Opening Statement
“Well, we feel very fortunate. It’s a weird game. They shoot 48%. We shoot 38%, but it’s a very hard fought game. I thought in the first half that Mark [Gottfried]’s club was the aggressor. I thought they were first to the loose balls, and they killed us on the offensive backboards in the first six minutes of the game. After that in the first half, it was fairly even. Story in the first half was Nate Britt was the only guy that gave us a chance. I thought he really picked us up defensively and in the second half I thought Nate and Joel [Berry] defensively and Kennedy [Meeks] on the offensive end. Plus, Kennedy had two or three blocks in the second half too, so defensively, we were much better in the second half. They shoot 46% in the first half and 33% in the second half. Like I said, it was a weird game. Brice [Johnson] was three for six, plays 18 minutes because he’s got four fouls. Marcus [Paige] was one for nine. Some strange things going on, but Joel Berry was 5-9. Everyone else on the perimeter was four for 28. We’re going to shoot the ball in the basket some games. We really will. I keep saying that, but we’re going to do it before I die. Kennedy was 10 for 16, 10 for 14 in the second half. Everybody else was less than 30%. For us, our depth has always been a positive. I think Isaiah [Hicks] and Nate really kept us in the game in the first half, and then Kennedy really was much better in the second half. We’ve got to rebound the defensive board a lot better. There’s no question about that. Points off of turnovers, we had 17 to their four. They had 18 turnovers. We had 9, so that was good for us as well. It wasn’t the prettiest basketball game I’ve ever coached, to say the least.”
On the team’s depth
“I told them in the locker room that that’s a good thing for our team. Marcus one for nine, Brice three for six, Theo zero for five. You’ve got some guys that can’t throw it in the ocean from the beach, and you still are able to squeeze out a win. I do think that I always try to recruit for and coach with as much depth as I can try to build. Luke [Maye] gave us a couple of good minutes. Luke had two or three offensive rebounds. Luke had four rebounds in seven minutes, so even he gave us a lift in the first half too.”
On the defensive strategy against Cat Barber
“We tried to keep him contained. Nate, in the first half, was good defensively on him, and I thought Joel was good. Joel almost blocked a shot. Cat didn’t even take it from the corner. He ended up dropping the ball. I think just keeping him in front of you. The big guys did a better job on the screen on the ball too.”
On Kennedy Meeks
“In the first half, he didn’t deserve to play anymore. In the second half, he really did deserve to keep playing. I told him at half time, you’re always concerned about yourself. If you want to play more, you play better. It’s a pretty easy deal. Head coaches have no favorites. I do not like one guy better than I do the other, and I do not dislike anybody. If you’re freaking playing, you get more minutes. In the second half, Kennedy was playing."
On when your leading scorers don't have their normal games and you still win like this
I told them in the locker room, that's a good thing for our team. Marcus is 1 for 9 and Brice 3 for 6; Theo 0 for 5 and you got some guys who can't throw it in the ocean from the beach and you're still able to come out with a win. I always try and recruit for and coach with as much depth as I can try to build. You know Luke gave us a couple of good minutes, he two or three offensive rebounds. Luke had four rebounds in seven minutes. I didn't necessarily fall in love with his jump shot when both of their big guys were in foul trouble, but that's part of coaching.
On what did Kennedy do differently in the second half offensively and defensively.
I think it was his total effort. I asked him, did you really dive on the floor those three times or did somebody trip you. He said, no he really did dive. I think that was important. His block shots were important but I think he was tip toeing up there in the first half. In the second half, I think it was Isaiah or Justin who were going out of bounds and threw it to him and he caught it and exploded up and he can do that now. 60 pounds ago, he couldn't do that, but he could do it now. In the first half I don't think he was getting good lift on his shot and they were playing paddy cake with it.
“Well, we feel very fortunate. It’s a weird game. They shoot 48%. We shoot 38%, but it’s a very hard fought game. I thought in the first half that Mark [Gottfried]’s club was the aggressor. I thought they were first to the loose balls, and they killed us on the offensive backboards in the first six minutes of the game. After that in the first half, it was fairly even. Story in the first half was Nate Britt was the only guy that gave us a chance. I thought he really picked us up defensively and in the second half I thought Nate and Joel [Berry] defensively and Kennedy [Meeks] on the offensive end. Plus, Kennedy had two or three blocks in the second half too, so defensively, we were much better in the second half. They shoot 46% in the first half and 33% in the second half. Like I said, it was a weird game. Brice [Johnson] was three for six, plays 18 minutes because he’s got four fouls. Marcus [Paige] was one for nine. Some strange things going on, but Joel Berry was 5-9. Everyone else on the perimeter was four for 28. We’re going to shoot the ball in the basket some games. We really will. I keep saying that, but we’re going to do it before I die. Kennedy was 10 for 16, 10 for 14 in the second half. Everybody else was less than 30%. For us, our depth has always been a positive. I think Isaiah [Hicks] and Nate really kept us in the game in the first half, and then Kennedy really was much better in the second half. We’ve got to rebound the defensive board a lot better. There’s no question about that. Points off of turnovers, we had 17 to their four. They had 18 turnovers. We had 9, so that was good for us as well. It wasn’t the prettiest basketball game I’ve ever coached, to say the least.”
On the team’s depth
“I told them in the locker room that that’s a good thing for our team. Marcus one for nine, Brice three for six, Theo zero for five. You’ve got some guys that can’t throw it in the ocean from the beach, and you still are able to squeeze out a win. I do think that I always try to recruit for and coach with as much depth as I can try to build. Luke [Maye] gave us a couple of good minutes. Luke had two or three offensive rebounds. Luke had four rebounds in seven minutes, so even he gave us a lift in the first half too.”
On the defensive strategy against Cat Barber
“We tried to keep him contained. Nate, in the first half, was good defensively on him, and I thought Joel was good. Joel almost blocked a shot. Cat didn’t even take it from the corner. He ended up dropping the ball. I think just keeping him in front of you. The big guys did a better job on the screen on the ball too.”
On Kennedy Meeks
“In the first half, he didn’t deserve to play anymore. In the second half, he really did deserve to keep playing. I told him at half time, you’re always concerned about yourself. If you want to play more, you play better. It’s a pretty easy deal. Head coaches have no favorites. I do not like one guy better than I do the other, and I do not dislike anybody. If you’re freaking playing, you get more minutes. In the second half, Kennedy was playing."
On when your leading scorers don't have their normal games and you still win like this
I told them in the locker room, that's a good thing for our team. Marcus is 1 for 9 and Brice 3 for 6; Theo 0 for 5 and you got some guys who can't throw it in the ocean from the beach and you're still able to come out with a win. I always try and recruit for and coach with as much depth as I can try to build. You know Luke gave us a couple of good minutes, he two or three offensive rebounds. Luke had four rebounds in seven minutes. I didn't necessarily fall in love with his jump shot when both of their big guys were in foul trouble, but that's part of coaching.
On what did Kennedy do differently in the second half offensively and defensively.
I think it was his total effort. I asked him, did you really dive on the floor those three times or did somebody trip you. He said, no he really did dive. I think that was important. His block shots were important but I think he was tip toeing up there in the first half. In the second half, I think it was Isaiah or Justin who were going out of bounds and threw it to him and he caught it and exploded up and he can do that now. 60 pounds ago, he couldn't do that, but he could do it now. In the first half I don't think he was getting good lift on his shot and they were playing paddy cake with it.
