Gillispie Presser

Not a huge news day, but two tidbits: 1. Darius Miller is on the team and will be there tomorrow, as UK indicated earlier in the week. 2. Ramon Harris is expected at this point to play. Beat the Filthy Cards (those are my words, not his) SOME QUOTES: On Louisville… "They are a really good team. Coach (Rick) Pitino has a definite plan and he is a great coach. They have some very experienced players and they are always able to put five guys on the court that you have to guard. It all sounds simple, but not too many teams are able to do what Louisville does. They really do a good job of spreading the floor and getting the ball where they want it. They are great offensively, and they play some great transition defense because their pressure is good and their half-court defense is outstanding. That is why they were ranked third in the preseason and that is why they will play to that ranking. They have really good players and they execute really well." On Patrick Patterson against Louisville… "Well, I believe last year he went 2-for-10 in the first half. If we can get 10 shots from Patrick in the first half then I'll feel pretty good. They did a very good job in post defense, but Patrick missed some shots that he normally makes. If I was playing us, I would try to take Patrick and Jodie (Meeks) away so we will just have to be good in other spots." On Ramon Harris’ health… "He is doing better. I expect him to play tomorrow unless something unforeseen happens." On the team’s progression throughout the season… "I think everyone is getting better. I think we are getting more comfortable at understanding what it is we are supposed to be doing. Tomorrow will be a good test for us to see how well we play in a hostile environment. We have only had one true road game all season and that was horrific. It should be a hostile environment and it should be a lot of fun. We have to make major steps forward since the last time we were on the road. We didn't handle the ball very well and got off to a bad start and we can't do that again. I think everyone is getting better, but it should be interesting to watch tomorrow." On the magnitude game… "Every game is big. Our last game against Central Michigan was a very big game for us, now our next game is Louisville and it is a very big game for us. The most important games are conference games, but that doesn't take away from how big tomorrow's game is. The players are excited to play, I'm excited to coach and I know the fans are excited about the game. It’s not just a regular game. " On playing on the road… "I think we have guys who are growing up and really starting to emerge as leaders. We are starting to understand much better what the expectations should be on each and every possession. Like I said earlier, we have only been in a loud, away game once. When we were out in Las Vegas it was really a home-court type of advantage because of our fans. Last time we were in Louisville (against Appalachian State), it was supposed to be a neutral game, but it really wasn't. The scariest thing about playing an experienced team is playing them on the road. I look forward to the challenge, but I don't really have the answers to how we will play on the road. We will only know after we play some more games (away from home). Five of our next seven games are (away), so we better get good at playing on the road in a real big hurry."