University of Tennessee Athletics
UT-LSU Postgame Quotes
February 09, 2008 | Men's Basketball
TENNESSEE HEAD COACH BRUCE PEARL QUOTES
On the Volunteers??? struggles offensively...
???There???s a lot about the game that I will have to study. I think part of it is because we are giving such a great effort on defense, and we turn LSU over 22 times. We had 22 offensive rebounds. I think we are resting on offense. Tonight, if it wasn???t drawn up, it wasn???t going in. Every basket was either out of a timeout, or a play call or a side set. We just got nothing; we had very little continuity or got very little out of the fast break. They block shots. It obviously was a factor. Our inability to score around the basket continues to be frustrating. The free throw shooting is a terrific problem. Trust me, we???ve been addressing it probably too much in practice, and we???ve been focusing on it, but if you focus on it, it gets worse. We???ve just got to get shots and be mentally tough and confident. JaJuan Smith plays tonight and steals the ball and gets a basket. He couldn???t be in there at the end. He was done. As you see, he played 22 heroic minutes. He had a 101 temperature, and we gave him some medication before the game that brought the temperature down a little bit, but he was quite ill. He made a play at the end to win it.???
On the positives for Tennessee...
???I thought defensively we did a great job on Marcus Thornton. I???ll pull the positives out. They scored 45 points. They shot 40 percent. We out rebounded them. Marcus Thornton had 12 points, the first game in seven that he???s not had 20. We put forth a lot of effort defensively, but then at the same time offensively, I just thought we were tentative. Tyler (Smith) doesn???t go to the foul line. That???s crazy. He doesn???t have an assist.???
On how G Garrett Temple guarded G Chris Lofton...
???Chris (Lofton) did a wonderful job. Chris had a really good ballgame. To get five looks (3-point shots) against Temple holding him the whole time, that was really good.???
TENNESSEE FORWARD TYLER SMITH QUOTES
On the Volunteers??? lack of execution...
???We got the win, but we didn???t play our best, and it wasn???t good for us. We weren???t executing, and we had some guys under the weather as far as our main defender in JaJuan (Smith), but at the same time, we can???t use that as an excuse. We???ve got to fight through that stuff.???
On G JaJuan Smith???s steal and basket at the end of the game...
???It just shows you what he can do even though he???s got a (101-degree) fever. Just look at how he came out on defense and got the winning basket for us.???
INTERIM HEAD COACH BUTCH PIERRE QUOTES
On if he would consider this game a ???moral victory???...
???I wouldn???t consider it a moral victory. I think the guys did an excellent job carrying out the scouting report. Garrett (Temple) did a nice job on (Chris) Lofton. When Garrett was out the game was when Lofton started going. The guys gave tremendous effort holding this team to 47 points, which is their lowest total on the season. By halftime we had done a great job defensively. On the defensive end, we spent so much energy defending it kind of took a toll on us and we weren???t able to rebound the ball and get loose balls. Our guys fought hard. They were mentally prepared after yesterday. Physically, some guys played significant minutes.???
On G Marcus Thornton...
???I thought Marcus never really got in the flow of the game after he hit that three in the second half. We tried some stuff for him so he could get going, because if he did he would have been able to score baskets in bunches.???
On what he told the team after the game...
???I told the guys in the locker room after the game that each of them, in the last seven minutes, had an opportunity to make a big shot or make a play. I am just excited about those guys and the effort that they gave me and LSU. I think we are only going to get better starting with Florida and Kentucky.???
On if he feels the team was motivated by the coaching change...
???Well, obviously they wanted to play against a top-ten team; anybody would want to do that. Their attitude was different. They were involved. I did a couple of things to motivate them. My wife (Clemmie) gave me some ideas. I did a couple of things and used a few quotes. It was just motivational stuff. Coach (Skip) Bertman did that with our team during the Final Four year. I think that got their minds right and the coaches did a good job preparing them. It was a team effort by the coaches and the players.???
On the fan support...??
???The fans were involved in the game today and with the kids playing that hard they should be. This is all about LSU ??? not me.???
On LSU???s final two offensive possessions...
???I probably shouldn???t have put Chris Johnson in that situation, because it was a though situation for him. We tried to inbound the ball to Chris because they had a small guy on him and Chris could hand it right back to Marcus (Thornton) for a jump shot.. The play kind of got screwed up but then we came down and I guess Chris wasn???t aware of how much time was on the clock because he took the ball to the goal but he probably could have had a nice shot right there.???
LSU PLAYER QUOTES
F Tasmin Mitchell
On dressing out for the game...
???I had everything on including my jersey and my tights. We are all a team, no matter if I???m hurt or not. Coach Pierre wanted me to dress out for him, so I dressed out for him.???
On if interim Coach Butch Pierre was nervous before the game...
???Every coach is nervous before a game. He was nervous just like the players were. Even when (Butch Pierre) was Associate Head Coach, that is the way he felt. Today he approached things from a positive standpoint and did a lot of positive things pregame.???
F Marcus Thornton
On what he experience he can draw out of this game...
???You can look at this game and get a lot of positive things out of it. (Tennessee) averages somewhere around 80 points a game and we kept them to 47. That is a positive for us on defense. We lost this game, but we feel like it is a new starting point for us. We are just going to try to build off of this game, come in, and beat Florida.???
On how tough the defense was on him personally...
???First of all, I got into foul trouble. I had to sit on the bench and then when I was back loose, (Tennessee) made sure that they kept a man at my jersey. Everywhere I went, he followed me. As the opposing team, they are supposed to do that so I just tried to get open for my teammates.???
C Chris Johnson
On the last shot of the game...
???I thought I beat (the buzzer), but I tried to dunk it and that was a mistake. I should have just put it in. Lesson learned.???
On what he feels LSU accomplished this game...
???We accomplished a lot defensively. We held (Tennessee) under what they usually are able to score as a team. My hat just goes off to Coach (Butch) Pierre for stepping up. He is going through a lot after losing Coach (John) Brady. They had been together for 11 years. I???m just proud of the way he has taken control of things.???
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