Kentucky Men’s Basketball
UK vs. Samford
Postgame Quotes
Rupp Arena – Lexington, Ky.
Dec. 20, 2011

Kentucky Players

#20, Doron Lamb, G

On possibly injuring his wrist …
“I just jammed my wrist a little bit. I think I bent it on someone’s back or something. It’s all good, though.”

On getting to the free throw line more often this year…
“I’m just going to the rack a lot more. I know if I get fouled then I can knock those shots down. So I’m just trying to drive more and create for my teammates.”

On putting in a lot of extra work…
“I’ve been putting in a lot of work before and after practice; especially before practice. I get there a little early and get a little workout in on the treadmill. I’ve been putting up a lot of shots while I am tired and it is paying off for me now.”

#25 Marquis Teague, G

On Coach Calipari demanding more team communication in the game …
“I think we did better, but we still need to do a better job. We got beat on some back doors that shouldn’t have happened. We were relaying calls and plays, but we still have to do a better job.”

On the “Breakfast Club …”
“People come on different days. The whole team will come on one day, but last time three, four, five guys came. Coach Cal said something about it, he basically told us about it and we just said OK and we did it. It brings team chemistry. You don’t even have to do anything spectacular, just go in stretch together and lift weights or something like that.”

On his first half performances compared to his second half performances …
“The first couple games it took me a half to calm down and relax but now I feel like I’m OK from the jump. (The second half of the Indiana game) really helped build my confidence. I had success against a good team. It helped me get more confidence and showed me how I need to play and the pace I need to play.”

On his feelings toward running the team …
“I think I’m doing pretty well, but I’ve got a lot to work on. I’m trying to take it one day at a time and keep listening to what Cal’s telling me.”

On the approach to the game without Terrence Jones …
“We still played how we would’ve played if he was there. Having him in the post means a lot of points and we miss him down low, but we’re still the same team.”

#1, Darius Miller, G

On shooting comfortably …
“I was kind of holding it at the top instead of releasing it on the way up. I was kind of rushing shots too. Just hurrying up to shoot instead of taking my time to shoot the shot. … I still feel comfortable, but I feel like it opens up a lot for me and my teammates. So when I got that going, I feel like it’s another dimension to us, another threat to us. It really helps out my team, helps out myself getting to the lane and other things like that.”

On playing a team with a lot of backdoor cuts …
“We have to play disciplined. They take advantage of every opportunity we gave them. They knocked down open jumpers and they did a great job of getting us on the backdoors. They were very disciplined with their offense. They did a great job of running what they needed to run. Like I said, we just got to stay disciplined when we play teams like that.”

On finishing games out until the end …
“That creates bad habits for us, especially when we’re playing good teams. We might mess around and do the same thing, kind of quit towards the end. So you got to continue to develop good habits and continue to do that throughout the season starting with games like this.”

#14, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, F

On leading the team and pre-game huddle …
“I’m trying. I’m still a freshman. I’m trying to do my best. … I’m just dancing, just having a good time. I just do it just to do it, to have fun.”

On the Breakfast Club …
“It starts at 8:30 in the morning. It’s just weights and just shooting. We’re just having a good time. That’s all we do. …I think it was a team thing. I don’t know how we started it. We just want to get better. (It adds) a lot of chemistry still and we’re just having a good time. It was Coach (John Calipari) and we just wanted to do it, so we did.”

Samford Head Coach Jimmy Tillette

Opening statement…
“I told Cal (UK head coach John Calipari) before the game that this is a good gig for him, this program has a chance to take off and move in a positive direction so he should stay here as long as he can. They proved that tonight, they are an outstanding team. I was actually proud of our team, the way we were able to run our offense against their pressure. We were a little bit behind the eight ball, our starting point guard had the stomach flu and could only play three minutes, and our backup had a limp with a bad leg. We are obviously looking at it from two different perspectives. I thought we competed throughout the whole game; we actually got better from half to half, that’s our measure of the game for our team. Personally, I’m in the witness protection program so my goal is to make sure nobody notices me.”

On what caused Kentucky’s hot start…
“Good coaching, superior talent and our team being a little nervous to start the game. I thought we got it right a little bit after that. We were a little starry eyed, stuck in mud with a Rupp Arena kind of aura. I thought we settled in and after that competed.”

On Doron Lamb’s performance…
“What can you say, they are without their best player and he is a really good player. Not saying I’m prophetic about things but I told my team, ‘How do you handle your own success and setbacks in a game and how do you handle the other team’s setbacks and success.’ A team like Kentucky, they are well-coached but they are athletic enough that when they make a mistake defensively they erase it. They erased about five balls off the boards that in our league nobody is erasing. On the other end they are going to get in to a comfortable mode of shooting so they are going to feel freer and be more in rhythm to make shots that they might not normally make. I don’t really see a weakness for their team.”

Samford Players

#5, Jeffrey Merritt, G

On playing in Rupp Arena …
“It was pretty cool, and more importantly, it was a great experience for our team. It was a once-in-a-lifetime deal for us. When we came out of the tunnel with 10 minutes until the game, we were shell-shocked. It was one of the greatest experiences a basketball player could have.”

On what Samford learns from this game …
“We learned a lot. We showed a lot of character by fighting and battling for 40 minutes. I mean, we don’t have the guys blocking shots at 6-foot-10, 6-foot-11, but it shows that we all can compete. If we play for a team, you can succeed.”

On what his team did well tonight …
“We ran the offense pretty well. We shot 45 percent from the field, so we are really pleased with that.”

#35, Tyler Hood, F

On the experience playing in Rupp Arena...
“It was a memorable moment for sure. We were all very excited for this game and we will definitely remember it for a long time to come.”

On what Samford did well during the game...
“We ran our concepts very well. That's one of the things that coach stresses, to make sure to run the concepts. We run well under this system. Get guys in good spots and knock down shots. In this case run guys off the three and try to make plays.”

On trying to slow down Kentucky's offense...
“They shot really well, I think they shot about 10 percent better than they normally shoot. That is probably because of the fact that they kept cleaning things off the glass and they were a little more relaxed on the offensive end to put in shots.”