Nov. 9, 2008
Vanderbilt vs. Alabama Huntsville
November 9, 2008
Memorial Gym
Vanderbilt Head Coach Kevin Stallings
Opening Comments:
“I thought we were nervous at the beginning and I wasn’t surprised. Once we calmed our nerves, I thought we played effectively. [Alabama-Huntsville] caught fire from three in the second half and kept the game in range. I was encouraged with our team’s effort. Once we got past our nervousness, I thought we played well. We didn’t take care of the ball, which was disappointing, but I attribute that to our nervousness.”
On Substituting Players:
“I told our team that we were going to have everyone play in the first half. In the second half, we played it closer in terms of how the game were to go. We didn’t run a single out of bounds play. We didn’t want to put any of that out there. We just played our base offense and defense.”
On Alabama-Huntsville:
“Lennie Acuff is an excellent coach. He’s one of my very good friends. I knew that we were going to get back cut. I thought some of their three pointers were very difficult. We had some guys who got back cut and that was disappointing.”
On Festus Ezeli and A.J. Ogilvy:
“This was a difficult game for them to play together in. We have it on our scheme for them to play together.”
Vanderbilt Player
A.J. Ogilvy, center
On the beginning of the game:
“I think everyone was just a little over excited and came out a bit nervous and we just jumped a little bit. They came out really energetic and made a couple of shots which kind of stunned us and we just weren’t playing good basketball.”
On his play:
“I’ve been working really hard and going up against Festus (Ezeli) and all the other big men. It was a lot easier than how practices have been.”
On his experience:
“It provides more expectations. You know what’s coming and what this game means and you contrast the rest of the season. I was really excited to come out today. It was really good to get out on the court against someone not wearing black and gold jerseys. Even with the experience we have, we still came out a little nervous and it wasn’t our best, but the seniors and freshmen really stepped up and helped us get through there.”
On his leadership:
“I’ve been trying to make a good transition and make a positive impression on the freshmen coming through. But they didn’t really need too much leadership. They are really great players and contributed a lot to our team today. I feel like today that they mean just as much to the team as I do.”
On Festus Ezeli:
“Festus is a great player and brings a lot of athleticism to our team. He’s going to be a great contributor on the rebounds. He has come leaps and bounds and has improved so much. He wouldn’t have been able to play much this year if he still was where he was last year, but he’s gotten so much better. It’s amazing.”
Jeffery Taylor, guard/forward
On playing first career game:
“We were nervous and up-tight when we started the contest and struggled in the beginning. We calmed down after a few minutes and played well the rest of the way. We stated doing what we did in the preseason and was able to let go.”
On Steve Tchiengang’s contribution to the game:
“Steve came off the bench and was able to make plays for himself and for others and that helped us.”
On facing another team:
“It was good to finally play someone else that wasn’t wearing black and gold. It was great playing in front of the fans out there today.”
