Chattanooga Basketball - Postgame Notes
UNC Greensboro at Chattanooga
McKenzie Arena - Chattanooga, Tenn.
Jan. 11, 2010
Head Coach John Shulman<br>On the final play:
"Strange, first of all. I've never been accused of being the smartest guy in the world. Earlier today, I said if we get in a tight situation, what are we doing? I envision running that, and I told them during the second timeout, guys I envisioned this early today, this is what we're doing. Chris made a great play to Jeremy [Saffore]. Jeremy had to catch the ball and Keegan [Bell] made a great play going down the side, and it was kind of like a hook and lateral. I told him he probably had two dribbles and make a play. What a great way to win, very exciting. There are a lot of lessons to learn. We had a very average practice yesterday so this was very good for us to get hit in the face. Its always tgood to learn when we win. We've gotta get to work and get better."
On practicing that play:
"No, I practiced it in my head. I am not taking time away from our defense and rebounding, so I have some stuff in my head that we're going to use, and everybody was calm, cool and collected. Sometimes things work and you look smart."
"Cameron Wells, what a player. He had 28 and he was the man. We weren't efficient offensively but you find a way to win."
Your thoughts as the play developed:
"Most of the time those passes get deflected and you don't ever get a shot off. I'm going holy cow and its kind of slow motion. Guys are like coach great play, but if it doesn't go in its not a great play."
On the confidence this brings the team:
"It sets up a pretty big game on Saturday. It's a rematch of the conference championship. Charleston is an average team. They beat North Carolina and that makes them about average. I've said this many times. You can slip up on some of the big boys, but UNC doesn't, and Charleston slips up on North Carolina, they're that talented. I'm still picking them to win the league and we hope we can challenge them Saturday. We're going to practice our tail ends off and we're going to be prepared to go to war on Saturday."
On being afraid of giving this game away:
"We didn't make winning plays. But we can go back right now and look at it on tape. We gave up some offensive rebounds. Sam [Watson] goes in and wins that last one, otherwise we don't have a chance."
On Cameron Wells
"I think there are three or four [Cameron] Wells out there. I watched him against Samford last year and his feet don't hit the ground. He's got pro-type speed and he has pro-type handles. Our first three baskets were threes. We need to be throwing that inside. That's called fools gold."
Sophomore Keegan Bell<br>On the play that lead to your game winning shot:
"Coach [Shulman] made a great call. Jeremy [Saffore] came up and I was just going to run full speed and Jeremy did a great job of giving me the ball. I did the easy part. The hardest part is [Chris] Early throwing that pass. People do not know how hard that is. For him to put it right on the money and right in the middle gave me some angles. Then Footer [Jeremy Saffore] to catch it and get it there just in the nick of time. I just saw the guy run at and I just tried to get away from him and I knew I only had about one second left so I just had to fire it. Fortunately, it went in."
"I did take a dribble because I was going and then the guy came and I did an in and out dribble. Then, I just let it ride."
On recalling the moments right after the shot:
"I just saw my lovely teammates come and pick me up. It is funny because some people that do not get sports or watch them, they do not get that feeling when you have guys there that just have your back. They all just picked me up and it definitely was one of those memorable moments. And it was awesome."
On the play being designed for you:
"It was designed for me to make a play. We did not know if a guy was going to come up and guard Jeremy [Saffore] and if they did then I was going to really try and penetrate. If they helped, then I had Ricky {Taylor] and Ty [Patterson] on the wing. I was going to either try and do a layup and if not, then I was going to dish it out to them. But they just came up and I did not have enough time to get to the rim."
On your gut feeling when you released the ball:
"It felt good. It felt good. I kind of got fouled and I was falling down on the ground. So I did not really see it, but when it left my hand. It felt nice. I was hoping that it was going to go in. When all my teammates hugged me, I figured that it went in."
"I didn't see it go through the net because by that time my head was back and I was into the bleachers."
On this being your biggest shot:
"I hit one in my junior year in high school that was a game winner. That was a lot of fun, but this definitely goes up there with it."
On wanting the ball the possession before in the final minute:
"Definitely, I was trying to get to the rim and get fouled. Unfortunately, It didn't happen, but we pride ourselves on defense. We knew that we were going to get another shot at it. Well is a great player and we are fortunate that he missed his shot when he was driving to the hole. We are fortunate that shot did not go in and we got the ball back. I just wanted to create for somebody or get to the paint because I feel at those times as a point guard, you just want to take control. I guess that is what I was trying to do."
On preparing for College of Charleston:
"We can't get too happy. This is a great win. We have to enjoy it tonight and come in tomorrow. Coach said that we have to practice like champions. We will go tomorrow and we can't slack off and enjoy this. We can't pat ourselves on the back tomorrow. We enjoy it for right now, get some rest and turn around and have a huge one coming in here. It is huge because it is the next one and it is another conference game. We need to be ready because it is another conference game. They are a very talented team and we need to get it done."
Senior Ty Patterson
On Keegan Bell's shot:
"That shot was bigger than mine [beat shot clock last year in the SoCon Tournament] because I did not beat the shot clock and that was a game winner. It was a big shot. I knew that it was going in as soon as he shot it.
On your positioning:
"When Footer [Jeremy Saffore] had the ball, I was coming up and my man came with him and released up. He just let it go and I knew it was going in. I am just thankful that it ended up in his hands."
On guarding Cameron Wells:
"He is an incredible player. He is so versatile. He can post up. He can get you to fall back or relax and then pull up on a shot. He can beat you off the dribble. I think that we did a great job at providing help, but he made some tough shots towards the end."
Sophomore Ricky Taylor
On Keegan Bell's shot:
"I am proud of Keegan [Bell]. It was a great shot. I knew that it was going in. Me and him got some extra shots up last night in the gym together. I have faith in Keegan. Because of those extra shots, I believe that it helped him and gave him the confidence to knock it in. I was happy and excited for my man Keegan."
On buying into Coach Shulman's defensive philosophy:
"Yes, we are buying in. When we focus on defense, then we have a great chance at winning. We just try to listen to coach and do what his philosophy is. Fortunately, we won again tonight."
On preparing for College of Charleston:
"It does not get any easier. We are going to have to bring our A-game come Saturday."
Citadel Head Coach Ed Conroy
Opening statement:
"Hats off to Chattanooga and our guys as well. Chattanooga made one more play than we did. We let them get free for way too many looks early on, but we showed a lot of fight. And in the second half we put ourselves in position to win. Throughout the night I thought Cameron Wells made a lot of winning plays."
On the last play:
"We thought they might throw it in to Saffore, he's a pretty tall target. He made a good catch and the pass off. We talked about staying close to our guys. But sometimes your opponent executes on a very high level."
On the tough loss:
"I'm proud of the way our guys battled. We missed 29 threes and struggled defensively. But with our will to win and competitiveness we found ourselves with the lead with three seconds left."
On the battle of the seven footers:
I really like the way [Joe] played in the second half. There was a time when it was fun to watch. I think both of those guys can have an impact on their team in the next few weeks. Many times they are the only guys like themselves on the roster. Its hard to say we are going to guard one way with him and another way with everyone else. It takes time to mesh with a big guy.
Junior Cameron Wells
On fulfilling your role on the team:
"My role is to make a play out there and just play hard. A shot like that is always tough. We thought we had it, he just made a better play than we did."
On the atmosphere at the end of the game:
"It was a good feeling, but they executed a play and he knocked down a shot. I didn't think we had it won. You can do a lot in three seconds."
On the team coming together:
"We meshed better as a team in the second half. We just came out tougher in the second half."
