Kentucky Head Coach John Calipari
On how well his team showed resolve on the road …
“We had the flu. Hami (Diallo), Sacha (Killeya-Jones) and Nick (Richards). They all could play about a minute-and-a-half and they were so winded they couldn’t even stand. So, we were just trying to figure out what would work. It’s kind of like the season. Everything is kind of an experiment and it seems to be game-to-game that we try to figure out what’s going to work for us both on offense and defense and then run. The biggest thing is they got fight. It’s hard to fight when you have the flu. We told them after, this is not personal, we’re just trying to win. I appreciate you trying to play.
“Again, we made plays down the stretch, but they got a big rebound, the ball out of bounds – Kevin (Knox) had it, bring it in. Don’t fumble it out of bounds, bring that ball in, that’s the game-winner. The game’s over on that. So, we gave them some chances, but I liked our will to win at the end.
“I told them after, that’s probably ever game we play. My hope is we have a chance to win at the end. But there’s not going to be blowouts in this league. I’m sorry. The league is too good.”
On if he’s had someone before who he’s used similar to how he’s using Shai Gilgeous-Alexander …
“Maybe Brandon Knight a little bit, where when he’s in.
“I like Quade (Green) off the ball because he’s got a great feel, the ability to score and do the stuff that he does. So, you have, really, two handlers who both can really make free throws. In the end, where we got it in to him and just said, ‘Hold it. Do not pass it.’
“We thought about, again, this team, I said, ‘Hey, if the clock gets down, seven, eight, six, foul.’ And the clock got down seven, eight, six and I’m like, ‘Foul! Foul! Foul!” And then I’m thinking they’re going to foul a 3-point shooter and we’re going to lose by one. This is all stuff that you try to walk through in the moment. If I’m right, we had four freshmen and Wenyen (Gabriel) on the court most of that game.”
On how big it was for Knox to see shots go down …
“Good. He still, there were some rebounds he should have got, he grabbed with one hand, there were some other things. But, he settled for jumpers. I wanted to grab him, ‘Why would you shoot the jumper when we’re going inside every time and something good is happening? Why did you do it?’ ‘I was open.’ ‘No kidding, because they don’t want you to go inside.’ But that’s a freshman. I’m just happy he played.
“I thought PJ, again, see PJ took on the team in the second half. He just basically, ‘Let’s go. Pass the ball. Let’s get it to each other.’
“But give LSU credit now. They’ve played well all year. They’ve shot the ball well all year. Their big boy (Duop Reath), we didn’t have an answer. Again, a couple guys weren’t up to it, but we couldn’t do that to them. We had to run things to do it. They weren’t even running things. Just throw it in to him. That kid really hurt us. They’re going to beat people. I’m just happy we don’t have to play them again. Like, they’re going to beat people, and they play an open game. They’re not afraid to shoot 3s.”
On how much different this LSU team is with first-year coach Will Wade at the helm …
“Most times we come down here you know what happens: we get, like, smashed. I’ve lived through a bunch of those. But I think what Will has done – and again, the style of play and what he’s trying to do letting those kids, there’s some freedom in what they’re doing. He’s putting them in situations to make plays.
“Tremont (Waters) is somebody that we recruited really hard. I know how good he is. I know how he can get baskets and the things that he can do.
“I think for any of us, when you coach you’re just trying to put your guys in the best position for those players to have success and I think Will is doing it.”
On what changed in the second half …
“At halftime, our big—’Guys, they want it more than you want it. What is going on here?’ And then we knew—’Guys, OK, listen. You’re sick, you’re sick, you’re sick. I’m going to start you, but I’m not—if you can’t play, then I’m not playing you much. I tried to get them in and out, in and out, but it was just to spell the guys we were trying to finish the game with. Let me say this: LSU distorts the zone because they’re willing to shoot deep 3s. We were, you know, it was something that we haven’t see so that confused us a little bit, but we played the second half. We fought. This team, when they fight and when they battle, they’re—we got a chance. The other team, we can’t win in this league. I’ve coached in this league enough to know. And you have—this year, top to bottom, you can lose games this year in the league and it’s not going to hurt you. We’ve had years where if you lost that game, you—well, with us it may be different. Win three and drop seven places in the standings. But I’m just saying that this league—think about Mississippi State. Think about Auburn. You’re talking Vandy and you’re saying, ‘Oh, they’re—’ What? Those teams can play and they’re good.”
On LSU senior forward Duop Reath …
“He was unbelievable. He was unbelievable. And again, Will was doing some good stuff with him. Coach had him over the top some. He got him in some and had great spacing where if we left we were giving up a dunk, so we were saying, ‘Let him try to shoot it,’ and the kid just went crazy. He dominated us around the goal. Absolutely dominated us.”
On what changed for Washington in the second half …
“Well, even in the first half I thought PJ was the only one trying to go at the rim. Like, he may have gotten a shot blocked or they, you know—but he kept telling guys, ‘Would you quit shooting jumpers? Go at this rim. And so in the second half, versus driving, we tried to do it from passing to get it near the basket and, you know, I’m happy for him. Somebody on this team has gotta step up and be able to tell guys more than just me. Part of it’s passing the ball. Some of it’s being engaged. Some of it’s being tougher. Some of it’s fighting. But you’re talking a young team. That’s the kind of stuff that it just takes time.”
PJ Washington
On what changed for him in becoming more assertive …
“Second half, our main focus was to bang it inside and try to get easy points. I felt like we did a great job of that. We just tried to block shots and get rebounds on the other end. I felt like we could have done a way better job of that and we’re just going to work on that tomorrow.”
On whether he’s sick …
“Yeah, I’m coughing a little bit, but I’m good.”
On LSU’s last possession …
“On the last play, we tried to basically not let them shoot 3s. So me and Kevin (Knox) played on the outside of the two bigs on the other side of the floor and we just tried to deny them from getting to the 3-point line.”
On why Duop Reath had such a big game …
“He’s started off really aggressive in the first half and he just kept doing that the whole game. (Hats) off to him. He played really good and he’s going to have a good season this year.”
On how much confidence they have in Gilgeous-Alexander …
“I have a lot of confidence in Shai because I know he’s going to do the right thing. He can get to the rack easy and find others and he can also score. We feel like a lot of point guards in the conference can’t really guard him, so we’re going to keep going to him until somebody stops him.”
On Wenyen Gabriel’s clutch plays …
“Wenyen’s been playing big minutes for us. He’s a go-to guy for us. He’s making shots and we’re just happy to have him on the floor with us. He’s a veteran in our eyes and he knows what’s going on and it’s just great having him out there with us.”
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
On what changed after halftime …
“I think we were being smarter with our drives and I think we were just being more aggressive in the second half, attacking downhill more when it’s open. I feel we were going into other people’s bodies more and we were getting a lot of foul calls in the second half.”
On whether he’s sick …
“Yeah, I have a cold right now.”
On winning their first true road game …
“We’re confident in our ability and, like Coach said before last game, we’re 12, 13 games into the season. We don’t see ourselves as freshmen anymore. We see ourselves as upperclassmen and we try to play with that confidence, that swagger.”
On the mood at halftime …
“We got punched in the mouth first in the first half. They were the aggressors and we just let them attack us. That was the emphasis. We had to come out in the second half and be the aggressors. I think we did that in the second half and that’s why we won.”
On the importance of this game for Kevin Knox …
“It was big. Obviously, you see the ball go in the rim as a shooter, you get confidence. We knew Kevin was going to get back himself. All the greats have slumps and Kevin’s been really good and he’ll get back to himself and I think he did tonight.”
On the first-half turnovers …
“Personally, I had a couple turnovers because I was indecisive. I just gotta be more decisive and aggressive offensively and take care of the ball better and those will cut down. But for the overall team, I think we just laid and let them attack us, is why we had turnovers.”
