Alabama vs. South Carolina Postgame Quotes
2/14/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 14, 2009
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Alabama Postgame Quotes
Interim head coach Phillip Pearson
On Alabama's defense ...
"Our initial defense for the most part was pretty good. It was pretty good all night. You take that last play and look at it and the initial defense was okay, I think the problem is then we needed to track the rebound down. [Devan] Downey is so good with the ball that you end up so many times in a scramble situation. You've got to be able to get back in there and get the rebound."
On Alabama's frustration ...
"Well sure it's frustrating. Everybody wants to win. Those guys are fighting hard. You are right here, right at it and some plays don't go your way. We've talked a lot over the last couple of weeks about being in these situations. Wednesday afternoon, for example, we came in and practiced for 20 or 30 minutes and brought some local officials in. We had six or eight different mini scrimmages. We played one that was ten minutes; we just started at zero and played. We had three or four scrimmages that were two or three minutes. We played like we were tied or we were down two or three points. Then we did some last second stuff were it was 15 seconds to go from the foul line and we were up and we were down. We did all those things to try to simulate these situations. When we did that our guys were real into that. I think the change of pace was real beneficial. Hopefully, those sorts of things and being in more of these situations will pay off for us at some point. I told our guys that this wasn't going to be the last time we are in a situation like this. We have six or seven games left in the league and then the tournament. This won't be the last time we are in the situation and we look at the clock and there is 1:41 and the score is tied. We are going to keep working to get better at it."
On change in defensive scheme with Devan Downey ...
"That was really because of Downey. He's just such a good player. He's so quick. He's kind of, I don't know, wiggly. That's the word I used a couple of times. He just seems to get through there and avoid the charge. He makes those other guys around him better, as you help and rotate. Then all of a sudden, they've got Archie or Holmes getting layups all because of Downey's penetration."
Senior guard Alonzo Gee
On what South Carolina did differently in the second half ...
"I think they just stuck with what they were doing. They just executed their offense and they did it well. They did a good job of doing what they were supposed to do."
On spending time in practice on late-game situations ...
"We start out pretty strong. We just have to finish strong at the end of the game. That's what we've been working on in practice the last few weeks. We want to focus on finishing the game strong."
Junior guard Mikhail Torrance
On the frustration of coming up short at the last second ...
"It is very frustrating. Coach Pearson did a great job of preparing us. We knew what was coming. Devan Downey is a great point guard. We did a good job in the first half of slowing him down. The second half we came out and the first five minutes is very important. They got going and we couldn't really maintain the lead."
"I wouldn't say that changed anything. We didn't guard the ball as well as we did in the first half. Devan Downey was able to split the trap. He did a good job of that. With a guy like that, you have to keep intensity on him. He's a great point guard. We just have to continue to get better and move forward."
South Carolina Postgame Quotes
Head coach Darrin Horn
Opening statement ...
"It was a tough game like we thought it would be. I think Alabama did a great job; (Philip Pearson) has done a great job making sure this team keeps putting in effort. Obviously we didn't play well in the first half but the mark of this team is showing great toughness, sticking together and believing in ourselves and what we do. A run to start the second half was important for us and kind of set the tone for how the second half would be played. It took everybody to make the comeback happen.
On the halftime speech ...
"I talked to them just like I'm talking to the media right now. I just reminded them that they can't give up easy baskets and we needed to focus on not letting them get offensive rebounds. I think we did a much better job of that in second half as a whole."
On fixing first-half problems ...
"The biggest problem in the first half was their offensive rebounding. To some degree, they made a few shots, got a couple threes and that, we're not totally against that. But the put backs, that was the bigger problem. At halftime we talked a little bit about people doing a better job locking in on defense at half court and not letting them get spread out while doing a better job rebounding the basketball. I think fixing that problem helped us win the game."
Junior guard Devan Downey
On getting a win on the road ...
"Man it was great. If you look at Alabama I think they only lost one conference game at home, they beat LSU who leads the conference, so this was a great win. Second half we really did come out ready to play. At halftime we focused on fixing everything we did wrong in the second half and came out and got the victory."
On the final huddle of the game ...
"I can tell you this, since my time at South Carolina, when we called that timeout at the end that had to be the calmest late-game huddle I've ever been around. I mean everybody was smiling and it was like we had already won the game. Everyone was saying, 'We got this, let's execute,' and that's what we did."
Sophomore forward Mike Holmes
On the many late-game wins this season ...
"Yeah we just keep believing and playing hard every day. Don't ever get down is what we say. Like today we dug ourselves a hole but we still pulled ourseleves up and got a win."
On hitting the winning shot ...
"It feels good to hit the game-winning shot. It helps my team know I got their back at any time."
On the mood in the final huddle ...
"We were just calm. We knew we were going to get the last shot so we didn't panic or anything. We got the shot and we just put it in."
