Some notes and quotes from Monday’s Southeastern Conference Coaches Teleconference. Kentucky will play Florida on Tuesday at 9 p.m. on ESPN
Florida coach Billy Donovan
– Donovan alluded to the quick turnaround both Kentucky and Florida will have for Tuesday night’s primetime affair, saying his team will have to correct in a short amount of time after a loss to Vanderbilt as well plenty to prepare for against a “very, very good” and “consistent” UK team.- Donovan called both John Wall and Eric Bledsoe terrific players, but he really seemed to praise Bledsoe, who Donovan tried to recruit to Florida. “Everybody knew a lot about Wall coming out. I had a chance to see Bledsoe play quite a bit as well and think he is a terrific player. They are really playing with two point guards, more or less. On film, their chemistry and cohesiveness is something that has probably been a very strong strength of their team. Both guys are having terrific years. Never mind them being freshman. They’re both playing very, very well.”– The longtime Florida coach also spoke on Patrick Patterson’s ability to step out and shoot this year. “I always felt like he could step out and make midrange jump shots. He did some of that last year. I think now John (Calipari) is probably giving him some opportunities to step even farther away and take some 3s. I think he’s always been able to do a lot of different things. … John’s still got him playing inside and that’s where I think he’s obviously truly special.”- After giving up 40 points in the paint to Vanderbilt over the weekend, Donovan was asked how he thought his front line would hold up against UK’s frontcourt. “When you look at Kentucky’s size and strength and length up front, I think they have a couple things. They have tremendous size, they’re physical, they’re very, very long and they rebound the ball very well. If our front court was a phenomenal front court, they still pose problems. I think Kentucky’s front court and their teams poses problems for anybody that’s playing them.”

John Calipari

– The first-year head coach started the teleconference by congratulating Tennessee for its win over No. 1 Kansas on Sunday, calling it a terrific win for their program and the SEC. The win, more than anything, signified the strength of the league, Calipari said. “You just go right up and down the line of other teams that are really getting it done in the league. … This is turning out to be the league we thought it was going to be.”
– Calipari also said he would give his midseason SEC Coach of the Year selection to Georgia head coach Mark Fox, whose team, Calipari said, is one of the most improved in the nation.Patterson has been putting up his typical gaudy numbers, but Calipari has spoken in recent weeks about getting more out of his junior forward. On Monday, he expanded on that notion. “His numbers are fine. But I want (him) to go against somebody and have a marked advantage that you got the better of that guy and that’s not happening every game. I thought (Trey) Thompkins held his own, if not was more aggressive on the backboard. We’re doing a lot with him. He’s inside, he’s outside, we’re asking him to defend out on the floor – we’re asking a lot of him. But that’s because he’s capable of that. I keep telling him you’re a first-team All-American. Just go and look at the guy you’re playing against and say I’m playing better than this guy. Don’t just play to play and put up numbers.”– Calipari was asked to compare Wall to his freshman greats of the past few years, Tyreke Evans and Derrick Rose. Cal said he loves all three players but said each one is different and played in a different situation. “John Wall has taken over a team that was in the NIT (last year). There was more that he had to do and he’s doing whatever he has to do. There are games he scores more, there are games where he passes more. … He still has a ways to go. One of the things that’s an issue for us and it was for our teams at Memphis is we get people down (but) we don’t put them away. We get them down 10, 12, 13. Well get it to 20. All of a sudden you turn around and it’s four, it’s two, you’re down two. What in the world just happened? That’s a lot of John and our other guys understanding that when you go on the road and that happens, you cannot stop the avalanche. It just bowls you over. It’s all that experience stuff that we don’t have that scares me more than anything else.”