UK/UT POST-GAME COMMENTS

Kentucky – 74
Tennessee – 45

THE MODERATOR: We're ready to
continue on with Kentucky. We'll ask Coach John
Calipari for general comments on the game, and
then we'll take your questions just for the three
student-athletes.

COACH CALIPARI: The thing that I liked
is we really talked about the first five minutes of the
game. When we played Tennessee up in
Knoxville, we were down 18-4. From that point on,
we won the rest of the game, but we never could
recover from an 18-4 start.

Today we just said, let's come out of the
gate and then go, and then let's keep it on, and we
did. The biggest difference, again, when you go 2
for 22, it's hard to win any game, let alone be in the
game. Today we make threes, there's going to be
a gap.

And I'll be honest with you, I'm not
embarrassed to say it. Just about any team we
play, we're making threes like that, because of the
way we guard, because of how big we are,
because we have a post presence, we become
pretty good. But there are games we're not going
to make them. Let's win anyway. Let's win by
four. Let's win by three.

We were 1 for 13 yesterday. 1 for 13.
That same team went 8 for 22 today. Same guys,
same stuff, playing against a really good team in
Tennessee. But I was happy, I was happy with our
effort. I was happy with our defense.
Good game for us.

THE MODERATOR: We'll take your
questions for the three student-athletes.

Q. What would it mean to play in the
SEC Championship Game and maybe get a
championship for UK that you haven't had
since 2004?

JOHN WALL: It would mean a lot.
Working hard in the off-season and just going
through everything to prepare us for the season.
We just try to get better every game and hopefully
win a championship tomorrow.

ERIC BLEDSOE: It would mean a lot
because we have three freshmen in, and so far
we're doing it. So we're just going to keep on
playing.

DEMARCUS COUSINS: It would be a big
accomplishment for us. Just show our hard work
and try to bring it back to Kentucky.

Q. Eric, you seem to be shooting the
ball better than last time you played. Like
Coach Cal was talk talking about. Can you talk
about what it felt like when you were letting the
ball go today? Did it feel like it was going on?

ERIC BLEDSOE: He always tells me don't
give up on your shot. Even though I went 1 for 30,
he just said, weep shooting the ball. And that's
what I did, and it paid off.

Q. Could you guys talk a little bit about
the game. Was it chippier than normal? Was
there a little more trash talking? What did you
all think about the way the game played out in
that respect?

JOHN WALL: We knew it was going to be
a tough physical game. Coach told us we come
out, they're going to be physical. Don't let them
punk you, and don't let them play hard on you.
That was our game plan when we first
came out. Try to play hard and don't get punked
by them. I thought we did a great job.

ERIC BLEDSOE: Coach told us, don't let
the man play harder than you. That's how we
came out. We knew it was going to be a battle
when we first set foot on the court.

DEMARCUS COUSINS: We knew it was
going to be a tough game from the start. I mean,
the first two times we played them, it was the same
way. We're two competitive teams with
competitive athletes on the team. It was a battle,
but we came in with the win.

Q. Guys, talk about how the crowd
picks you up in a tournament situation like this,
all the people that came down and filled up the
arena today.

JOHN WALL: It means a lot. I feel like we
were playing at our arena to see our fans there.
We just feel like everywhere we go, our fans
support us the most.

We build out there. We get a lead going or
try to make a run, we get ourselves into it as
players, but the crowd also get into it, and you see
how loud they are in the background.

Q. This is for Bledsoe. Can you talk
about the inside presence early and how that
might have opened things up from the
three-point range.

ERIC BLEDSOE: It was big because
everybody be focused on DeMarcus. So when
they focus on DeMarcus, that leaves openings for
me and John to penetrate and get everybody else
open shots.

Coach told us, me and John, we're the
leaders. If we make the shots, that gets everybody
else confident. So it was a big part.

THE MODERATOR: We'll excuse you
back to the locker room. We'll continue on with
Coach Calipari.

Q. Hey, John, what happened with
Orton in the first half. He left the bench.

COACH CALIPARI: It's really coaching a
team of 19-year-olds, there are some things that I
shake my head at. But we got good kids. They're
just -- they react to things wrong. They react to
things on the court wrong at times, and that's my
job to teach them without trying to embarrass
them.

But we've had things happen and guys say
stuff, and you just shake your head. But he's a
good kid. He'll be fine.

Q. John, before you came, you said
that you were most concerned about the SEC
Tournament looking at the NCAA for seeding
purposes. Now that you're here, has that
changed at all, or is that still how you look at
it?

COACH CALIPARI: Let me tell you
what's changed for me, only one thing, because I'll
tell you, I've never worried about a league
championship or a tournament championship. It's
all based on the seed national NCAA Tournament.
Anybody that says the seed is not important has
never coached in the NCAA Tournament.

It's the most important thing. It's like
you're golfing the 1st tee. Whatever you say on
the 1st tee is the most important thing.
So for us to play here and finish so that we
keep that seed is important. Here's what's more
important: When I see a building full of blue fans
who paid a lot of money for the tickets -- $500,
$1,000, probably people that could not afford to
pay a $500 or $1,000, they're taking their vacation
in Nashville, Tennessee, to watch our team play.
Well, then, you kind of feel as a coach you owe it
to them to give it your best.

They tell me 180,000 fans came to
Nashville. Is that true? Kentucky fans. And only
17,000 could get in the building. There were
people selling tickets -- they would sell their ticket
to anybody except a Kentucky fan. That's what
they had a sign. Are you a Kentucky fan? I'm not
selling you the tickets because we're not having a
building full of Kentucky people.

But it's unbelievable. The blue dust is
everywhere. It's incredible.

Q. Coach, can you talk about what Eric
brings to the team as far as kind of emotionally
being the opposite of what John and
DeMarcus -- they're more emotional on the
outside, bring intensity to the game. Eric kind
of calms that down, just makes the basket.

COACH CALIPARI: Well, Eric's -- when
Eric plays like unbelievably intense and
aggressive, I know we're in good shape. When he
backs up a little bit, I'm a little worried. Then
somebody else better steps up and plays.
When he plays, I know we're fine. Today I
told him before we got on the bus, I said, look, I
want you to go crazy from the beginning of the
game. When you need a break, take yourself out.
You take yourself out and then put yourself back in
the game. We want you to go.

If you miss a shot and it gets to you
mentally, take yourself out and then go back in.
That's what I said to him. He is a competitor. He's
a battler. I've won with guys like him. People say
he's undersized. Let me tell you, he puts his head
on the rim, and he makes big shots. He has all
year for us. He's made big free throws for us all
year. When we beat Tennessee at home, he did
the same thing at home. He made the shots that
beat them in our building.

No one else made a shot. His shots were
the only ones that went down.

Q. Coach, you've made several deep
runs with different teams and a lot of young
stars. As you're on the crest of this next
tournament, what is the difference between the
young stars and the playmakers and veterans
at that position? What's the key to taking it all
the way?

COACH CALIPARI: Well, my team at
Massachusetts was a veteran team, juniors and
seniors. My team at Memphis were juniors and
senior and then Derrick. This team, they don't
shave yet.

So now all of a sudden, a guy will get up
and leave the bench and go in. What, have you
got to go to the bathroom? What are you doing?
We have stuff here -- look, I don't know what to
expect at times. We did a shootaround this
morning. I never do a shootaround on a 12:00
game, especially back-to-back games. We did it
this morning. They told me, we'd better do it
because we've got a couple of guys who might not
wake up for the game.

This is new to me, believe me. I'm walking
along trying to figure out what do I do? What
buttons do I push? How am I -- to have good
discipline on our team yet not crack a guy that is so
immature he doesn't even know better. And so
we're kind of walking.

I mean, I don't know what to expect from
us. I know this, if we play like we did today, we'll
be fine, we'll march. But we've had others where
we think we're going to beat a team, we get up
early, we're up 18, next time I look, we're up 2.
We've done that about six times this year.

But I'll say this, they want to win. They
have a will to win. They refuse to lose. I've got to
give it to the team. These freshmen and Patrick
Patterson, we've got some sophomores who have
not played. Darnell did not play college ball last
year. He didn't. He's a sophomore. The other two
sophomores played five minutes a game last year
on an NIT team, did not play. That's our team with
Patrick Patterson right now. We're very young,
very inexperienced, yet we're a talented team.
We've got some size.

John Wall is coming in like my other point
guards. He's catching it right at the right time, just
like those other two did. He listens. He wants to
be coached. He wants to lead. He wants to make
the game winner. He'll tell you he wants to make
the game winner. He's talking to players in the
huddle. He's doing a lot of good stuff.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you very
much.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

THE MODERATOR: We're ready to begin
with Tennessee. We'll ask Coach Bruce Pearl for
some general comments on the game, then we'll
take your questions for the two student-athletes.
And then we'll finish up with coach. Coach, would
you begin.

COACH PEARL: We're extremely
disappointed. It was -- Kentucky is a great
opponent. Defense and rebounding win
championships and they're the best defense of any
team in our league.

It was a real struggle to score against
them. It required a tremendous amount of energy
to get open and to get good looks. And we just
didn't have it.

I thought we battled back on a couple of
occasions and felt like we had a chance. But like a
great team, they put us away and made shots.
That was a real key for them, the fact that Bledsoe
shot the ball so well from a spot that he can shoot
it from.

THE MODERATOR: Let's take your
questions for either of the student-athletes.

Q. J.P., can you just talk about the lack
of offensive continuity. It appeared you guys
weren't passing it around with the same
efficiency you had in these first couple games.

J.P. PRINCE: They just made it tough on
us. They obviously had us frustrated. We didn't
make shots. We just got in a hurry. We kind of
lost our composure at the end and didn't execute,
listen to the coaches, and overall just kind of let it
go at the end. Didn't execute like we did the last
time we played them.

Q. Scotty, as good as Kentucky is
defensively, you had some success driving
against them, drew a foul a couple of times,
made a basket. In retrospect, do you think
maybe you should have tried to do more of
that?

SCOTTY HOPSON: I think so. I was just
trying to make plays for my team. Coach said it's
going to take something special to beat these
guys, and I knew my contribution to this team was
definitely a big factor in our success. So just tried
to step up and make plays.

Q. J.P., can you just talk about how
you lead this performance here and how it will
affect you next week when you go into the
NCAA.

J.P. PRINCE: You've just got to learn from
it. Go back, watch the film, see what you did
wrong. We've got to be more physical. We let the
big guys affect us. We got to protect our bigs by
helping them rebound. And we let them play one
on one and let them get cheap fouls on them, and
we just can't do that. You can't do that against big
teams.

With their kind of size, you can't get in foul
trouble early. We did a terrible job of protecting
our bigs, and we put them in a tough spot.

Q. Because the officials really let both
teams play, let the play go, how hard was it to
get to the goal? It seemed like there was a lot
of grabbing and a lot of big bodies being
thrown around. How hard was it just to finish a

J.P. PRINCE: It was definitely tough to
finish down there, but we tried to compete, tried to
draw contact. You know, you can't -- the official is
either going to call it or not. You've just got to keep
playing. We just didn't get stuff to fall. We had a
lot of stuff rim out, easy layups and stuff missed.

You go in there, you've got to go in there
strong and man up. That kind of size, you've got to
go in there and just finish. That basically comes
down to it. We didn't do a good job of it, and they
did. They made big shots when they had to, and
we just couldn't get over that hump.

SCOTTY HOPSON: I think the same
thing. You've just got to finish. They have big
strong guys inside, and they rotated over when we
started to drive and doubled a lot of us. We've just
got to go in there and finish strong and make
plays.

Q. J.P., this being, I guess, the most
lopsided loss Coach Pearl's had, as a senior,
what does this do for you heading into the
NCAA Tournament?

J.P. PRINCE: It's a little motivation. You
don't want to be remembered by that performance,
of course. So we've just got to wait and see what
happens, where we go next, and just come out
strong. We just can't have another effort like that
because it's just not acceptable.

THE MODERATOR: We'll excuse the
student-athletes. And we'll continue on with Coach
Pearl.

Q. Coach, J.P. mentioned the loss of
composure. It seemed like, when Wayne got
his third foul in the second half, it seemed to
snowball from there and a lot of negative
energy. Can you talk about that?

COACH PEARL: Yeah, we were in foul
trouble for a good portion of the game. Brian
Williams injured his back and was limited, and so
we weren't sure if he was even going to be able to
play in the second half. He played, and he did
okay. But he's pretty sore right now.

Knowing that we were pretty thin on the
front line, then we started to get into deeper foul
trouble. It became a concern. There was a lot of
talking going on, and it was chippy. You know, you
like to see both teams play with more composure.

Q. Coach, if you could just break
down -- I know the players talked a lot about
the inside play. But what went wrong? It
appeared the first two games for Kentucky you
had a pretty good plan.

COACH PEARL: They made 8 threes,
and in the first couple of games, they did not shoot
the ball from three very well. We were able to
really limit Cousins' touches. And in this game, he
got a lot more touches.

And we did a better job on the boards. We
had 19 defensive rebounds. They had 14
offensive rebounds. Those ratios did not exist in
the first two games. And their second shots and
their ability to dominate us physically on the inside.
And then obviously the guard play was --
with Wall and Bledsoe, you know, both playing
well.

Their ball screens against the zone were
more effective this time. That bothered us. We're
not a zone team. We don't play a lot of zone. But
Kentucky is much better against man-to-man
defense than they are against zone defense. So
therefore, we played a lot of zone, and we're just
not -- we played, you know, most of the game
zone, and we're not a great zone team.
Q. Did the crowd affect your team at
all? Was that a factor in this one?

COACH PEARL: We had enough fans in
there that, when we made our runs, we could hear
our people in the building. Certainly, Kentucky
enjoys a great home-court advantage, and I think it
elevated their play.

We had to exert a lot of energy against
LSU and Ole Miss, two really good teams, and you
needed to be, you know, a little fresher and a little
bit more furious to be able to compete with
Kentucky. I just thought that, in running our
offense, we just -- we got standing around too
much. We didn't cut hard. We didn't screen hard.
We didn't work hard enough without the basketball,
and as a result, they jumped some passing lanes,
and we turned the ball over much more in this
game.

And that was an issue too. We had 15
turnovers in this game, and they converted some
of those turnovers into points.

Q. Bruce, against a defense as good as
Kentucky the way they were playing today, is
this a situation where your team suffers for the
lack of an offensive player who can really
create stuff on his own?

COACH PEARL: Yeah, because I would
say that, while J.P. can really create, he's very
dominant with his left hand, and he's not a good
outside shooter. So there's a way to guard him.
And then Scotty is a good penetrator, but
you can knock him off the ball a little bit, strip and
rip him a little bit, and then he's not going to make
a lot of plays for anybody else. So J.P. is going to
make plays for others, but he can't shoot it. Scotty
can make plays for himself, but he's not a
play-making player.

And against a team like Kentucky, yes,
some of that could break it down. We were able to
break them down in transition at our place. Melvin
Goins, Bobby Maze got to the rim. We got to the
rim more. We didn't get to the rim as often in this
game. We didn't finish when we got there.

Q. Can you elaborate more on the point
guard play? It didn't look like either Bobby or
Melvin's best game.

COACH PEARL: No, we got -- we were 1
for 13 at the position with three assists. So it was
a struggle. It was -- but it was a team struggle.
But I think we got outplayed at every
position. Kentucky is the No. 2 team in the country
for a reason. They're a really, really good team,
and we just did not have the energy after playing
two games and coming back and playing this third
game. We just didn't have it.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you very
much.

"But I think we got outplayed at every
position." - Bruce Pearl

That's right biatch.

I was on TCP and read that in his post-game radio show, he was complaining that the refs cost them the game.

Really??? You took a TWENTY-NINE POINT ASS BEATING and it was the officiating??

Jesus...

Edge