University of Tennessee Athletics
Postgame Quotes: Vols 74 Tennessee State 69
December 29, 2015 | Men's Basketball
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Tennessee Head Coach Rick Barnes
Opening Statement
“There is no doubt who is the better-coached team and who is the better team. I really think the best team didn’t win today. Watching Tennessee State on tape, watching what they do and the way they came in… they really did a great job of executing. We were just horrible to start the game. The way we turned the ball over, especially with some older guys being involved with it…
“The one thing we did do is close the game. The whole game changed with Armani’s (Moore) defense in the game. He totally changed the game with the way he guarded No. 15 (Keron DeShields). More guys fed off him. We are obviously really struggling to guard. We want to double the post, but we can’t double the post when we allow people to catch the ball inside the lane.
“We need to get to get the ball outside the lane area where we can have time to rotate. That is the only way we are going to be able to survive against teams. They look at us and know they can throw it in there and score at any point in time.”
(On what Detrick Mostella did differently in today's game)
“I think Detrick gets back. At the start of the game, I thought he put himself in some tough situations with the ball. We weren’t executing. If all five guys aren’t together in the flow, those type of things can happen. The fact is, he came back. He was ready to play.
“I thought he really fed off Armani’s [Moore] intensity on the defensive end. He was out there trying to create some things and get some things done. The whole game pivoted with Armani’s defense. He changed the whole game. It was the first time that it looked like they weren’t sure exactly what they wanted to do. That was because of what Armani was doing on the ball.”
(On giving up fewer turnovers in the second half)
“When you go back, they were ridiculous turnovers [in the first half], like the one [Kevin Punter Jr.] threw back. We told him not to do that. We were expecting him to come to another ball screen, because we knew they were not going to let us reverse it that easy.
“They’re a well-coached team. We just turned the ball over. Those kind of plays – Armani [Moore] throwing the ball off [Robert] Hubbs’ chest – tells you that you’re not really engaged. We haven’t made those kind of plays all year. The fact is, we did find a way at the end to come back and win it. “Defensively, we just [gave up] too many easy baskets against us. You go back and look, one time I think it was 20-2 in points in the paint, and 18 points off turnovers. We can’t afford to do that. We can’t afford to give teams easy baskets in any way, shape, or form. We did that too many times today. “We’re not guarding the ball. Armani, what he did today, if we could get a collective effort, if we could get just one of our post guys to be that intense in the post, guarding like Armani did on the perimeter, we could find a way to create some trouble for people.”
(On the shot selection in the first half)
“The fact of the matter is the game wasn’t really as close as the score at halftime was. We can shoot the ball, but again, they played pack defense. We still wanted to get moving. Certainly, when guys are open, we want them to shoot it, but we settled. You guys have watched us enough. When guys are open, we want them to shoot the ball, but there’s that fine line there where they’ve got to feel the flow, too. Detrick’s [Mostella] an explosive offensive player, but he also gets himself in trouble a little bit. The reason [we shot so many three’s] was because there was no organization, because [Kevin Punter Jr.] didn’t get us into what we needed to do. That shouldn’t happen after 12 games. It really shouldn’t.”
(On Kyle Alexander)
“He wasn’t ready to play from the beginning. We talked about it last night. Every game, we have to piece it together. We’re going to find five guys - some way, somehow - to compete. He didn’t compete. He’s got to put up a fight. He was allowing people to post him up, and he’s got to know that’s going to happen. That was the scouting report.
“They did not do one thing that we didn’t talk about. That’s just competing, and that’s part of the growing process, the learning process. He’s going to find out if he doesn’t compete, he’s going to do what he did tonight – play four minutes. He probably played two more than he should have.”
(On what to make of his team going into conference play)
“I don’t know much except for that when you get into conference play everything gets ratcheted up a little bit. This time of year, teams that want to be good will keep finding ways to get better. After 12 games, if you don’t know anything, you should know yourself. We talked about that last night. We should know every player’s strength and weakness on our team. We know as a whole we have to be a team. We can’t be guys not doing their jobs. It’s an attitude where it’s again, competing. And we haven’t competed in one game all year for 40 minutes. But as far as where we are, I really don’t know. I do know tat if we don’t figure out post defense and keep giving away baskets like we did today, then we’re not going to be very good because conference play changes everything. But it’s here now, and we’ve got to get better.”
(On what stands out about Bruce Pearl and his Auburn team)
“I know his background with Tom Davis at Iowa. He still does some of that with the 1-2-1-1 and changing defenses. When they have the opportunity, they’re going to score, but if not they’ll make you guard them a bit. I know he calls a lot of sets in the middle of the possession that he wants to get to, and he does a good job of getting the guys that he wants into attack position.”
Tennessee Guard Kevin Punter
(On coming from behind to win)
“For us, it is just the beginning of the game. We can’t do that. I remember talking to a reporter last year after Arkansas. I said, ‘With good teams, you can’t dig yourself a hole and expect to come back every time.' It’s just not going to happen in conference. As you get further into the season, you just can’t do that. Once conference play starts, we have to be on our A game and stay consistent from the jump.”
(On Detrick at the end of the game)
“He played with confidence both defensively and offensively. I was looking for him because he was knocking down shots. I think the biggest thing for him was that he played with confidence.”
(On what he tells the team about conference play)
“It’s nothing that we haven’t already told them. It’s still the game f basketball. You just have to buckle down and stay focused. At the end of the day, the other team will have their game plan and we will have ours. It’s still basketball.”
Tennessee Forward Armani Moore
(On what turned the game around)
“I think we came out in the second half and looked better on the offensive end, but we turned up our defense. That was the big change in the game.
“We have to do a better job from the start of the game. We played a very good team today. They came out and fought hard. We did a better job of executing in the second half. I think if we come out better from the start, there is no reason we shouldn’t win a lot of basketball games."
(On not having as many threes in the second half)
“We did a better job of attacking the rim. I think our guards did a good job tonight of crashing down and getting rebounds and getting some second shots.”
Tennessee Guard Detrick Mostella
(On driving to the basket becoming more of a part of his game)
“I had some success doing it, but I wasn’t doing it consistently. If I’m going to be a good shooter, I have to drive some too so that they have to guard both. So me being more aggressive driving helped me out and it helped my team out, getting them open shots.
(On being able to play well near the end of the game)
“I feel like Armani brought the defensive effort tonight. And I feel like we all bought in to it the last five minutes of the game. Even though it was sloppy, we found a way to pull it out."
(On what the team was able to do to turn it around in the second half)
“We were settling too much, and I felt like we needed to be more aggressive. SO when I started scoring, everyone started feeding off of me and we just started clicking and doing what we were supposed to do.”
Tennessee State Head Coach Dana Ford
(On second half)
“I really have to go back and see what the real story was. But I think second half we turned it over a little bit, we turned it over nine times in the second half. Maybe the crowd got to us a little bit. I’d have to go back and take a look at the tape.”
(On factors that led to loss)
“There’s so much going on in that game, I just can’t put my finger on what it was right now. I have to go back and watch the tape and be able to evaluate it. I was glad to see our guys come back and compete a little bit harder than they did before Christmas break.”
(On Christian Griggs-Williams)
“He’s coming along. He’s getting in better shape. Our whole plan was to get him ready by the time OVC gets here. I think he’s making progress. It will be good to have two guys down there that can score. On the other end, the defensive rebounding end he’s getting a little bit better; still has a little ways to go. He’s definitely someone we feel will be able to help us the next two months.”
(On Wayne Martin)
“We want to establish Wayne down there every game. The decision is Wayne’s. He can average 20 and 15 if he really wants to. Tonight I thought he did a good job. He had 19 (points) and nine (rebounds0 in only 24 minutes. That’s definitely part of our offensive game plan every game. To get the ball down to Wayne and hopefully he can do some good things. I thought late in the second half they made an adjustment and started double teaming him. That kind of catches him off guard sometimes. But he didn’t turn it over, he just didn’t score.”
