On whether or not the freshmen have hit the wall at all …
“I think all four of them are doing great. They’re getting better, learning, attentive, focused. I think
they’re all the first ones in there because they’re excited about playing. So no, I don’t believe so.
They may in February somewhere with the schedule of games we have coming up. We could get
hit in the mouth.”
On what he has seen defensively most recently from his players …
“One of the things that’s happening when we’ve got a pretty good lead so we’re grinding it out at the
end and that gives that other team, probably, six less possessions which is what we’re trying to do.
That’s helping us. I always say, teams that lead the nation in defensive least amount of point, when
you watch them offensively they hold the ball. So that other team has way less opportunity. What’s
happened to us is seven minutes to go, six minutes to go, we’re pulling it back and grinding out the
ball.”
On making sure the team doesn’t overlook any opponents coming up …
“We approach every game the same and I’m going to go in there today like we played North
Carolina or anybody else. We’re going on the road. It’s going to be a hard game. I watched their
game last night with Florida. They shouldn’t have been in the game and then all of the sudden you
turn around and they’ve got the ball and it’s a five-point game. I watched their game with Alabama.
They beat Alabama. I watched their game with Mississippi. They had Mississippi beat. If you watch
the end of the game, you thought they won. If you didn’t see the score, you said, ‘South Carolina
won.’ And they lost and it was the same thing. They’re good enough to beat us and if we don’t
come and play one of our better games, we get beat.”
On how South Carolina is better now versus when Kentucky played them last …
“They’ve got two or three guys that are really playing well. Whether it’s [Anthony] Gill who can really
get it going offensively, or obviously their point guard, (Bruce Ellington), he can get it going. They
have the other wing player who is really scoring baskets, their leading scorer, or their leading
rebounder. And then the one kid blocks shots. They have a little bit of everything. I’m a little bit
surprised at their record but I’m telling you, when you see they beat Alabama, had Mississippi beat,
played Florida on the road and had their chances to win the game, and now have us, I think you
see them moving in the right direction and I think you’re going to see them start knocking people
off. I just hope it’s not us and that we’re not the first.”
On whether (Bruce) Ellington looks different from last time …
“Yes, when he missed a few it led him to miss another one, another one, another one. He’s not
doing that now. He’ll miss two shots and come back and make a shot or two. He’s playing physical,
he’s better with the ball, his decision making is better than it was then. He’ll be an issue for us.”
On his thoughts on his team bonding on the road …
“The best thing about when school ends and we have that time together and we’re going three
times a day, including a breakfast meal and an evening meal. Then you go on the road and you’re
24/7 for two days and you’re together at meals, at shoot around, at film sessions. They start coming
together and that’s why this time of the year, I like it and I really don’t mind going on the road,
especially when you’re just trying to bring your team together.”
On what Darrin Horn has been doing at South Carolina …
“He’s been doing fine. It’s a hard job. He’s set the stage for where he wants this to go, he went from
man to zone. He’s not afraid to try things. I think he’s doing a fine job. It’s just, South Carolina is
hard. It’s a hard deal to get going and that’s why you have to stick with a guy and give him seven or
eight years and give him something to get going. I think the last guy to really do some stuff down
there may have been, what, Frank McGuire? It’s a good program. It’s a great school, great facilities.
It just takes time to get it going right.”
