Alabama Post-Game Quotes vs. Southeastern Louisiana
11/24/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Nov. 24, 2009
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Head Coach Wendell Hudson
On the tempo of the game:
"There's no question the tempo was good. What we did early, especially in the first 10 minutes of the second half, I thought we really dictated the tempo; ran the ball; pushed the ball; played the boards hard. This is all still a growing process. You know you make a couple of substitutions with eight minutes to go in the game and people are not ready to play or haven't played a lot. Sometimes in the players' minds, the game is over and they're going to relax. They've got to understand that they're getting the opportunity to tell the coaches whether or not they're ready to play. I don't care what the score is, you still have to go out there and play. We didn't really have that after a couple of the substitutions we made."
On the intensity:
"This basketball team, regardless of who we're playing against and regardless of the score, we have got to play with the same intensity. Really, I thought for the first half we did a good job and the first 10 minutes of the second half was where I thought "we're going, we're going." We sit over there as coaches and we think let's try to get some other players in the basketball game who haven't played as much, give them an opportunity and playing experience because you never know when you might be somebody. A lot of times though, especially a young basketball team, experiencing how to finish people off is important so that you don't relax and begin to think the game is over because it's never over; it's not over til it's over."
On the team getting better:
"Well, the effort was out there tonight. Tierney Jenkins, up in Nashville, she had 18 points, 27 rebounds, played a great game, but you know tonight, she was playing with that same effort but the intensity wasn't there. It wasn't that she wasn't playing hard, but after a while she realized, in her mind and other players' minds, that this team can't beat us. It doesn't matter though; you're not playing against that team. You're playing to get your team better and make them better, and that's the point we try to emphasize."
On Alyson Butler:
"We need Alyson (Butler) to shoot the ball a little better than she's been shooting. Alyson is one of the three-point shooters that we're going to depend on. We'll push the ball up and we'll shoot that three-point shot off the break, and that's a good thing for us, especially when we're making those threes. That's the thing; this team is a much better three-point shooting team than we've shown. We've just got to relax and shoot the basketball. I think that's going to be one of the key things, and I think there was a time there where we did that really well."
On upcoming games in California:
"Even though we lost our two road games this season one of the good things that has happened is we've actually been in those games. I think that's a big improvement in the way this team has played. We've got a lot of return games this year from last year, but if we can just learn how to finish them. In both of those overtime games we had an opportunity to win - and making a trip to California should get us ready to play a tough schedule and enter into the SEC without worrying about going on the road."
Sophomore Guard Ericka Russell
On being back from injury:
"It meant a lot to get back. I missed playing, but I think our team was holding it down. It felt good to get back out there and get in the rhythm of the game again. I had a lot more legs to me. I've been trying to get a lot of shots in and get back into the rhythm of playing an entire game."
On her role:
"It's a little bit of everything (including) being a leader and bringing intensity on the defensive end. If I can knock down shots, that's what I do."
On the biggest part of her return to the team:
"The biggest part is just playing. Defensively, I feel like I'm a good defender, and I think points come from being a good defender and just helping my teammates."
Junior Guard Alyson Butler
On if the last team loss was on the team's mind tonight:
"Our last loss didn't really have any bearing on this game. We were disappointed after that loss because we had played so hard in overtime and the two losses we have came in overtime. We just really wanted to come out strong today, play hard, be intense and get this win, so it was good for us."
On if her making a three-point basket affects her and the team:
"I think it does just because you know that you can do well and ring it with your team. You want to knock down shots and contribute. It always helps a lot for us to make shots because Coach (Hudson) is always saying how we need to just stay relaxed and take a shot instead of worrying about it, so just step up and take the shot."
On making runs:
"It's always good because if you can get one or two stops or get a turnover and get a score, it just keeps adding on and on like our 9-0 run. It always helps because it boosts confidence in our team."
