Postgame Quotes: Vols 76, ETSU 67

Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes

(Opening statement)
"I'm really happy for our team. We knew coming in it was going to be a really, really hard fought game. They (ETSU) are talented and extremely well-coached.

"We could not make free throws, we got down, KP (Kevin Punter) got into foul trouble. We had to work through that. A big part of what we have talked about the last couple of weeks is how we are going to close the game. We have been in position in a number of different places. Tonight, we closed it the way we needed to close it.

"We scored 6 out of 7 baskets at the end of the game. We stayed in zone a little bit trying to protect KP. We went small. That is the first time this year that line-up has ever been on the floor together. I thought they did some really good things. I just loved the fire we competed with there at the end. It was really a good win for us."

(On Detrick Mostella's late three pointer)
"It's a read. We wanted to get [Kevin Punter Jr.] going downhill, and we've got guys spotted up where it's really an open set. He made a great pass. One thing we've talked to him and Armani [Moore] about a lot is being able to do that at the end of the game, as opposed to trying to go in and make difficult shots. We look to kick out. We want a wide open shot. That was just a great read by KP. He did get going downhill, they sucked in, he made a great pass, and as soon as he passed it I heard him yell out `Please!' and it went in. It got answered."

(On Detrick Mostella gaining confidence from tonight's performance)
"After the Butler game, I told him, `You're really at the crossroads right here. You've come a long way, and I think it's really going to be somewhat of a defining moment in your career. You're going to buck up right here and decide you're going to compete.' He came out, and he hasn't had a bad practice since the Butler game.

"Before the Gonzaga game, right before the team went out on the floor, Armani [Moore] came into where I was standing and he said, `Coach, I'm telling you. Detrick's ready to play. He's ready to play.' He's not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but the fact is, he's really trying. He's trying as hard as he can defensively. We've gotten on him about his shooting, because he doesn't practice the way he gets up his shot in the game. The last week and a half, his whole mindset in practice is what's helped him come out and play the way he's playing."

(On what was different in the final minutes of the game)
"I think we played as a team, as opposed to [Kevin Punter Jr.] putting his head down, when they took the lead. He and Armani [Moore] are competitors, but they've taken tough shots. You can't fault guys for being competitive. You've got to have that. What we've also talked about is that we're going to have to get competitive on the other end and get some stops.

"A great example is Detrick [Mostella's] three. The last couple games, when we've needed something, KP hasn't made that pass. Tonight, he did. I thought that was a big thing. We kept saying that. We've got to drive it. We've got to get good shots. It's hard to score around the basket. People think it's easy. It's really not. That was really as good a play as a point guard can make in that situation."

(On Devon Baulkman's performance)
"It's no question we're trying to protect the lane as much as we can, but we've still got to get aggressive. We're not going to be able to run the way we want to run if we don't turn people over more than 10 times. We've got to be there. [Devon Baulkman] is a guy that we've said from day one, `We've got to have a guy that has a defensive mentality, that really wants to do that.' You've got to have a guy that does that, but also will go get big offensive rebounds. You go back, and when he's played his best, he's really done that on the offensive boards. He's a guy that's more than just a spot-up shooter. He can really affect a game on the other end if he's willing to do it consistently. We need that.

"They put their heads down there, and they just started driving the ball at us. We're going to have to continue to get better, but I think that's going on in college basketball right now, where the drive is so important.

"There's not a guy on the team that didn't help us. Kyle [Alexander] finally took the shot that we've asked him to take - the high release turnaround jump shot - and he made that. He still has to get ready. That pass [Robert Hubbs III] gave him is a tough pass, in that situation where he turned it over, but he still has to get ready to catch that. I thought everybody that played for us did a really nice job for us.

"Hubbs, he hasn't practiced. He practices a little bit yesterday, but we didn't do a lot in practice yesterday because of the trip back. I thought early in the game he was trying to do too much, but his seven rebounds were huge."

(On coming out flat in the second half)
"Well people will look at it and say well you came out flat. I don't know if that's necessarily true. Sometimes you miss shots, and they start making shots. When you're up nine points, it's a three possession game, you talk about a team you know has a couple guys who can make some difficult shots and some threes. Where we got in the middle of the second half, they were beating us to every loose ball. That's what we kept talking about, regardless of their length. At times they had five guards out there too. It's a matter of competing on that end as well, and we didn't. Even Armani, he went up there one time and got it, came down and traveled. So many times it gets down to rebounding the ball. At the end of the game our defense was pretty good. We got a little bit more aggressive with those five guards out there. Again, that team has never practiced together tonight. I though they did a really good job of communicating, talking to each other. As a coach, you love it when you see guys coaching and getting on to each other. They are holding each other accountable. Thats what good teams really start becoming. They're engaged when you see that. As opposed to wondering what happened, you have guys trying to coach each other. That was a good thing tonight because they had to coach each other through the five guards. We were switching a lot and doing a lot of different things, and scrambling a few times. Again, I thought it was a really good game for us, the way we won it hopefully in the long run, because we won a game when we were down in a close game. I told the guys all year, we're going to be down, we're going to be in close games. When it gets down to winning time, that's when we'll find out what we are made of."

(On toying idea with the five guard lineup)
"We wanted to really spend time doing that when we had that long break. That was something we knew we wanted to do at times. But when [Robert] Hubbs had his surgery we didn't get a chance to spend any time with it. We've dummy offensed it with those guys out there. They know what they're doing on the offensive end. In terms of actually doing it, we haven't really got to go live with it. That's something we had hoped to do. Our zone was really good to us tonight. They made a couple threes. They did get a couple long rebounds, which happens. It's really hard to play zone sometimes when your small. Those long rebounds are where the length comes in. We were going to have to find a way to come up with those. Getting through Kevin Punter's foul trouble, it helped us tonight."

(On his confidence in Kyle Alexander's play)
"After the Butler game, he was gosh-awful, and he knows it. He came back, and we said to him, `There's no more excuses now. You wanted this. Here it is. Now you have to go get it.' He works. He's one of the last guys to leave practice everyday. He's going to be a terrific player. He'll be a different player in thirty days. Watch how he grows in the next thirty days by what he's getting right here. More than anything, he's starting to see it a little bit quicker. That's what he's got to do, catch up with the speed of the game.

"I will tell you, I thought Derrick Reese played as well has he has. He did tonight what we asked him to do. He went in the game, and he kept the ball moving, and really did some good things. I thought Shembari [Phillips] did well with his minutes in there. He was probably trying to be a little bit too conservative. We got away totally from our transition game with him there. The fact is, great team win."

(On his first Tennessee Christmas)
"Well I'm going to go home, well I'm home here, but I'm going to go to Austin and see my two grandkids. If it weren't for my two grandkids in Austin, I'd stay right here and go see my mom. I haven't seen my grandkids in a while. I'm looking forward to just spending a couple days with my family. Then we'll be back here, play a game, and get ready for Southeast Conference play.

"I do think this is an important time of the year. I wish we were able to give guys more days off. I really think that Christmas is a time you really should spend some time with your family and celebrate the true meaning of it."

Tennessee senior forward Armani Moore

(On how different Kyle Alexander is now than he was in October)
"With Kyle, you never know what we are going to get out of him, but one thing I do know that we will get is that he is going to compete, go hard, and give a lot of effort. I think he is going to end up being a great player by the time he leaves here."

(On what its like to be in close games)
"I appreciate games like this, and it is always good to go through games likes this early in the season because I feel like this is a great learning experience for our team."

(On closing out the game)
"Tonight, I think we did a very good job of sharing the ball. We knew what was working, and we just stayed with that... I think we did a great job of rebounding the ball."

Tennessee forward Kyle Alexander

(On when he found out he would start)
"I got some hints before the game that I was going to start. I have known since about yesterday night. I was happy. As my first collegiate start, it was a little nerve-wracking. I just tried to make the best of it."

(On how he has improved this season)
"I understand how much effort and all the details that it takes to win. I'm still learning. Like I said, I had a rough start today and made some mistakes, but I understand the things it takes from one single person to go in and help a team win."

(On if blocking shots comes easy to him)
"I am not trying to toot my own horn, but I think I have always had good timing with that. It took me awhile to adjust when I first got here because the speed of the game was so much quicker. Guys were releasing higher and going up quicker. It was harder for me to adjust, but the game is starting to slow down a little bit more. I am starting to block more shots. I am hoping that can stay continuous."

Tennessee guard Devon Baulkman

(On the defensive play)
"It feels good just bringing a lot of energy from the defensive end. Everyone was on point and knew what we had to do. The offense was there regardless, but the defense was our main focus for us to win the game."

(On getting the win before the break)
"It feels good. Everybody did their part or did something to help win the game. It brings good energy, and then, everyone gets to go home and see their family. It's a happy night for everybody."

Tennessee guard Detrick Mostella

(On what Coach Barnes said in the huddle at the end of the game)
"He told us that the last minute matters in a game. The game is tied up zero to zero and whoever wanted it was going to step up to the plate, and we felt like we could step up and play good defense. That's what we did."

(On improvements in his defense)
"I feel like it is all about buying in to the defensive end. I know the offense will come if I play good defense."

(On passing the ball well)
"When I could not get to the basket, they were drawing help, and I knew someone had to be open so I found the open man."

ETSU head coach Steve Forbes

(Opening statement)
"I thought at halftime we had to correct simple things, but the most important thing we needed to correct was the boards. I told them -- and I believe I was correct -- if we won the boards, we'd win the game. We came out in the second half and we hurt (Tennessee) on the glass and then we got some second shots. We limited them to one shot and we got on a run. We started to become more aggressive offensively, driving the ball to the basket. We weren't settling for jump shots. Even T.J. (Cromer) got in there, Deuce (Bello) got in there, A.J. (Merriweather) got in there, Ge'Lawn (Guyn) got in there. Petey (McClain) gave us some great minutes defensively, just changing some things around the basket and rebounding the ball. It's just a process for him. He's young and he's going to be a good player. Our guys battled, battled, battled, battled.

"You've got to give Tennessee credit. They didn't go away. The last couple minutes, to be honest with you guys, we just didn't execute like we needed to. Some of that's on me. I've got to do a better job of preparing for those situations. We do go over those things but we did change up the defense late in the game and they found the guy open for the three. Give them credit; they found him and it was the only three they made the whole second half. That was a big shot. So we called timeout and tried to come down and run something we really haven't run before, but we've run it in the past and got a wide open shot out of it. We just didn't get it executed. If I had to do it over again, maybe I'd run something different. But I've seen that play work over and over and I thought Ge'Lawn could stick it. He's big money; he takes big shots and makes big shots.

"I'm very proud of our players. I'm not satisfied that we came in here and kept it close. That's not what we came here to do. We came here to win the game. Our guys are really starting to come together. I can see it, I've told them that, and I really think we're good for a good second semester."

(On his return to Knoxville)
"It was a great feeling. I spent five years here, (assistant coach Jason Shay) spent six, I think (assistant coach Brooks Savage) spent 100. It was really nice to see a lot of familiar faces and be in an arena that we helped build. Let's be frank: when we came here there were no luxury boxes, there was no jumbotron, there was no ribbon board, there was no Pratt Pavilion. That was a parking lot where I used to park. So it's a good feeling to come back and know that you were part of something special.

"Rick Barnes is a classy individual. I think he's a hell of a coach and I think you've got the right guy at the helm here. He'll do a great job.

"I'm kind of an old-school guy. Just to see the maintenance people (at Thompson-Boling Arena) and the ticket-takers and the (ushers) -- those are the people that I enjoy seeing. Those are the people I spent the most time with."