Assistant Coach Joel Justus
On letting the guys know this game is still a competition …
“I think our guys know now that every game is important to somebody else as well as important to us. I think we’re a group of individuals that are trying to become better every single day. Tomorrow night just gives us an opportunity to go out and compete, play together, to try to become the best version of ourselves individually as well as collectively whether you’re playing Texas Tech, whether you’re playing Vanderbilt or whoever else you’re playing next. The most important day for us is the present day and I think our guys are focused on having a great practice today and then tomorrow we’ll get, like I said, another opportunity to get better and we’ll prepare for that today.”
On what specific improvements he will be looking for…
“I think you look for individuals to continue to be more competitive. That’s something that when you have young people, every game you step out there it’s a competition. I think when guys are still continuing to master their craft it’s about being professional every single day. If this is what you want to become and that’s the kind of question Cal asks each one of them every day, do you really want to be professional? How hard are you working to master your craft? How hard are you working to be professional? I think that’s the challenge our staff gives each one of these guys every single day. So I think each day that we step on the court you’re looking for individuals to rise up, to compete a little bit more, to accept the challenge whether it be from Coach Cal, whether it be from Kenny (Payne), Tony (Barbee), myself or a teammate. I think every day we look for improvement, and I think by in large we’re starting to see that.”
On how Vanderbilt could threaten Kentucky…
“I think every team at this level has talented players. They can shoot the ball, so you gotta be locked in defensively. You don’t want to give guys easy baskets. I think that’s something we continue to stress to our young guys is you don’t want to allow a team at any point, whether it’s a home game or a road game, to see the ball go in hole without having to really go through a stressful possession. If they go through side-to-side offensive, if they set great screens, if they execute their offense and make a shot with a hand up, we’re contesting the shot, you smack them on the back and run down and play offense. What you don’t want to do is have live-ball turnovers that give them a chance to score the ball where your defense isn’t set. You don’t want to have mental lapses. You don’t want to have mistakes where you’re not having the opportunity to be at your best. So I think any time you’re playing a team in the Southeastern Conference, they’ve got talented players, they’ve got a coaching staff that’s put together a game plan that is going to try to take our strengths and turn them into weaknesses and then try to take our weaknesses and exploit them. Same thing that Coach Cal is doing right now for our game tomorrow. So I think our guys, our young guys are starting to understand, and that’s a big credit towards our veterans that are stepping up and making sure these guys are ready to play.”
On EJ Montgomery …
“I think it’s a young guy who is still trying to figure out how hard this is. The burden of success and failure are right on your shoulders for however many minutes you play. You’re being challenged and you’re being put into a position where you have to produce. EJ is practicing at an all-time high where he is focused and in a great mindset. I think the biggest thing that Coach Cal would talk about, wouldn’t you say, EJ, [as Montgomery walks by] is conditioning. [Montgomery walking by say, ‘Yeah.’] He’s a guy that’s put in the work. He’s doing extra work. He’s competing every single possession. I think as a staff that’s all we can ask for, and you have to do it in practice before you do it the games; and you have to do it for five minutes at the beginning of the game and maybe you have to do it at the end before you can do it for 20 or 25 or 30 minutes or however many minutes it is. You look at a guy like Nick Richards who has now had a demonstrated performance over and over again and you gain confidence from that. I think EJ’s right behind him.”
On if the staff is encouraged by Montgomery’s progress …
“For us, we believe in EJ and I think sometimes, like I said, it’s not the coach or the assistant coaches that are putting confidence in these guys; it’s themselves building their own confidence. That comes from being in great shape. That comes from putting in the extra time on your own or with coaches to then showing the ability to be able to do it in the games. That’s where our guys are right now, is they’re continuing to gain confidence in the games. Like I said, tomorrow night’s another opportunity to go out and play together, gain confidence and ultimately, hopefully come away with a win.”
On if the players learned anything from the Evansville loss …
“I think when you go through a season, you’re always able to teach. As coaches, that’s not something we directly talk about. But it happened. Just like the Michigan State game happened, or now most recently the Texas Tech game happened where you have opportunities to learn. You have opportunities to teach. I don’t necessarily think, and I think Coach would kind of echo my statement of saying that I don’t know that one game sticks out more than any one other. Maybe to the players it does;maybe that’s a question for them. But for us, this is a process and that was a step in our process of becoming a better team.”
On Dontaie Allen’s status …
“I mean, he’s practicing. He’s getting better. I think a guy like Johnny Juzang is going to have an opportunity to play more minutes and he had some great minutes in the game the other day. I think Keion Brooks (Jr.) was a little bit under the weather down in Lubbock, but I think he’s a guy that’s going to be thrust a little more into that kind of wing position, where (earlier) he was playing a little bit of a stretch four. But you got great minutes out of Nate Sestina the other night. I think for us, our guys come into the games and they’re all ready to play. I think you’re excited about Johnny. You’re excited about Keion. And those settings really, when healthy, both of those guys have had some opportunities taken away from them by illness and I think you move forward and hope that they’re all ready, that we’re all healthy tomorrow night and moving forward.”
On the chances of Allen playing this season …
“I think Dontaie is working hard, you know, and everyone is on their own path and their own timetable. When Dontaie’s ready and willing to be ready to go, I think for us there’s no rush on our part and I don’t know that there’s any rush there. You want to make sure you’re in the right frame of mind, the right physical state of mind, and we’ll cross that bridge when we get there.”
Nick Richards on being more comfortable …
“Yeah, I mean, Nick is a guy who has put time in, who has, once again like I said earlier, has had a demonstrative performance and has had success doing what Coach Cal has asked of him, what are team has needed from him – and he has done in major minutes. And when I say major minutes, crucial points in the game. You’re only going to gain confidence through that, making big free throws, coming up with big rebounds, and little things for Nick where he gets rebounds and throws a perfect outlet pass. Gets an offensive rebound first play of the game andwe kick it out. He has another great kick out to Johnny Juzangfor a wide-open 3 early in that half. You’re starting to see Nick’s overall game evolve, not just the bits and pieces where he’s getting baskets or having success rebounding. I think you’restarting to see Nick become a complete player, which I think we’ve all thought he could become and I think Nick thought he could become, but now he’s actually doing it and you can’t help but gain confidence from that.”
On his thoughts on Kobe Bryant …
“I mean, I think as a basketball fan and, I mean, I even think as a father you’ve seen Kobe evolve over his career. I can remember like it was yesterday, getting up at – I don’t know – 3:30, 4 in the morning watching that gold medal game when Kobe went crazy in the fourth quarter. I remember the rest of that day just feeling just this euphoria because USA basketball had hit that low and then Kobe had basically put the country on his back and helped us get the gold medal. I think in the last couple years, you watched a bit of an idol or a hero spend time with his child, his daughter, around the game of basketball. I love having that same feeling when my son walks into Rupp Arena with me or when he comes to practice to shootaround and we just go shoot hoops and we can share something that has been so important to me, that was so important to my father and I. When you see somebody like that and then all of a sudden they’re no longer here, you know, it’s just really is a sobering moment in a lot of ways.”