University of Tennessee Athletics
TENNESSEE vs. WEST VIRGINIA POSTGAME QUOTES
December 20, 2006 | Women's Basketball
Dec. 20, 2006
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TENNESSEE HEAD COACH Pat Summitt:
(opening remarks) "For the most part, I was pleased with our starters. They got us out to a great start. I was disappointed with our bench play. It was sporadic. When we substituted, we lost rhythm. We were not in sync. As a coaching staff, we experimented early. When we went to our bench, there were several lapses, and we were not as efficient. We played a lot of zone. We haven't faced much zone this season. Our starting unit did a good job of getting the ball inside."
(on bench play) "The experiment's over. When you look at our team right now, there have been at least four games that I have not been pleased, and I think you could probably say five of our 11 games that when the bench has come in, our play has hit the wall. That doesn't mean all five players, but when you're pressing and running like we are, when one person is not inspired, it hurts our momentum."
(on the performance of Alexis Hornbuckle) "I was pleased with Alexis. We need offense from her at the two-guard position just as we expect it from Sidney (Spencer) at the three-position and from Candace (Parker) inside. We've got to have good offensive balance. She has been good at times this season. Tonight, she had great shot selection. She can do a lot on board play and generate offense off her defense as well. When she puts up numbers like she did tonight, we are definitely a better team."
(on Candace Parker receiving a technical foul following her dunk) "(Official) John Morningstar said that it was a new rule. He said that he wasn't fond of it, but it is a rule. When we watched the official video (before the season began), I missed that. When she dunked the first time this season and she did that (popped her jersey), nothing happened. They must have been being lenient. Now we understand. If I don't know the rule, I was at fault."
(on facing more zone defense) "When we reversed the ball against the zone, we got some good looks and good touches. Our bench was not as sharp. In the second half we did a better job of ball movement. We're getting better with that."
"We lost momentum when we substituted. There was one point where we scored just one point in a 9-10 minute span and they went on a 16-17 point run."
(on Sidney Spencer's limited offensive production) "Sid didn't work hard to get her shots. She let her defense affect her offense. After playing the way she did against Texas, she was not aggressive enough tonight. She stood around a lot. She has to understand her role. She has to get open and be creative off the dribble. She was not as aggressive as she needed to be. Now that she's established herself, there's no going back."
(again on facing zone defense) "I didn't think we handled it well in the first half. We were standing around too much in the first half. Candace (Parker) is such a strong presence, and when she's not in the game, we struggled more."
(on whether she came out looking to shoot/score more in this game) "I wanted to play a lot better than I had been. Coach (Summitt) said that I needed to step up and be more aggressive and more offensive-minded than I had been. It wasn't that I wanted to come out and shoot every time."
(on facing her home state university) "It was a little more special. I just wanted to play well because I wanted to be able to go home and show my face. This makes for a good Christmas."
(on Tennessee coming out strong early then trailing off) "Initially, we jumped out on defense. This season, we have generated our offense off our defense. Then we got lackadaisical on defense. We weren't where we needed to be. They got momentum and made the game closer than it should have been."
"West Virginia is the type of team that will not quit. They will play strong for 40 minutes. If the game is close, they'll play hard. If it's not close, they'll still play hard. They did a great job of staying with us."
(on the technical following her dunk) "I didn't know that it was illegal to show emotion. That's my fault. I know now. We have had some opponents who have popped their collars against us this season. I'm sorry it happened."
(on the performance of teammate Alexis Hornbuckle) "It was huge for us. Alexis came in and brought it today. She showed her versatility. She played well. That is what we need. She is capable of doing that every night."
(on bench play) "Honestly, anyone can have off days. That's why we're a team. Tonight, our starters got us off to a great start. Against Texas, the bench was why we were ahead. When both (groups) come to play, it is something special."
West Virginia Head coach Mike Carey:
"The atmosphere is great. Tennessee has a very good team and a very good program. We had an opportunity to come down here and play them. If we could cut down on some of the turnovers and shoot better from outside, we shot 1-11 from three. They are just so big. Sanni getting in foul trouble was big. They really hurt us with their size. They kept coming off the bench with 6-2 and 6-3. We had to sag in so much, we left them some wide open three's."
On coming back from the 25-5 deficit early:
"We talked about that coming into the game. Tennessee was going to give us their best shot in the first 10 minutes of the game and we had to be ready for that. When Parker dunked the ball, I thought `Wow, we're in trouble.' The crowd got involved. But give our players a lot of credit. They didn't quit, they scrapped and got on the floor after some loose balls. Their size just overwhelmed us at times. On offense, we would try to set picks and backdoor and that sort of stuff. Our girls did a good job of getting back in the game. At one time we were down nine and had some opportunities, but we couldn't close it anymore."
On playing more zone in the game:
"We usually play more man-to-man, but we couldn't match up with them, so we played a zone. We had played very little zone this year. I don't want to say it caught them by surprise, but they probably were looking for us to play more man. But their size, again, they kept kicking it inside. We tried fronting the post, but they would lob it in straight from the top and one of their post players would catch it and score. To me, the difference was their inside game."
On Sanni:
"She showed she could compete inside in this game. She's just got to be a little smarter with our fouling. She's just got to move her feet more and stay out of foul trouble."
On UT's Alexis Hornbuckle:
"She's a great player. We would have loved to have her at West Virginia. I wish she would've hit those shots before our game and after our game but not during it. A lot of those shots were wide open because of their inside presence. Give her credit for stepping up and making those shots."
Center Olayinka Sanni
"It was tough because of their height advantage."
"We needed to come out stronger in the first half. The first half does matter."
