University of Tennessee Athletics
Postgame Quotes: Vols 76, LMU 67
November 07, 2011 | Men's Basketball
Nov. 7, 2011
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Tennessee Head Coach Cuonzo Martin
Opening Statement:
"We did a good job shooting free throws tonight. I thought our guys focused in practice. I think Jeronne (Maymon) was 7-of-7 from the free throw line and had 11 rebounds and did a good job being aggressive despite the foul situation. I thought Trae (Golden) and Cam (Tatum) did a good job rebounding and passing the ball. Trae had eight assists and was very impressive with his ability to score the ball. Sixteen assists is also good in leading to 22 made shots. I thought Cam really played well the last two days in practice. I thought his overall game in practice was good.
"I thought our guards did a really good job in the first half of just defending, taking away the passing lanes and being aggressive. Their bigs were really good in high-low action, so we had to pressuring the ball so they couldn't get direct passes in."
On LMU coming back after Vols had 20-point lead:
"One of the things as a coach is when you have such a big lead in the first half, you know something is about to happen. Guys somehow let up. It's a matter of us getting off to a good start and maintaining. You're subbing guys in and out trying to get guys minutes but you're trying to win the game at the same time. That happens."
On playing in a close game in preseason:
"In this game, unfortunately, I guess Tennessee expected to win this game because we're Tennessee. That's a really good opponent, a tough opponent, a physical opponent. They give you your money's worth so to speak. They can bang on the blocks, big guys that can score, guards that can shoot and play. ... Most teams wouldn't play those guys because of what they bring to the table. I thought it was good for our guys from the standpoint of how you approach a game, how you compete.
"Our guys came away with a sense of urgency. Not necessarily scared of them, but understanding that these are the same guys you play Rocky Top (League) with.
On McRae's Shooting and confidence:
"I don't think he lost confidence. I can't give him that. If you miss shots, you miss shots. You better get in the gym and keep working. ... It's his job to get shots up. For him it's just going hard. You shoot shots in practice and then you're shooting shots at game speed. Then you can equate what happens in game situations."
Vols Junior Guard Skylar McBee
(On tonight's game against LMU)
"LMU is a good team, a very good team. They have a lot of good players. They're pretty lengthy. They have a lot of guys who can disrupt you on defense. I think that made our offense struggle a little bit. They really pushed the ball. I think we didn't do as good of a job on transition defense as what we needed to, but I guarantee that's something we'll work on in practice and get better at."
(On playing all 40 minutes and not letting up)
"Coach Martin always stresses to play until the horn blows, especially with this team. This is a really good team that can score a lot of points and score them quick. I think we just have to make sure we keep playing until that buzzer sounds and give 100 percent when we're out there."
(On Trae Golden and the offensive flow)
"I think Trae (Golden) is doing an outstanding job. I think he had eight assists and no turnovers tonight. He's doing a great job shooting the ball. I think our whole team is doing a great job of really finding the open man and getting good looks."
(On Jeronne Maymon's basket with 3:49 left after LMU cut UT's lead to six)
"It was a play called shuffle. We want to get it inside to J (Jeronne Maymon). He's doing a really good job on the boards. It's good to have that offensive presence that you know you can get the ball to where you know he's going to be able to score or get fouled. You have to have that."
(On Tennessee's off-season)
"Our whole team has been working really hard. When Coach Martin came in, guys were really getting used to him and seeing the kind of work that he's going to put in. He comes in every day excited and I think it makes us excited to come in and really work hard."
Senior guard Cameron Tatum
(On building a 21-3 lead to start the game):
We came out of the gate strong and not just on the offensive end but the defensive end. We set the tone early and that is what we have to stick to doing.
(On the team's 31 3-point shot attempts):
Coaches have given everybody the green light to go and shoot the ball. You cannot go out there and play hesitant. You have to go out there and play your game. That is how you gain confidence.
(On LMU's second half comeback):
They hit some big shots, and we kind of rushed some shots. We had some careless turnovers and were not focused for the whole second half. A good team will capitalize when they see a chance. They are a good team, and you have to give all the credit to them. They never stopped and fought hard even we were up big.
Sophomore guard Trae Golden
(On the closeness of the game):
You never go into any game thinking it is going to be easy. You just go in, play as hard as you can and play defense.
(On his eight assists):
I have guys that can hit shots so it makes me look good. As long as my teammates are happy, I am happy.
(On getting ready for the season-opener Friday):
We have to work on the little things, really work on our defense, and just make sure everybody stays ready. We are all a team, and this is a team game. We are going to get better as the season goes on.
Lincoln Memorial Head Coach Josh Schertz
Opening Statement: "We came out a little starry-eyed and got down 22-3. We didn't play well out of the gates. We talked about coming out after halftime and trying to make a run, and we made a run in reverse. They got it out to 23, but we dug in and played our basketball from that point. We did a much better job of moving the ball, sharing the ball. We just played smarter down the stretch. But if you dig yourself a 23-point hole on the road, you're not going to have much of a chance to come back."
(On goals coming into this game)
"We didn't come in to play it close. There was no thought of trying to keep it close for any kind of moral victory. We came here to try to win and we said we weren't going to gimmick it, we weren't going to zone it, we weren't going to hold the ball. We were going to play it straight up and play our style. But it's good for us if we take the experience the right way. We got exposed in certain areas. We didn't do a very good job of rebounding the ball, we still turned it over 15 times. I told our team that the better the team you play, the more important the details become. Tennessee has good enough players that if we didn't contest up top, we didn't close out, we didn't get back and get set in transition defense, they were able to take advantage of it and make us pay. I think that will be beneficial for us in the long run."
(On the second-half turnaround)
"We took better care of the ball in the second half. Tennessee is good defensively and we were trying to attack the first side. You can't do that against a good defensive team. We were going too quickly. But in the second half, we were able to get it inside easier for a few dunks and layups. And we did a better job rebounding in the second half, which allowed us to get out and run."
