"He can't pick his spots as much (to play well). He should take advantage of playing with Patrick Patterson because he makes everyone better," Gillispie said. "He's got to do a better job offensively, defensively and rebounding from the first minute (of a game)."
Gillispie wants Stevenson more aggressive on a consistent basis rather than having him make a spectacular play or two during a game.
"I would rather have a guy who makes a lot of average plays for 40 minutes than a guy who makes a lot of good, and bad, plays. My concern is that we do not what we will get from Perry," Gillispie said.
"I applaud him for improving drastically, but he's got to take his game to a different level. That spot has to do more for us. Perry has got to be a special player and do more things for us to be the best team we can be."
Injury update: Sophomore guard Jodie Meeks practiced Monday, but Gillispie did not make it sound likely that he would play against Vanderbilt.
"Jodie went a little bit today (in practice), but he was not near full speed. We are hopeful every day that he can go full speed and help the team. But we've not had him and won't use that as an excuse," Gillispie said.
Meeks has played in only nine games this season because of a stress fracture in his pelvic area and later a hip flexor strain. He has missed the last three games after playing 38 minutes against South Carolina Jan. 26.
"I would say his conditioning would have to be pretty poor," Gillispie said. "I don't know how it could be otherwise."
Gillispie said sophomore Ramon Harris was fine after suffering a hip pointer in Saturday's win over Alabama and that senior guard Ramel Bradley also had no ill effects from his concussion or viral infection that forced him to miss a game last week.
Senior Joe Crawford is also showing no woes from his foot problem that plagued him last month.
"I have not seen any effects Joe has had from his foot. Maybe he's just programmed not to show anyone he's hurt," Gillispie said.
SEC backer: This is Gillispie's first year in the Southeastern Conference, but he doesn't buy the theory that the league is down this season.
"Teams in this league are as good as I have seen. There are a lot of teams in this conference that could advance to the Final Four and win it all if things worked out well," Gillispie said. "I don't buy that (about the league being down).
"I can't imagine any league in the country that has had more players injured. I have not seen anything like it. But I do not believe there is any truth to the conference being down. It will all be shown in the postseason."
