[B][COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow][B]2011-12 Kentucky Basketball[/B][/FONT][/COLOR][/B]
[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow][B]No. 2 Kentucky vs. Marist[/B][/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow][B]Lexington, Ky. — Rupp Arena[/B][/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow][B]Nov. 11, 2011[/B][/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow][B]Post-Game Notes[/B][/FONT][/COLOR]
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[CENTER][COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow][B][U]Kentucky Players[/U][/B][/FONT][/COLOR][/CENTER]
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[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow][B]#20, Doron Lamb, G[/B][/FONT][/COLOR]
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[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow][I]On feeling comfortable at point guard in big games … [/I][/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow]“I feel good. I practice at the one (point guard) and I’ve practiced my ball handling. I know the plays at the one (point guard). I can deal with it.”[/FONT][/COLOR]
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[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow][I]On what happened in the first half, pertaining to your injury …[/I][/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow]“I was playing defense on one of the guards, he double pumped I went to block and missed. Then Anthony came out of nowhere and hit me in the face.”[/FONT][/COLOR]
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[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow][I]On starting in New York in front of your family …[/I][/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow]“I feel wonderful going back home finally. I haven’t been home since the summer, so it’ll be great to see my family and friends. So getting to play in front of them, in Madison Square Garden, against one of the top teams in the country is exciting.”[/FONT][/COLOR]
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[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow][I]On the upcoming game verse Kansas…[/I][/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow]“I’m looking forward to the game but I will prepare just like every other game. I feel great going home, I haven’t been home since the summertime. It’s an honor to play in New York City.”[/FONT][/COLOR]
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[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow][I]On 8 assists and no turnovers…[/I][/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow]“I had a great passing game, I got to keep that up. I worked on my ball-handling and point guard skills in the offseason.”[/FONT][/COLOR]
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[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow][I]On where he was during TJ wreck…[/I][/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow]“I think I was asleep. We got to focus on the season and basketball for six more months. We have to do what we have to do and keep winning games.”[/FONT][/COLOR]
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[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow][I]On Anthony hitting him in the eye…[/I][/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow]“I went down and I didn’t know what was going on. My head was ringing and it’s still sore but I will be fine.”[/FONT][/COLOR]
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[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow][B]#23, Anthony Davis, F[/B][/FONT][/COLOR]
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[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow][I]On if there are any situations where the other players cant lob it to him around the rim…[/I][/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow]“I don’t think there is any situation because if they don’t lob it to me, then they are going to go to the rim and finish. It’s kind of pick your poison, kind of cool in a way.”[/FONT][/COLOR]
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[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow][I]On focusing on certain things as opposed to doing it all in high school…[/I][/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow]“It was kind of hard to focus on certain things at first, but now I have people that can pass the ball, people that can shoot, and people that can rebound so I can do other things. It makes my game a lot easier. I don’t get tired as quick.”[/FONT][/COLOR]
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[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow][I]On what it was like to put on the UK jersey for a real game…[/I][/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow]“It was great. We all came out all amped and excited, and I think that’s why we came out slow because we were overly excited. But in the second half we settled in and played our game.”[/FONT][/COLOR]
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[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow][I]On if there is any extra pressure playing for this program…[/I][/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow]“There is a lot of pressure because all the fans are expecting a national championship. But we will play every game like it’s our last and we will keep that winning streak alive.”[/FONT][/COLOR][COLOR=#000000][FONT=Calibri] [/FONT][/COLOR]
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[CENTER][COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow][B][U]Marist Head Coach Chuck Martin[/U][/B][/FONT][/COLOR][/CENTER]
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[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow][I]Opening statement …[/I][/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow]“You’ve got to give Kentucky a lot of credit, they were really tough, their length and athleticism makes it really hard for you on both ends of the court and obviously Cal had his guys ready to go in the second half.”[/FONT][/COLOR]
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[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow][I]On not being able to drive in the second half … [/I][/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow]“Well, the No. 2 team in the country showed up and they shut down the driving lanes. I thought we did a good job in the first half, we had a good game plan to spread them out, we had been watching the two previous exhibition games where teams were settling for threes and we were preaching don’t settle for threes, drive the ball, get to the rim and once you get to (Anthony) Davis pass it again because the previous two games Davis had blocked everything and started Kentucky’s transition. We had been preaching drive the ball downhill and get to the paint, get Davis to commit and swing it one more time. We had done a really good job in the first half and we attempted to do it in the second half and they are the No. 2 team in the country so their athleticism made up for a lot of their mistakes.”[/FONT][/COLOR]
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[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow][I]On Davis’ play in the post … [/I][/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow]“I had read a few things Cal said and I know that has been a concern. If you don’t have a guy that is physically strong enough then you dive in to the post or just run to the rim. I think they made a tremendous adjustment in the second half, running Davis to the rim knowing that we weren’t athletic enough to meet him at the rim.”[/FONT][/COLOR]
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[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow][I]On Bruiser Flint’s (Drexel head coach) advice for playing in Rupp Arena … [/I][/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow]“He said, ‘sit tight, put your helmet on and it will be a different experience,’ and it was. It was a fun atmosphere, I had never played or coach here before. It lived up to the billing. It’s a tremendous place with unbelievable history and tradition. Aside from playing here, I think our kids took that away, being able to play on this stage and play as well as we did in those first 20 minutes.”[/FONT][/COLOR]
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[CENTER][COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow][B][U]Marist Players[/U][/B][/FONT][/COLOR][/CENTER]
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[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow][B]#20 Jay Bowie, G/F[/B][/FONT][/COLOR][COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow]
[/FONT][/COLOR][COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow][I]On what it was like to play in Rupp Arena…[/I][/FONT][/COLOR][COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow]
“It was really nice. There is a lot of history in this place.”
[/FONT][/COLOR][COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow][I]On playing the number two team in the nation…[/I][/FONT][/COLOR][COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow]
“They’re very tough, they’re athletic, and all very skilled. It was just a great experience to get to play against them.”
[/FONT][/COLOR][COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow][I]On how the team played…[/I][/FONT][/COLOR][COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow]
“We played great in the first half. The second half wasn’t as good but the first half, but I think we showed a lot of promise for this team.”
[/FONT][/COLOR][COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow][B]#11 Isaiah Morton, G[/B][/FONT][/COLOR][COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow]
[/FONT][/COLOR][COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow][I]On playing in Rupp Arena…
[/I][/FONT][/COLOR][COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow]”It was wonderful. I wouldn’t trade it for anything else.”
[/FONT][/COLOR][COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow][I]On how the team played…[/I][/FONT][/COLOR][COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow]
“In the first half we played pretty well. We did some good things. We are pretty confident heading back into our conference.”[/FONT][/COLOR]
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[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow][B]# 11 Dorvell Carter G/F[/B][/FONT][/COLOR]
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[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow][I]On how he felt playing in Rupp Arena…
[/I][/FONT][/COLOR][COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow]“It was a good experience with it being the most historic arena. It was a really great atmosphere.”[/FONT][/COLOR]
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[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow][I]On what he thinks the team can take from this game…
[/I][/FONT][/COLOR][COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow]“Kentucky is the number two team in the country with six NBA picks. We played with them in the first half and they made a run on us in the second half. The only thing we can learn is to always come out and play hard the whole 40 minutes.”[/FONT][/COLOR]
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[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow][I]On how he thinks Kentucky’s season will be …
[/I][/FONT][/COLOR][COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow]“To be honest they are a pretty good team and I think they are definitely a Final Four team.”[/FONT][/COLOR]
