Chattanooga Basketball Postgame Quotes
Mercer at Chattanooga
McKenzie Arena – Chattanooga, Tenn.
Saturday – Feb. 22, 2020

Head Coach Lamont Paris
Looking at the stats, it doesn't seem like anything really stands out, maybe a loose ball here and there, gave them that cushion:
"They made their move with some subs in there. They had a couple guys saddled with foul trouble and they made a late game push with the guys that were out there and probably aren't their most accomplished guys offensively. Second chance points hurt us. You can't give up 18 second chance points. Somebody keeps telling me where we rank on our percentage of misses that we give up when a team misses against us, I don't know but I didn't see it today, that's for sure."

A lot of loose balls kicked around, too:
"There were. A couple 50-50 balls, a couple 50-50 calls that didn't go our way, too, but Mercer has been playing well, so they're a tough, competitive group. They keep at it, and they compete. I think sometimes that compensates for any deficiencies in talent that you may have. Not suggesting that they do, I'm just saying that they play hard. When they play physical, they're willing to get in the mix, and that allows them to have some successes."

They've really improved defensively since you played them the first time:
"Yeah, even though we scored 51 points in the second half. The biggest thing is that we just couldn't get a stop. We gave up 85, but we were on track to give up 80 at the half. We had this speech at halftime about what we need to do. We're going to score enough points, but defensively we've got to do better. So we score 51 points in the second half and still lose. That number should automatically get you a win unless you did something really stinky in the first half."

Getting Bender with 4 fouls pretty quickly in the second half, you had to feel pretty good because he was hurting you:
"He was. We were in the bonus, about to be in the double-bonus at seven minutes, but I don't know how many free throws we shot after that. Particularly free throws that had to do with head-down attacks, we talked about that. Let's either get good, quick shots, or let's attack and make these guys defend us without fouling, which they hadn't been doing. That's how they play; they play physical and don't get driven a ton because they'll hand check, and they'll get it called now and then, but they don't mind. They build that in. But we needed to keep on doing it so we could exploit it once we got to the bonus and double-bonus."

On a positive, Trey seems to be making a difference when he's out there:
"He did some great stuff, late in the game especially. Another game when he had six rebounds. Some guys just get after it. Some guys are natural rebounders. It's a combination of a lot of different things. Athleticism is part of it, a nose for the ball is another one, but sometimes getting after it is another part of it. He does, and he rebounded the ball well, and the good thing for late in the game. He doesn't shoot the ball well from the perimeter, and that's no secret, but in a late game situation when you need jump shots, he is a guy you can go to. He got a couple and-ones, an offensive rebound and tip-in. He did a good job for us while he was in there. We just couldn't stop them from getting second chance points. That was the biggest thing that really hurt us. Whether it was on a miss or luck of the draw, either way we did not secure the rebounds."

Looking ahead, you'll do a little scoreboard watching?
"Yeah, some of that, naturally, but I just want to focus on these next two games. The last two games of the year, focus on finishing those games and controlling what you can control. Other than that we don't have a lot of say-so in it. We had our chance to affect our positioning in it today, and we did not do that. So we will get another chance to do that on Wednesday and a final chance on Saturday. If they numbers shake out in a way that favors us, great, if they don't, we're going to show up in Asheville and play whoever we play whatever day we play. We just want to be playing really good basketball by the time we're there."

David Jean-Baptiste - Jr.-G
What did you think the difference was today?
"The main difference was just offensive rebounds, that definitely hurt us."

It wasn't that you weren't boxing out, was it? It was like they were a little longer than you?
"Our ball screen coverage, usually when they set the screen on the guard, the big would essentially be guarding a guard, so the guard could shoot. The guard switched on the big, so the big had the advantage. That happened to us a lot, especially at a crucial possession where we needed a stop. Those happen. The big ended up winning that fight. Team rebounding really helps. Just another game, we've got to learn what we have to do for next time."

You held Djordje to 5-18 shooting, you think of that and you're feeling pretty good.
"Yeah, but all the other guys played really well. Bender had a great game, the point guard had a great game as well, and Gary, too, so all their guards played exceptionally well, so they won the game."

What do you guys need to do to avoid that first round game at SoCon?
"Especially with these last two games, we've just got to play all the way through, keep playing hard, smart, and together."

VMI next?
"VMI at VMI."

They're kind of scary, aren't they.
"Oh, you saw the score today? They're one of those teams. They play like there's nothing to lose. They're a tough team."

Ramon Vila - Jr.-F
What do you think the difference was?
"Second chance points were big. They got a lot of offensive boards and 18 points out of it is pretty bad actually, and they also hit some big shots later in the game when we were trying to make a comeback. They made a couple step-back threes that usually don't go in, and that pretty much killed us."

How much better are they now when you played them in early January?
"They're good. They have six wins in a row, and with that all the confidence comes, and it's a lot easier when you're winning some games. They're in a good momentum, and we could've changed that today, but we didn't."

They shot just 8-24 from three, but one guy had four. You've got to feel pretty good about holding Djordje to 5-18; you really switched out on him a lot I thought.
"I don't know, at the end of the game he was on fire, made some step-back threes, and they usually don't go in."

Yeah, some of their shots you had to feel pretty good about.
"We were trying to make a comeback, but they were making pretty much everything, and when they were missing, they would just get the ball back and take it back in.

Moving forward, how do you guys avoid that first SoCon game?
"Just getting two wins. That's it, all we have to do. I know Wofford lost today, and if we tie we will be above them because we beat them twice, so that's good. But we don't want to rely on other teams. We just need to win two more games."