did that meeting differ from your first meeting with the team three
years ago?
AThe obvious thing was ?   that there was so much ?   more talent in the room. The expectations are so much higher, and the anticipation is so much greater. There's just so much more excitement in the air, because you're coming off" so many positives instead of all the negatives. The first year, there was hope, but not necessarily belief. Right now, there's great hope and great belief. People expect things again, and that's good.
You just wrote a book,
? with Dick Weiss, titled
? "Full-Court Pressure." fiaTdoes that signify?
AThere are several ?   different connotations ?   behind that title. One is our style of play. We are constantly giving people full-court defenses. The other is to kind of explain the pressure and the magnitude of Kentucky basketball, how big it is in the lives of Kentuckians and Kentucky supporters. It's good pressure, because they're blindly loyal people.
Q
Talk about the schedule, ?   and the SEC format.
AThis year, it's difficult in ?   places. The biggest ?  advantage last year was that we had 18 home games. This year we only have 13 home games. The SEC will get stronger and stronger each year, because we're
having the best recruiting years. We open the season with Wright State, with a lot of good players returning. They are a formidable opponent, because when you're a young team, you have to get over jitters. Then you have Georgia Tech, a game I'm looking forward to playing after last season. We get the opportunity now guaranteed to go to New York. We don't have to win to get there, so we won't be cancelling any reservations this year. That will be exciting, because I haven't been inside Madison Square Garden since they renovated it. I'm looking forward to spending a week in New York at the greatest time of year for that city.
We finally got Indiana to come to Kentucky. It's not in Lexington, but at
Louisville, which is great for us. And then the SEC is interesting, because last year a lot of people thought top-to-bottom the west was stronger, and this year it shifts. This year you have tremendous power in the east. Florida has just about every player returning. Georgia loses one player. Tennessee does not lose a player, and neither does Vandy. So you're looking at a division that is very, very strong. The other division will be very young, but also extremely talented. The SEC, because of the way we're recruiting, will be just dynamite for the next four to five years.
Q
Have you talked to this ?   team about goals?
AYes, we talked about thet ?   methods that we must ?   use to achieve our goals] more so than the goal itself. By methods I mean all the things we must have  integrity, loyalty, dedication, sacrifice. We must have all these things to reach our goal, which is to get to New Orleans.
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