University of Tennessee Athletics
Tennessee vs. Louisiana-Lafayette Postgame Quotes
November 30, 2007 | Men's Basketball
Tennessee Head Coach Bruce Pearl:
"It is good to see Tyler Smith play so well. That is three games in a row where he has shot well, passed well, rebounded, and been to the free-throw line. It gave him a chance to show what a fine player he is. He makes a difference. I introduced myself to Tyler tonight, 'I'm coach Pearl, and I was wondering when you were going to show up.'
"It was also good to see Jordan Howell record 17 points, his career-high. He has worked hard. I have tried to get him to be more of a leader. He is a great listener. He was in three straight days at the Pratt Pavilion when the Arena was tied-up, working on his shots.
"We are making progress, but consistency is a challenge. For instance, and this is not a criticism, but Josh Tabb had a great game last time but not tonight. It makes it tough for coaches to know where they are. I am puzzled Chris Lofton only gets five shots tonight. We are trying to get him opportunities, but he gets so much attention that the other players get open, like Tyler Smith tonight. If our opponents want to take away Lofton, that's fine.
"JaJuan Smith showed great patience. It is difficult for him and Lofton to be patient sometimes because they have the green light to shoot. Why was Howell open? Are they leaving him to guard the other players? Another thing about Howell is that he never takes a play off, defensively. Again, our second-half defense was not good."
Louisiana-Lafayette Head Coach Robert Lee:
"We played one of the most talented teams in the country. For us to win this ballgame, we needed to be almost perfect in every phase of the game, and we did not do that. We did not do a good enough job on the interior, and we allowed too much dribble penetration. We gave up way too many open looks in our transition defense, especially from the 3-point line.
"They are an outstanding shooting team. If you make one mistake, defensively, they will make you pay. Tennessee is an outstanding team. There are a lot of teams that have come in here, and who have not been able to do what they needed to do to win. We showed some signs that we can compete at a high level, but in the end we just did not have enough.
"You have to give Tennessee all the credit. They are a great team. "
