University of Memphis Athletics
Memphis Postgame Quotes
Feb 02, 2005 | Men's Basketball
Feb. 2, 2005
Memphis Head Coach John Calipari
"We keep hustle points. If the hustle points are in the 50's, normally we are in pretty good shape. If they're in the 30's, normally we know we're down at the half. The hustle points are if you're getting beat to the loose balls, are you getting beat to the loose rebounds, are they coming up with anything that's fumbled. So we had like 35 at halftime, and in the second half we had like 51. Truly this is a team that is going to be based on our aggresive play. I thought East Carolina played well. I'm glad we're done with East Carolina. Whoever's going to play them in their building, you have problems. They had Cincinnati beat, they beat Charlotte, they beat Saint Louis. If you're going to play them there, you've got problems.
"I think we had chances to break the game open, but we couldn't take advantage. We didn't play well in the first half. But it's a sign of a good team when you don't play well and then you still win the game. Rodney Carney did not play well in the first half, but played very well in the second half. Duane Erwin did not play well in the first half, but played very well in the second half. That's the sign of a good player.
"When you're dealing with a team, it's all five guys playing together. It's all five guys respecting each other. It's all five guys buying into how we are playing. It's all five guys wanting to be coached and being coachable. If you don't have that, it breaks down. But when you do, all of a sudden everybody buys in and it's not hard. We had our chances to break things open, but we still did a lot of good stuff today."
East Carolina Head Coach Bill Herrion
"To beat a team the caliber of Memphis, it has to be for 40 minutes, and we continue to say this to our kids. We knew the first five minutes of the second half that Memphis would come out with a lot more energy and urgency. John (Calipari) was going to challenge his kids. Memphis scored on us early in the second half, and we did not get stops. We struggled to get the ball in the bucket in the second half and that has been a real Achilles heal for us.
"We are running a good offense and getting the ball where we need to get it, but we just cannot score consistently. Moussa Badiane went 2-of-12 from the floor, and in C-USA, you have to score on the block and on the free throw line. It is crucial. We played hard and I liked our effort, but it was a very winnable game for us and that is what is disappointing."
