Chattanooga Basketball Postgame Quotes
The Citadel at Chattanooga
McKenzie Arena – Chattanooga, Tenn.
Thursday – Feb. 8, 2018

Head Coach Lamont Paris
What does it mean to win a close game?
"It's unbelievable. I told the guys in the locker room after the game, by the time next year rolls around if there's anything we better be good it it's playing in close games. I think it means a lot to win as opposed to being close again.

"There may be couple of games where you can say hey, you're playing in an out numbered situation. We had some injuries and we maybe in one or two of those felt fine to keep it close, fine to have a chance at the buzzer to win, you lose and you can take something out of that. at some point these guys are competitors.

"They want to win, badly. Guys have made some strides. That doesn't mean the next time we have a close we don't perform in a couple of situations. We did perform defensively.

"There were a couple of times things that we did we were on the same page. That was really good. Against the press it looked shaky a couple of times but we handled it pretty well overall; especially when they got really aggressive.

"Rodney, he gets the call on the last offensive play for us and he performs. That shot was probably slightly more difficult than the one he had in the VMI game. He had a better look at the rim. I think he even shot with his left hand on this one. That's growth. He was able to do that. It's good for his confidence. It was nice for the guys to win a close game."

Are fourteen turnovers a good number against a team like The Citadel?
"I think so the way they played and how many possessions there were. It probably was in the mid to upper eighties. So to only turn it over fourteen times I think is pretty good. I think it's acceptable just on the number of possessions.

"No matter who you're playing and against a team that doesn't pressure you. But then you throw that in there, they try to speed you up and make you make some decisions and put the ball in the hands of guys that don't normally make those decisions. I thought overall it was a very acceptable number."

Perimeter shooting on Makale Foreman…
"Makale works really hard on the defensive end. I mean to go around and chase that guy, to work like that and then to try and come down on the offensive end to produce, that's not easy to do. He's a really good shooter when he has his feet set.

"I thought he took on with the dribble that we had a conversation about. Was it bad by most standards, no, but it's not a shot that he makes at a high clip. The ones when he's open we feel like he's going to make it. Obviously, he's confident player. He's a real good shooter. He got some good looks today. Guys found him and shared the ball. He made shots. That always helps your cause."

Makale Foreman – So.-G
What was the Key to making sure you all held on to this win?
"Being good on the defensive side. We played good on defense tonight."

How did you carry over your momentum from the first half to the second half from behind the three-point line?
"Just have to keep that same mindset that every shot I put up that it is going to go in and have that belief that it is going to go ibn and having my teammates trust in me that I'm going to make that shot."

Rodney Chatman –So.-G
On the drive late with a one-point lead:
"We got stagnant early on and didn't have movement on offense.  In my head I was thinking drive. Whatever the play is and then 13 seconds on the shot clock went down and James came up and made a high ball screen.  I came around him and put up the left hand layup, it was a hard shot."