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SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE MEN'S TOURNAMENTMarch 8, 2007Ramel BradleyRandolph MorrisTubby SmithATLANTA, GEORGIA THE MODERATOR: All right, we'll continue with Kentucky. We'll ask Coach Smith for some opening comments on the game, and we'll take questions just for the student-athletes and let them return to the locker room and finish. Coach? TUBBY SMITH: I thought both teams really played hard and competed. You could tell there was a lot at stake. I know Alabama's kind of under the weather right now and not having people healthy, and everybody else. But it was a good win for us. I thought our guys really played well today and competed well. Q. Randolph, can you just talk about the difference between your game here and Tuscaloosa. You seemed much more active and aggressive today? RANDOLPH MORRIS: Yeah, that's pretty much what I tried to change in the game, you know, toughness, energy, and playing and doing whatever was necessary to get the victory. Q. Both players, seems you guys got a lot of loose balls, a lot of offensive rebounds, talk about that toughness, in your mind, of the game. RAMEL BRADLEY: It was important that we came out and showed toughness and played with a lot of intensity for 40 minutes today. RANDOLPH MORRIS: You know, usually the person or team that wins the game is the team that gets to the loose balls quicker and wins the hustle games and chases down rebounds, you know. So that's generally what we tried to do. Today it looked like everything was going our way in that category. Q. Randolph, I know you played Mississippi State early in the SEC season, but what do you remember about Rhodes and what kind of match-up is that for your team? RANDOLPH MORRIS: I remember that he's very athletic, you know, and low block, likes to use his athleticism to score. He likes to run the court and rebounds aggressively. So I'm just going to try to match his energy tomorrow. Q. Ramel, this one's for you: Talk about your leadership. We talked about that before, but just coming down here and that intensity you knew you needed for 40 minutes as you said. Just talk about your leadership a little bit today. RAMEL BRADLEY: Well, being looked up to as a leader, I realize it has to start with me, and when we're out there I try to have my intensity on defense. I know when I pressure the ball, show emotion, it trickles down to the other players. Q. Ramel, you guys had five guys in double figures. Bobby had a good game, Joe had a good game. Can you just talk about the balance you guys showed. Was this one of the more balanced games you guys have had this year? RAMEL BRADLEY: Yes, I think it's very important that we share the wealth. We're a much more dangerous team when everybody's hitting, and we're getting scoring and rebounding and everything from every one of our players. Q. For Randolph, you're still a young team. Can you talk about the lift that Jodie Meeks has given you late in the season, and the shooting ability he has to complement your other players, just the difficulty of being a freshman and stepping in like that. RANDOLPH MORRIS: Well, obviously, I don't see any difficulty with him, the way he's handled the season thus far coming in off the bench most of the time. The sixth man, right into pretty much hostile SEC arenas. He's just shown tremendous poise and he's continued to do that over the season for us. THE MODERATOR: We'll excuse the players. Thank you. Q. Tubby, could you talk about what Jodie Meeks brought to you today. TUBBY SMITH: Well, Jodie came off the bench in the first half, you know, the energy level, he scored a basket. He's instant offense when he comes in there, as Randolph mentioned. He's got it, he's tough, he plays with a lot of emotion, plays with a lot of heart, and he can score in many ways; he can make the outside shot, he's a very good ball handler, he's defending better. So I really like the way he's handled and conducted himself all year long. Showed a lot of, as Randolph said, poise and maturity. I knew he was mature enough physically, but he's shown a lot of mental and psychological maturity. Q. Coach, could you talk about the second half of the first half. What were the keys to that big turnaround? You were behind by ten and all of a sudden turned it around. TUBBY SMITH: I think we put Jodie Meeks in the game, and we also got a couple of loose balls. I'm not sure who was in the game at the time, but I think we had a smaller, quicker lineup in there at the time as well. I think we had Sheray and Lukasz come in the game for a short spell there. And I think we got a little more energized there, made some shots. That always helps. And I think Joe made a jumpshot, got a couple of calls, and he was able touch the ball, get a feel for it. And again, it was good balance all the way around. And again, as Ramel mentioned, we were able to share the ball and get people open. Again, the effort on defense was a big help because I think that's where we were able to slow them down some, because Alabama was really shooting the ball better than we were early in the game. I think that helped to picking up our defensive intensity. Q. Tubby, can you just talk about the difference in Randolph tonight compared to how he played in Tuscaloosa. And also Coach Gottfried said afterwards he thought Randolph was the key to your team. When he plays at a high level, you guys play at a high level, can you comment on that. TUBBY SMITH: Well, we do. Randolph is a very well rounded player. He's got excellent offensive skills. When he just catches it and makes a quick move and attacks the basket, he's hard to stop. Not many people can guard him one on one. He draws a doubleteam like he did tonight. And he'll do that most of the time, because I think people feel like he is our inside presence. You know, playing down there, I think looking back on it, I know he had some foul troubles. That's been one of the things that plagued him. But today we were able to get him out of the game without picking up a second foul. So when we started the second half, he was fresher and more aggressive. I think that helped out a lot. You know, down there, again like today, Richard Hendrix is a real load inside. He knows how to take the ball at you. He's a tough guy to defend in the low post. But again, we threw a lot of different people at him, a lot of different looks and I think that helped Randolph a lot. Q. Coach, talk about the fact that you were able to double down on Jermareo Davidson, and it seemed to frustrate him quite a bit today, And keeping the first people in being able to slow him down. TUBBY SMITH: I think Jermareo was a little bit under the weather. His back was bothering him. But you're right, we usually trap when the ball goes in the post. I think we did do a good job there. Bobby gives away a lot of size at 6'7", and Jermareo at 6'10", 6'9"; that's a tough match-up. I thought they played a lot of minutes. That probably wore them down some as well. But yeah, we did a good job, when we did get to the traps, we were pretty effective. Q. Tubby, talk about coaching effort plays, hustle plays, is that part of the game? Is that really an option in your program? TUBBY SMITH: No, that's not an option. You know, guys want to play all the time, so you have to watch. We have a rule, you know, raise your hand and you can get the break and get back in the game. You know you have to be very conscious of players on the court recognizing when they're not sprinting back. But good effort plays, like getting on the floor for loose balls, like Joe did that one time, that set a tone for the game, And that is the area where deflections, and we're always talking about doing that. And as a team we've done it for the most part, but we haven't done it consistently. We've had the effort, but we have to have an extra effort when you get to tournament play. And that's what we're looking for now, and the extra effort. Q. Tubby, can you just talk about Mississippi State and some of the match-ups that seem to be troublesome for Kentucky. TUBBY SMITH: Well, we haven't had a chance to -- we've played them earlier in the season, in conference play, but they're playing awfully well. You know, Rick has done an outstanding job, his young players are growing up. Jamont Gordon is as talented a player as there is in the league. The Delk boys can really shoot the outside shot. They really handled Alabama. You take Rhodes, he's quick, he's athletic, strong. You're right. They just do a lot of things well, and we'll have to play a much better game tomorrow to be able to compete with Mississippi State. Q. What do you need to take out of this effort from your team into tomorrow? What did you see out of today that will help you in tomorrow? TUBBY SMITH: Well, again, I thought we in the second half really rebounded the ball well, because we were getting beat on the boards. So we're going to have to rebound the ball, take care of the basketball, which we did up until the last few minutes of this game, really play tough defense. We've to get out and guard the threes, like we didn't do today. But those are the things you have to do better. And the things we did well was rebound the ball and we made shots. When you make shots, you can cover up for a multitude of sins. If we can make shots we're usually pretty tough. Q. What makes Jamont Gordon such a big match-up problem? Is it safe to say he's the biggest match-up problem you have tomorrow? TUBBY SMITH: Probably so. He's probably the toughest match-up for us. He's strong, he's a lefty. You don't see many lefties. So when you have to play a guy like him, who can make the jumpshot with range, can put it on the floor, makes everybody better. You know, he's one of those unique players that has the ability to find guys open, force help. Just watching him play, I've been very, very impressed from the first time we saw him play. Containing him would be critical. Guys like Joe, he's big and strong, so you can't put a -- if you put a big guy on him, he goes by them. If you put a smaller, quicker guy, he's usually overpowers him. So he's got the complete package. But there's a lot of people that go along with him, too. That's why they're winning. They're winning because they have a lot of balance. Like today, looking back on it, we had a tough time with them in Lexington, so it's a neutral court. We have to have a great effort. I want to just say, certainly we're happy to be here. Alabama is a team that is very deserving of an opportunity to play in the NCAA. Mark has done an outstanding job there. When you go through these teams when you have injuries and other things that go on, to keep his team together and do what he's done has been outstanding. I hope they get a bid. And tonight, we thought one of the keys is the Kentucky fans. We have some great fans and we'll see them tomorrow. Thank you. End of FastScripts |
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