Nov. 12, 2012

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Memphis Head Coach Josh Pastner

I know there were some things you like and some things you didn't like. You gave up 11 3's but most of those were after you opened up a 32 point lead...
"Yea there were a couple things we did well, I felt that the first 25 minutes of the game we were pretty good. Let me take that back, the first few minutes of the game they hit some great shots, I was accepting of that because of I was going over that in the scouting report about no looks, zero looks. Then the first five minutes of the second half, we scored on five of our first six possessions, we attacked."

"In the last 15 minutes, we played sloppy and lackadaisical which is not acceptable. That's just something that we have to be better about. We have to be able to put teams away. I understand there are leads and I'm subbing, I'm trying to get some guys in, and I told guys, "When I put you in you have to be ready. You can't be an energy taker, you better be an energy giver. You have to be an energy giver when I put you in." But over all I was proud of some things. We out rebounded them 47-31 and we had 20 offensive boards. You know in the second half around the nine minute mark I subbed Adonis(Thomas) to ice his hamstring down cause as I told you earlier today in our pregame Adonis hurt himself taking shoot-arounds, so we didn't know if he was going to play. I also didn't know if Ferrakohn (Hall) was going to play because of food poisoning so we weren't sure if either of those guys were going to play."

"Having 47 boards is a big thing, and we also had 16 assists on 29 made field goals. We didn't shoot the three very well. But there were some good things we had in this game and there are some things we have to continue to get better at. Bottom line is, it's always good to get a win. I do not take wins for granted, I enjoy every win. There is so much emotion built up for me going into the games and then to get a win, it's like winning 90 million dollars on a lottery ticket today. That is what every win is like because it is such a relief."

North Florida Head Coach Matthew Driscoll

Opening statement
"I thought we really did a great job doing what we planned to do, what we talked about doing. It's what we do every time. We don't play these money games just to play for money. We come to play to win, and we were prepared to do what we had to do. Obviously our guys fought. The problem is it's a 40 minute game, and it was 20-17 and then they go on a 19-0 run.

To me Shaq Goodwin just changed the game, completely changed the game. I thought he dove for two big loose balls, and they got two threes off of them if I'm not mistaken, at least got two buckets off of them, whatever it was. I thought he completely changed the game because he showed his teammates that we got to pick it up, and we got to go to another level. I didn't think we responded well.

Obviously, the second half we came out, fought hard, and you know outscored them did all that kind of good stuff. But the game was lost at that particular point, at 20-17 when we had an opportunity to continually play the way we were playing, and stay in the game and do what we do. I have to go back and look at the tape, and we don't have much time. We have a seven o'clock flight tomorrow morning, and then we fly to Georgia Tech. We practice and play Savannah State on Wednesday night, so it isn't like we have a lot of time to change things around.

We don't panic. We've never panicked. I'm not a panic guy. We just have to play better, and we have to respond especially on the road, and we've played in these in environments before. This is the 20th game we've played like this, so it isn't like this is a new environment for our guys. We just have to go back and watch the tape and go from there."

On Parker Smith starting hot, Jerron Granberry struggling and the team continuing to fight
"When Will Wilson and Ray Rodriguez go seven-to-three assists-to-turnovers against Memphis, I think that's a good sign too. Jerron (Granberry) got going in the second half. I thought guys found him, and I thought Parker (Smith) forced a couple shots. I thought he could have got fouled more, that's the one thing about [Parker] we talked about. We have to get him to the line more when he's a 90 percent shooter. He drove that last one into the paint and had a great opportunity. All he has to do is do nothing except look up in the air, and everybody and their mother jumps at him, and then he jumps into the guy and gets fouled. That's something we have to continually work on with him. You hold Memphis to 42 percent on the road, and you feel pretty good about the defensive effort if you would have told me that. But 42 percent and 20 offensive rebounds, and they still only shoot only 42 percent. They're big and strong, they're men, let's not be mistaken, but that's life. Our league is not one for the faint heart. That's why they're top 20 in the county. We just have to continue to fight and obviously get better tomorrow."

On the bench effort
"I thought Ray [Rodriguez] played well. I thought he carried himself with much more composure tonight. I thought the guys calmed him down and did a good job with him. And BaeBae's [Daniels] biggest thing is, you know, like all freshman, that anxiety just kills your conditioning and just gets you tired quick because you're just so excited to be out there. He's got to play in shorter spurts, but unfortunately he blocks so many shots and grabs so many balls that obviously he has to be able to play more minutes. But I give our guys credit, you know. Will Wilson getting nine rebounds and five assists in the 31 minutes is pretty impressive. We just have to keep getting better and keep working. I told the guys at halftime, I'm not going to lose my brain. I'm not going to scream and throw chairs and do any of that stuff. That's not what it's about, it's about getting better."