Dec. 29, 2007
Vanderbilt Head Coach Kevin Stallings:
Opening statement:
“I’m not too pleased with how we played today, especially on defense. It’s certainly my job to get that fixed. We did a better job of taking care of the ball and we did a good job on the offensive boards. UT Martin made some tough shots. On some of their shots, we were badly out of position, but they made some shots with hands in their faces and we knew they were capable of it. Our defensive intensity was fine, but our execution just wasn’t what we wanted. There’s not a lot for us to be pleased with right now.”
On Vanderbilt’s defense:
“I wasn’t completely sure if our defense was bad or if it was just that our turnovers were leading to so many points for the other team. Today, we got our answer. We didn’t turn the ball over. We have a lot of work to do and not a lot of time to do it in.”
On UT-Martin’s Lester Hudson:
“I told our team yesterday that he’ll be an NBA player. He’s quite good. He’s not the third leading score in the nation for nothing. He’s capable of making a lot of baskets.”
On Vanderbilt’s Jamie Graham:
“I told him a couple of days ago that his practices mean he’d be given game time. I thought he did a fine for the first time out there. He plays hard defensively and was good enough to play for long periods of time. He’s a good offensive player too and he may earn himself more playing time with his ability to play physically.”
On the second half:
“We relaxed at halftime. We don’t have the habits to be a good defensive team right now. We’ll talk about the season that could have been if we don’t figure it out. Fortunately, we can score and I’d rather be able to score than not be able to. We know how to play when things get tight and I commend our guys for that.”
Vanderbilt Players:
Forward Shan Foster:
On the defensive effort:
“We’ve got to keep fighting. Last year, we had a hard time getting wins, and we had to go back to the drawing board. This year we’ve got to do the same thing, although this year we have a different record. We’ve got to continue to work and buy in to what we have to do defensively. We go up 20, then the game would get close. We’re capable of defending when we go up big, but we’ve got to work on playing defense when we have leads. We don’t ever want to ever give up leads, and we don’t do it on purpose.”
On confidence late in the game:
“We feel that if the game is close, we’re going to win. We don’t like them close, but we’ve developed confidence when they are close, but by no means do we want to play games that close.”
On UT-Martin’s Lester Hudson:
“We tried to make it hard for him, and we got a few stops later. He’s a good player…he shoots it well, puts it on the floor well. He’s just a great player.”
On being undefeated:
“We take pride in being undefeated, but we’re not happy about the way we’re playing right now.”
On playing sluggish in the month of December:
“Maybe a little bit, but we’ve got a few experienced guys who can help us get through it.”
On Vanderbilt’s Jamie Graham:
“He’ll make an impact. He brings an edge and toughness to the point guard position.”
On playing many games in a short amount of time:
“As a player, you always want to play games. But the way we’re defending, coaches tell us that it will come up and bite us if we don’t change that. We’re going to work to try and change that.”
UT-Martin Head Coach Bret Campbell:
Opening statement:
“Probably any time an OVC (Ohio Valley Conference) team walks in to play SEC guys, obviously there’s a tendency that they might take you lighter. For that reason, maybe we had a little more incentive that Vanderbilt did today.”
On UT Martin’s chances to defeat Vanderbilt:
“I thought we had an opportunity to win. We have our chances at the end. But I was proud of the way our guys competed, and I was especially happy with the way we came out in the second half. Maybe (Vanderbilt) eased off a bit because of the (halftime) lead, but we really came out with energy and played hard. I’m obviously disappointed (in the loss).”
On Vanderbilt’s ability to win close games:
“When you win the close games like they have, it says a lot of their team. It’s a compliment to them, the players and the staff. They seem to have an air about them when it gets close, and they obviously have a lot of confidence in that situation.”
On the quality of play in the OVC:
“It’s a good basketball conference. The OVC is a very talented league. It’s a league where the teams have to go play on the road (prior to league play). I think that’s usually most of the difference in the overall records. We have to make a living on the guarantee teams, that’s just the way it is.”
On the play of UT-Martin’s Lester Hudson:
“Lester is a very good player, no doubt, but a lot of people simply don’t realize how talented he is in all phases of the game. He can do it all. He played well again today, and has done so against some very good teams.
On UT-Martin’s Gerald Robinson:
“I thought Gerald (Robinson) was a big difference today. It was the first time we’ve had a full compliment of players. It was Gerald’s first time back after missing four games. He gave us a big lift, hit some big shots for us, and just played a solid game.”
