GO BIG BLUE

Wednesday March 11, 2009
SEC Tournament: Patterson says fans forget UK coach is human
Wednesday March 11, 2009
SEC Tournament: Patterson says fans forget UK coach is human
By LARRY VAUGHT larry@amnews.com
TAMPA — Patrick Patterson says some people, including Kentucky fans, might have the wrong perception of UK coach Billy Gillispie.
“He is a human being. People outside this (UK basketball) family sometimes think that coach Gillispie is here to run Kentucky and he is a demon and blah, blah, blah,” said Patterson, UK’s sophomore center. “I hear a bunch of stuff about him.
“But we know on this team that he is a human being. He loves basketball and coaching. That is what he is here to do.”
Still, many UK fans are wondering if Gillispie has been too hard on the Cats and that’s why the team has slipped to a 19-12 overall mark and 8-8 Southeastern Conference record going into Thursday’s SEC Tournament game with Mississippi.
“Everybody thinks he is too hard and says this or that about him. The list goes on and on. But that is definitely not true,” Patterson said.
“No one is thinking to get this over with or is ready for the season to be over with. We all want to continue playing basketball. Everyone is just concentrating on Ole Miss and wants to play with great intensity. If we can do that and beat Ole Miss, then we can go to step two against LSU (on Friday).”
If Kentucky doesn’t win the SEC tourney, it will have its streak of 17 straight NCAA Tournament appearances snapped because after a 5-0 start in league play, the Cats have lost eight of their last 11 games.
“We know there is a lot of pressure on us, but we are not looking at that. We are looking to the future, and that’s Ole Miss,” said Patterson, UK’s second leading scorer (18.4 points per game) and top rebounder (9.2).
“We know that Kentucky wins basketball games and we were not able to do that as much as we thought we should have or as much as we wanted to. We didn’t finish the conference the way that we wanted to. But we know what lies ahead. If we can win this SEC Tournament, we can still go on.”
Desire to win
Patterson insisted that didn’t make it hard to focus on Ole Miss.
“We want to win this tourney. We probably want to win more than anybody in the SEC,” Patterson said. “To do that, we have to win four games. If you don’t win that first game, then there will not be a second game. So it is all or nothing from here on out.”
Patterson says Gillispie has not applied extra pressure to the team.
“He is still pretty much the same. He still has total confidence in us,” Patterson said. “He is ready for us to play. He is the same calm, collected guy. Everyone is just having fun, telling jokes and being a closer family We are enjoying each other’s company as it winds down and just don’t want it (the season) to end.”
Players did seem more relaxed and candid during the team’s open practice and media session Wednesday. It was the first time since media day in mid-October that every player on the team was available to the media.
“Everyone is more happy now. Everyone is not worried about anything else except winning. You can pretty much say our backs are against the wall,” Patterson said. “If we lose this game, we are most likely done.
“We have to have great intensity, heart and passion to win. But everyone is just having fun and staying in a good mood. We block out all the outside stuff and worry about this team and nothing else.”
Copyright:The Advocate-Messenger 2009 larry@amnews.com
TAMPA — Patrick Patterson says some people, including Kentucky fans, might have the wrong perception of UK coach Billy Gillispie.
“He is a human being. People outside this (UK basketball) family sometimes think that coach Gillispie is here to run Kentucky and he is a demon and blah, blah, blah,” said Patterson, UK’s sophomore center. “I hear a bunch of stuff about him.
“But we know on this team that he is a human being. He loves basketball and coaching. That is what he is here to do.”
Still, many UK fans are wondering if Gillispie has been too hard on the Cats and that’s why the team has slipped to a 19-12 overall mark and 8-8 Southeastern Conference record going into Thursday’s SEC Tournament game with Mississippi.
“Everybody thinks he is too hard and says this or that about him. The list goes on and on. But that is definitely not true,” Patterson said.
“No one is thinking to get this over with or is ready for the season to be over with. We all want to continue playing basketball. Everyone is just concentrating on Ole Miss and wants to play with great intensity. If we can do that and beat Ole Miss, then we can go to step two against LSU (on Friday).”
If Kentucky doesn’t win the SEC tourney, it will have its streak of 17 straight NCAA Tournament appearances snapped because after a 5-0 start in league play, the Cats have lost eight of their last 11 games.
“We know there is a lot of pressure on us, but we are not looking at that. We are looking to the future, and that’s Ole Miss,” said Patterson, UK’s second leading scorer (18.4 points per game) and top rebounder (9.2).
“We know that Kentucky wins basketball games and we were not able to do that as much as we thought we should have or as much as we wanted to. We didn’t finish the conference the way that we wanted to. But we know what lies ahead. If we can win this SEC Tournament, we can still go on.”
Desire to win
Patterson insisted that didn’t make it hard to focus on Ole Miss.
“We want to win this tourney. We probably want to win more than anybody in the SEC,” Patterson said. “To do that, we have to win four games. If you don’t win that first game, then there will not be a second game. So it is all or nothing from here on out.”
Patterson says Gillispie has not applied extra pressure to the team.
“He is still pretty much the same. He still has total confidence in us,” Patterson said. “He is ready for us to play. He is the same calm, collected guy. Everyone is just having fun, telling jokes and being a closer family We are enjoying each other’s company as it winds down and just don’t want it (the season) to end.”
Players did seem more relaxed and candid during the team’s open practice and media session Wednesday. It was the first time since media day in mid-October that every player on the team was available to the media.
“Everyone is more happy now. Everyone is not worried about anything else except winning. You can pretty much say our backs are against the wall,” Patterson said. “If we lose this game, we are most likely done.
“We have to have great intensity, heart and passion to win. But everyone is just having fun and staying in a good mood. We block out all the outside stuff and worry about this team and nothing else.”
Copyright:The Advocate-Messenger 2009