Kentucky Women’s Basketball
Kentucky vs. Alabama State
Memorial Coliseum – Lexington, Ky.
Wednesday, November 7, 2018
Kentucky Head Coach Matthew Mitchell
Opening Statement…
“Well, we are pleased to get our season open with a victory. Alabama State certainty played hard and was tough there in the first quarter, and one of the things I feel so positive about is that we got off to a rocky start in the game, but we were able to remain composed and able to accept coaching, and I thought we made some improvements tonight. We still have plenty of room for improvement, but this a great group of people. First of all, they’re really good people and they want to succeed, so we just have to continue to work together – coaches and players working really hard and building on the positives and correcting the parts of our execution that need correcting, and I know they will want to do that. I appreciate the effort from Alabama State and we hope they have a great season, but glad to get our season off to a good start with a victory.
On responding from sluggish first quarter…
“Well, you have to put yourself out there, so I think we started the game and had fallen back to a passive-type defense, you would not have seen that type of performance. We certainly have a long way to go, but the first step is just getting that mentality and understanding that this is our style of play. We didn’t look all that great at times, but we’re making improvements. You know, you can put the film in and you can pick it apart and there’s definitely things we can do better. But, the fact of the matter is that we made some good plays tonight. We’re getting better, but against a Southeastern Conference, top-of-the-line team, we’ve got a ways to go. We just have to continue to seek improvement every day that we come in. That is a good step for us just to get out there and let the team know and let each other know that’s how we’re going to play this season.”
On the coaching style being the same or different…
“Well you know, the interesting part of it is that you remember all of those good teams, where and how they ended up looking in the press, and the problem is you start comparing where you are at the beginning of the year and the thing that Amber Smith and I spent a lot of time talking about some of those teams she played on and it just helps us put everything in perspective. It’s not easy and tonight we probably did a better job of setting some traps than we had all season, and we still are a little tentative to rotate up and leave the basket and rotate to the near receiver and that just takes some reps and some courage and some time to be successful. It got better throughout the game and we just have to stick with it. There might be a night or two here early that it doesn’t look very good, but we have to remain committed and we have the potential to have strong enough character to really be tough and stay in there and do it. You really need both of those things, you need athleticism and you need the will to embrace that style of play and that’s not always the easiest thing to do.”
On having a rough start…
“Well, I thought we let our offense be our defense in the first quarter. I thought we were really hustling our way up, I think it was 7-2 or 9-2, then we started to miss some layups, then people spent time thinking about that instead of hustling on defense. Where we are on our progression with the defense… we’re not cohesive or where we need to be, it’ll take some time, but when your mind is divided and you’re distracted, it complicates where we are and the growth we need to make. It just makes us look worse to be frank with you. We just have to work on our fundamentals in practice. We were missing our lay ups because we weren’t taking our time and Alabama State was a very physical and athletic team… they weren’t letting you just go in there and shoot it. They had some length and athleticism and we just need to lower our hips and get the ball in the proper position and keep our balance. We just didn’t do that a lot. When you start to miss lay-up, I think that just gets in the team’s psyche, it deflates you, but I’m just really proud about that second quarter. We turned the ball over seven times in the first quarter and then refocused at that timeout. I thought that was very productive and the way we came out and just turned it over two times and just got better throughout the game that was great. That will be a great quarter to watch and learn from.”
On the way they team was playing in the second quarter…
“The second quarter was great for us because things were not going really well. There are upsets all the time in the year and you see it because I think teams get distracted, they lose confidence and you let time hang around. So, I thought that second quarter was really big for us. Just to get some separation and impose our will on Alabama State and let them know what kind of night we wanted to have. It did start with a lot of hustle and I thought our bench came off and injected some energy into the game. I thought that allowed the starters to get on the bench and see what it looked like as we were trying to coach them to play with a little bit more tenacity, a little more toughness, a little more grit. We saw it all working together in the second quarter.”
On how Jaida Roper performed…
“Jaida has had great practices and for me as a coach I have never been big on players turning it on when they game starts. It’s about how you practice. All of the great mentors I’ve had and people I respect just instilled that in me. Having great practices will show in the game and she’s been having really great practices. She just needs to stay at it and be a great practice player and do all the little things well and right. She has great court vision and when she hustles as hard as she can she can really— really help us.”
UK Student-Athletes
#24, Taylor Murray, G
On the press…
“I think the press went really well. We were very sluggish in the beginning, but overall we picked it up. I think because it’s the first game but, as the game went on we picked up the intensity.”
On Kentucky’s and her personal steals tonight, and on defense…
“One thing we practice every day in practice is our intensity. We’re not a big team, but we’re very long and speedy so we are able to pressure a lot of teams in the half court.”
On early turnovers…
“I think we were just getting our nervousness out. We were just trying to get a feel of everything and then we picked it up in the second, third and fourth quarter.”
#10, Rhyne Howard, G
On playing her first official game…
“I wasn’t really nervous, just the first-game jitters in the beginning and then we picked it up.”
On having Taylor (Murray) as a teammate…
“She does a lot. She’s very quick and can handle it so I look up to her to do the most. And I try to model my game after to her.”
On getting three pointers…
“My teammates do a good job of getting me open looks around the arc. So, I just have to continue getting better at that.”
