KENTUCKY HC MARK POPE OFFICIAL POSTGAME Q&A:
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KENTUCKY HC MARK POPE UK RADIO NETWORK Q&A:
* Thought the rebounding situation in the first half let the game get away from them for a bit. Liked their competitive spirit and how they rectified that in the second half, but have to learn how to avoid that situation in the first half again.
* When things got away from the Cats, guys broke down a little bit and tried to "fix things" by themselves instead of trusting the system and playing off each other.
* Lamont Butler's playing great. The fouls in the first half and the ankle in the second half were unfortunate. Says he never wants to be a coach who "fouls his own man out," may have to find a way to roll the dice a little more on those situations with him.
* So many places in the game where we could have functioned more like us, but I'm proud of the competitive nature. We just have to play better. We left so much on the table tonight due to our own decisions and how hard Clemson played us in a scratch-and-claw environment. We haven't quite figured out how to play through that yet, but we've got to do it fast.
* On learning from this... That's why you play these games. We're far from the team we can be. We just have to continue to find ways to get better. That's the process of a season.
* A lot of "un-Kentucky" stats on the sheet, but still had a shot at the end... The big thing, the black-and-white thing, is the assists. We can't be an 11-assist, 12-turnover team.
* We've proven ourselves to be competitive, together as a team, fight to the end. But our decision-making has to get better. Our ceiling is so much higher than what we showed tonight.
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KENTUCKY HC MARK POPE UK RADIO NETWORK Q&A:
* Thought the rebounding situation in the first half let the game get away from them for a bit. Liked their competitive spirit and how they rectified that in the second half, but have to learn how to avoid that situation in the first half again.
* When things got away from the Cats, guys broke down a little bit and tried to "fix things" by themselves instead of trusting the system and playing off each other.
* Lamont Butler's playing great. The fouls in the first half and the ankle in the second half were unfortunate. Says he never wants to be a coach who "fouls his own man out," may have to find a way to roll the dice a little more on those situations with him.
* So many places in the game where we could have functioned more like us, but I'm proud of the competitive nature. We just have to play better. We left so much on the table tonight due to our own decisions and how hard Clemson played us in a scratch-and-claw environment. We haven't quite figured out how to play through that yet, but we've got to do it fast.
* On learning from this... That's why you play these games. We're far from the team we can be. We just have to continue to find ways to get better. That's the process of a season.
* A lot of "un-Kentucky" stats on the sheet, but still had a shot at the end... The big thing, the black-and-white thing, is the assists. We can't be an 11-assist, 12-turnover team.
* We've proven ourselves to be competitive, together as a team, fight to the end. But our decision-making has to get better. Our ceiling is so much higher than what we showed tonight.
