Tennessee Head Coach Rick Barnes, Player Jordan Bone Post - UK 83 vs Tennessee 58 Game Comments
“We were really just gosh awful and I think from Kentucky’s vantage point I think they probably got everything they wanted to get done. We felt it was really important in our gameplan not to let Willis or Gabriel get going and they did what we thought early. They came out, I think Gabriel shot it two of the first three possessions and then Willis came in and got it going and gave us some separation and our gameplan was not to let that happen. We were willing to let the other players pretty much do what they had done. Adebayo, Fox, Monk do what they do. We just didn’t want that fourth guy to really step in there. I think John (Calipari) with his team has worked hard to get that guy going. They got it going Tonight. I think from your vantage they got done what they wanted to get done with him. I thought they really tried to work Adebayo back in there and give them all the credit. I’m just sorry we didn’t give them a better game because I think they’re better then we played tonight. There’s not many positives that I can take from tonight. I thought Jordan Bone for us really tried to do some things but we had too many guys do what we expect from them.”
On how much better Kentucky is when they are hitting threes…
“Well, again, our key was to not let their fourth shoot the Ball and make good shots. I don’t think you’re going to stop Monk from getting his on a night in and night out basis because he’s going to shoot the ball and he’s going to make some tough shots. One thing we did, we go back to our game at Knoxville, he and Gabriel were nonfactors and we talked about it all week. That’s what we can’t allow happen and we let it happen. Give them credit. I think John always has a great pulse on his team and you can tell that he’s tried to get those going because it does make them a different team because now you’ve got stretch these guys a little bit but they made shots and got going. I thought we gave them some room to breathe. We had some ridiculous turnovers and they converted those. We were just awful. We didn’t deserve a win tonight because we didn’t do the things we talked about from a mental standpoint and a physical standpoint.”
On the ‘red flag’ of his guys not being ready…
“There’s no doubt. It’s a mental preparation tool and we had one major thing that we talked about. We did not want their four to bring them another offensive option. We said we can’t let that happen. That was the difference in the game, him knocking down those threes. Then on the offensive end we turned it over in some ways that we normally don’t. It goes back, I just, when you break down the way we did on the offensive end it tells you that you’re a step behind both physically and mentally.”
On the ball movement of Kentucky compared to the game in Knoxville…“Well again, I thought both teams played pretty well. We definitely played a whole lot better there then we did tonight. I don’t think they have a problem moving the ball. I think where you look at John’s teams, again, I can’t coach his team, his teams get better. I think that he wants them to be better defensive. I don’t think there is any question about that. There is no doubt offensively, they want the four to be a big part. When you can get a fourth guy scoring the ball and you’ve got a guy like Adebayo, we’ve got to give him some attention inside. We wanted to double him early because he hurt us so poorly there. With that said, we weren’t willing to come off Willis to do that and our guys knew that. When we double we had rotations out of it. It makes a big difference when they’ve got four guys on the floor, what did he end up with, 16 points or something like that? Again, you back to our game in Knoxville, Monk got his average, I think Fox pretty much had his numbers, Adebayo had a great game. Their four, did not. That was the difference in the two games. We got down and didn’t handle it very well. Didn’t get the stops, didn’t finish on defense. We had a couple of defensive plays where they got us scrambled but we still got into position. That’s where I thought Fox did a great job, when the ball ended up in his hand in the late clock he got the ball where he wanted it.
On Robert Hubbs III not getting going…
“He’s got to have a much better…They went right him to start the second half. We came out, I think, we turned it over, if I remember right, two out of the first three times we had the ball, then they just went to work on him down low. It’s one thing, down there, but he didn’t make the effort that he has to. He let Briscoe just score on him two easy time down there. I think he caught in the circle, the charge circle,or he ended up in there. Robert is better than that. That’s why we took him out and sat him because we came out of the locker room knowing that we could of gotten back in the game. There’s no doubt we could have, but we didn’t. Because you’re not going to get back in the game when you’re down if you don’t get some stops and you can’t give up that many easy ones like we did.
Freshman Guard Jordan Bone
On using this loss as a wake up call …
"We just got to watch film on this game and see what we did and get ready to play for the next game."
On staying together as a team …
"I feel like we're still together as a team nothing's really changed. We've had the same mindset just get better every single day in practice and get ready to attack the next team we play."
