University of Memphis Athletics
Postgame Quotes
Dec 29, 2011 | Men's Basketball
Dec. 29, 2011
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Memphis (7-5) 64, Robert Morris (10-4) 47
December 29, 2011
FedExForum (Memphis, Tenn.)
Postgame Quotes
Memphis Head Coach Josh Pastner
Opening Statement
Overall, that's a good win against a good team. They're picked to win their league, and they are a top 100 RPI team. They are good. They are a good club. I thought we played well. I thought everyone contributed. I thought our defense was really good. The only thing I can really be disappointed about was our 20 turnovers. We had 15 assists on 23 made field goals, so I thought we did a great job moving the ball.
The biggest things was 20 turnovers; we can't do that. Leading the charge was Will Barton. He can't have that many turnovers. But, overall I thought we beat a good team tonight.
I know the fans will probably say 'Oh, it's only Robert Morris.' Trust me, Tiger Nation, that is a good basketball team. They are picked to win their league, and they are veteran team. That's going to be a good, top 100 RPI win.
Did you see better carry over from practice in this game?
I really felt our practices carried over. We had good energy. We had good intensity, and we had a good sense of urgency. Most importantly, we valued every possession. We didn't value the ball every time, but we valued every possession defensively. I'm really proud of the guys on defense. We won the game because of defense. Bottom line.
Talk about rebounding and giving up 23 offensive rebounds.
I felt a lot of those were late. The only thing I can say about it is that the last five minutes, when we had the game in control, we let up on the glass. We didn't have carry over in that. We rebounded pretty well for the first 33 minutes. The last seven we were poor - absolutely poor in the way we rebounded the basketball. We went back to our old ways. I felt the first 30 minutes we were making contact and doing a good job of going and getting the ball. We weren't boxing out the last seven minutes because we started playing "loosey goosey." We got the lead and just kind of started playing too loose. That's why I kept subbing back and forth.  
Robert Morris Head Coach Andrew Toole
Memphis was big and physical. Talk about how tough it was to get a shot off.
We talked about their athleticism coming into the game, how athletic they are, how long they are, and how big they are; I think you obviously saw a struggle in terms of just reversing the basketball, getting good shots, and having our guys ready to shoot the ball when they were open. These are things we talk about in practice on a regular basis that if you are going to compete in games like this, you’ve got to be really sharp in practice, you’ve got to be competing in practice, and you have got to be challenging each other in practice.
We did not have great preparation for this game in terms of a great practice yesterday. We were obviously traveled out, but I was a little bit disappointed at the toughness and some of the things that you have to do like taking your space and ripping through it and things like that that you have to do against a really athletic team like Memphis.
Give Memphis credit they did a great job, they were really active early on, and they put us on our heels. You’re not going to have much success playing if you are on your heels.
Talk about why you put David Appolon in the game early tonight
We need a guard to come off the bench to play 12 and 14 minutes a game. David has been practicing and giving a great effort. Tonight was his opportunity, and I think he did a pretty good job with his opportunity. There are obviously things that he needs to improve, but for him to come out play 13 minutes in a setting like this was a positive for him. Now we have to continue to help him improve in practice so when we get into Northeast Conference play he will be a little more comfortable and will be able to clean up some of those errors he made.
Talk about your struggles in shooting tonight
We did not shoot particularly well and I think that goes back to some of our details and how hard it is to get really good looks. The few good looks that we did get were a little bit rushed, and I think that is a credit to the athleticism of Memphis.
