University of Tennessee Athletics
TENNESSEE VS. ALABAMA - POST GAME QUOTES
January 03, 2007 | Women's Basketball
Jan. 3, 2007
Recap | Box Score | Notes | Photo Gallery 
TENNESSEE HEAD COACH Pat Summitt:
(opening remarks) "It's always good to get a win in the SEC to open the season the way we did as far as Southeastern Conference play. I thought we did some good things. We turned the ball over too much for my liking. We shared the ball well and got some good looks. We worked on variations of our defense."
(on bench play) "Nicky Anosike played terrific defense. She played a lot of minutes. Once we were able to extend our lead, we were able to get a lot of minutes for Alex (Fuller), Dom (Redding), Bird (Alberta Auguste), and Cait (McMahan). We had a lot of different looks, but we still maintained our intensity. We planned on going that route, to get these players quality minutes, especially Alberta. She had 23 minutes. She needed to play through some things. Alex has been getting some quality minutes, but getting that playing time was important."
(on the performance of Cait McMahan) "Cait feels better. She's got her energy back. She was aggressive and showed confidence with our offensive and defensive schemes. She was back to her old self. Having her and Shannon (Bobbitt) on the floor at the same time--those are two players who complement each other."
"We have been iffy off the bench. Going into the Connecticut game, that environment, we needed to get quality minutes for Dom (Redding) and Cait (McMahan) so they could get confident and comfortable with their games."
(on defense) "We played with a lot of energy on the defensive end. We had some breakdowns on the high/low game. Nicky Anosike was terrific on the perimeter. We have to be more efficient in our post play. This gives us opportunities to teach. We have to deny the middle of the floor."
(on 20 turnovers) "I think part of it was the pace. When you're pressing, running, and playing up-tempo like we are, there's a good chance that there's going to be more turnovers. You can live with it if it's deep and in the backcourt and doesn't cost you."
(on facing Connecticut) "I think we're as prepared as we can be at this point of the season. Connecticut is physically very impressive and aggressive. They're a better rebounding team than anyone we've seen this year, including ourselves. It will be a challenge to see how we work the boards."
(on rebounding) "I thought it was better. We have focused on it. We have to have five people committed to rebounding on the defensive end. Everybody will rebound on the offensive end, but it's hard to find people who will grind it out on the defensive end. We have so much room to grow. We're not where we need to be. There's a lot of repetition in practice."
(on going into the Connecticut game) "Our two recent wins have been good for our confidence. We've had some success. The two teams have a different look from last year. I know we do. Connecticut is more of an up-and-down team, extending their defense. They have more speed, quickness, and athleticism. I feel the same about our team. With Cait (McMahan), Shannon (Bobbitt), and Alberta (Auguste), we can push the tempo. Our defense is a question mark about where we are."
(on scouting Connecticut) "I've watched a couple of games on TV. Their West Virginia game was on TV last night. The West Virginia coach was not impressed with us, from his postgame comments. I saw part of the Purdue game (earlier in the season). I'll watch a lot more the next two days."
(on Cait McMahan's dipsy-do shot) "That was SportsCenter right there. I couldn't believe it went in. You don't see many shots like that go in. There are a lot of crazy shots, but they don't go in too often. I was excited."
(on maintaining intensity) "I was happy with the way we handled the lead. We've got a big game coming up. This wasn't about Alabama. The point of emphasis was about Tennessee."
(on facing Connecticut after beating the Huskies in the last two meetings) "It seems to have turned in our favor. We haven't won by a large margin, though, and they'll be gunning for us. They'll have the home court advantage. We have to compete for 40 minutes solid."
(on making a dipsy-do shot) "I planned it the whole game. (Pause for laughter) I saw an open shot, and I guess I just shot it."
(on being on the court at the same time with fellow point guard Shannon Bobbitt) "We share it (point guard duties). When we were on the court together, we gave each other a look and just smiled. It works on the defensive end, too."
(on bench play) "In past games, the bench has not been doing our part and playing with the same flow as the starters. Tonight, we were able to maintain the lead."
(on upcoming Connecticut game) "I can't wait. That's what you shoot in your backyard for. It will be a fun game. We'll battle it out."
(on SEC opener) "Our defense really was the key tonight. It set the tone. The SEC schedule is hard. We have to bring defense and rebounding every time."
(on facing Connecticut) "I'm excited, but we have to keep it in perspective as another game on the schedule. I know the history of the series, but we have to focus on the present. If we bring our defense, we'll be fine. It will be my first time to play there."
ALABAMA HEAD COACH STEPHANY SMITH
"Tennessee is a very good basketball team. What an awesome environment you have for your women's program, but it's much deserved because of all the success that Pat Summitt has had with the numerous great players she has year in and year out. We're very young. We have six freshmen. We start three freshmen, and all six freshmen play double-figure minutes. We are a work in progress. I had no idea how we would be walking into our first SEC basketball game. You compound that by your first SEC basketball game being Tennessee, then you compound with it being in Knoxville. We didn't respond as well as I thought we could. I talked about, probably to a fault, composure, composure, composure, in preparing for this basketball game. I think they heard the word composure as walk the ball up the court, don't run an offense. It kind of put us in freeze frame. Tennessee can go on a run and turn a game into not a game in a very short period of time. I think eventually we began to fight a little bit. But I guess that's the one thing I wish we would have taken away differently is that we would have shown a little more pride, a little more fight, and not so much of a surrender. At that point, you have nothing to lose, just try to get better. Some people did some things well. All in all, we were just a bunch of freshmen playing against a very veteran and very experienced team with a great home crowd."
(On Tennessee's defense causing problems for Alabama) "Any team feeds off of turnovers, especially Tennessee. Tennessee is a team that can take advantage of any mistakes and really compound situations for them. Please don't' get me wrong. Tennessee is a great team, and their pressure did bother us. But we gave it to them no matter what. Maybe that has as much to do with the banners flying from the ceiling as the actual action on the court."
(On difference in UT's guard play from last year to this year:) "It's funny, because there's not that much. Mostly people are going to talk Zolman vs. Bobbitt. If you just walk those two players out, you wouldn't think that with this just being a one-player rotation they would be that much different. But they are as opposite as two players can be. Zolman was such a great shooter, not that Bobbitt's not a good shooter, but she's explosive off the dribble. It appears that it changed a lot of Tennessee's speed and athleticism and quickness. Don't get me wrong, they are still a good three-point shooting team, but they are attacking the basket a lot more and around the rim."
(On Nicky Anosike's defense:) "That was interesting. What's so sad about it is that we thought we could have gotten open against that, but we couldn't. That was one of the things that hurt us, trying to enter ball and get in our offense. She's guarding Navonda Moore, and if Moore can't get open, who can? She did a great job on the perimeter. It caused us some problems."
(On whether this experience helps her team:) "Everything helps our kids at this point. I can't say enough, we are playing six freshmen. Every experience that we have, positive or negative, helps us take a step forward with our program. Watching film from this game, even, as much as a lopsided game as this was, will help us."
(On Talisha Chandler's play:) "Talisha is a very talented player. She is very, very gifted. But if we continue to get her work ethic up, her focus to detail, and playing every possession in practice every day, she has an awful lot of things she can do with the basketball. She can shoot the three, she's a great passer, and she can take it off the dribble. She needs some help in the weight room. She just needs to keep working hard at getting better, but she is a very gifted player."
