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Kentucky Men’s Basketball [/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow]January 16, 2012[/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow]Pre-Arkansas Media Opportunity[/FONT][/COLOR]
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[CENTER][COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow][U]UK Head Coach John Calipari[/U][/FONT][/COLOR][/CENTER][COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow][U][/U][/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow][I]On Arkansas’ fast tempo …[/I][/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow]“When they speed you up they are getting in to you. They don’t press like normal teams where if you complete a pass they get back, they come running at you and then they try to rotate and run another guy at you. It will be different for our guys. It’s another thing for our point guard and our guards to feel and work their way through. They are a good team, they smashed Mississippi State. LSU was never able to get into any of the stuff and they had a chance to beat Mississippi on the road. They may be 2-1 but they could easily be 3-0 in the league.”[/FONT][/COLOR]
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[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow][I]On the help of depth in a fast-tempo game …[/I][/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow]“We played Nolan (Richardson)’s teams and Mike (Anderson)’s team when I was playing six or seven guys. Guys would rather run up and down than get in a stance for 25 seconds each time down anyway.”[/FONT][/COLOR]
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[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow][I]On Arkansas forcing Kentucky to play too fast …[/I][/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow]“We’ll see, that’s what they are trying to do. We have to rebound the ball on both ends, we have a chance offensively because they are spread out and then defensively you have to get the ball and go. (Arkansas head coach) Mike (Anderson) is doing a good job.”[/FONT][/COLOR]
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[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow][I]On rebounding in conference play …[/I][/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow]“We’ve done OK. Obviously there are a lot of areas that we have to improve and that’s my whole point to this basketball team. The margin would be bigger than it is if we got 50-50 balls and they didn’t jerk so many out of our hands. On 50-50 balls they are getting their opportunities but the other one is we have the ball and they are just jerking it out of our hands and there have probably been eight of those. As we get more focused on bringing balls in I think we will be fine.”[/FONT][/COLOR]
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[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow][I]On block/charge calls …[/I][/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow]“They may be looking at the line and just seeing his feet are out and just calling it. The question becomes, if I am in the act of shooting but I haven’t left my feet can he then slide in there? Because that’s what they are doing. I don’t know, I’m probably going to have to call (SEC Men’s Basketball Coordinator of Officials) Gerald (Boudreaux) and ask. If I’m in the motion to shoot and he slides under me but I haven’t left my feet, is that a charge? Maybe that clears it up with all of us, me included. Yes it is, OK then we’ll step in there; if a guy goes to shoot then we’ll slide in there. We just let them deal with it, I have to deal with 13 of these guys getting them to play right, that’s what I’m worried about; I’m not worried about officiating.”[/FONT][/COLOR]
[CENTER][COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow] [/FONT][/COLOR][COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow][U]Players[/U][/FONT][/COLOR][/CENTER][COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow][U][/U][/FONT][/COLOR]
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[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow]#3 Terrence Jones, F, So.[/FONT][/COLOR]
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[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow][I]On his finger treatments … [/I][/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow]“No, the wraps are the same. In a game, it just depends on how much my finger is throbbing, and then I choose whether I want a tighter (wrap) or a looser (wrap).”[/FONT][/COLOR]
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[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow][I]On the frustration of dealing with his finger injury … [/I][/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow]“It’s really frustrating because I can’t use my left hand like I want, and I can’t open it or close it during the game, but I am playing, so I am happy I am doing that.”[/FONT][/COLOR]
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[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow][I]On how he feels the team is playing … [/I][/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow]“We are playing a lot better just because I feel we are winning tough games on the road that last year I feel we were in the same situation, but weren’t coming up with the wins. All that matters is wins and losses, and I think we are turning it up when we need to.”[/FONT][/COLOR]
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[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow]#25 Marquis Teague, G, Fr.[/FONT][/COLOR]
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[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow][I]On what he has heard of Arkansas’ style of play … [/I][/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow]“I have heard they are real aggressive, and that they press the entire game, and they want to play up and down.”[/FONT][/COLOR]
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[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow][I]On if he is looking forward to playing an up-tempo game … [/I][/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow]“Yeah, that is how we like to play. It is transition basketball basically.”[/FONT][/COLOR]
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[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow][I]On how fun it was to play defense successfully vs. Tennessee … [/I][/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow]“It was fun. I feel like we all did a good job on defense. We played together on defense, and we were successful.”[/FONT][/COLOR]
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[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow][I]On the difference in his defense … [/I][/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow]“I just took pride in it. I didn’t want (UT guard Trae Golden) to come in there and kill me. I just took pride in stopping him and tried to help my team.”[/FONT][/COLOR]
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[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow] [/FONT][/COLOR][COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow]#33, Kyle Wiltjer, F, Fr.[/FONT][/COLOR]
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[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow][I]On if he can help with Kentucky’s depth…[/I][/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow]“Yeah, most definitely. I’ve been working hard every day in practice and (staying) ready in the games when (Coach) Cal throws me in there. It helps with depth if me and Eloy (Vargas) have good minutes and help the team out.”[/FONT][/COLOR]
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[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow][I]On if it would be refreshing to face a team that didn’t want to slow them down…[/I][/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow]“We don’t mind any type of play. We want to be ready regardless of how the team is playing. We just want to play our game regardless of if they’re trying to slow it down; we want to continue to push it out. We’re not too worried about how they play we’re just worried about ourselves.”[/FONT][/COLOR]
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[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow][I]On how the road experience has been for them…[/I][/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow]“It’s been pretty amazing, just the atmospheres we’ve played in. Everywhere we go it’s sold out and packed. It’s been fun. It’s a growing process for us but we’ve got a couple good wins on the road.”[/FONT][/COLOR]
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[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow][I]On if the road atmospheres are more than he expected…[/I][/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial Narrow]“No, I’ve watched college basketball a lot over the last couple years. I mean, it’s a little more than I expected, just the fact that everywhere we go it’s packed and sold out.”[/FONT][/COLOR]
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