Memphis-Houston Post Game Quotes
Jan 31, 2009 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 31, 2009
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January 31, 2009
Post Game Quotes
Houston (12-7, 3-3) 68
Memphis (18-3, 7-0) 83
Memphis Head Coach John Calipari
"We're a veteran enough team and an experienced enough team to know that when a team like that comes back you fold a little bit. But we've been through so many things that when you think about the last four years and what we've been through, no team is going to give up. (Aubrey) Coleman goes for 35. What I like is we had five guys in double figures. We had great defense. What I love is our post defensive play really stepped up. Now all of a sudden you're pretty good in the post and you're pretty good and the perimeter. They made tough shots. We had some dumb turnovers. Our team's getting better. That's all I'm asking."
On Robert Dozier
"If Robert plays like he did, we're going to be really good. Then again I get mad at Tyreke (Evans). He goes for 10 points, seven rebounds, five assists, two steals and too many turnovers. But he's better than that. Play harder. Run harder. What they found out is we can post them. That's another weapon now that we can throw somebody in the post, and you've better have a big guard on him because he'll score. If you trap him, he's a great passer, so that gives us one more thing. I really loved our execution down the stretch. You knew the game was over when we started grinding it out. Just grind it out. We were scoring and making baskets. Willie (Kemp) a big three. Doneal (Mack) a big three. Robert Dozier a big three. I changed my shoes at half because I didn't think we were playing well. And then when they scored their first two I was going to go back and get the shoes I had on."
Houston Head Coach Tom Penders
"They're (Memphis) a great defensive team, and they get so many points off put backs. They just attack, attack, drive. They're tremendously athletic. We fought as hard as we could, but we came up short. They kept getting the second shot. You have to play extremely well to have an opportunity to knock off a team like Memphis."
"When Memphis is hitting three pointers, forget about it. They can beat anybody in the country. We tried really hard to really work in the paint, and then they started hitting threes right from the get go and that changed our whole defensive philosophy. We had to adjust. We came back and got it close right before half time, but again they're a very great basketball team in this building. I think right now, I don't know if anybody can beat them in this building. They had a great crowd and a great atmosphere. They are just really on top of their game right now."
"He (Aubrey Coleman) needed a little help tonight. They make you play a different game. They don't allow you to run your plays, so you've got to be able to break them down off the dribble. You can't just run your sets. I thought Aubrey did a really good job, and I thought Zamal Nixon really came through and gave us a lot. Desmond (Wade) still has that ankle problem. He gave us all the minutes he could give us. It was good to see Zamal step up, and I thought Horace McGloster, although the line doesn't look great, he was hustling and had a couple of steals he kept them from getting rebounds. He did a lot of good things out there. It's a team game. If we would have had Qa'rraan (Calhoun) and Kelvin (Lewis) play their normal games...Memphis again they never looked lightly upon us. They made the mistake in the very first game that we played them in this conference and we beat them by 10 points. I know John (Calipari) reminds them all the time. He knows that our kids are going to come in here and give it everything they've got. So there's a lot of respect there. Maybe we'll get lucky later on in the year."
