University of Memphis Athletics
Memphis Basketball Quotes vs Jacksonville State
Feb 04, 2015 | Men's Basketball
Recap |
Box Score |
Notes |
Joe Murphy Photo Gallery 
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Memphis Head Coach Josh Pastner |
Overall Thoughts...
"I was really proud of our guys. We had three turnovers in 40 minutes. In our first game against Wichita State, we had 24 turnovers. I know Jacksonville State is not Wichita State, the point is we're valuing the possession of the ball. We didn't play the right way in the second half against East Carolina, but we played the right way tonight. I was really proud of how well we valued the ball. I understand Jacksonville State is not Wichita State. In the last three games, 120 minutes of basketball, we've turned the ball over 19 times against ECU, Gonzaga and Jacksonville State.
I'm just really proud of how much we've improved. We had 20 assists on 30 made field goals. We were +9 on the glass. Austin Nicholls had seven blocks. We held them to 32 percent from the field, but they still shot 52 percent from three. Have there been more, late in the shot clock prayers that have gone in against us? It's unbelievable. Those were just some desperation shots, by the law of averages, it should start to work out for us. I was pleased with how we handled the ball. I thought we got good overall production from everybody.
On the improvements the team has made...
"I'm glad that we've continued to get better. That has got to be something we continue to do. From where we started the year, we had major issues taking care of the basketball. We value the ball now. That's a good sign of improvement. I'm really proud of us for that. We've been pretty good on the glass all year. We were better on defense today. It was a good win. Chris Hawkins was not with us today. He is having surgery to repair a torn meniscus. He won't be able to return for the remainder of the year. Even if he is able to come back, we're going to hold him out and be extra careful. The reason he wasn't at the game tonight was for him to prepare for the surgery.
On Shaq Goodwin...
"I wanted to get Shaq going. He had a good stat line, he just has to keep that going. He made some shots in the first half. We need him to be really good for us. He needs to consistently put up 16 and seven every game. We're counting on him and he knows that. I thought he played well tonight. He played well against Gonzaga, but he just didn't make shots. He was competing there. We need him to continue to play at a high level.
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Junior Forward/Guard Trahson Burrell |
On his comfort level on the court...
"When I'm comfortable, I feel like I can play anywhere on the court. I'm a flexible player. I will do anything to help the team."
On knocking down shots...
"I just had to slow down and knock down the shots I need to knock down.
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Sophomore Forward/Guard Nick King |
On rebounding after a tough loss...
"We just have to come out after the Gonzaga loss and keep our confidence up. We have to stay great on defense and continue to help each other out. That's when our offense gets going is when we can score in transition."
On the mindset going into today...
"We knew we were coming off a tough loss. We didn't want to keep our heads down so we came out today with a lot of intensity."
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Jacksonville State Head Coach James Green |
How did turnovers hurt you?
"Well, entirely too many turnovers that led to baskets. We go back to look at it on the stat sheets and it's 22-0 (points off turnovers). We didn't force any turnovers, therefore we couldn't get any easy baskets. Even when we got the ball down against their press, they're big and cover so well and they're so difficult. It's difficult for our guards to get to the basket, and it was also difficult for our post guys to get down and score under the basket.
To be honest I thought we played a little bit timid around the basket in the first half, and we probably should have attacked it a little bit harder. I think it was because of the blocked shots. Just their length and strength was a factor out there. D.J. [Felder] made some shots early on, but he didn't finish shooting well - 3-9. Our most positive sign was Malcol Drumwright just kept getting better. I thought Jeremy Watson gave us a little bit of an effort and made a couple of baskets there. But when you look at our point efforts, we got 48 and it was spread around. I thought Joe Kuligoski gave us a great effort in the short minutes that he had. It was a very tough matchup. He was in between being a little too slow for the guards; he was playing the three. We couldn't really play him at the four, those guys were too big for him. So he didn't get the minutes that we would have liked to see him get based on the type effort he's been giving us in games and in practice. We got [Deitrich Cole] a few more minutes. Hopefully what those minutes will do for some of those guys is in these next games they'll have a little bit more confidence as they play. Tough night for Darion [Rackley] and JaQuail [Townswer]."
How tough was it not getting one of your major scorers in rhythm?
"You're not going to win, and it's going to be a lopsided game for us, and that's what it was. Between those four, [Darion] Rackley, [JaQuail] Townswer, [D.J.] Felder and [Jamal] Hunter, that's 7-30. That's not very good. You give Memphis some of that credit because of their length and the way they reacted to the ball. I thought what we did was give them too much confidence on the offensive end in the second half. They broke us down some in the first half, they flashed in behind us in the zone and we didn't communicate well. In the second half, it was a straight on attack whether it was man or zone. Some of it had to do with their abilities, and some of it had to do with height difference to be honest. I told our guys that on paper, nobody would write down that we were going to win that game and that what we needed to do is judge ourselves based on how we did. I thought in some areas we did well. We had a game plan and we stuck to it. And then we broke away from it and the game broke away."
Can you take a good feeling out of tonight as you head back to lead play?
"It's not as good as I would like. Obviously, we definitely need something very, very positive. But I don't think it's a negative deal. I can see our guys trying and just couldn't make some plays. There were times that we watched the balls come off the rim that we need to be quicker to react to, but when you're out there and you have 6'8", 6'9" and 230 to 240 that are banging you pretty good, and the game's not called in this league like it is in ours, that has an effect, too. What we have to do is be one really determined team that we're going to figure out how to win us a game, and that's what we're going to do in this next game coming up.
We're going to spend a lot of time looking at what they're good at and what they're not. What we're good at and what we're not, and try to make sure that we stick with those things. And then make sure every guy who touches the floor has a good night. We can't have three or four guys not have a good night. Those guys that I just named, Hunter, Felder, Townser and Rackley - if four of those guys, and I'll throw Avery [Moore] back in there, four, even if Avery has a good game, if those four does not, four out of that five will not be good enough. We have to have three or four of those guys play well to have a chance, because Tennessee Tech is kind of like us in a sense that they're trying to find wins, but they're a talented team and they're a team with some size. Although we mirror each other in that way, I don't think we really mirror in talent. Going to play on their home court, sometimes they really get up and can be a totally different team. What we have to do is be tough enough to stick to what we do and not allow them to stick their heads up and be a different team then what they've been thus far in the league."
