University of Memphis Athletics
Memphis Post-Game Quotes
Nov 13, 2009 | Men's Basketball
Nov. 13, 2009
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Post-Game Quotes
Memphis vs. Jackson State
Nov. 13, 2009
FedExForum
Memphis Head Coach Josh Pastner
R.C. Johnson told me he gave you the game ball tonight for your first ever win. Talk about that.
"Thank you, and I took that game ball and I sent it right back to the players because it's not the coaching; it's the players. I appreciate Mr. Johnson--without him I'm not even in this opportunity, so I give him a hug every time when I see him. But, when I took that ball, I said this is for the players because we wouldn't be anything without them. But, anyway, that's all well and good. We have to move on; we have a lot of work to do. And, there were some positives in this game. Number one, we held them to 36 or 37 percent from the field. I thought defensively, we got after it. But, there were some lapses. But, we forced them into 20 turnovers. And, I thought this was a good Jackson State team. Overall, there are some things we need to get better on. We had 14 turnovers with 14 assists, that's just not good enough. Our goal is to have that 3 to 1. Our free throw shooting needs to get better, also. And 30-48 from the line, Holy Toledo, I'm glad we got to the line, but we have to a better job."
You made a good point about the turnovers. Talk about the importance of ball control when playing someone such as Kansas.
"Yeah, we will have to work on turning the ball over. Again, the open man is the go-to man. I'm not a big fancy pass guy. Just make the easy play. I love sound, fundamental basketball and making the easy play. That's just something that we have to spend time on and keep working. Again, our numbers are what they are. Like I said in the pregame, we haven't been able to practice a lot because Doneal was injured and Pierre wasn't feeling well. So, we were a little short on numbers and couldn't really practice. We had to do a lot of walking through. Because of that, it makes you a little but rusty on some things and you don't really get in sync. But, that's when I go back to my original point--that a lot of our chemistry will come during game time."
Talk about Doneal Mack playing injured.
"Yeah, I'm proud of Doneal. He really gutted it out. He was hurt. I didn't think he was going to play. He didn't shoot around, didn't practice. I didn't think he was going to go. This morning, he said he wasn't feeling well. But, he went out there and gutted it out. I went out there during pregame warm-ups, and he told me he was ready to go."
Jackson State Coach Tevester Anderson
On Memphis:
"That's a good team. They can shoot the ball. They're very athletic, and they're a very good defensive team. They have a lot of players who are the same size so they switch on everything. They got us out of our offensive flow because of the switching. We're used to getting guys open off of a screen, but we couldn't tonight. That's a good team. They're one of the best teams we've played against."
On Memphis' defensive pressure at beginning of game:
"On the film they hadn't done a lot of that in their first two exhibitions. We thought they'd press a little bit, but not that much."
On Jackson State:
We're a young team. If you'll notice, I played everybody off the bench. I did that for a reason, because I'm trying to find out who we can play when we get into conference play near Christmas time. That's why I played a lot of players tonight - to find out who can play and who can step up. I kept pulling guys in and out to get different combinations out there. Winning the game was pretty much nil. You know that. We were trying to get better as a basketball team. By the time we get to January, I think we'll be a better basketball team. I think we're going to shoot the ball much better.
How does this compare to some of Coach Calipari's teams you've faced the past few years?
They compare very favorably to some of his best teams. This is a good basketball team. They're not as big and strong as some of the guys he's had, but they're athletic and they can shoot. This team is going to be the same kind of force in Conference USA, I'll tell you that.
On opening up the season in an atmosphere like the Forum:
It gets your kids' attention. This is a good atmosphere because we can bring in guys who haven't played at this level in this type of atmosphere before. It gets their attention. We'll practice Sunday, and we'll have better practices now because of what they've seen up here. I think it's going to help us be a better basketball team
