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Kentucky 86, Lamar 64
Quotes and Notes
Q.
(Michael Kidd-Gilchrist) played a great game but he seemed to get into
foul trouble again a lot. Is he getting into foul trouble too
early for you?
COACH CALIPARI: Yeah, I
told him, I said normally when a guy gets two fouls, I will not play
him the rest of the half. The problem with this team is you need
his toughness so bad, that I ended up shoving him back in there.
And we are a team that is not playing to foul. The first foul I
think was a (little) shaky whether it was or not, I
don't think it was. But the second one he reached in and grabbed,
and you just can't do it. He's just learning.
Let me just tell you, we have got a ways to go. I have got
to give Pat (Knight) credit. He did a heck of a job. Kept
his guys hanging around, ran their stuff. Again, they rebounded
with us, you know, made their free throws until the very end, and
turned us over. We had 17 turnovers. I mean, that's not
what we do.
And again, I'm not babying these
guys, I'm not. I've not babied a player, not one and I'm not
going to baby these guys. We have to start playing better, and we
have some guys out there that are not playing rough enough. We
have guys losing concentration and we have guys breaking off
plays. We have got a ways to go.
Q. You probably don't know, but Louisville lost tonight at home by three
COACH CALIPARI: Who did they play?
Q. Georgetown.
COACH CALIPARI: At home?
Q. Yeah.
COACH CALIPARI: Surprises me. So Georgetown is good? Isn't Georgetown a top-15 team?
Q. Yes, they are. Just your thoughts going into Saturday.
COACH CALIPARI: I'm just I'm not in a
great frame of mind to talk about Saturday. I'm like, right now,
there are no excuses. I don't want to hear it.
We had a guy that said, "I couldn't get open."
"Good, you're out and I'll play somebody else. How about that. Your job is to get open."
"Well, I couldn't."
"Okay. Then you won't play. How about that." I
mean, there were just things that went on in the game that just
aggravated me.
And you know, like I said, I'm
not babying these guys. You're going to do what you are supposed
to. This team should be playing better than we are playing.
Q. What did you think of Terrence (Jones)'s comeback, attempt?
COACH CALIPARI: It was okay but I went at him late because
I didn't want to hear any excuses. I don't care that you're
missing shots, missing free throws, layups. Go get balls.
Go be tough. Go defend and we don't have to do all this.
But I tell you, if you're going through the motions, then we are
going to go right at you and we are going to show the world; you're
going to have the ball.
You can't hide
here. This is Kentucky. There isn’t a rock big enough, no
cracks big enough. You're out there. And either you're
going to perform or you're not and there is no excuses why you're not.
Like I said, we got a ways to go. We've got two days to get
ready for a very, very difficult game against a very good team with
good players that are well coached. It's going to be a hard game
for us. If we are playing like we are now, we're not winning that
game Saturday, I'll tell you right now.
Q. How impressed were you with No. 5, Mike James' performance for Lamar?
COACH CALIPARI: I knew, I think last year he had a game of
52, and I knew he could get hot like that. A couple of them were
tough shots, and a couple of them were terrific teardrops that he
made. So he really played well. The whole team, they did
what they had to to stay in there, but he came up big for them.
Q. On the team’s rebounding effort …
COACH CALIPARI: What bothered me is they had 14 offensive
rebounds. And what we are doing right now, unless Michael
(Kidd-Gilchrist) gets the ball or Anthony (Davis) gets the ball, we are
not getting the ball. We have other guys that are flinching going
after balls, or ducking, or hoping Anthony or Mike will get it.
I mean, our guards are not rebounding and
you've got two guys rebounding the ball. And the rest of us are
kind of hanging around. Well, we can't be that way. There
are a lot of long rebounds. They had 14 offensive rebounds.
Anthony was tremendous. Here is a kid, didn't ask for the
ball think about it. If you were him, and
you're having six blocks, 13 rebounds, don't you come over to the bench
and say, “How about getting me some shots other than dunks?”
He didn't say anything. Let's these guys go do their thing
and he does his. My point is, look, don't put that all on
him. You go above the rim and go get them. If we are to be
any good, because again, like Indiana, he had foul trouble.
Q. Darius (Miller) made a few shots from the perimeter back
here. It still sounds like you were pleading with him to shoot
more, to screen for the ball.
COACH
CALIPARI: Yeah, you've got to be aggressive, and if you're not
aggressive defensively, if you're getting pushed and shoved, it's hard
to be aggressive offensively, it really is. You don't want the
ball. You're in a dear in the headlights look.
I'm telling him, scream for the ball and if you're open, shoot
it, and if you don't shoot it, I'm taking you out, because he's a good
enough shooter.
Like I said, this
is Lamar right now, the games I watched, they did
this to everybody. They did it to Ohio State. They did it
to Louisville. They did it to us. They beat Rice on the
road. They beat Charlotte. This team has done this.
They are a veteran team and Pat's (Knight) done a great job. They
are defending, they are playing physical, they are rebounding, which
means they have a chance in every game and then all of a sudden they
have got three guards that are all pretty good.
So for us, it was like I said, it was just a
grind. And the turnovers, I think we had about seven or eight
that were unforced. Just jump in the air and throw the
ball. I haven't seen that since the first weeks of our practice.
So, again, we have got a ways to go, and give them credit.
Q. Is there a point of emphasis that you're going to stress before the game on Saturday?
COACH CALIPARI: Look, I'm not in any frame of mind. I
watched them play. I've got to go watch the tape. You know
who I watched them play against? Lamar. So I watched the
Lamar tape. So I've seen them play that game and I was watching
Lamar. So now I've got to go back and watch the Lamar
Louisville game.
Look, (Peyton) Siva is
outstanding. I think the big man has really gotten better.
The young freshman is good and there are two or three other guys that
really, they have come on. They shoot the ball. They play
extremely they are a good team. It's going to
be a hard game for us to win here.
Q.
Marquis (Teague) had four or more turnovers for a third straight
game. How do you assess where he's at right now?
COACH
CALIPARI: He didn't do a good job of running the team. He
was trying to score when the guys were wide open, and I told him that.
"Well, just run the team then."
"I didn't see them."
"Well, your head wasn't up then."
There was a lot of that today, you know, where we didn't
have if we walked out of a time out, we broke off a
play and I called an immediate time out, "You're out. You just
left a time out. Why would you not do what I asked you to do?"
"Because I didn't want to."
"Good, now you're out. Sit down."
I mean, that stuff we have got to cure for us to be the kind of
team that this team needs to be. I don't know. I'm not very
happy. Do I seem happy? I don't seem happy?
Q. Given the youth of this team, any chance they might have
been peaking ahead a little bit, looking to Saturday?
COACH CALIPARI: I don't think so. This is who we
are. This is who we are, and this is what happens to us,
especially when we break down and stop playing. But we do
that. We did this we did it against Samford, we
did it here and we have done it and we are not changing and that's
what's frustrating for me.
You have to start
changing. You've got to start listening. I'm throwing guys
into the mix and saying, you make plays. I'm making you make
plays or you're going to show you're not into this.
And so I'm not I'm not going to baby
anybody. It's not what I do. I've never coached that
way. I'm going to tell them the truth. Everybody will say,
well, I like how coach keeps it real, until I'm keeping it real with
them, then they don't like it.
Oh, you want me
to tell the truth? Well, let me tell you the truth. And so,
you know, we either cure this or we are going to start taking
L's. You start taking on water, and when you do start taking on
water and you start getting the dear in the headlight look, and now
every game becomes a war. Or you can get better, and you can look
at this and take responsibility and say, I know how I've got to play
and I'm going to do it. I'm going to prepare that way. We
are what we are right now.
Q. You
said Terrence (Jones) needs to go get balls. Is he getting beat
physically? Is it an effort issue?
COACH
CALIPARI: We are going to look at the tape but I'm just telling
you, he needs to step on the gas. He's got to play like he's
fighting for minutes. If he does that, he'll be fine. If he
just moves around the perimeter and doesn't come up with balls.
Come on, think about it. Fight like you're
playing you know what I told Josh Harrellson?
You work I told him how proud I am and I love him to
death.
I said, now let me tell you, Josh I texted him this.
"You
work like you've made nothing. You've accomplished nothing.
Work like you have accomplished nothing." I told Terrence the
same thing. "Just work like you're trying to achieve
something. You haven't achieved anything, so go work for
it. And he'll be fine.
I mean, I'm with
them, but I'm not babying him and I'm not babying Darius (Miller) and
I'm not babying Doron (Lamb) and I'm not babying my point guard, not
babying Michael (Kidd-Gilchrist). I got all over Michael.
"This is like the fifth or sixth game you've gotten two fouls in the
first half. In a normal game, I can't play you the rest of the
half, and you know what, we have got a problem now."
Q. You said crisis brings about change. Are these
relatively big margins, you win by 20 some, working against you in a
way?
COACH CALIPARI: No. I'd rather
win like this than lose and learn that way. Maybe we can learn
from this. But at some point you've got to get stepped on and be
stepped on good so that you understand what we are trying to say.
Again, I want each of these players, when you look at them, you
say, wow, you're not saying that right now about some of these guys.
Forget about how my team (plays) and coach I
don't care about that. I want you to look at individual players
and say, man, look how much better he is. Look at this kid how
aggressive and tough he is. Man, look at that. I want you
to say that about every player. Are you saying that right
now? No. And that frustrates me as much as anything
else. Team Notes
First-Half Facts
Kentucky
started with the lineup of Marquis Teague, Doron Lamb, Michael
Kidd-Gilchrist, Darius Miller and Anthony Davis for the fourth time
this season, including the third-straight game.
The first basket of the game was a three-pointer by Marquis Teague.
Third time this season that UK opened the scoring with a 3.
Extended UK’s streak of three-point shots to 800 consecutive games, the nation’s third-longest active streak.
Teague’s basket was the start of a 7-0 run for UK to open the game.
Terrence
Jones was UK’s first substitute at the 17:33 mark. Jones
sustained a dislocated left- pinkie finger early in the Chattanooga
game Dec. 17 and missed the next two games.
After Lamar closed within 12-10, UK went on a 9-0 run for a 21-10 lead.
UK gradually stretched the lead to as many as 18 points and led 44-28 at halftime.
Second-Half Story
Lamar edged as close as 48-35 but got no closer than 13 points.
UK led by as many as 26 points at 86-60.
Team Notes
All five UK starters scored in double figures.
UK blocked 10 shots. The Wildcats came into the game leading the nation in blocked shots at 9.3 per game.
UK is 58-1 under Calipari when the opponent scores 67 or fewer points.
The
Wildcats extended their home winning streak to 43 games, the longest
active streak in the nation. The run includes the 2009 NIT game
at Memorial Coliseum and the last 42 games at Rupp Arena.
UK is a perfect 42-0 under Coach John Calipari at Rupp Arena, the longest win streak in venue history.
UK owns a 468-60 all-time record in Rupp Arena.
Since the 2000 season, Calipari-coached teams have posted a 196-19 record at home.
In its 109th season of basketball, Kentucky is the NCAA’s all-time wins leader with 2,064 wins.
Individual Notes
Anthony Davis totaled 10 points and 13 rebounds
Davis’ sixth double-double of the season
Also blocked six shots
Terrence
Jones returned to action tonight and tallied nine points, six rebounds,
two assists and a blocked shot. Jones had sustained a dislocated
left-pinkie finger Dec. 17 vs. Chattanooga and missed the next two
games.
Michael Kidd-Gilchrist led the Wildcats with 18 points.
Has scored double figures in six-straight games.
Made 8 of 10 foul shots, career bests in both categories
Darius Miller notched 15 points and six rebounds
All four of his field goals were three-pointers as he hit 4 of 6 from long range
Has scored four straight games in double figures
Marquis Teague had 15 points, one short of his season high
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