NCAA MEN'S FINAL FOUR

March 28, 1998

Nazr Mohammed

Jeff Sheppard

Tubby Smith

COACH SMITH: Well, I want to compliment Stanford on a great job they did. It was a hard-fought game at both ends, both defensively and offensively. We are certainly elated to come away with a victory today, having to have to play 45 minutes to get it. I told the team, you never talk about quick wins but you got to last. I think this team has been very resilient all year long and been able to persevere and been able to overcome a lot of things, it was a big win over a great Stanford team.

NAZR MOHAMMED: In the second half, I wanted to go out and play hard and do what I could. They do a great job supporting me. I didn't do what I needed to do in the first half. I wasn't out there, but Jamaal did a great job and helped us out tremendously.

JEFF SHEPPARD: I will answer his question first. In the second half, first of all, we were down. Coach realized that we needed to put some more pressure on them. But those guards did a great job with the press all night. One good thing about the press, late in the game they had some turnovers where they threw it out of bounds. Those were big turnovers for us. As the game progressed, you get tired and you have to break the press every possession, and it is tough on you. We were happy to get some turnovers there in the second half. I'm glad I redshirted last year. I had two lottery picks in front of me and that was not a hard decision to sit out. I learned a lot last year and I had a great time. And this year it has been an awesome experience. Coach Smith made himself available to get close to the team the minute he arrived in Kentucky. We became a family. And that's why we are having a little bit of success this year, because we have pulled so close together on and off the court.

JEFF SHEPPARD: We had to straighten the coach out. He was yelling at us, asking us whose ball it was. We said, Coach, it's a new rule this year. They jump ball in overtime. Five more minutes of basketball. We were excited to be able to continue playing, you know. It's a Final Four. Why not an overtime game? You're tired but we have been tired before every day in practice and we know that the last 30 minutes of practice, how important that is, and that was reflected in the last five minutes of the game where we were able to suck it up, get some stops. Once again, Stanford had some huge shots and had the game going.

JEFF SHEPPARD: I just had two great screens set for me, you know. Nazr and Scott did a great job setting screens all night, and it is kind of easy when you come up and you're open. It makes it a lot easier to knock those shots down. So the credit got to go to them on that play.

JEFF SHEPPARD: We didn't change too much. Our philosophy defensively is hard work for 45 minutes tonight, and that's what we had to do. They do a great job of using screens off the baseline. They are real physical using screens. And you just have to be physical with them. And to contain penetration was my key force tonight, and I think we did a better job in the second half than in the first half. But they hit some huge shots in the first half, and started off hot. That's the credit that goes to them.

JEFF SHEPPARD: I'm trying to remember. That was a designed play, been working on that all season, where we run around crazy and throw it and hopefully one of our guys gets it. We have been working on that all year.

NAZR MOHAMMED: Nobody compares to Madsen within the rules. He is tenacious and does whatever he can for his team, and I respect him.

NAZR MOHAMMED: I wasn't thinking much. I was just trying to stay in the game as far as rooting on my teammates and I was thinking that one bad half doesn't mean I need to have another bad half. Go out and do whatever the coach asks of me to play hard.

JEFF SHEPPARD: It feels great, not so much individually but to be able to experience it as a team. I talked a little bit about how this team has pulled together. There is nothing like going through good times and bad times, and it is an NCAA Tournament with a team. There is nothing like being able to lean on your teammates' shoulder when you are not having a good day. That's what it's all about and we have been there for each other all season, and I think that's reflected in how we play. That's all we know how to do in Kentucky.

NAZR MOHAMMED: I'm pretty excited right now. I kept the ball inside because it's not over, and I want to try to win. I'm excited. Everyone on the team is excited. We have to keep on one more game.

JEFF SHEPPARD: No. At this point in the season we have watched a lot of tape on them, and I'm sure they watched a lot of tape on us. Preparation is a big key for everybody at this point in the season. They did a great job of playing physical on screens. They do a good job of bodying you out on the screens and using screens on offense. They are known to be a physical team and they are. You know, they were tough to play against, and we are just happy that we won.

JEFF SHEPPARD: We weren't thinking about any previous games that they played in. We were just trying to play, you know. We were trying to get the ball in. We were trying to score. And they kept hitting big shots. We were doing our best to stop them. They hit some tough shots, and that's why they are in the Final Four. We didn't expect anybody to quit. Nobody is going to quit at this time of the year. So we weren't surprised. But that's just a credit to them.

COACH SMITH: He didn't mean to miss it. Especially the last half of it. He raised his free throw shooting percentage extremely well a lot. He showed a lot of poise, and Wayne didn't have a particularly good game as far as shooting the ball, going two for eight. He had two or three turnovers, which is uncharacteristic of Wayne, but a lot of that had to do with Arthur Lee, who is a very quick and outstanding player.

COACH SMITH: Absolutely. Nazr -- Jamaal has been playing really well the last part of the season. Nazr has, too. He had two fouls at that time and we didn't want to pick up the third, knowing that he had to go up against a very good front line in Tim Young and Mark Madsen. So I thought we needed a real defensive stop and defensive presence inside. I thought Jamaal would give us that, and he did. I was really happy with Jamaal and the way he responded. I'm really excited in the way Nazr came back in the second half, watching to see what he had to do to improve.

COACH SMITH: Well, that last play was designed to get the ball in one of our best free throw shooter's hands, Cameron Mills, who is an outstanding free throw shooter, Scott Padgett. But what happened was, we didn't have any more timeouts and Al was taking the ball out of bounds, and when he saw the count and nobody was open, they did a good job of denying us access to the ball. So Wayne had a runout and he was able to get the ball away and get his hands on it and retrieve it. It was kind of a -- it was a broken play and we had to throw the ball up there at the time. It was a route. I thought the matchup between Arthur and Wayne was just an exciting matchup to watch. We knew Arthur has been playing very well over the last -- all season long and really shooting the ball well. He got 26 points today, which he got 26 points against Rhode Island, also. But the press was the big key in the second half, trying to deny the ball, make him work a little harder in the second half to get his shots and to run the offense.

COACH SMITH: They were called plays. We see a guy with a hot hand, and Jeff had a hot hand. He was doing a -- the play was designed to look inside right away and hit him coming off with another down screen with one of the post players, and I thought our post did a much better job in the second half with screening and we kept the ball off the floor more in the second half. So I don't know -- what was your last question?

COACH SMITH: His leadership and his experience and his maturity, everything played here, now his fifth year. He has experienced quite a bit. It tells you a lot about the young man's character and values to accept the fact that he sat out last year, came back, got a great presence. He has helped me a lot in that when I made him try Captain, both he, Jeff Sheppard, Allen Edwards, and Cameron Mills, they had a lot to contribute to the team and a key factor for the success, and certainly lived up to that. Jeff has really become a -- he is one of the stronger spiritual leaders on our team, our first or second best athlete on the team.

COACH SMITH: I didn't get an explanation. I thought -- I'm sure that one of the officials recognized that I guess it was touched as he was dunking the ball, and the ball -- if it was the last person that touched it -- if it was the defense that was the last team touching the ball, it was our ball and that's what it looked like happened. But it was a very pivotal call, you are right, at that point in time because they were making some big-time baskets at the end, and to keep them in the game, it was just amazing they were able to make those 3-pointers.

COACH SMITH: I think they will be very, very good. I'm sure they will be improved as they have improved every year, that Mike Montgomery has been there. His team is very competitive and well-coached, very intelligent players, they understand the game extremely well. You know, they have a never-die type attitude. They play the game, and they do a great job of screening for one another and they have good balance throughout their lineup. With this experience of being in the Final Four and in the semifinal game here, I'm sure that will go a long way as it has for Kentucky's players, experiencing this over the last few years.

COACH SMITH: We played two great games here. The Duke game was an outstanding game, but today's game, it is hard for me to really -- I just knew that when you get to this level, the competition, the players and coaches, you would imagine yourself against the best, and certainly the best is in San Antonio, and we had to raise our level of play. I'm sure if I was sitting in the stands and watching an overtime game and saw how hard each team was working and giving of themselves, I would applaud, also. So it certainly makes me proud to know that people appreciate it, especially coaches. It was a great basketball game.

COACH SMITH: Well, it is going to take a while for me to really appreciate it. But to get to this level -- there are a lot of great coaches, a lot of great players that never had this experience. I just thank the good Lord that I've been blessed and been given this opportunity to be given the reins of this great program at the University of Kentucky by Dr. Wethington, and thank my and C. M. Newton, and my parents for giving me the guidance and my lovely wife, Donna, to be sure she stays on top of me, to be sure I'm working hard every day. But it will take a while, probably, to really appreciate it. But I appreciate what the players admit and the adjustment they had to make this year. Any time there is a change in coaching staff, it is always a sensitive issue for players and for the fans as well. To achieve so much, to follow in his foot steps, it is really a challenge. But we were blessed with good players and good talent, and the belief that we could get it done. I think that's why we are here.

COACH SMITH: Again, that was a big key because we wanted to deny him return pass, someone else dribble the ball, enter their offense. They are a good ball club and didn't panic, and they kept their poise. I thought Wayne did an excellent job. I thought Saul, when he came in, did a great job of denying the ball. I was really impressed with Kris Weems because he stepped up when we kind of denied them the ball from Arthur, and he stepped up and was able to start running the show and created shots for himself. That just made them that much more effective and tougher in the second half.