Memphis ...
Memphis vs. UAB // December 10, 2016 // FedExForum // Memphis, Tennessee PO STG AM E Q U O TES
Tubby Smith, Memphis Head Coach Opening Statement… Certainly we knew that UAB would be a real challenge for us. Every game is a true test but we knew they were very athletic. I like how our guys hung in there when we weren’t playing well, when we were not making shots. I thought at times that they out-hustled us for loose balls. They had a lot of second chance opportunities; they outscored us 12 to 5. I was impressed with Dedric, he saved us a lot today with his defensive presence and shot blocking ability inside.” At 17:03 you switched to the press and it seemed like everything changed. Can you talk about that change in that point in the game? “We stated making a couple of basket there, we got a steal. It’s hard to press when you’re missing your shots, shooting only 30%. In the second half, we made some shots. We were able to set our defense and that was critical for us especially with 7 steals and 11 blocks. We stepped up defensively. It is something we worked hard on this week because I thought we had some real problems defensively at Ole Miss. We have been working hard and it paid off. You’re right, that is why we were able to gain some momentum. We forced a couple of mistakes and were able to get out in transition.” With your guys not having to play in a week how big of a factor was rust in this game especially in the first half? “Rust may have something to do with it but it was more UAB being able to get the ball inside. We did a poor job of trapping. I think it was not us so much having rust but a team like UAB is going to take advantage of any breakdowns that you have both offensively and defensively. We had turned it over seven times in the first half. The crowd was great they got involved in the second half so that was exciting. It wasn’t necessarily our energy level. It was if you’re playing against good players and good teams you had better bring it every second.” You had 4 guys playing 35+ minutes how do you think that will affect you going forward? “I don’t think it will affect us We got to do what we have to do to win. These guys are playing well together, Markel is in great shape, Jeremiah is in great shape, and you know Dedric is in great shape. We need to get more out of Chad and Craig struggled today. So, you need to go with the people that we’re provided. It’s not that we lack depth it’s just when we get guys in the game they need to be productive. Some of them will think I didn’t get enough time. I’m sure that’s what their family is thinking. But that’s the way it goes.
UAB Head Coach Robert Ehsan On being up nine points early in second half and after “Memphis is a good team, and we knew they were going to make a run. They made a couple of baskets and got going. We also traded some baskets. There, at the end, we had a stretch where we fell apart defensively. We gave up too many easy baskets in that stretch. We also had some turnovers in critical times in the second half.” On lack of defensive intensity as a result of fatigue “It may have been a little fatigue, but I told the team, in those situations, we need to be tougher. We need to sit down and guard better. We gave up some easy baskets with guys slashing through the lane on end-of-shot-clock situations.” On Dedric Lawson “He’s a great player. I thought we did a pretty good job on him in the first. Then, in the second half, he had his way. He got a couple of baskets and also pulled down a couple of offensive rebounds that led to baskets. Shooting 10 free throws sort of got him in a rhythm.” On offensive possessions going late in the shot clock in the second half “Memphis was packing in their defense a little more after halftime. We had a couple of open looks that our guys didn’t take. We were trying to throw the ball inside, but they were longer and more athletic. We couldn’t get in a rhythm, and when we got a good look, we couldn’t get it to go down.”
Dedric Lawson, sophomore forward Are you tired? You didn’t come out of the game at all and you didn’t pick up your first foul until late in the second half. How did you manage to be less aggressive in the first half and still get eight blocks? “I’m a little winded. Besides that, it was just playing the right positions and being on defense. When we played Ole Miss, I was in the wrong position and picked up fouls, but today I wanted to be in the right positions on defense so I wouldn’t put my team in jeopardy and help the other team win the game.” Talk about the impact that Jimario Rivers had when he moved into the lineup for the second half. “What I love about Jimario is he knows his role. From day one he told me he just wanted to be good on defense and help us get rebounds; today he pulled through for us with amazing blocks. He hurt himself again, but hopefully he’ll be alright.”
Markel Crawford, junior guard What do you think swung the game in your direction? Stops. They got what they wanted in the first half, but in the second half, our emphasis was on getting stops. We spent a lot of time practicing getting stops and rebounds, perfecting our defense. Their offense started to beat us in the first half, but we stopped that in the second half.” Talk about the impact that Jimario Rivers had when he moved into the lineup for the second half. Jimario is full of energy, he came in and gave us big minutes. Whether it was good positioning for defense or offense, making key blocks, or communication, he was a big part of our win today.” How much do you feed off of the crowd? It was louder out there today than it’s been in a while and I saw you turned up the defense when the crowd got behind you. How much of an impact does that have on you? Does it give you a big push? “It’s definitely an extra push for us when we hear the crowd cheering for us and hyping up our defense. Seeing all those people screaming for you makes it feel like it’s your duty to go out there and play as hard as you can. We don’t want to disappoint the Tiger fans, we want to make them happy and I think we do feed off of their energy. Like you said, it’s the loudest it’s been in a while, and I just want to thank Tiger nation for their support and the large turnout we had.”
Tubby Smith, Memphis Head Coach Opening Statement… Certainly we knew that UAB would be a real challenge for us. Every game is a true test but we knew they were very athletic. I like how our guys hung in there when we weren’t playing well, when we were not making shots. I thought at times that they out-hustled us for loose balls. They had a lot of second chance opportunities; they outscored us 12 to 5. I was impressed with Dedric, he saved us a lot today with his defensive presence and shot blocking ability inside.” At 17:03 you switched to the press and it seemed like everything changed. Can you talk about that change in that point in the game? “We stated making a couple of basket there, we got a steal. It’s hard to press when you’re missing your shots, shooting only 30%. In the second half, we made some shots. We were able to set our defense and that was critical for us especially with 7 steals and 11 blocks. We stepped up defensively. It is something we worked hard on this week because I thought we had some real problems defensively at Ole Miss. We have been working hard and it paid off. You’re right, that is why we were able to gain some momentum. We forced a couple of mistakes and were able to get out in transition.” With your guys not having to play in a week how big of a factor was rust in this game especially in the first half? “Rust may have something to do with it but it was more UAB being able to get the ball inside. We did a poor job of trapping. I think it was not us so much having rust but a team like UAB is going to take advantage of any breakdowns that you have both offensively and defensively. We had turned it over seven times in the first half. The crowd was great they got involved in the second half so that was exciting. It wasn’t necessarily our energy level. It was if you’re playing against good players and good teams you had better bring it every second.” You had 4 guys playing 35+ minutes how do you think that will affect you going forward? “I don’t think it will affect us We got to do what we have to do to win. These guys are playing well together, Markel is in great shape, Jeremiah is in great shape, and you know Dedric is in great shape. We need to get more out of Chad and Craig struggled today. So, you need to go with the people that we’re provided. It’s not that we lack depth it’s just when we get guys in the game they need to be productive. Some of them will think I didn’t get enough time. I’m sure that’s what their family is thinking. But that’s the way it goes.
UAB Head Coach Robert Ehsan On being up nine points early in second half and after “Memphis is a good team, and we knew they were going to make a run. They made a couple of baskets and got going. We also traded some baskets. There, at the end, we had a stretch where we fell apart defensively. We gave up too many easy baskets in that stretch. We also had some turnovers in critical times in the second half.” On lack of defensive intensity as a result of fatigue “It may have been a little fatigue, but I told the team, in those situations, we need to be tougher. We need to sit down and guard better. We gave up some easy baskets with guys slashing through the lane on end-of-shot-clock situations.” On Dedric Lawson “He’s a great player. I thought we did a pretty good job on him in the first. Then, in the second half, he had his way. He got a couple of baskets and also pulled down a couple of offensive rebounds that led to baskets. Shooting 10 free throws sort of got him in a rhythm.” On offensive possessions going late in the shot clock in the second half “Memphis was packing in their defense a little more after halftime. We had a couple of open looks that our guys didn’t take. We were trying to throw the ball inside, but they were longer and more athletic. We couldn’t get in a rhythm, and when we got a good look, we couldn’t get it to go down.”
Dedric Lawson, sophomore forward Are you tired? You didn’t come out of the game at all and you didn’t pick up your first foul until late in the second half. How did you manage to be less aggressive in the first half and still get eight blocks? “I’m a little winded. Besides that, it was just playing the right positions and being on defense. When we played Ole Miss, I was in the wrong position and picked up fouls, but today I wanted to be in the right positions on defense so I wouldn’t put my team in jeopardy and help the other team win the game.” Talk about the impact that Jimario Rivers had when he moved into the lineup for the second half. “What I love about Jimario is he knows his role. From day one he told me he just wanted to be good on defense and help us get rebounds; today he pulled through for us with amazing blocks. He hurt himself again, but hopefully he’ll be alright.”
Markel Crawford, junior guard What do you think swung the game in your direction? Stops. They got what they wanted in the first half, but in the second half, our emphasis was on getting stops. We spent a lot of time practicing getting stops and rebounds, perfecting our defense. Their offense started to beat us in the first half, but we stopped that in the second half.” Talk about the impact that Jimario Rivers had when he moved into the lineup for the second half. Jimario is full of energy, he came in and gave us big minutes. Whether it was good positioning for defense or offense, making key blocks, or communication, he was a big part of our win today.” How much do you feed off of the crowd? It was louder out there today than it’s been in a while and I saw you turned up the defense when the crowd got behind you. How much of an impact does that have on you? Does it give you a big push? “It’s definitely an extra push for us when we hear the crowd cheering for us and hyping up our defense. Seeing all those people screaming for you makes it feel like it’s your duty to go out there and play as hard as you can. We don’t want to disappoint the Tiger fans, we want to make them happy and I think we do feed off of their energy. Like you said, it’s the loudest it’s been in a while, and I just want to thank Tiger nation for their support and the large turnout we had.”
