When asked about team confidence in the wake of rushing for only 35 yards against Louisville, Coach Joker Phillips defended the system and the UK players.
“We’ve been in this system a long time,” he said. “It’s not broke. We’ve had a lot of success in this system.”
As for the players, many thrust in prominent roles for the first time, Phillips said, “We feel the personnel is just as good as some of the teams we’ve had here. We’ve got to get them to play better as coaches.”
That prompted a reporter to ask if Phillips wanted fans and media to blame him and his staff for the loss to Louisville and the sputtering offense so far this season.
“It’s a combination,” he said. “We haven’t done a good job preparing the team. When we had opportunities to make plays, (the plays were not always made). We have to do a better job all around, as coaches and players.”
Jerry Tipton of the Lexington Herald- Leader has covered Kentucky basketball since the 1981-82 season. That time includes five coaches, five Final Fours, four athletic directors, two interim athletic directors and many memories. Before coming to Lexington, Tipton worked eight years for the Huntington (W.Va.) Herald-Dispatch. He covered Marshall’s basketball team for two seasons before coming to the Herald-Leader.
