University of Memphis Athletics
Memphis-Fairfield Post Game Quotes
Nov 15, 2008 | Men's Basketball
Nov. 15, 2008
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Post Game Quotes
November 15, 2008
Fairfield 63 (0-1)
Memphis 90 (1-0)
University of Memphis
Head Coach John Calipari
"Until I watch the tape I can't tell you exactly all that happened. They are a team that shot 50 percent against us. We didn't have a team shoot 50 percent against us all last year I believe. Does that mean we're not good enough defensively? I don't know. I think we had a lot of breakdowns by our young kids, which is expected; it's November. We only had 13 turnovers, and we played fast. Of the 13, the freshmen had six, so we only had seven among the rest of us."
"We shot 80 percent from the line. It's nice to know when you get fouled--and we will be a team that gets fouled--that we can go to the line and make free throws. When you add eight points to a game, instead of having 82 you have 90 and you have a gap that gets you something."
"Isn't it great to see him (Pierre Henderson-Niles) break down defensively, get beat and then sprint so fast to tip it out that 17,000 people gave him a standing ovation for it. For making a mistake just go and recover it, which was great coaching by the 17,000 people in the seats letting him know it was appreciated. I liked to see Roburt Sallie what he did."
"We're going to be okay. We've got a ways to go. We've got to get better defensively; you have to. Antonio (Anderson) at guard, I kind of liked it. Wesley (Witherspoon) really struggled, but you know what, it's alright though. He's a freshman; let's see how he goes now. But I'll say this; he's going to be special. He just wasn't today."
"Tyreke (Evans) did great stuff today when he drove the ball. He got to the foul line. He's strong and limber and he moves. He did some good stuff, but he's got a long way to go. There were a lot of breakdowns defensively."
Fairfield University
Head Coach Ed Cooley
Overall thoughts on the game
"I think the turning point of the game was when Anthony Johnson got his second foul of the game. He is a 6-8, 245 pound, physical presence. When he came out of the game I thought the game changed a little bit. All in all John (Calipari) has a good team. They are going to win a lot of games. To come into this environment with the team I have, I am really proud of our kids. The fact that we can shoot 50 percent against a defensive team like that is really a credit to our players. We just turned the ball over. The end of discussion is if you turn the ball over like that, you might as well go home. We had 26 turnovers. I don't think we have turned the ball over that much in five games."
Do you think the type of athleticism Memphis and the pressure they put on you caused your players to turn the ball over?
"First off, I thought our lack of alertness to the ball was a big reason we turned the ball over a lot tonight. Yet, I think their athleticism bothered us. But when we look at some of our turnovers, it was more us than it was them, if you as k me. I thought our players just didn't come to the ball."
Is their some intimidation when Memphis makes scoring runs like they did in this game and the environment it creates within the crowd?
"Absolutely not. We have played Georgetown, we've played Connecticut, Boston College, Wake Forest, Cincinnati. We belong in these games. As we mature as a program I am pretty sure these schools are not going want to schedule Fairfield. Absolutely, unequivocally we are not intimidated in any environment."
On the performances of Warren Edney and Jonathan Han in tonight's game.
"I am very proud of their performances. I thought Warren grew up tonight. We have seen it all pre-season. We've seen it in all of our practices. We expect him to be a key part of our team this year. I expect him to have a few more career highs."
