Here are quotes from Alabama head coach Anthony Grant, whose team will take on Kentucky at 9 p.m. on Tuesday. Thanks to the Alabama media relations department fo the quotes.
Opening statement:“Well we’re facing two very good basketball teams starting with Kentucky tomorrow, one of the best teams in the county, extremely talented, very well-coached and playing very good basketball right now. Then on Saturday we play Arkansas having lost to them the last time we played them in Fayetteville. I think Arkansas is a team that has really hit their stride and is playing well right now. I believe they’ve won three in a row here and lead the (SEC) West, so we have two tough opponents here this week.”
On two of Kentucky’s star players (DeMarcus Cousins and Eric Bledsoe) being from Alabama and his philosophy on recruiting in-state:“I think for every player you go to the right situation for you. Certainly it’s important to us to recruit the best student-athletes within our state and our region. Obviously we’re going to take a look nationally to make sure we get our program where it needs to be, and that’s what we’ll do.”
On facing a tough Kentucky team following close losses:“I think Kentucky, when you look at the talent and the way they’re playing, that’s a very tough opponent to play, regardless of the situation, so I don’t think one has to do with the other. For me right now, our focus is on our basketball team and continuing to do the things that we’ve talked about all year – getting an understanding of what it takes to win, what we’ve got to do and how we should approach each game and the preparation that’s involved in each game so that we put ourselves in the best situation to play the best we can and be successful.”
“Again, Kentucky is a very talented basketball team. I think they’re playing extremely well, so for us it’s just a matter of going in and controlling the things that we can control – how hard we play, how well we compete and the attention to the details that are involved in what allows us to have a chance. I think right now it’s more about us than it is about anything else.”
On Kentucky’s freshman guard, John Wall:“He’s a very talented player. I’m extremely impressed with his ability in what he’s done as a freshman walking into college basketball, let alone the SEC, for what he’s been able to accomplish. I think with his scoring, his leadership and his ability to make the game easier for his teammates he is a very talented guy. For us it’s never going to be about an individual. Kentucky is a very talented team. We’re going to approach it in terms of a team game and try to put ourselves in a position to have success.”
On whether his team is experiencing a hangover following the past week’s close losses:“You know, our guys come every day, they listen and we try to keep the same approach in terms of understanding the process and getting better. We’ll find out here tomorrow, but right now I think our guys understand where we want the program going and what we need to try to do to make it happen.”
On what makes Kentucky a great team:“Well they’re extremely talented, a very talented team and a very deep team. Coach (John) Calipari has done a great job of blending the talent that he has. He’s got them playing extremely hard and they appear to be playing together. Anytime you do that it’s a great recipe when you have the talent that he has. It makes for an awfully good team, which they are.”
