Q&A: UK's John Robic reviews KU, previews BU

Kentucky assistant John Robic stood in for John Calipari today to preview the No. 1 Wildcats' game against Boston University tomorrow night at Rupp Arena. Coming off a 32-point rout of No. 5 Kansas, not much to nitpick, but he did address what's next for UK. Always thoughtful in answering questions, Robes is worth a read here:

JOHN ROBIC

On what he learned or confirmed about this team in its first high-level game: "That was probably the biggest thing: how they were going to react to a high-level game against a very good top-ranked opponent. We obviously played really well, and I thought everybody responded very very well in that game. Even towards the end of the first half when Kansas made a little run at us to cut it at halftime guys just grouped together at halftime and really answered the challenge coming out of halftime, scoring the first six points to get the lead back up."

On the freshmen not having to be carry the weight this season: "Well it's nice for those freshmen that they have a bunch of guys that came back and that are sophomores and juniors that we able to help them get through it. But again, some of those freshmen are showing everybody else that they deserve to be out there by the defensive intensity. I think it's helping both groups. And we get that every day in practice. So it's not abnormal for us to see that in a game situation."

On it being more important in this situation to have guys rooting for each other: "This group genuinely likes each other. I think that we really really benefitted by our summer trip. For them to get six real games in even though they didn't count it showed that they really came together. And they've been that way every day in practice. We have great kids that – you're right, they have given up some of their game, but they want to win. I think they're doing what it takes to win when they're on the floor and when they're not on the floor. It takes a special player and a special person when you're not in the game to be actively involved, and they are every time they go in and out."

On if the impressive second-half defensive numbers are a result of wearing teams down or intensity or something else: "I think it's a combination of both. Part of this platoon system, you see as it goes, the numbers as it goes along, we have a scoring breakdown of each segment, if you want to call it that. And you can see where you do start to get in their legs. It's something that the guys know we chart. It's important, especially on the defensive end. With our length and our athletic ability, there's no reason why we can't be a really good defensive team because of our size.

"And size with athleticism equals – it could be a problem for an opponent. And that's what it was. So we can pressure the ball a little bit more. We're doing a much better job of guarding the dribble. It's a little bit easier for us with bigger teams. You get into the exhibition games and some of your other nonconference games where you have small lineups, it's pretty tough for a 6-10, 7-footer to keep in front of 5-11, 6-feet. But we still have a game plan, and the guys are really doing well with."

On the most competitive or entertaining matchup in practice: "There's a lot of them. I think – I'll answer it – but I think at each position they're challenging one another. It's making each of them better in different ways. I like to see the big guys go at each other in different combinations, because you can go from quick, a Willie, to a strength force with Dakari. Marcus Lee is active, and Karl. So we've sort of intertwined matchups. Right now we're sticking with what we have until we think it needs to be changed. But the other thing about it is that each group feels really comfortable playing with one another, and why change it?"

On putting a greater emphasis on defending three-point shooters: "I mean, we're so big that if we can keep them off the foul line and keep them off the three-point line, it's gonna be tough to score. Teams are gonna come in with the theory that, 'we have to beat them from the three-point line.' If we can do a good job of that and make them drive into our bigs, we like what our bigs do defensively, and that's an important stat. We just can't give away free points from the three-point line."

On if he was surprised that Kansas kept driving without any sign of success: "Well, I think probably what their game plan was, was to drive the ball. And they didn't differ from that. You'd have to ask Bill (Self) that question. But we did a good job. Each game we've gotten better (at) defending straight-line drives. And that was the best we've done in three games. So from the first game with Grand Canyon until the Kansas game, we've gotten better each and every game."

On if they preach patience to Derek Willis and Dominique Hawkins: "Well, I think Dominique went through it last year and came through in the NCAA Tournament and played really well. And I think any player can look at what Marcus Lee did last year and was patient, patient, patient and really stepped up for us. And that has just carried over into this year for him.His confidence has grown immensely. You know, and foul trouble – they gotta be ready. That's one luxury we have with having 12. We have twelve guys that can really play, and those guys know that whatever group, if we need a guard sub or we need a forward sub, it would be one of those guys."

On the challenge he sees in the next three games: "Well we were off yesterday; we're getting ready to head to practice right now. I think that you have to keep building on what we did. I thought our communication was really, really good in the Kansas game. They followed the game plan perfectly. They paid attention to detail in a quick turnaround time; that's like an NCAA Tournament turnaround, so I was pleased with that. And I just think getting better. The score might not be indicative of getting better, but we can see it as coaches. But the first step to that is today's practice and just carrying on the things that we think we need improvement in."

On the challenge of having players keep striving to improve after beating a top-five team by 32: "We're not expecting to be perfect right now in November."

On just using the word 'perfect' to say they followed the game plan 'perfectly': "Well, I don't know how I used it. Perfect, perfectly, I mean, we don't expect to be at our peak right now. Obviously we're happy where we are (but) we want to peak in February. And we're striving for that. It's a thing where these kids gotta understand where we are right now and what they have to do individually, and what we have to do as a team to keep coming together as a unit to perform."

On if there's something the staff tells them to make that point: "I mean, the score was the score. I think it had a lot – I'm very happy with our defense; we made them take tough shots, we blocked 11 shots. We need to get better offensively, for sure. We have to get out in transition a little more. You know, the message for these guys is just: Each and every day, we have to get better at what we need to do as a team, whether it's defensively or offensively. And if we do that, we know that we're going to give it our best effort when we go out there, and hopefully tomorrow shows improvement for us. And that's why I said earlier the score may not be indicative of, 'Did we get better?' but in our eyes, did we see it? We'll see tomorrow."

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