Jan. 12, 2009
Vanderbilt (11-4, 0-1) vs. Georgia (9-7, 0-1)
Wednesday, Jan. 14 at 7 p.m.
Memorial Gym — Nashville, Tenn.
TV: None | Radio: 104.5 FM | XM: Channel 238
Audio: Listen to the entire teleconference at SECsports.com
Vanderbilt basketball head coach Kevin Stallings and Georgia head coach Dennis Felton fielded questions about their first conference contests, game execution and their head-to-head matchup on Wednesday with the national media during Tuesday’s SEC Teleconference. Find out what each coach had to say about the matchup.
Kevin Stallings, Vanderbilt Head Coach
Opening statement:
“We’re coming off a tough game up in Lexington (against Kentucky), one that they played very well in and we did not. Obviously a big key for us, hopefully is to get A.J. Ogilvy back in the lineup, which we’re uncertain about. We don’t know any more right now than we knew on Saturday relative to his foot. So, we don’t know whether he’ll be able to practice or play this Wednesday. I’ll probably know more by tomorrow. But in any event as we go forward in this season, A.J.’s health obviously will be a big key for us.
“Georgia seems like they’re playing very well right now, had Tennessee on the ropes. Even though they lost, I thought they played very well at Georgia Tech, and so it seems like they’re playing very good basketball. We expect a typical conference game with them. Hopefully we’ll be a little healthier when Wednesday rolls around, and able to play a little more closely to what we think we’re capable of.”
Maurice Patton, The Tennessean:
How do you feel the loss of Sundiata Gaines and other key players from last year has affected UGA’s play this year?
“I can’t detect a big change if any in their style of play. Terrance Woodbury has gotten a lot better it seems like. Their freshman big kid is putting up really good numbers for them, and Zac Swansey seems to be doing a very, very solid job at the point. They’ve got shooters, and they’re deep inside. This is a big, physical basketball team we’re playing. They play two or three different defenses. Again, I don’t know if they’ve changed how they play that much. I really don’t think they have, but I think they’re still very effective; and I think they’re playing much better right now than I think they were earlier in the season.”
Given their size on the inside, does that make it even more important to get Ogilvy back healthy for the matchup?
“It’s conference time, so you need all the weapons you can muster. We need everybody. Lance Goulbourne was injured last week and played in the game mentally on Saturday, but didn’t play well, didn’t have a good week of practice when he did practice. We’ve got a number of issues, like I’m sure everybody else does. It’s just that time of year and the way it is. Obviously the more of your weapons you have the better the chance you’re going to have.”
Jimmy Hyams, Sports Talk (WNML-AM) – Knoxville
Do you think Kentucky is a better team this year than last year, and if so, how?
“I would say that Kentucky is a better team than they were a year ago, and even though they had very good guard play last year with Ramel Bradley and Joe Crawford, I think Jodie Meeks is better than both of those guys. Patrick Patterson is his typical dominant self. I just think that their role players have gotten better. Again, Meeks’ emergence as a real star player in our league and the role players getting better I think are the reasons.”
What effect do you think the extended 3-point line has had?
“It’s hard to tell for me because again our team does not shoot the ball like we’ve been able to shoot it the last two years. So, I can’t really judge by my own team’s performance. I’m sure the percentages… it just makes sense that they’re going to go down a little bit, because the further away from the goal you move the percentages have to go down.”
Darren Epps, Chattanooga Times Free Press:
Have the players had to make more of an adjustment than they thought to the new 3-point distance, and are you surprised that the 3-point shooting percentages have been down across the league?
“Again, I haven’t seen what the numbers reflect, and I really tend to only concern myself with what my team’s doing and the team that we’re getting ready to play. I can’t tell you anything about those numbers. I’m not surprised their down. But again, I think we lost some great shooters from our league from a year ago. When you start losing Shan Foster and (Chris) Lofton and guys like that, I think that unless you’re replacing those guys with really prolific shooters, I think numbers have a chance to go down; and I think some of it is just that we lost some great shooters from a year ago. But again, I also think that the further you move the line back the lower the percentages are going to be.”
Dennis Felton, Georgia Head Coach
On the upcoming matchup with Vanderbilt:
“We’re looking forward to the trip to Nashville. I think Coach Stallings is doing just a terrific job with his team. They’re kind of an overall group like we are, doing some new things, some different things to take advantage of some of his different types of personnel. They have some very, very terrific young freshmen that are making good impacts on what they’re trying to do. I just look forward to another great SEC challenge.”
Maurice Patton, The Tennessean:
Can you talk about how you’re team is different without some of the guys you lost from last season?
“We’re just extra young and inexperienced. Many of our main producers are freshmen and sophomores. Sundiata Gaines was the anchor to our team at the most important position for the last for years. Now, we have Zac (Swansey), who’s been starting at that position as a sophomore, and Dustin Ware, who’s making just about as much of an impact at that position as Zac is as a freshman. David Bliss was a considerable anchor for our team from a leadership standpoint and for reliability, consistency, know-how and physical presence inside. We’re just a lot younger and less experienced, but I do think we’re just as or more talented and athletic, and a team that has tremendous potential as we grow and mature.”
Tom Murphy, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette:
How did your team deal with Ogilvy last year, and what you make of VU as they play without him?
“Obviously Ogilvy was one of the most dominant players in the league last year, but this year they’ve added a couple of more kind of true more low-post kind of guys, who are really aggressive and physical inside in sealing and wanting the ball in the low post. So, Vanderbilt has become a little more of a post-up oriented team than they’ve been.
“I still think they want to and do a pretty good job of pushing it up the floor quickly and looking for early offense. I don’t know if it was just because they didn’t have Ogilvy or just the way the game was played. Kentucky put a lot of pressure on them, and pressure can tend to speed you up sometimes. But, I thought they played maybe even faster against Kentucky, maybe faster than they wanted to in terms of getting up the shots they chose to get up and that sort of thing.
“But, I really can’t answer that. All I can do is look at it from the outside in and try to analyze what I think is going on. The addition of Jeffery Taylor… Taylor is a tremendous player, just so athletic and can really score and take it to the rim and finish. He’s a tremendous addition to their team and brings a lot of athleticism to their team. He’s got a really, really bright future in this league.”