Marcus Lee on Missouri, more

By: LARRY VAUGHT



In the last three games, sophomore Marcus Lee has played only 23 minutes, including just one minute in Kentucky’s Southeastern Conference opener against Mississippi when coach John Calipari questioned his effort.

He got to play 12 minutes in the double overtime win over Texas A&M Saturday thanks in part to Willie Cauley-Stein and Karl-Anthony Towns Jr. both fouling out.

“I just think Marcus has to go out and play with extreme confidence. Marcus Lee is a winner,” said UK assistant coach Kenny Payne Monday when he was previewing Tuesday night’s game against Missouri. “We need his energy, confidence, and defensive effort every single moment that he is out there. He, for us, should be and what Cal is trying to get him to be is Willie Cauley-Stein type of defender and being able to play multiple positions.”

Lee said he understands why his plaing time has decreased. He has not scored, taken a shot, grabbed a rebound or blocked a shot in the last two games.

“I’m in the game is to be energetic and make sure I get things done that I have to. So, if I’m not doing it, I shouldn’t be out there. That goes for everybody on the team. We all have a job, so if we’re not doing our job someone else can try to do it,” Lee said Monday.

Lee admits the team might lack focus at times.

“I do think we know we’re pretty good, but sometimes you got to have a toughness to go with it and focus. Then again, we’re still in college. We still have focus lapses. You got to just focus in sometimes and that’s what happened,” Lee said.

He said the team has learned every SEC game will be a battle after the Cats breezed through most of the non-conference games.

“That’s what we’re adjusting to. We have a couple people that forgot or haven’t really expected what our season was going to be like. That kind of just showed them what every game was going to be like,” Lee said.

Lee said taking Sunday off after Saturday’s double overtime road win helped the players.

“That’s something all good players have to do is take every game and see what they can do better, or what they did well and take the time to actually think about it instead of just rushing into something new,” he said.

Here’s more of what Lee said about lost swagger, defense, Missouri, Calipari and more:

Question: What did the team have before that it doesn’t seem to have now?
Lee: “I think we just have to remember when we came on what we started with and what we got our name off of. Once we found out what we were good at, we need to stick to it and that’s what we’re trying to go back to.”

Question: What did the make its name on early in the season?
Lee: “One thing we kind of knew is that we were going to be a good defensive team. We kind of forgot about that.”

Question: Have they lost their swagger?
Lee: “I’m not saying it was lost, it was just redirected. We were learning different things during the break. We were focusing on doing something different, knowing that’s something we could always go back on. It’s something where we took that time to get better, and now we have to go back to what we’re good at.”

Question: Is the target on their back getting bigger as the winning streak continues?
Lee: “I’ve been here for two years. I’ve had a target on my back since I’ve been here. That’s just the way it is here. You have to get used to it and battle through it each and every play.”

Question: Was the focus on adding to their individual games during the break between games a distraction?
Lee: “No, it wasn’t a distraction. As a team you have to focus on something you need to change, so as we were focusing on it we kind of forgot. You can’t call it a distraction because when you hear the word ‘distraction’ you hear something bad. This was all good, all good things happening, making us better. It was building us up. We just have to remember how to add it to what we’ve done so we can be better.”

Question: What does he expect from Missouri?
“Just like every other game in the SEC, it’s going to be a big dogfight. So you got to just be ready to battle because that’s what they’re wanting to do. They’re not just going to sit there and back up, like they’re not going to play. They’re going to come here and fight.”

Question: What did Calipari mean by “enough is enough” about close games?
Lee: “ I don’t what Cal means by most of the things he says. That’s why you guys (in the media) are asking me because you know just as well as I do. But he’s just knowing that it’s hard going through those tough games and that’s what makes great players great, going through those tough games and staying a team. It was great figuring out what we can do during that time and actually putting into place what we have set up during those times. So it helped.”

Question: Why aren’t close games a good thing then?
Lee: “You can only take so much of those. You can still get a heart attack from that. No one else can really take that much, like four games in a row of really close games.”

Question: Has Calipari talked to the post players about playing bigger?
Lee: “That’s just something that we as a big man group got to figure out. No one can really change that but us and how hard we go. So we’ve realized it as a group and as a team and we’re just working on fixing it.”

Question: Was there a different level of excitement for marquee nonconference games for early SEC games?
Lee: “I don’t think it was the excitement. It was just a different focus. Now that we know what we’re getting into and we’re settled into kind of how to go into each game because we’re always told every game’s a battle, but you got to actually be there and understand that every game’s a battle. You got to figure out what it takes you every day to get ready for that game. You got to do everything the exact same.”