University of Tennessee Athletics
Postgame Quotes: Vols 67, #15 Butler 55
December 14, 2014 | Men's Basketball
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Tennessee Head Coach Donnie Tyndall
(Opening statement)
"First off, I just want to say how much respect I have for Butler's interim coach, Chris Holtmann. He has done an amazing job. If there regular coach doesn't come back, I hope he gets the job be cause he has done a great job. Everyone knows Butler's tradition. We knew it would be a battle for forty minutes. Our team really competed and played hard. They held an offensive team to 33 percent shooting and largely part to our crowd. They gave us energy at key times that really helped us defensively at the end. We just hope that every crowd is like that from here on out."
(On second half adjustments)
"We have talked about our style of play. The conditioning and practicing that we have done lends us to being a second half team. We use the term 'take their legs in the second half.' We know it won't be like this every night, but we a certain that we will play team with talent where you can't do stuff like that to. We have proven to be a second half team. Our defense and press wore on them. Our play just wears on people."
(On finishing the game strong)
"You don't want to base anything good or bad on two games (Kansas State and Butler). I think the last couple minutes of the game, our home crowd was not going to let us lose. They were into the game and the energy level that they gave us - it just helps you. Anyone that's ever played a sport in this room or been part of a team, when you have a great home court advantage you jump a little higher and you jump a little faster and I thought we did that late in the game."
(On Josh Richardson)
"Josh has done an incredible job of leading our team. When I first got here, he led by example. He led by being a guy that every day in practice did his job and kind of hoped guys followed suit. What Josh has really done a nice job of in the last month and a half is to challenge some guys verbally and get them to rise up to his level. And no one is offended by it when he does that because they know how hard he works and how much he wants to win. It's nothing to do about him, there's no selfishness in his actions. It's just him wanting to be a great leader and when he talks and when he plays with a chip on his shoulder, I think the rest of our guys follow suit."
(On Derek Reese's big 3-pointer late in the game)
"We actually drew the play up for him to shoot the ball. We were going to fake the handoff and we knew that both guys were going to go with Josh. I told him in the huddle, `You're going to jump up and stick it in the rim.' But I can't sit hit and tell you I called bank."
(On the team responding after losing the ball in transition)
"It's a great example to our team that it's not about offense. We weren't always pretty. We had a couple of opportunities in the open floor where we threw it behind the guy, we about threw it out of bounds, we fell on the ball one time. But at the end of the day, even though we had those turnovers, we went back and got stops. We went back and got timely rebounds. We went back and guarded without fouling. That's the difference between winning and losing against quality opponents."
(On Derek Reese not playing in the first half)
"That's totally on me. It's nothing that (Derek) had done or didn't do. In practice he's been good. The way the first half kind unfolded, we played small a lot with Armani at the four, and so the minutes weren't there (for Derek). But I told our coaches at halftime, `We've got to get Derek in,' and if you noticed, we subbed him in right away--first big guy off the bench in the second half. He ended up 2-for-2 with five rebounds in 16 minutes--pretty solid play. And I thought he did a great job. The first half was just about us wanting to play small, and drive (Butler) to the rim."
(On Derek Reese's key second-half 3-pointer)
"He can stretch the floor a little bit and he gives you a guy you can run offense through. He wasn't playing with much confidence at times. He caught it in the post, had a great look and kicked it out. Another time, he drove it and ended up traveling. But I told him coming out of that timeout, `You're going to knock this in, man.' I've done this a long time, and I'm not claiming to know a whole bunch, but when you tell a kid he's going to make a shot... They don't want to believe you when you tell them they don't guard. But they really want to believe you when you tell them they're going to make a shot. He did that tonight."
(On Kevin Punter's performance)
"What's impressive to me is that he got four defensive rebounds, he got to the foul line four times. He maybe settled for one tough shot but it went in in the first half. He goes 7-for-10 because, for the most part, he drove the ball and was aggressive off the dribble, he didn't settle for bad shots. Kevin is a good player when he does that. He was really good tonight."
(On Tennessee committing only seven turnovers) "Give Josh (Richardson) a lot of credit. He's a guy who's embraced that role. At times you can tell he gets a little off-balance or what we call `sped up,' but I think he's getting better and better. Our team values the basketball better now than we did early in the season. (Butler) averaged nine or 10 steals a game coming in, and they don't press you. So that tells you they're a really good half-court defensive team. I thought tonight, a big key was that when we drove the ball, we played in what we call straight lines. We drove it straight to the rim; we didn't play east and west. When you do that, you don't give teams an opportunity to slap down and steal the ball."
(On runs during the game)
"I think our style of playing is going to be a spurt team. You're going to make that 12-2 run. You're going to make that 8-0 run. Over the course of the game you hope to do that three or four times. Usually when you do that, you separate yourself. I thought they hit that three early, our team was kind of like, `Gosh, here we go,' but they never quit. When we made our run with a couple turnovers and the crowd gets into the game, and we just call it a spurt. It was a 10-2 or 12-2 run. You have two or three during the course of the game, and that's usually the difference."
(On importance of win)
"I told our guys, every game is so important. I've been fortunate to have some great players and great coaches and be part of some great teams and have some really, really good wins, but I don't know that I've ever been more proud of a group of guys than I was today. Just because you're playing a nationally ranked team with the tradition and history of Butler. The first half didn't go our way, and early in the second half didn't start exactly right, and they just battled and clawed and found a way. I told them and I mean it, I'm proud of them. It's a quality win, no question about it."
(On Armani Moore's game)
"Two and a half weeks ago in Orlando when he was struggling, he pouted a little bit and felt sorry for himself. I challenged him to make sure he understood it's not about Armani. He's not a selfish kid at all, but things weren't going his way and he was down a little bit. In the last couple of weeks in practice, I can tell he's trying to play through mistakes and not get down on himself. Tonight offensively, even though it didn't go perfectly for him, he still gets eight rebounds, three steals and makes free throws late. He's a tough kid who's evolving. You've got to understand, he hasn't played major minutes his first two years, so he's going to get better and better as the year goes along as well."
Senior Guard Josh Richardson
(On being down at half)
"Galen Campbell talked to us at halftime. He told us that we were gambling too much in the first half, and we were settling too much."
(On attacking Roosevelt Jones' defense)
"I was using my quickness. They were switching ball screens, so I was attacking the big men a lot."
(On the win)
"Butler is a great team, and everyone in the countries knows that. That is why they are ranked No. 15. It was a little different, but we have to get back to the drawing board tomorrow because we play a great NC State team on Wednesday."
Junior Forward Armani Moore
(On Derek Reese's big shot)
"I think that show's a great sign of confidence from Coach Tyndall. He drew up the play, he said no matter what I'm drawing this play for you so that means I have confidence in you, so once you get the ball you shot it and knock it in. It's not the prettiest thing, but it went in so we'll take..." (Did he say you're gonna make it, or you better make it?) " He said you're gonna make the shot."
(On feelings after being down by 12)
"I feel like the game of basketball is a game of runs, and they came out and had their run before halftime. We just knew that if we were going to put ourselves in a position to win the game we had to wear on them a little bit. and I feel like that's what we did. We came out and picked it up in the 2nd half."
(On tough possession trying to take the lead)
"I had a tough time making layups today. Coach Tyndall told us that it's not going to be our offense that wins us the game, it was going to be our defense. Every shot is not going to go in, every possession is not going to be pretty but if you just fight hard and keep competeing some good things will happen."
Junior Forward Derek Reese
(On correcting mistakes from previous games)
"That just tells us that we have a lot more potential. We're still making mistakes, that can really mess us up in the game. Offensive rebounds, they had 10 in the first half, just stopping that makes the game easier for us. It just tells us we have a lot of potential."
(On what Coach Tyndall said before the big three point shot)
"He told me to fake it to Josh and they're going to switch that, so I want you to fake it and just knock it in. Exactly what he said `Just knock it in'. So I said ` I got you'."
(On how that effected you)
"I was just gonna make sure and read it. It gave me confidence, so if I made it or missed it I was still good. So I did the fake and just shot it and the bank is open on Sunday."
Butler Interim Head Coach Chris Holtman
(Opening statement)
"We have to give Tennessee a lot of credit for how they played. In watching them, we felt like they were going to be difficult to play. You have to give them credit. They were tougher than us throughout the second half. We did some things to contribute to that, but you have to give them credit."
(On how quick the game turned)
"That is how they play. They were able to convert our turnovers to scores. We didn't handle the ball as well as we needed to in the type of game. They play a unique style. Our ball handling needed to be better. We couldn't get a stop in the second half. We could not do it."
(On Roosevelt Jones guarding Richardson)
"I feel like Jones is such a competitor. He gets frustrated. He knows that defense is an area where he has to grow. We had saw stuff like this from Richardson on tape. He is a pro and terrific player. He wasn't the only guy we struggled with, but we struggled with him all night."
