Kevin Stallings Quotations

We're more athletic, but again, I'm not saying that we're at the same athletic level of all of the teams in our conference. Our skill level also has improved. We've been able to compete a little bit more athletically and it's shown up in some areas of our play.

The real challenge is when the ball gets shot. Once it's up in the air, it's an absolute nightmare trying to keep them from getting to it. That's the most difficult thing about playing them.

We had a very good defensive stand. We didn't want anyone to be open. We were not to go inside the three-point line. It looked quirky with all the offensive players inside the line and all the defensive players outside.

We had a very disappointing loss (to South Carolina) and it will be very interesting to see how our team handles it. In this league, you don't have time to mourn a loss.

Last year we were a game or two away. This year we're a game or two away.

Shan is an outstanding player. He's had a very good year for us. He's been a pretty consistent player for us, which is a nice thing to be called when you're only a sophomore.

Most teams in this league have a terrific balance when it comes to players that are skilled and athletic. We're looking for the best balance we can find.

Obviously we've got yet another game where we're catching a team at a tough time coming off a tough loss and it seems like we've made a habit of that so far in the league season. Florida is always one of the most difficult places to play in the league. ... It will be a difficult task.

I was fine with how we ran our offense, and I was fine with how we played defense. We turned it over a few more than our average. Tennessee is good at making you do that.

I wouldn't say we're carrying the banner for the SEC, but we're doing our part. Florida has been the team that's jumped up and said, 'Hey, look at us.' That's not us. But we like where we are.

I don't get too worked up, but coaching in an SEC game and watching your son play in a big game are pretty comparable (on the nerves). But I want him to do well, that's for sure.

From what you read and what you hear, it sounds like we should've been invited to the women's tournament.

He got a good look at the basket. If it had gone in, that would have been the game.

Hopefully, we can break through. Our players have got to find a way. They need something good to happen for themselves.

Kelly was terrific. He was good in every aspect of the game. He got his head up a little bit the first half and really took it to us the second half.

I think it was hard for him, initially, during his freshman year and a little his sophomore year, whether it was the intensity or my yelling or whatever. He probably had some trouble adjusting to that. I think we've both worked hard to try and understand the other and accept some differences.

It is important to note this is not a suspension and not basketball related. This is a temporary leave of absence for medical reasons.

I think there have been some teams that played better than some expected. I think Florida and Tennessee would fall into that category. Georgia has played very well, too, so I think there are a lot of teams that have surpassed expectations.

Other than a minute and a half, our team played an extremely good game.

I was very pleased to see our guys bounce back today with the effort and energy, especially with how they played with in the first half. It was one of those games where anything can happen after the devastation we felt on Wednesday night. A team with less character would not show up to play.

That was one that obviously shouldn't have gotten away from us.

I was not happy at halftime. Our defensive play was sloppy, and I thought we did much better in the second half.

We had lost three games on the last possession in league play. I'm really happy for our players. They deserve this.

We've had consistent breakdowns, especially offensively. Unfortunately, some of the same guys are making the mistakes.

We are in a tough spot. We'll have a character check and hopefully bounce back.

We are one of the lowest-fouling teams in the league. We have put a big emphasis on not fouling. Obviously, we were not able to master that today.

We've certainly enjoyed the bye week and having the opportunity to try to get our legs back under us a little bit.

We didn't finish the first half well. We kind of let them off the hook a little bit.

When you have a guy who can control the speed and pace of a game, it makes a huge difference for teams.

Without going into great details, it turned into quite the emergency situation. Our trainer Mike Meyer was courtside and was phenomenal. We called 911 and the paramedics got there shortly. Fortunately, he had great medical care and he's doing fine. He's going to be fine.

While we are extremely disappointed that this means the end of Davis' playing career, we're very grateful that the prognosis for the rest of his life is good. Mike Meyer is truly a hero. He single-handedly saved the life of Davis.

We wanted to push the tempo and run it more and I thought we did, especially after the first few minutes of the game. When the pace got up, it favored us.

We got a much needed win at South Carolina on Saturday. I like how our team is playing. We feel like we've played solid basketball over the last two or three weeks.

We tried very hard to recruit Derrick out of high school. We actually thought we would be right there and have a chance to get him. Virginia got him, but we felt like he was a very good player.

We did a good job of getting back in the game in the second half, but we ran out of gas. You have to play really well on the road to win in this league. We didn't and they did.

Every game is a game unto itself. Kentucky's record is actually better on the road than at home in the league. We know it is going to be a difficult game. It was a difficult game last time. Both teams fought hard and played good defense and had trouble scoring. We were fortunate a couple things did go our way at the end, but I doubt if that will matter Saturday.

Corey is a real high-energy player. That's one reason we tried to recruit him. He made some key plays for them tonight, and that might have been the biggest.

There's not a lot to complain about. He's been a big reason why we've played better.

I've been saying our team has been playing good basketball. We just don't have a lot to show for it.

(Terrell) gave us a presence inside today that we haven't had in the last few games.

Something could have happened. I thought the player in question showed incredible restraint. I don't know how I would have reacted under the same circumstances.

Sparks can make you stretch your defense more than you want. I think it shows how much teams respect him that he still was not getting many open looks even when he was not shooting well. Nobody wants to let him get on a roll with his shooting because if he does, he can shoot you out of a game.

As I told them right after the game last night, we won our first two conference games last year, then we proceeded to lose four of six. Our response to that game is more important than the game itself.

They shoot it more than us, and they shoot it better.

This has been fun to be part of, though this is only Jacob's second year with that. He's really enjoyed this experience and I hope it all works out for them because this is a very talented team.

You don't want to know how I feel about that. Out of respect to (Kentucky coach) Tubby ( Smith ), I'd rather not answer that question.

As we continue to elevate the status of our program, we need to elevate the quality of our schedule.

It's as difficult a non-conference schedule as we've had since I've been here. As we continue to elevate the status of our program, we need to elevate the quality of our schedule. We feel confident that our team will embrace the difficult schedule and hopefully respond to the challenge.

It's as difficult a non-conference schedule as we've had since I've been here,

It was a tale of two halves. We had a chance to grab control of the game and we didn't finish the first half well. We kind of let them off the hook a little bit. They came out and dominated the second half. They overpowered us inside.

It was a tale of two halves. We had a chance in the first half to grab control of the game and we didn't finish.

I told the guys after the game that I was happiest that they weren't surprised. I could feel a very high level of confidence in that room. It's OK if they're surprised about the big win, but I'm happy they're not.

It's not like we haven't worked on them, it's not like we haven't talked about them, it's not like we haven't drilled for it.

It's the same every year. People want to seem to pick (SEC) to be down, but it never really seems like we are. We lost some great players last year, but I think year-after-year you're going to have great players in this league. I'm not surprised in the least.

It's frustrating because of the amount we've talked about it and the amount of effort we put into it. They're not forced errors. They are unforced errors. Those are the things that drive you crazy as a coach.

Eventually the foul problems and the discrepancy in free throws just got us. It was too much for us to overcome.

It kind of came down to the fact our leading scorer was nowhere what we needed him to be in order to give us a chance to win on either end. He wasn't very good on offense and he was less than that on defense, unfortunately.

It was a great game, obviously. I'm proud of our players. Guys with lesser character would have been too down to show up to play or would have panicked when things were going against us.

They were up on him and he was just taking the ball to the basket. He's just a really good player.

That's completely ludicrous. That's completely nonsensical. If Mario has a question, he asks me. If I have a question, I ask him. That's absurd.

I'm not surprised at all. Some people want to pick us to be down, but it never seems like we are.

In some ways this game felt the game at our place only in reverse. We kind of had the game won a couple different times in Nashville and somehow found a way to not to finish the job. It seemed like they had this one a couple times.

I really thought our guys played hard and played well on the defensive end. We just didn't make shots in the second half, and shooting will come and go on you, but I really thought our guys competed hard.

I probably deserved one long before I got that one. You've got to stand up and fight for your guys at some point. We out-rebounded them by 12, and not only that they had a lot more misses than we did. We hold them to 36 percent, we shoot 47 percent...some of those things didn't add up.

Cage was huge for us off the bench. I thought his play on both ends, not just his shots, but the physicality he played with on defense and his energy was really a key for us.

Georgia is probably the most improved team in the league. Dennis (Felton) has done a nice job of bringing the program along. It will be a difficult challenge to get a game back on the road.

The first thing we wrote on the board was that we have to do a great job on 23 (Morrow). I guess we didn't get that done.