Chattanooga Basketball - Postgame Quotes
College of Charleston at Chattanooga
McKenzie Arena - Chattanooga, Tenn.
Jan. 16, 2010      

Head Coach John Shulman
Opening Statement:
"One thought is that we kind of looked a bit in shock. All my guys out there had seen [Donavan] Monroe and [Andrew] Goudelock sitting on the bench when we were competing last year for a championship in the tournament. It was really good for us for what we just did. We now know where the top is and we know how hard it is to get to the top. We look liked a team that had played three games this week. We were fatigued and had very little emotion. We just played a pretty good basketball team. We are going to learn from this. This was good for us. To be a good team you have to go through some adversity. We are going to grow, learn, and get better. I told you I hadn't drank the Kool-Aid. I knew where we were defensively. I don't think anybody else did, but I did. We are going to go back to work and get better. That is the team that beat North Carolina. They are pretty good. That is why they were picked to win the league and are currently six and zero in the league."

On being fatigued:
"We turned the ball over. Keegan [Bell] looked fatigued and made some bone head plays. We were a step slow. That is what happens when you play Monday, Thursday, and Saturday. They didn't play Monday, Thursday, and Saturday. That is a lot of games in a week. We looked like we were a step slow. It was awful how we won the game against The Citadel the other night. You come off of an emotional high and go back to practice yesterday. It has been a long week. They are little kids. I am out their watching our guys. Jeremy Saffore never had to play against [Jeremy] Simmons. He just watched Khalil [Hartwell], [Nicchaeus] Doaks, and [Kevin] Goffney do that. That is why that is good for us. Know we know the top and how to get there."

On how the team can get better:
"We have to do a better job with one-on-one defense, in the post and on the glass. We just faced a team that was minus 12 on the glass. The team was minus 12 on the glass and getting pounded on the glass. Once again, we got pounded on the glass. For us to beat them, we have to play more perfect than we did and give them second chance shots. That wasn't a 24-point game. We had opportunities to get loose balls; we were slow to the ball and let up long rebounds. We were just a step or two off. We can't be off to play them. They are beatable by us, but we are going to have to play fantastic. Tony White Jr., [Jeremy] Simmons, [Andrew] Goudelock, and [Donavan] Monroe are the same guys that whipped us in the tournament last year. Then. they replace [Dustin] Scott with an ACC performer. There is the reason that they beat North Carolina. North Carolina isn't like Kentucky. North Carolina doesn't let mid-majors sneak up on them. Charleston didn't sneak up on them. They are good enough to beat North Carolina."

On having a young team and playing multiple games in a week:
"How many games has Tony White, Jr. played in his career? The same thing with [Andrew] Goudelock, Goudelock is preseason player of the year. Our guys are at 17 or 18. We have young kids. We had a great run winning six in a row. It is hard to get a lot of practice time in there. You win six in a row, and try to keep everything the same. Then things come crashing down. That is fine. I didn't know if we were going to run the table. I know we take a day off and go back to work. We looked fatigue. When you lose your legs, you lose your shoot. Ty Patterson is better than going 3-for-14 out there from the floor. We looked fatigued out there. I understand that, this isn't my first rodeo. We will go back to work on Monday. Once again, we have three games in five games next weekend too."

On post players:
"We don't have a lot of experience. Jeremy [Saffore] has been the guy on the bench waving the white towel cheering for everybody. Big D [DeAntre Jefferson] is coming, but now he is playing against guys he has heard about. We made this a big game. This is the rematch of the Southern Conference championship game from last year. The only people we had back from that game is Mr. and Mrs. Doaks who got Nicchaeus' ring before the game. They had all of their guys back [from last year]. We didn't have our guys back. That is okay. I made this a big game for a reason. I wanted to know where we are. I have a true read right now. We are right in the middle. We can beat them, but we have to get a whole lot better. They have good players. You try to guard [Andrew] Goudelock out there, and he makes a shoot falling down with the shot clock running out from 26 feet. We need some of those guys. I am not ready to pack it up. I am glad to see where we are. Don't think that in the back of Charleston's mind that this is the first time they have to whip our tail. In the Championship game, you are either going to live the dream or take the dream away from them. We took the dream away from them. So don't think they didn't want a piece of us today. They can much rather have a piece of us if we get to go to the NCAA Tournament."

On getting better:
"It is probably too far away right now. We got to do what we got to do. Since, we are in kind of on this side of the world in our league, sometimes we have to play three games in five days. I am not stupid, I knew this was coming. I talked to them yesterday and told them that you can look at our stats and they look great, but I am not sold. This is my 25th year in coaching, and I know better than to just look off of stats and say 'boy we are giving up 33 percent field goal shoot, 22 percent from the three point line, and there are a lot of guys missing shoots against us.' So we get back to work, and it is good for us." 

Sophomore Keegan Bell
On the loss:
"A loss never settles in very well. It is always leaves a stinging in your gut. We did not play to out potential. We are frustrated with ourselves. Charleston is a great team. There is a reason that they are now six and zero. They definitely are at the top our league and everyone is chasing after them. You hate to say it, but you have to learn from a loss and get better at the little things because for the first time, we just were not clicking on the defensive end and rebounding. Rebounding was the big upset with us. We just have to keep fighting, go back to work, and get better."

On what the will emphasis be at the next practice:
"Same thing as always is, defending and rebounding, especially rebounding. We are not defending like a championship team. We are not taking pride in rebounding so when we hit the court we have got to be more physical and get after it a lot more on defense. We had some good defensive practices and then came out here tonight and the effort and the intensity was not there."

Sophomore Ricky Taylor
On who did Charleston remind you of from the last two years:
"In the last two years, I would have to say Georgia Tech. They are athletic, strong, and big. They are a very good team and we give them credit to them because they came in and got the win tonight. It gives us something to think about, we have got to get better every day we can't take any days off, can't take any games off. So, we just have to focus and come out and play the whole forty minutes."

On the opening minutes:
"We did okay, but it was not our best. We always need to defend on every possession because if we defend that gives us a better chance at winning. We just slacked off and end up in a loss tonight. We started out ok but it could have been much better."

On the emotions of today's game:
"The emotions were very intense. When [Tony] White [Jr.] hit a three,. he was ready to play so it was a message to us that we need to step up our game. When someone comes in on our home court and yells at me that they are ready to play. We need to be more competitive in the game. When they bring it, we need to bring more. If we bring more, we have a better chance at winning."

Junior Ridge McKeither
On coming off the bench:
"It is always good to have a lot of depth playing the bench but at times it is also frustrating when you are not playing but at the same time you have got to be in it for your team since it is a team sport. It can be frustrating, but at the same time also rewarding to have such depth on your team."

On having a rough shooting night:
"Our team is a shoot first team. We take the open shot, knock shots down. A lot of rebounds are long, so it does not give a big man a chance to rebound a lot. At the same time, that is no excuse for us to get in the mix and get offensive or even defensive rebounds. I feel that right know, we have got to find our chemistry. We are deep in the season and we have not found our chemistry yet. Once we find our chemistry as a team, we will be ok defensively and offensively."

College of Charleston Head Coach Bobby Cremins
Opening Statement:
"I wish we had shot like that the last time we were here. But Chattanooga is always tough. John [Shulman] does a great job. Today, we just shot the ball extremely well. First it was Tony White, who gave us some big points. People realize if they get us in foul trouble, they can disrupt our starting five and a lot of people are try to do that. If we have to go to our bench, that usually means freshmen. We probably have the most inexperienced bench in the United States. And as soon as our freshmen came in to the game, John isolated them and forced us to play our big guys. But our freshmen did a good job today, they held the fort for us. Right before half, we had some bad turnovers, but those freshmen held the fort for us. In the second half, that enabled us to play [Jeremy] Simmons a lot more. We still have a lot of things to work on, but obviously I'm very pleased."

"John's coming off a championship year, and sometimes that's hard. But, they're a dangerous club. There is no dominating team in this conference. We have a chance but we have a long way to go. Right now, when you look at things, Charleston is looking good. We've got Furman next and Wofford, a team that defeated Georgia. This game we won by the most points, but we could have lost some other games. We have a very unique player in [Andrew] Goudelock. I let him go, and he has a skill that is just imbedded in him. [Donavon] Monroe is a solid player. We are playing well."

On the defensive:
"They do a lot of ball screens and they shoot threes. I wish [Ty] Patterson would've shot like that in March. We had a respect factor. I really thought they were going to make a run in the second half."

On there being a revenge factor
"When everything was on the line, they came through and they put it to us at championship time, but that was then. This really has nothing to do with now. That's over, but the team that has always been on top of the league is Chattanooga. One the greatest games I've ever coached was against Chattanooga because they are always up at the top. Now there is more balance in the conference, but we'll see. Some of this is unexpected today. I'm happy, but I didn't expect all of this. We were at times a shaky team, but we're in a good place right now."

On what's next for your team:
"We have a unique situation next week, with a Thursday and a Friday game. It's still early. I hope we can keep our heads together right now."