Chattanooga Mocs Basketball - Postgame Quotes
Chattanooga at Louisville
KFC YUM! Center - Louisville, Ky.
Nov. 22, 2010
Head Coach John Shulman
Opening statement:
"They looked tonight like they did against Butler, they defended. I won't give credit to (Peyton) Siva and (Preston) Knowles, but when you've got Elisha Justice coming in, you know everybody feeds off him. They guard. They guarded and made life pretty uncomfortable for us offensively. We can't simulate that kind of pressure in practice. We are coming off a great win at Marshall, but we can't simulate that kind of pressure. So defensively, they were phenomenal."
On Louisville's interior defense:
"They don't have to help out on the wings. We penetrate and get in the paint, and they have guys who can block shots. I know they are capable of doing that. That is why they are successful. They were fantastic tonight defensively, period."
On the play of Omar Wattad:
"He was good, but he made shots. He made tough shots and sometimes that is like fools gold. We were taking tough shots and hanging in there. You have to be patient. We finally got a little rhythm and clocking it a little bit, and we got impatient. On this swing we go to Marshall and we go to Louisville. Had you told me before the swing that we would go one-and-one, I would take one-and-one."
On the difference tonight as opposed to the game against Tennessee:
"Well, for one, I think we are a little fatigued. This is our fifth game in 11 days; Louisville doesn't leave the state of Kentucky until Jan. 9. Enough said. We are not Louisville. We have been on the road. We have played three straight, four out of five on the road. We come back home and play Wednesday night, and then have to head down to Miami, Fla., on Saturday. Sometimes it is a very difficult schedule when you are on the road all the time."
Junior Omar Wattad
On starting to feel comfortable as a Moc:
"Honestly, I felt comfortable once the second half of the Kennesaw State game came. I tried not to make a play every time I touched the ball. I am not worried about (myself) offensively. I knew it was going to come. I know my abilities. What I am worried about it that we lost by 40 tonight and we did not play defense. It goes back to defense. We played great defense against Kennesaw State, we played great defense against Marshall. We came out here, and I don't know what it was, as a team we didn't come defensively. That's what is about. It is not about individuals, offensively. It is about team defense."
On Louisville's defense:
"There were denying the guards and we were not composed. We had 25 turnovers and nine assists. That is not going to cut it. We were not composed offensively and that led to transition baskets defensively."
On Louisville's spurt at the end of the first half:
"I made a really bad play at the end of the half. We didn't box out on a free throw and they get a three and all of the sudden an eight-point game is a 14-point lead. That was crushing and we did not come out in the second half. All of the credit goes to Louisville. They are an awesome team but we have to be more composed. We have the talent to compete with this type of team, we just have to be more composed offensively."
On playing five games in a short period of time:
"We went in there head first. We would love to get that Austin Peay game back and be 3-2 right now where we should be standing. But it is OK. We are getting battle-tested. We might have taken a step back tonight but all you have to do is come with it the next time. This team is a family and we are going to stick together and we are going to be all right."
Senior DeAntre Jefferson
On Louisville's second-half play:
"They upped their pressure a little bit, even though they came out of the press in the second half. I think we went into their tempo. We ran how they wanted to run and we fell into their game. In the first half, I think we played more of our game and we did a little bit of our stuff. We kept to ourselves and who we are and that is what kept the game close. A little swing and we go from down eight to down 14 and that was big, especially going into halftime. Their coach probably talked to them about getting more intense and it showed in the second half."
On being forced into an up-tempo game trying to catch up in the second half:
"Coach Shulman just kept trying to tell us to slow up and play our game and we have to take each possession one at a time. He can only tell us so many times, but it is us five out there and we didn't do what he said. He tried to help us but we went against the grain and tried to get a quick score, quick basket. By doing that, quick shots turn into fast breaks and they start running. That's really how they want to play. They want to play fast, get running and attack the basket and we were not back on defense. "
