Jan. 19, 2008
Vanderbilt Head Coach Kevin Stallings:
Opening statement:
“We needed the win. I was afraid that our confidence would be a little bit down. I liked the energy we played with, the aggressiveness and the way we pushed the ball. I thought we played free on offense and took great care of the ball. That was a nice thing to see. I thought our ability to push the tempo and speed up the game worked out in our favor.”
On the play of Alex Gordon and Jermaine Beal:
“I’m proud of the way they played. Alex (Gordon) was very good and had a lot of balance. Then, you look down and Jermaine (Beal) had nine assists and no turnovers. That’s pretty good for a point guard.”
On coming into the game off road losses at Kentucky and Tennessee:
“We knew we hadn’t played up to our standard (in the previous two games) and got beat. That’s what should happen when you go on the road and play good teams in tough environments. It was important to come out today and reestablish who we are and the way we want to be. This was a critical game for us, without question. By and large, I thought our players played like it.”
On the play of Ross Neltner against LSU:
“I thought Ross (Neltner) was terrific. He picked his spots, took the ball to the basket went he needed to and took the (outside) shot when he should. He is a very steadying influence on our team and he’s one of our toughest guys. We knew he was going to bounce back. Fortunately, he did that today.
On Ross Neltner’s play in the last two games:
“Ross is completely a team guy, but maybe he just got a little distracted or maybe he just two bad games. He’s entitled. He’s a really important player to us and we know he will be there when we need them.”
On the upcoming eight-day layoff for the Commodores:
“I think it will be good for us. We have some modifications that we need to make and need some time to deal with some things. With just two days (of practice between games), it’s hard to make any significant changes. Hopefully, we’ll have some time to maybe tweak some things to our benefit.”
On the play of his team against LSU:
“I thught we played with good energy. We have enough depth that we should be able to stay fresh as the season continues. We wanted to push the tempo and get people involved. It was important that, in the event that it was a close game in the final five or six minutes, that we had pushed the ball for the first 35 minutes in an effort to wear them down.”
Vanderbilt Players:
Forward Ross Neltner:
On the team only committing eight turnovers:
“The way we were playing lately turning the ball over wasn’t going to get it done in the SEC, so that was the focus since we got back from Tennessee and since we got back from Rupp (Arena). It worked out for us tonight with eight (turnovers) for 21 (assists) … if we keep playing like that, we are going to get a lot of wins.”
On the importance of getting the win:
“We all understand that if you take care of your home games and win a few on the road, you are going to be right there in the SEC. We are going to have to get some road wins here early in the season, but in the second half of the SEC schedule, we have a lot of games here in Memorial (Gym). We are upset about losing at Rupp (Arena) and in Knoxville, but we’ve just got to hold serve at home and win some on the road, and we’ll be fine and be in the race.”
Forward Shan Foster:
On if the team’s confidence was shaken after consecutive losses:
“Not at all. We thought it would be very important to come out and hold serve at home. I think our confidence is still good. We are 17-2. There is no reason for us not to have confidence in ourselves or our coaching staff.”
On if having an eight-day layoff is good:
“It depends on how you look at it. From a coach’s standpoint, it is good because it is an opportunity to get in the gym and really have some solid practices and workout some of the kinks in our offense and defense, and try to get better. From a player’s standpoint, you are always looking forward to that next game. It is hard getting up for practice sometimes when you have a game that is so far away. Practices tend to be a little bit tougher during those stretches.”
Guard Alex Gordon:
On putting pressure on LSU’s short bench:
“We knew coming in that they had a short bench. I think that they only played eight players. Our mentality is to push the ball every chance we get. Coach was telling us to keep pressure on them on the offensive end as far as pushing the ball, and most importantly wearing them down on defense. That is basically what we did tonight.”
On playing fast:
“We played pretty fast last year, but (coach) said he wanted to take it up a notch. That is what we did going back to the conditioning that we did last summer and getting ready in the preseason. We focused on playing faster and more under control because turnovers can come when you play fast like that. We’ve been doing a good job of it and that’s our game plan. That is what we are going to keep doing.”
LSU Head Coach John Brady:
Opening statement:
“Offensively, I thought our team was good enough to win today. I told the team before the game, that if we scored in the 70’s we’d have a chance. We’re very young, and it basically came down to our inexperience versus their experience. They’ve got some veteran guys on that team. I think we got taken advantage of a little bit today.”
On Vanderbilt:
“Vanderbilt is very good. It seemed like we had them guarded, and the ball still went in. They force you to play at a certain speed, and we don’t have the maturity to sustain the high level of play for 40 minutes.”
On his team’s effort:
“We shoot 55% (from the field) and outrebound them. Those are some positive stats for our team and we have to build on those.”