Chattanooga Basketball
Postgame Quotes
Elon 82, Chattanooga 63
McKenzie Arena - Chattanooga, Tenn.
Dec. 5, 2009
Chattanooga
Head Coach John Shulman
On the game:
"Disappointed, not shocked. Look out on the floor and Constantine's out there for Elon, Bonney's out there for Elon, Spradlin's out there for Elon, Carter's out there for Elon, and Long's out there for Elon. Then, Douglas is out there. You recognize those guys. Those are the same guys that about whipped our tail last year in the tournament. Same identical guys, then look at our guys. Constantine's played probably seventy league games, [DeAntre Jefferson] has played one. Douglas has played probably seventy league games and took them to a championship game two years ago. We looked very unexperienced, not ready for conference game type team."
On Chris Long:
"He's a good player. Chris Long played in that championship game three years ago against Davidson. Douglas was great in that game, Constantine is the heart and soul of their team and Carter's been around forever.That's what Josh Odem's going to look like next year. They are just experienced and we've got none [experienced players]. We've got nothing to draw from. I looked in the huddle and told Ricky [Taylor] to go play like a veteran, but Ricky only played in a couple of games last year."
Junior Ridge McKeither:
On the difference between a Southern Conference game and a non conference game:
"Experience, we learned a lot about experience. You've got to know what to expect coming into a Southern Conference game, especially coming from a junior college. It is no excuse for the way we played. We could have played much better, much tougher and much smarter as a team."
"Defensely, we could have picked it up, stop them from getting the open shot. Offensively, we have got to share the ball more, create shots for other people."
Keegan Bell:
On comparing this game to any of the other games from this season?
"It's different. This was a conference game so there was more intensity. Elon is very experienced. They know what it takes and know how important it is. We are a young team. This is our first conference game period. I really am proud of us. I felt like we fought and really tried to fight back, but at the end it just wasn't enough. In the second half they brought it, and that is what an experienced team does. We are just going to have to learn from this. I feel like we did some positive things, but we do have a lot to work on. This is going to make us hungry. You never want to say a loss is a good thing but maybe this will light a fire up under us and we will go to practice and pick it up."
Josh Odem:
On what did you learn from tonight:
"The experience. But that is not what we had to loose from tonight. We could have picked it up more. They have great shooters and you can't close out. I learned that a conference game is the most important thing. It's always the most important game. So you've got to go to practice and pick it up."
On what was your offensive mentality?
"I was trying to stay calm and not rush things. I thank my teammates for passing me the ball. Twenty points is ok, but it's nothing when you lose."
Elon
Head Coach Matt Matheny
On the game
"It is a much needed win for us. We've had some tough battles. Our kids have stayed committed to our program and our system. We could have changed because thing weren't going our way, we could have played defenses we just wasn't used to playing just to try to create a win, but we didn't do that. Our guys committed to me yesterday that we wanted to be a great team and a great program, and as a result of that, I think we competed as well for forty minutes tonight as we have all year. It is a much need win for our confidence and overall team moral. Any time you get a win at Chattanooga, we feel very fortunate, and we feel that way tonight."
On Elon's Defense:
"It depends on who we're playing. It's a pressure that tries to create a faster pace and break rhythm. It happened to be pretty affective for us tonight. It's something that teams in our league quite a bit. Sometimes it's affect, sometimes it's not, but tonight it was."
On Chris Long:
"I am as proud of Chris as I can be. I am thrilled for him because he is our leading returning scorer from last year's team. He and I both know, and our team knows, that he is a heck of a player. He has struggled this season, and for him to come out tonight and play as well as he did, he deserves to play that well because he is that good. I am really happy for him."
