University of Tennessee Athletics
TENNESSEE VS. LOUISIANA TECH - POST GAME QUOTES
December 15, 2005 | Women's Basketball
Dec. 15, 2005
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TENNESSEE HEAD COACH Pat Summitt:
"Obviously, it was a win, but I didn't see a lot of things that were favorable out there tonight. Our bench play was poor in the first half. I thought Nicky Anosike and Alexis Hornbuckle brought energy tonight. We played in spurts and were uninspired. If this team doesn't understand that it has to rebound, then they're going to get drilled. Maybe then they'll figure it out. Was I pleased with how we played? Absolutely not, but it was a win."
(on the performance of Nicky Anosike) "You can always count on Nicky to play hard. She always brings passion. Tonight, she had composure. You never have to coach effort with her. As a team, we lacked leadership tonight. She gave us some leadership. It was a good game for her."
(on defensive lapses) "We had defensive breakdowns. The only two who stepped up were Tye (Tye'sha Fluker) and Lex (Alexis Hornbuckle). They got on Dom (Dominique Redding) and Lindsey (Moss) for not defending. You have to have that accountability, and they tried to communicate that."
"Having Candace (Parker) and Shanna (Zolman) gives us the ability to score inside and outside. They give us stability offensively. Nicky (Anosike) was playing better tonight. (Sybil) Dosty earned some minutes tonight. She will do one thing for sure, and that is rebound the ball. I was pleased to see her come in and play the way she did."
(on Tennessee's rebounding effort) "Rebounding is about desire. Nicky (Anosike) has that desire. Candace (Parker) has that desire. Alex (Fuller) has that desire. (Sybil) Dosty has that desire. (Tye'sha) Fluker hasn't had that. You have to have that from your perimeter. Sid (Sidney Spencer) and Dom (Dominique Redding) have to rebound. You have to have the heart, the passion, and the desire and want the ball and pursue it. Alex (Fuller) will rebound. I'm not opposed to playing Alex at the three (position). You have to have rebounding at the three, four, and five (positions)."
"We didn't get off to a great start. Right now, we're looking for defensive players and rebounders."
(on defensive performance) "The only thing is for us to do it. Coach was upset with myself defensively. These two players (Nicky Anosike and Alexis Hornbuckle) were excellent defensively tonight. Coach harped on us about boards and defense. Traditionally, that's the catalyst for a Tennessee team. We continually need to work on that."
(on offensive performance) "We've had some games where we've had five, six, or seven players in double figures. We're capable of doing that every night. These two players (Anosike and Hornbuckle) were both excellent on both ends of the floor. We're capable of that every night. It just depends on who's got the hot hand and the ball."
"We've been aggressive in practice, but when it comes to games, we're not as aggressive. You can't talk if you don't do it yourself. We have to lead by example and verbally. I looked up one time, and we had 17 points with eight minutes to go in the first half. A lot of that has to do with defensive pressure. We made a run then to get things going."
"It was definitely a battle. They (Louisiana Tech) are so athletic. We need to up our intensity when it comes to rebounding."
"A win is a win. It wasn't our best win. It wasn't our best effort. We have to work on our one-on-one defense and being aggressive on the boards, but a win is a win."
(on the extended layoff leading up to this game) "We needed those eight days. We needed the practice time. We didn't come out with the right mindset. We've got to bring intensity. We haven't matched the intensity that we had against Texas the last three games."
"Before the game, Coach emphasized energy. We knew that Louisiana Tech was very athletic, and we needed to match their intensity. I took the initiative."
LADY TECHSTER HEAD COACH CHRIS LONG:
"Tennessee is a great team. It is number one in the country for a reason. They make you pay for your mistakes. I felt like in the first half we had some turnovers that were unforced. It wasn't so much the pressure, as we threw the ball away at a crucial time. We went through a stretch and couldn't score, and a lot of that had to do with those turnovers. Early in the first half we were right there, had we taken better care of the basketball, I felt like it would have been a different first half. But Tennessee, give them credit, they put a lot of pressure (on us). They rebound the ball so well. I know the final stats show them only out-rebounding us by five, but they got 16 offensive boards, and that is too many."
(on Tennessee's post play) "We got to the point where we were putting a little pressure out on the wings, and they were one-on-one in there. They made some nice entry passes. Then late in the game, especially in the second half, they went to the block and went to work. They made some plays down there in the post, and we weren't going to change our defense that late in the game. But I give them credit, they got it to the block. That's why they shot 46 percent against us. They got those high percentage shots."
(on his team's travel problems getting to Knoxville) "We're not using that as an excuse. I told the team, 'Tennessee's sure not going to feel sorry for us.' It took us 30 hours to get here from Ruston. Our flights got canceled due to the weather in Houston, and we sat in the airport from about 7:45 (a.m.) to about 6 (p.m. on Wednesday). Then at that point, we couldn't get a flight, so we bussed. We spent the night in Gadsden, Ala., - got in there about 1 a.m. and had to drive in today. We don't want to do that, but we've just got to roll with it. It's tough enough to play Tennessee anytime. We played Mississippi State at home in Ruston on Tuesday. We only had one day to prepare as it was, and we didn't get that practice. We went about 30 minutes when we got here today. Tennessee's got a very good basketball team. I was proud of the effort that we played with. We just didn't execute. Of course, Tennessee forces you into mistakes. But a lot of mistakes in the first half were our own doing."
(on Shanna Zolman and Candace Parker) "Shanna Zolman has improved. I mean, she's been a good player here for a number of years, but she's really improved. She can put it on the floor and shoot it off the dribble. That first one she shot, I think she shot it from about the E (in "Tennessee" spelled out across half-court at Thompson-Boling Arena). Kids make those shots, you know, you just clap. I think where she's gotten better is in her ability to put it on the floor for a couple of dribbles. If you run at her, she'll shot fake you and go right by you. Parker's a good player. There were times when we played good half-court defense, Parker and Zolman just made some plays. We were right there in their face, and they knocked them down."
AARICA RAY-BOYD:
"Every day in practice we work on getting open. We practice that every day. It has become a habit for us to pop out and get open."
(on rebounding) "As coach tells us, we come out of the circle. We work on a drill to make us come out of our circle and get the ball."
(on how difficult the whole trip has been) "Even though we bussed from Louisiana to here, I think the only thing we had trouble with was trying to get sleep on a bumpy bus. I think once we got to bed (in Gadsden), we were calmer, and we didn't have to worry about rocking up and down trying to get sleep on the bus."
