If you had asked me before the game, I'd have told you we were ready. After the game, I'm concerned. We looked like a young and inexperienced basketball team, and we haven't practiced that way. |
It has been difficult the last few years to beat Mississippi State. And it will be difficult (today). The great thing about it, a lot of our guys have not been a part of those losses. A lot of our new guys, they've never played Mississippi State. |
It helped to have guys come off the bench like that. That made it difficult for us. |
It snowballed on us, and we could not stop it. It was one of those days when things don't go right for you, and they go for the other team. I just thought they played better than we did. |
It snowballed on us. We couldn't stop it. |
It's a tough task for us. I'm sure their guys will be prepared for this game. We've just got to play better. |
It's mental at this point. We're at a position now where kids know the plays. Mississippi State was more aggressive. ... Mississippi State attacked us, and now I've got to get our guys ready from a mental standpoint to attack Kentucky. |
It's one of those things that happened and happened at a tough time. But we've got to deal with it. ... We've got to go without him on Wednesday and lift each other up. He would want us to go out there and play well. |
It's time to get back up and get started back to work. We will look to pull out another win and this is our first opportunity to get that win. |
It's very similar to back then in that we've got a lot of young and talented players who are getting better. I have to say this team is a little bit of a surprise to me right now. I thought we would eventually be good, but we have handled adversity a lot better than I thought we would. And that's similar to the way it was when we had Michael and Keith and all those other guys. This group probably has more confidence at an earlier stage than that group did. |
Last year, we had Tommy Eddie in the post, who was 6-7. Kendrick Fox started and was not really a post player. |
My level of respect for him just took a whole different level, to make that trip and then drive back and then practice and then play today and then fight in a rival game. |
My wife made the statement that she felt like the kids were pressing, because I was pressing. She said, You've got to relax and have fun.' Once they saw that coach was relaxed and wasn't yelling and screaming, they relaxed and played well as a result. |
Our kids played really well against LSU. But they have to play even better against Florida. |
Some nights, we'll have guys that look like all-conference. It's been difficult. We are going through some growing pains. I take it personally. We need better leadership on the floor. |