Chattanooga at Charlotte
Tuesday, November 6, 2018
Charlotte, N.C., Dale F. Halton Arena
Postgame Quotes
Lamont Paris, Head Coach
Opening statement after win over Charlotte.
"It's better than 0-1, that's for sure. When you get on the road and have a long trip back, it's nice to be able to look back at some of the things you did. There were plenty of learning opportunities in this game for sure, but it's great to get off to a good start. That's it. It's one game and we'll take it one game at a time as always. We have to start prepping and get ready since we have a tough team coming in. The biggest thing about this game is that there was so many learning opportunities, just on situations, shot selections late in the game when they were making a run, just a bunch of things."
On stellar shooting performance.
"It was good. We shot the ball, recently, pretty well. The last couple days we shot the ball pretty well, which honestly, usually doesn't translate well, but tonight it did. It's nice to have a lot of guys you feel like can make a shot. You have multiple guys that can also make a play. It's nice to put a lot of shooters on the floor. Thomas [Smallwood] did a good job stretching the floor and being able to shoot from the perimeter. It always helps when the ball is going in, so that was good. There was a lid on it around the basket in the first half."
On young roster handling late game situation.
"It was good. That's great to be able to do that. The lead began to dwindle at a pretty quick rate. That's what tends to happen, the crowd gets into it and players make some tough shots. To be able to handle that situation was great. That type of experience that you can't pay for. To be in those situations and learn from them. We'll have so many things we can show these guys and do it in a manner where they still feel good about what they did on the court rather than listening about what they didn't do well.
Thomas Smallwood, Sr.-C
On the season-opening win.
"I think it's really big for the team's confidence. Especially with the first real game as a road win, that's the best case scenario. I'm really happy and I hoping it's going to give us some momentum moving forward. I also hope we can learn from the things we didn't do too well tonight."
On the play, especially in the second half.
"The threes were falling, but I have to do a better job inside. A few possessions down in the paint, I didn't do as well as I'm supposed to. I need to learn from that and make sure I'm aware of the fouls I have and be smarter on the defensive end."
Jerry Johnson, Jr., R-Jr.-G
On shooting well in first half.
"When we got here for shoot-around, these goals reminded me when I played against North Carolina State. The nets pump real well, it just reminded me of the time I played well against North Carolina State. I love these type of rims, this atmosphere, the crowd going crazy .. it brings the best out of me."
On keeping composure in tough environment.
"It was really weird, they were very rowdy and talking. Next thing you know, we turn it over and they score, and I think the next possession we turned it over again and it got really crazy. Thomas [Smallwood] said a word to me, he told me we need my composure. I came down and found a way to get to the hole and get an and-one. After that, it was just coming back to reality. We've been playing in these type of moments our entire life. It was nothing new to us."
