University of Tennessee Athletics
Postgame Quotes - Texas
November 18, 2007 | Women's Basketball
TENNESSEE HEAD COACH PAT SUMMITT:
(Opening remarks)
???Going into this game, I was concerned because our transition defense has been soft. I also wanted us to do a better job of controlling the boards. I thought the first half was our best defensive effort this season by far. In the second half, we had some letdowns. Our starters did a good job, and Alex Fuller came in and did a solid job off the bench. The freshmen got some minutes, and that will be some great footage for us. That will be a teaching tool. Overall, I was pleased. We had tremendous intensity on the defensive end, and we did a better job of controlling the boards.???
(on offensive balance)
???It was definitely encouraging. We had more balance on the offensive end. Against Oklahoma, it was a two-person offensive attack with Candace (Parker) and Shannon (Bobbitt). We were able to get Angie (Bjorklund) more involved. I guess we need to play all of our games here. She is going to have to have the same mindset on the road. Alexis Hornbuckle did a better job. Her defensive effort in the first half was great. She disrupted what they wanted to do. I was pleased to see that.???
(on Tennessee???s passing)
???Passing is directly related to unselfish play. We???ve had teams in the past that had good passers that didn???t want to pass. This team looks to pass and get all their teammates involved. There were possessions today that all five players on the court touched the ball. That has happened only a couple of times in our previous games. That???s how we want to play in the halfcourt. Sometimes, though, we were almost too unselfish.???
(on Texas and improvement throughout the season)
???I was concerned watching them on tape. They have great quickness. Texas is a team that I have great respect for, and I have great respect for (Texas coach) Gail (Goestenkors). They???ll take this game and learn from it. We learned from our Oklahoma game, and Oklahoma got better after their Maryland game. That???s what seasons are about. Every team is a work in progress. Our coaching staff has done a great job. It???s all about getting better for the postseason.???
(on Alex Fuller)
???Alex was very efficient. She has handled her role well coming off the bench. She could be a starter, but she has accepted her role. It???s important to have someone to come in and give the team a lift. She scores and helps our team in other ways.???
(on seeing new faces on the Texas coaching staff)
???I told (Texas coach) Gail (Goestenkors) I don???t know that I would have the courage to do what she did (leaving Duke to go to Texas). But I???ve only been at one place. Texas has some of the best talent in the game. She inherited a good group, and she will bring in some great players. Mickie DeMoss is one of the best recruiters in the game. They will be a tough combination.???
(on Alexis Hornbuckle)
???In order for us to have a chance to be in the position to win another national championship, Alexis Hornbuckle has to be effective offensively. She understands her role. She can put the ball on the floor and create for herself. She typically creates for others, but she needs to create for herself, too.???
(on offensive abilities of freshmen Angie Bjorklund and Sydney Smallbone)
???Trust me. They have the green light. The other day I was talking about Angie on the phone, and she came in the office. I said that she had the green light, and I went on to talk. When I hung up the phone, I asked her if that was OK. She said, ???Nobody has ever told me that I had the green light before.??? I asked her if she thought we recruited her for her scoring or her defense or rebounding. She and Sydney have to understand how to play on the road. They???re comfortable here. They bring a lot to this team. You have to guard both of them. They can make shots.???
TENNESSEE JUNIOR ALEX FULLER
(on her scoring proficiency)
???There???s not much to say. It???s just part of my game. Somebody was in my ear, telling me to shoot. Scoring is not my focus.???
(on taking charges)
???Clearly, I wasn???t thinking. They were hard, and I got hurt. My teammates got beat, and I had to sacrifice my body.???
TENNESSEE SENIOR ALEXIS HORNBUCKLE
(on Tennessee???s up-tempo game)
???We love to play fast, to make the rebound and control the boards. Against Oklahoma, for whatever reason, we weren???t able to do that. That was a point of emphasis today, to get back and play transition defense.???
(on whether Tennessee is a better passing team this year than it was last year)
???I can???t compare the two teams. Both teams liked to share the ball. We worked on that in practice to make the extra pass. We struggled in the exhibition games and the Chattanooga game with that, but today we made the extra pass.???
TENNESSEE SENIOR CANDACE PARKER
(on Tennessee???s offensive balance this game)
???That was a strength for us. We have a team that is very versatile. We were able to score and get points off our defense. That is big for us.???
(on the raising of the 2007 National Championship banner)
???It???s really exciting to see that our mark has been left on Tennessee. Our class came in wanting to win a national championship, and to see the banner raised was an amazing feeling.???
(on Texas)
???They have a very talented troup of young kids. (Brittainey) Raven stood out. We focused on guarding their perimeter players. (Texas coach) Gail (Goestenkors) is a great coach, and she will do a phenomenal job there.???
(on freshman teammate Angie Bjorklund) ???Angie was huge for us. She is a great shooter. She came out and made some big shots. She will continue to grow. We need for her to be a piece in our national championship puzzle.???
TEXAS HEAD COACH GAIL GOESTENKORS:
(opening statement)
???Give credit to Tennessee. I thought they played a terrific all-around game. I know they???ve been looking for contributions from other players besides Candace (Parker) and (Shannon) Bobbitt and I thought they got that today. They shared the ball really well, pushed the ball in transition and, obviously, caused a lot of problems for us with their defense. Nobody is going to overcome 30 turnovers. We just have to give them a lot of credit. This is a learning and growing experience for our team. I know that we will get better. I thought that we competed better in the second half. We???re still young and relatively inexperienced and we are going to learn, grow and get better.???
(on Her Offensive Strategy)
???We???re up-tempo. We don???t have those big, strong bodies on the low block to pound it in, so we need to run. That???s going to be our style. I could try to do something totally different, like Chattanooga, for instance, where they really spread the floor out and slowed it down, but that???s not really our style. We don???t??? have the three-point shooters like some other teams do, so we really rely on our athleticism. That has been good for us and will be good for us, but we need to learn when to push and to be able to push with poise. We didn???t have a lot of poise. We need to find that balance between pushing the ball and having the poise to execute from court-to-court.???
(on Tennessee)
???They are so athletic. We knew exactly what to expect with pressure, man-to-man defense, up and in passing lanes. With Candace in there, I think that it can be easy to just watch her sometimes, but I thought that everyone was very much involved in their transition today. They just played a great game.???
(on the Crowd at Thompson-Boling)
???I love playing in front of this crowd. It is a great environment for women???s basketball. We talked about it before the game, with the freshmen in particular. I asked if they were nervous and they felt like they were excited. I thought we saw some nerves. I thought Kathleen (Nash), in particular, played an exceptional game. She did not play like a freshman. She was one of the most poised players we had out there. We haven???t had to deal with that kind of pressure this year yet. You don???t see that kind of pressure very often, so, like I said, we???ll learn from it.???
(on Moving From Duke to Texas)
???It???s a growing process. I wanted a new challenge and this is a great opportunity for me. We didn???t start off beating Tennessee at Duke. It took us a couple of tries. We became more comfortable every time we played them. I think these players, as well, will become more comfortable as the season goes on.???
(on the difference in Shannon Bobbitt from last year to this year) ???She definitely looks more aggressive and is looking to score more. Last year, she was looking to run the offense. This year, it is more natural for her because she knows all the sets and feels more comfortable. That has made her more aggressive on the offensive end.???
TEXAS SOPHOMORE GUARD BRITTAINEY RAVEN
(on the Difference in Today???s Game)
???Tennessee did a great job with their defensive pressure and rebounds. We need to take care of the ball a lot better than we did today. Tennessee scored 40 points off our turnovers. We need to keep teams off the opposite side of the floor where they got easy lay-ups.???
(on Turnovers)
???We just need to slow down and have more poise under pressure. Today we didn???t really have poise, but we???ll get better as the season goes on.???
(on What Texas Will Take From This Game)
???We learned a lot from this game. We can look at this for ways to get better for the rest of the year.???
TEXAS FRESHMAN GUARD KATHLEEN NASH
(on turnovers)
???I was a little nervous at the beginning. My teammates and coaches did a good job of settling me down. The turnovers were most likely because Tennessee did a good job of pressuring us and we???re not used to seeing that kind of pressure. We need to get better at taking care of the ball under pressure.???
