Tennessee vs. Duke - Post-Game Quotes

Feb. 16, 2009

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Tennessee vs. Duke - Post-Game Quotes

(opening remarks):
"Right now, I don't think our team really gets it. We got outworked. We got outplayed. Duke is a veteran team, and they wanted it more. They were a lot more physical. They got to every loose ball. They made every hustle play. Our guard play didn't match-up with their guard-play. You can't win against a team as talented as Duke when you're playing in spurts. We went nine minutes without scoring. We shot 32 percent from the floor. We got outrebounded by 13. Angie (Bjorklund) and Shekinna (Stricklen) were a combined 4-of-23 (from the floor). You're not going to win when that happens. Glory (Johnson) was 0-for-6. (Alyssia) Brewer was 0-for-5 from the free throw line. Kelley (Cain) was 2-for-6 on free throws. I'd like to say that we're going to be able to fix things right away, but. . . .this team doesn't know how much they have to invest to be a 40-minute team. Am I disappointed? Absolutely. We had an awesome crowd tonight. Give credit to Duke. This team needs to grow up. Everybody wants to beat Tennessee, and they believe that this is the year that they can do it. We've had 25 games, and we should have been able to figure it out by now."

(on Tennessee's defense):
"I don't think we have the competitive drive on every possession that we need. Obviously, we recruit offensive players, and when their shots aren't falling, it affects their defense. It's a matter of mentality. You can't make your shots all the time, but defense is a matter of heart and desire and commitment. We're lacking heart and desire and commitment. In four minute segments, you've got to make stops. We weren't doing that because someone was out of position. I know we're young, but after 25 games, we should have an awareness of that."

(on Briana Bass):
"Bri did a nice job. I was pleased. She was the best guard on the floor for us tonight. She defended well and was very aggressive. They didn't exploit her size as we had anticipated. We've got one guard. Are you going to win with one guard? No."

(on Tennessee's scoring drought):
"A lot of that was guard play. It was a combination of Angie (Bjorklund), Shekinna (Stricklen), and Glory (Johnson) not making shots. If you don't make shots, you better make stops. Duke was tougher. They were physically more aggressive. They got on the boards. They played like a veteran team."

(on comparing Duke's team to some of the better Tennessee teams of the past):
"I try not to think of some of our better teams of the past right now. That clouds my thinking. Duke is very good and deserving of their ranking. They have a toughness about them. Our team is fragile at times. We didn't shoot well then we didn't defend. I know it takes time, but I'm impatient."

(on Tennessee's slow start):
"It goes back to guard play. We were not good opening up. I didn't start Bri (Bass), and that might have been a mistake on my part."

(on Tennessee's schedule): "I don't think it has been too much. We've won 18, and the seven losses hurt. Some have been closer than others. I think we've learned from our tough schedule. Where we are right now-we should be better, and we should be tougher. Angie (Bjorklund) and Shekinna (Stricklen) should be putting up numbers, and Glory (Johnson) should be a better player. Tonight, the ball was getting stuck in players' hands, and we didn't share the ball."

(on what she told the team at the first timeout):
"First, we've got to take care of the basketball. The turnovers were careless and costly. We've got to take care of the ball and do a better job on the boards. Our staff challenged them to get open shots. We weren't able to get the shots that we needed to get."

(on comparing Duke's team to the Michigan State team coached by Joanne P. McCallie that Tennessee faced in the 2005 NCAA Final Four):
"I think this team is more physical. They're more athletic across the board. I thought their post game stepped up tonight. That team was good, and this team is very good. I think they'll go deep in the tournament."

TENNESSEE SENIOR FORWARD Alex Fuller

(On the disappointment of losing after a good week of practice):
"This week, our practices have been really mental, trying to get to know Duke and what they do. It's obviously disappointing because we know this could have helped us, not only now, but in the postseason. We can't really linger on it too long because we are coming up on the end of our season. We have Kentucky coming up, LSU coming up, Vanderbilt and Mississippi State again. None of those four games are easy at all, so we can't dwell on it. We can't come to practice tomorrow and sulk on it. We just have to keep working hard and we'll get better."

TENNESSEE FRESHMAN GUARD Briana Bass

(On her improved defensive play):
"(Pat and I) have actually watched tape together of Shannon Bobbitt and she showed me how she got into people's grill. That's what I'm trying to do. My teammates keep telling me that it starts with the point guard, so I just have to step up to the challenge."

(On the loss and bouncing back):
"Every loss is a tough loss. We just need to regroup ourselves and figure out a way to play hard the whole game and play together as a team. I think it's more mental than anything. Everyone is capable of (working hard), but we just need to go out there and do it."

TENNESSEE SOPHOMORE GUARD/FORWARD Angie Bjorklund

(On the team's offensive struggles):
"I give a lot of credit to Duke. They did a good job defending us. They outworked us. We need to get the ball inside a lot more, especially when we are not hitting shots from the outside. We need to get the ball inside and work the high-low game."

(On how the team can overcome its offensive struggles):
"When we're not scoring, we need to get the ball inside and make stops. We want everybody to rebound a lot better than we did. If we're not scoring that well, we need to get it done on the defensive end and get some rebounds, especially offensively."

(On what Duke did to win):
"They outworked us. We need to bring it back just as strong and just as hard. We can't drag our heads about this. We have SECs to finish here and we have to finish strong."

(On whether the team was able to get the shots it wanted):
"I don't think we got the shots we wanted at all. We should have taken the ball inside more, work the ball more. The ball got stuck in our hands too much and we need to move the ball more to get better shots."

DUKE HEAD COACH JOANNE P. MCCALLIE

(Opening Statement):
"I'm very proud of my team and our focus together. I thought we did some things very well together. Obviously, rebounding is very important to us and to be plus-13 against an excellent rebounding team like Tennessee is something we're pleased with. It was just a hard fought game in a very physical environment. I'm extremely proud of Jasmine (Thomas) and her composure as a point guard on the floor in terms of her directing things and the choices that she made in the time that she had to handle the ball and make decisions. (Redshirt senior forward) Chante Black really gives us a savvy presence on both ends of the court, and we need to get her the ball more. We're a work in progress and there were some very good things here tonight, especially the great crowd-it was a great pink celebration. It's fantastic to see Knoxville folks wearing pink-they sure know how to do it right. It was a great night that way, and I think Kay Yow would've been very pleased and very tickled to see all of that pink. As a team, we'll take this and learn from it and go from there."

(On Duke's three consecutive victories in Thompson-Boling Arena):
"(Former Duke Head Coach) Gail Goestenkors was a part of those wins and creating a program. All of the wonderful things she did at Duke speak for excellence. We certainly know how excellent Tennessee has been over the years with Pat. I told Pat that I can't believe how well she has handled everything that comes with winning 1,000 games. Obviously it's the greatest thing ever, but not for her-she has a lot to handle and talk about, and I think it's been remarkable how well she's been able to distribute it. If you look at the history of Duke basketball, it's a fantastic one. We're very proud to work hard and be very good. I wasn't able to be a part of the past teams, but this team has worked very hard and we're proud on all counts."

(On how this team compares to past Duke teams):
"I don't think it's right for me to make any comparison-I'm just really excited to be at Duke. In my career I have always valued physical play just in terms of trying to be strong with the ball and strong in positions. You've got to be able to out-tough teams when shots aren't falling. I can tell you that out-rebounding them, 49-36 on a home floor, is pretty substantial, and that's outstanding. We were pretty dominant on the boards last game but the consistency piece is what we've been trying to go for. We haven't been consistent all year. We're going to preach toughness, and loose balls, and rebounding, and strength, and the weight room. The credit goes to players for meeting us halfway and believing in playing extremely physical."

DUKE SENIOR FORWARD/CENTER CHANTE BLACK

(On how the Blue Devils were able to wear down Tennessee):
"We set the tone early in this game, and you could see it around midway through the first half that they were wearing out. I was able to outrun their posts. Once we saw that we just started to push it and that carried over to the second half. It's hard to keep up for 40 minutes when a team is pushing up-tempo."

(On her success in the post):
"I think it's just the attack mindset. I knew that if I caught it and they didn't double team me, I was going to attack the basket. I think I faced maybe one double team early on but after that I found buckets."

DUKE SOPHOMORE GUARD JASMINE THOMAS

(On holding UT scoreless for an eight minute and fifteen second stretch in the second half):
"I don't know if I remember it on the spot, but I just remember us keeping up our intensity, focusing what we were trying to do.(Senior guard) Abby Waner did a great job guarding (Angie Bjorklund) and everyone else just helped and played tough defense to put it away."

(On Duke's guard play):
"We just have very experienced guards on this team. We've seen a lot of different teams and we've played in a lot of different types of games. We just came out here and were composed and tried to attack and take care of the ball as best as we could and make good decisions down the stretch."

(On the Blue Devils' size advantage):
"That's not something you think about, you just think about going with the game plan, and we were thinking about being aggressive and attacking and that's just what we did."