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UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY BASKETBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

November 30, 2010

John Robic

University of Kentucky Â– 91
Boston University - 57

Q. Can you just talk a little bit about what you all talked about at halftime and how well you felt you did as far as accomplishing that?
COACH ROBIC: Well, at half we wanted to get back to working on the things that we worked on the last couple days. We still didn't really communicate very well, and we did a much better job of that in the second half. I thought defensively we picked it up. We shared the ball, made the right plays in the second half, and that's something that we stress, also, and you can see that by the 21 assists. That was something that we really worked on.
We were a little leery going into it because we thought we were a little selfish in the last game, that we would pass up shots, but we were happy with the distribution and the shots we took tonight.

Q. When you guys opened the second half you made eight out of nine threes. How much does that maybe help get a good flow when you're making shots?
COACH ROBIC: Beats missing them. (Laughter.)
No, I mean, I thought all the threes that we took I thought were all good shots. I mean, we think that we have a pretty good shooting team, and the right players took the right shots, and they were open shots. And when we have them, we want our guys to take them. And more times than not they were off of penetration and a kick-out, both against the zone and man-to-man. We got good looks, and fortunately they went down.

Q. Could you just kind of talk us through what the week was like in terms of preparation, what Cal was there for, what was different tonight and leading up to it?
COACH ROBIC: He was -- we came back from Maui and we were off Friday. We practiced twice Saturday. We practiced twice Sunday and practiced once Monday. Coach didn't miss anything. We found out about the passing of his mother during the second practice Sunday. Coach continued to finish the practice, then flew to Charlotte and came back for practice on Monday and was at the shoot-around today and coached the game tonight.
I've been with him for 14 years and he's never missed a practice. It just shows the commitment that he has to not only his family in Charlotte but to this family in the locker room. It says a lot about him.

Q. Boston's coach called Josh Harrellson the "mother hen" of your team, said he's perfect for what you all want to do because he doesn't demand shots, he just does what he's supposed to do. How invaluable has he been early on being an older guy and doing those types of things?
COACH ROBIC: Well, if he does the things that he's capable of doing, he's going to score some points and get some rebounds. I mean, he's going to be a screener, a rebounder, a, quote-unquote, garbage man down low. He doesn't have the same post skills as Demarcus did or Pat did down there, so he's going to be a little limited.
We only run a couple things for him. He's getting better. So is Eloy in practice. Kenny Payne and Orlando have done a really good job of just simplifying things for these guys having them have one or two moves and nothing else, but he has that ability -- they both have the ability to knock down free throws if they get fouled, and like Josh hit that big three against Washington, also. But it's something we're not going to live and die with. You know what, for the first time being in a role like this, he's done well after six games.

Q. After the UConn game Cal said he was going to try to sit with Brandon and define how he's going to play point guard. What is that definition and how well do you think he executed it?
COACH ROBIC: Well, this is the fourth point guard that he's done it with, and Derrick and Tyreke and John and Brandon, they all struggled early. Brandon is a scorer, so he's probably the best scorer, true scorer, best shooter of the four, so it's a whole new learning experience for him.
He got a little bit better, but he was proud of the number of assists he had tonight, which is a different mentality for him. And if he continues to do that, it's just going to make our team better because the thing that we tried and Coach tried to explain to him is he's going to score within the flow of the game. He doesn't have to force the action.
His job is to get the other guys involved, and if he can get them involved, that will just make us an entirely different team.

Q. Would you say that Lamb is instant offense coming off the bench?
COACH ROBIC: Well, what he showed you, he needs to be on the court. He really knows how to play. We were impressed -- we were impressed how he guarded on-ball defense tonight. We put him on the point guard and moved Brandon off the ball, so that was something new for us, and he gives us a little bit better size in doing that, which is a nice little wrinkle for us.
He knows how to score the ball. I mean, he knows how to play. He has a great feel for the game. We have to get him to be able to talk. That's the biggest drawback with Doron right now. If we can get him to talk, that again is another way to make our team much better.

Q. I heard you say last night that you guys have got a new free throw approach, and you made 17 out of --
COACH ROBIC: Above our average.

Q. Yes. How did that go do you think? How important is it overall?
COACH ROBIC: Well, I think it's very important. It's going to come into play at some point in time, and we all know that it's a confidence thing. But these guys tried it their way, and Cal just said now you're going to do it my way and everybody is going to have the same routine and shoot it his way. You know, and it's a confidence thing. We know they're not going to make them all, but it's funny, when you practice it that way, you get disappointed when you make nine out of ten. It sure beats five out of ten.
It's a -- and it's one of those things, it's a streaky thing, as well. One guy makes, the next guy is going to make, or it could go the other way.

Q. How do you feel this got you ready going into North Carolina? What can you take away?
COACH ROBIC: Well, I think the biggest thing is that we did -- some things that we worked on, I think we got better in. There's some areas that we're going to have to address Thursday and Friday to get ready for that North Carolina game. Our transition defense is going to have to be A-number-1 key because they really play fast. Our post defense is going to have to be better than it was tonight because they're big and they force the ball low. And if they -- if we work on those areas, you know -- we need to address those area.
I think tonight we shared the ball well, and I thought we really guarded well, too, and especially in the half court.

Q. What about when you're talking about Saturday will be kind of the first true road test for this team. How important will that be as far as a learning experience for your new guys?
COACH ROBIC: Well, I mean, it's going to be a big deal because you're going in front of, what, 22,000 people for the first time. We played on the road at Portland and there was 10,000 people, which was a nice crowd, but this is truly everybody in that building except for the 40 tickets that we get are going to be for the other team.
It'll be interesting. I mean, those are the type of games that you play for and you coach for. I know our guys respect the other team, and it's going to be a challenge going on the road, but hopefully our guys are up for it.

Q. I just wondered if Cal is not doing his radio show, he didn't come out for this, what's the reason? How much of that is with his mom?
COACH ROBIC: He didn't say. All I know is DeWayne told me to go do media. He goes in the locker room and yells at people, and he yelled my name. So it's -- that's a personal thing, and we're all in this together. If he tells me to go run outside right now, I'm going to go run outside. He's my boss.
We're just pleased it was a nice tribute from our players to wear the block socks in honor of Cal's mom, and he said in the locker room to the guys afterwards that he called his dad and told him that, and that's a neat thing and a special thing. Our thoughts and prayers go out to coach's father and his sisters and Ellen and the kids here and all the other grandkids. We're all in this together, and he knows that we're there for him.
Thank you very much.

End of FastScripts

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