University of Memphis Athletics
Memphis Men's Basketball Postgame Quotes
Feb 28, 2015 | Men's Basketball
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University of Memphis Head Coach Josh Pastner |
"It was just one of those games. The guys battled and played their butts off. This was just one of those years that the breaks have not gone our way: the calls haven't gone our way; the ball hasn't bounced our way; the injury bug has not gone our way. All you can ask is a shot to win it at the end and Nick (King) had a great look at the three. We can have peace about that and live with that.
We were there at 60-51 and had that string of turnovers. Kedren (Johnson) got picked at the half court there. You can't get stolen at the half court with our guards. Nick wasn't supposed to throw the ball in. That's Shaq's (Goodwin) responsibility. That resulted in a four point swing right there.
That being said, our guys battled. Everyone contributed. Shaq played well. Austin was good when he was out there in the first half. Markell (Crawford) was solid coming off that injury. Kedren (Johnson) hit some big threes. Avery (Woodson) played hard. Trahson (Burrell) had a great stat line. Nick played really well and had some hard-nosed rebounds. Calvin (Godfrey) came in and played well. In the end, we also missed some free throws. We were 13-of-24 from the free throw line.
Shaquille Harrison was 16 percent from three-point range coming in. He hit a big three. Rashad Ray had 18 points and he average six points coming in. Those are the breaks. That's the way the year's gone. I believe by the law of averages, things will work in our favor. They may not work this year, but they will work eventually. The breaks will come our way. You can get us now, but we're going to be a team that's going to be really good in the stretch run. We still have two games to play and the conference tournament, which we can win.
The key is getting Austin healthy. If we can get him healthy, we can win this thing. We can go on a roll and win the conference tournament and get into the NCAA Tourney. We need to get healthy and get our team back. The crowd was great tonight. It's tough that we didn't end it with a win for the home crowd. This is just one of those years. The breaks and some of the bounces just didn't go our way this year. Due to the law of averages, things will go our way eventually."
On the final play...
"We didn't need a three. I didn't mind going to double-overtime. I wasn't opposed to throwing the ball inside with the way they were calling it. We designed the play and Nick was wide open. He can make those shots. It was a top of the key-three. I have total peace about it. He's a guy that works on his shooting. He hasn't shot really well this year, but he's a guy I have total confidence in. I thought when he caught it that we were going to win the game. If the ball goes in, it's the thrill of victory; he missed it and it's the agony of defeat. That's the fine line of basketball."
On losing Austin Nichols...
"We can deny anything we want, but when you lose your best player, your franchise, it makes it hard. Everyone can say you have other players, but when you lose your best player, it makes things difficult. Austin is a high character young man. He's very unselfish. His teammates love him. When you lose a guy like that, it's not just losing him, it's his character and attitude you lose as well."
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Junior Guard Kedren Johnson |
On Tulsa...
"They are competitors. [Shaq] Harrison does a good job of getting past you with his first step. He's really quick. [Rashad] Ray did a good job since we tried to take number 10 out, James Woodard. He did a good job of stepping up and making plays for them."
On Trahson Burrell...
"It amped me up. He made me hype. It helped me to see him feeling it again, and I'm really proud of him."
On upcoming road games...
"We are going to go out and fight. We have to keep fighting and let the cards fall where they may."
On free throws...
"Terrible. That is unacceptable and that shot at the buzzer isn't the one that lost us the game. I feel like those free throws and untimely turnovers really cost us the game."
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Junior Forward Shaq Goodwin |
Were you happy with that last shot?
"I was happy with it. It was pretty much a scramble play. You couldn't have asked for a better shot."
They got a couple of good looks in the last few minutes and Shaq Harrison capitalized on them, but what happened defensively with you guys?
"I would not say they got good looks, (Rashad) Ray got some good shots. He hit a three in the corner and the top of the key. With Shaq Harrison our game plan was the give him some space because he is not a shooter, he's a driver and he made a clutch shot. We had an opportunity to win in the end and we can't be mad at these results."
How different would this game have been if you guys had been better at the free throw line?
"We could have shot a whole lot better from the free throw line. We were 54 percent for the game from the line and that is on us as players to make those shots. We had a chance to win the game regardless of what the free throw count was. Regardless of what the turnovers were or the percentages were we had a chance to win it, we just came up a little short. We will live with that because our effort was maxed this game."
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Junior Forward Trahson Burrell |
What happened towards the end when Shaq Harrison started to take over getting more space?
"We tried not to let him get going but when you play that kind of defense you let some go. We started not playing as hard on defense as we were in the first half so we let some things slide."
Was it emotionally draining to see Austin (Nichols) go down again?
"Oh yeah, my heart dropped when I saw Austin go down because we love him and like everyone knows he is a big part of our team. We pray for a speedy recovery and that he will be back for the next game."
Does it feel like this is another game that got away from you guys late?
"Yes, we have had a lot of games like that this game this season. That is the worst game to lose, the one that is close and then at the end it gets away by a last second shot. We did not put enough pressure on them at the end as we did at the start."
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Tulsa Head Coach Frank Haith |
Opening Statement...
"It was a great atmosphere. They played their butts off. Give them a lot of credit. I thought our guys hung in there and showed great toughness. We got down nine in the second half. Then we made some defensive plays, and we pressed them a little bit and got some easy buckets from turnovers. We got some clean rebounds. They killed us on the glass so we have to fix that for Wednesday. Once we got clean rebounds and we executed we had guys making big shots, from [Rashad] Ray to Shaq [Harrison] to Dre [D'Andre Wright]. We made some big shots. In order to win a tough game like this on the road, you have to make big shots."
On Shaq Harrison's performance in overtime...
"He scored all eight points I think. He was terrific. He got offensive rebounds, made a free throw, made a big layup and then the big three. He was terrific down the stretch."
On getting the win in Memphis...
"I think beating a team like Memphis and Josh [Pastner], I told him before the game that he's done a great job here and to have two wins this year, that's a heck of an accomplishment against these guys. I'm really proud of their effort and the way this year has gone with our growth as a team. They sense it. We have two games left, and we control our own destiny. We have a home game Wednesday against one of the better teams in our league in Cincinnati. They are playing great. They looked terrific today against Tulane. I'm really proud of our focus though. You play a team on their court and they get us down like they did, I have to look at my team and say we did some great things to get us a back in the game."
On the win in overtime...
"It was a great win. I just feel that it's a heck of a win for us to go on the road. We have one more road game, and we are 7-1 now on the road this year. That's a tremendous accomplishment. The first year in this conference, and I'm just really proud of these guys. We are continuing to grow. I think that this team and doing what we did here today, this team has come a long way. I'm really proud of how far we've come."
