ve had my tours ofRupp Arena. It felt good to play here because my family was here and I had alot of support. It excites me to play any team from the SEC, especially Kentucky. Having my family here to support builds my excitement.”
On using this game to prepare for the rest of the season…
” Kentucky is a very tough team. Their strength makes us stronger. For us tobe able to battle against them only makes us stronger for the season. In practice,we focus more on defense. We let the offense come as we go. If you can tackleone area the other one will come along with it. We have been trying to practicehard.”
On strengths and weaknesses…
“Teamwork is our strength. From day one at practice we joined together as a team.Our weakness to improve on is to come together and become a rebounding team.We aren’t a big team so we have to work extra hard in that area.”
