2011-12 Chattanooga Mocs Basketball
Chattanooga at Tennessee
January 2, 2012
Head Coach John Shulman
Opening Statement:
"I'm disappointed. I'm disappointed. We didn't play very well. We weren't alert defensively.
"I think we've got a pretty good basketball team when you're disappointed after you come to Tennessee and you get beat. They shot it really, really well. Skylar (McBee) really shot it in the first half, (Trae) Golden really shot the basketball - and still it's an 8-point game with four or five minutes to play. We got the ball at the basket but we just didn't play. We just weren't very good.
"And that should tell you our team has gotten a lot better, because we were in it until the end at Tennessee and we didn't play very well. You've got some disappointed guys in there and there should be. I didn't think our effort was bad; we just didn't play very well. We've just got to continue to get better.
"We had very uncharacteristic screw-ups tonight, and that's kind of how the game started. We got layup after layup and we just couldn't - we just weren't very good."
Thoughts on Chattanooga's offensive and defensive play
"I'm not disappointed with us offensively. I am disappointed with us defensively. I didn't think we were alert enough with our double teams and our interceptors. We had a shot, but we weren't real sharp.
"Maymon and Hall were big factors on the glass. Our rebounding was a concern before the season started and now we're minus one player at the post. It's a major league concern for us right now. Inside, how are we going to box out and rebound the ball? With guys at this level it's hard to rebound."
Keegan Bell, Guard, Senior
Thoughts on the game
"It was one of those frustrating games. We felt that we didn't play great, and that's disappointing. Sometimes our energy and execution wasn't there. But I was proud of our basketball team for at least sticking in there when we didn't play well.
"We had four assists in the first half. That's never happened with us, and we had to make some tough shots. But we hung in there and fought when we weren't playing well. We kind of got on a hot streak against Longwood and Utah Valley, but sometimes you just don't come out hot. We battled and at least stuck with it, but it is still disappointing because we thought that we could have done a better job."
On what the team can learn from the loss
"We're frustrated, but it's one of those things that you can build on. We got frustrated at the beginning of the year, and that didn't help us out too much, but now we're ready. This was a good test for us. We start SoCon play Thursday. This was a big game and we wanted to win it, but our minds are set on the SoCon now. That is what is going to dictate our season so we have to learn from this."
Omar Wattad, Guard, Senior
Thoughts on playing Tennessee
"It is always a big thing to play Tennessee, especially being from East Tennessee. They're a good program and a good SEC team. They played really well tonight and the credit goes to them."
On the Tennessee defense
"I thought Tennessee's defense was really good and they had a good game plan. They didn't let us get any easy looks. It was a tough matchup, and we were close at the end. We just fell short."
On the outcome of the game
"We were right where we needed to be in the end. We were down by seven with five minutes left and we fell short. It stings, but that's the way the cookie crumbled tonight."
