"Do not over respect these guys, OK. This is a basketball game against a team that we are better than." Shaka Smart
What precisely should he have said? They kicked the crap out of us in the previous game. Would you rather he say, "guys I don't care if these guys are in first place, we beat their ass once and I know you'll do it again, so LFG!"
It’s a great quote if he wins and he looks like an ass if they lose. To me it’s just kind of weird to make it about the other team. Honestly if I hear a coach say that I’m thinking, wait, is he assuming we were previously thinking that we are a worse team than these guys?
I think it would be better to make it about UT’s recent success against ranked opponents at home, but yeah I’m not gonna mince words but I will lol when they blow up in your face (especially when I assume Smart went out after the game and said we played a really good team today, blah blah blah).