Postgame Quotes
Chattanooga 74, Marshall 79
Chattanooga, Tenn. | McKenzie Arena
Sunday, November 12, 2023
 
Head Coach Shawn Poppie

On today's loss.
"Tough one to swallow there. That was a hard-fought game. I think they got momentum there early in the second half, and it snowballed for a little while. We gave them a little push at the end; it just wasn't quite enough. My hopes are we can learn from it. I'm proud of the kids, they fought, we just had some mental lapses during that stretch; more mental than physical. We couldn't quite get over the hump today. We'll hopefully learn from it and get better, but definitely still proud of the group I've got."

On how the young pieces can benefit from games like this.
"They need games, just in general. It was good, because the games going fast. They have to guard the ball; that's probably where they're lacking the most right now, just on that defensive side of the ball. The toughest thing with this game is we won't see anything like that all year again. So, they need games, but they need games that give them a better feel of what our league looks like. It was nice to get them some minutes."

On the number of turnovers today.
"We had some early, but by half, I thought our press break was pretty solid. The frustrating piece is their press didn't change the second half; we did. Not by what we were doing strategically; it was mental. Some of that is fatigue, I get that. 19 is too many, but you're going to turn it over against a system like that. The live ball turnovers, we can't have, where we're just throwing it around. [It's not] necessarily the turnovers as much as it is one the defensive side. We have to control the ball and get that thing back out. That's where we did not execute in my opinion.

On the team's effort.
"For game three with seven new [and] seven returning; we're learning ourselves. Again, I'm pleased because they showed in a two-game stretch, [they're] going to play hard. I don't think there's any lack of effort out there, we just have to learn each other. Today was a day of adversity... We're one possession away from being 3-0, instead we're 2-1. We showed a lot of signs that we can be a good basketball team."

Jada Guinn, Gr., G

On what can be taken away from the game.
"I definitely think you can learn, win or lose. From this game, we just need to play a full 40 [minutes]. We just talked about that in the locker room. For about 37 minutes, we did what we were supposed to do. We knew they were going to play a system of press, [they] want to get a lot of possessions, but we just have to do for 40 minutes what we're supposed to do."

On Marshall's substitution strategy.
"I think our coaches do a very good job with [them changing] five in, five out with our matchups. If we play another team like this down the line, this just prepares us for that. Our coaches do a good job of, when they sub, telling us who we're guarding and knowing personnel and scout. They do a good job of that, so that helps us a lot, too."

On the younger pieces on the team stepping up.
"We're definitely going to need them, but they need to grow. In games like these, the veterans need to step up just until they get there, but they're going to be a big piece for us. Hannah [Kohn] shoots the ball extremely well, Caia [Elisaldez] is a really good player for us, getting downhill and creating for a lot of people, so they're going to be a key part of what we do this year."