The House of Blue

Here are quotes I got from the Vanderbilt locker room tonight...

KEVIN STALLINGS
YOU TALKED ABOUT HAVING A SEASON OPF FIRSTS. HAS YOUR SEASON MIRRORED KENTUCKY?
That's just how their program is, they get a new cast of characters every year and they're always great.

WEAR THE BLUE TIE AGAIN TOMORROW?
I wore this intentionally because I was hoping – it's kind of like a political vote with the undecideds – I was hoping the undecided Kentucky fans would cheer for us, so I wore the blue (tie) just in the event I could get the undecided vote.

GAME PREPARATION IN PLAYING A TEAM FOR THE THIRD TIME?
They're pretty familiar with us, we're pretty familiar with them. We've had two competitive games, just like last year, and now you sort of anticipate a slugfest for the third one. They're a really good team and hopefully we can play well.

HOW DO MATCH UP WITH THEM?
Okay. Okay. Maybe not as good as last year. Seriously, I thought we matched up a little better last year even though they were a lot better and we were a lot better. Really, what matters now is how you play, not so much who you play or where you play. We're just going to have to play well to win.

IN THE SECOND MEETING YOU TALKED AFTERWARD ABOUT HOW DISAPPOINTED YOU WERE IN YOUR DEFENSE. THAT WAS THE FIRST GAME THEY SPREAD IT OUT. ARE THEY ANY DIFFERENT NOW?
I can't answer that question because I haven't seen them. We'll watch quite a bit tonight and see what we see but our defense was completely ineffective against them in the last game. Our defensive numbers before that were okay but in that game they just did what they wanted to do. They drove us, they threw it inside, they did whatever. If that happens again then we'll get beat again.

YOU ALL WERE ONE OF THE FEW TEAMS TO FACE KENTUCKY WITH NERLENS NOEL AND WITHOUT. WERE THE DIFFERENCES SIGNIFICANT?
We had a harder time guarding them the second time. I don't know if it was because of venues, maybe it was because we were playing at their place, but it felt like to me they did more to us when they were on offense. We just didn't have any answers. We guarded them way better in the first game. We couldn't guard them in the second game.

HOW DEPENDENT ARE YOU ON THREES?
Oh....pretty. We don't score a lot of post-up points. We just don't We try to get the defense spread out and run through presses and shoot it. We're not trying to hold onto it, we're going to go and do what we do and hope is we miss some our defense holds us in (the game),. We need to make shots and Kentucky is good at defending them. They know we need to make them and they'll do a great job of pressing up, we're just going to have to execute.

TOMORROW'S ATMOSPHERE...
I don't know. I don't care. We've seen it. If there are 20,000 Kentucky fans in here we've played in front of 24.The atmosphere won't bother us. Kentucky's players will bother us, that's what we have to worry about. We have to worry about their team, not their fans. Our guys will compete. Our guys aren't afraid.

KEDREN JOHNSON
YOU ALL WERE ONE OF THE FEW TEAMS TO FACE KENTUCKY WITH NERLENS NOEL AND WITHOUT. WERE THE DIFFERENCES SIGNIFICANT?
“Noel is a big presence when he's on defense. When you're going in there, driving the lane, you really have to watch where he's at because he'll come and block it from outside the lane, similar to how Anthony Davis was last year, just not quite the same caliber. It's a huge difference, to catch the ball in the paint and know that Noel is not out there. It's something that your big men think about when they catch the ball in the paint.

COACH STALLINGS SAID HE THOUGHT KENTUCKY WAS MORE DIFFICULT TO GUARD IN SECOND GAME WITHOUT NOEL. WAS IT THAT DIFFERENT OR JUST A BAD DEFENSIVE NIGHT?
I think it was a bad defensive night on us. We really caught it from Coach after that game. I mean we really played horrible on defense in that game. They got to the basket any time they wanted. That's the big thing with Kentucky, you have to try and keep them out of the lane because they such good slashers.

YOU'VE PLAYED TWO CLOSE GAMES AGAINST THEM. HOW MUCH CONFIDENCE DO YOU HAVE?
Not just those guys but I' think we've built confidence in each other with the trials and tribulations we've been through this season. We still believe in one another and that's why we've come out successful the last couple of games.

ANY ADVANTAGE IN HAVING PLAYED TONIGHT, GETTING THE FIRST ONE OUT OF THE WAY?
I don't think it's an advantage unless we make it an advantage, unless we come out and really impose our will on the game. That's the big thing, we have to come out swinging.

COACH STALLINGS SAID KENTUCKY IS EVERYBODY'S RIVAL...
Just because of their reputation more than anything. They have such a good coach and you know there is a buzz always in the gym when Kentucky is playing. It's hard to ignore but a fun thing to be a part of.

TEAMS HAVE HAD SUCCESS BEING PHYSICAL WITH THEM. HOW MUCH IS THAT THE GOAL?
It's a big thing when you play Kentucky, they're expected to win so you have to come out and try to beat that mentality.

KYLE FULLER
DO YOU SEE ANYTHING YOU CAN EXPLOIT FROM KENTUCKY?
Not really. I'm going to have to go watch film again to see what we did good but I feel like the last couple of games we kept hitting them and they kept hitting us and then the last four minutes they kept hitting and we stopped. We stopped making those shots and we got tight. We can't do that. We've got to keep playing.

YOU ALL WERE ONE OF THE FEW TEAMS TO FACE KENTUCKY WITH NERLENS NOEL AND WITHOUT. WERE THE DIFFERENCES SIGNIFICANT?
Heck yeah, because there were two big 'ole towers in there so if you drove in (the lane) one way Cauley-Stein would be there and if you drove the other way Noel was there. Now it's different. Now if you drive one way and he'll come up and then you've got the big men out. That was beneficial for us.