Chattanooga Basketball Postgame Quotes
Chattanooga at Wyoming
Arena Auditorium – Laramie, Wyo.
Friday – November 10, 2017
 
Head Coach Lamont Paris
Thoughts on the game:
"I think as a general rule, we made some improvements from the Francis Marion exhibition game.  I was happy with that. I will watch the tape and see things specifically, but that was just how I felt.  Sometimes as coaches you go on gut and I felt like that game was drastically different than this game.  We preach growth, and just because we grew in this one doesn't mean we can't go backwards in the next one. 
 
"In the second half we did a better job.  I think Dalton only had two three-point attempts in the second half as opposed to the first half.  That was something that we talked about.  He made some tough shots too, but as basketball players, they do that from time to time. 
 
"We have to work on attention to detail in the scouting report.  Knowing your personnel.  We talked about that kind of stuff. 
 
"The big things that could have changed the complexion of the game I thought were more about decisions.  Again, we turned the ball over too much for my liking.  Some of our decision-making on both ends of the floor…that is controllable. 
 
"Shooting, we didn't have a great shooting night, but some of that is not controllable." 
 
On cutting down turnovers in the second half:
"The one good thing that came out of the game – there was more than one – one of them was that when we did some of the things that we specifically asked the guys to do, and they worked hard at doing them.  When they did them in the game, the results rewarded them.  Hopefully, guys will believe in those things, because they are some of the most reproducible and controllable things that we ask them to do.  We don't ask them to do things that they can't do on a consistent basis."
 
On overcoming the 15-0 run in the first half:
"We made some plays.  We had even a couple more opportunities, as crazy as it sounds, that we could have had it in single digits by the time we walked into halftime.  I did like how we responded.  We made a couple of plays on both ends of the floor. 
 
"To the coaches, numbers don't mean anything when you look at the scoreboard.  To the players, that difference in the lead is something that is significant in their minds and it will determine how hard they go in the second half.
 
"I was glad to it got down to that and we made couple of plays to get the momentum going into the second half.  We came out and I thought we did a much better job with the things we can control in the second half.  We could shoot better at times, overall we did some good things." 
 
On the play of the freshman:
"The stuff I try not to judge them on are the normal basketball situations they just have to learn and have to experience.  They have to get more experience in those situations.  The decision-making on some of the things that we have worked on, that is where I don't cut them slack.  They know we have been coaching them hard in those situations. 
 
"I think for the most part it was mainly basketball things with those guys.  They just have to learn and get better at it.  If I was a professor, and I never taught a subject, or glazed over the subject and you didn't have enough information to answer the questions properly, then how could I get mad at you.  By virtue of being young, they have not been in enough experiences to handle certain situations as the older guys."

James Lewis – Fr.-F
On being comfortable in his first game:
"No, I still have a lot to figure out.  My teammates helped me out a lot, talking to me before the game.  Telling me to stay focused and remember what we practiced.  Playing as a team also helped."

On playing strong defense:
"I made some mistakes, but once again, my teammates had my back when I did make mistakes.  My assignment was to keep everything in front of me and not getting dumped in on the post."

On play in the second half:
"We played hard.  We didn't get the win, and that is what we wanted."  

Nat Dixon – So.-G/F
On the play of James Lewis and the other UTC freshmen:
"It is a big crowd.  These young guys, it was their very first time in college, playing against a really good Wyoming team, which have seven or eight seniors coming back, so I was really proud of our guys stepping up and playing hard."

What was his first game like?
"It was a big atmosphere for me when I stepped into it (at Tennessee), but thankfully, I had older guys to help me out.  I just tried to be a staple for the younger guys and someone they can go to.  Keep telling them to keep playing hard.  They impressed tonight." 

On the final moments of the first half:
"I am just proud of how we battled back through adversity.  They went on a run.  Dalton started hitting and lighting it up.  We could have easily fell over and let them run over us.  We battled the whole entire game and I am just proud of my guys for that."    

On the turnover difference between the first and second half:
"We trust in each other, Coach Paris and his system.  We came out in the second half and made a statement and point that we weren't going to turn the ball over and we were going to protect it at all costs."