Alabama vs. Arkansas: Postgame Quotes
1/16/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 16, 2011
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Alabama Head Coach Wendell Hudson
Opening statement:
"Today was disappointing, no question about it. When you get open passes and good shots and you don't convert, that is the most discouraging thing about the game of basketball. Arkansas turned the ball over 28 times, and down the stretch in the last few minutes we rebounded the ball, we had them taking the shots we wanted them to take, we were forcing turnovers, and we didn't get a basket out of that. That is discouraging."
On whether the team played a full 40 minutes:
"We concentrated on playing every play. We did tonight. I thought we competed for 40 minutes tonight, but you still have to convert baskets. The difference was that we competed. We didn't hang our heads too much, and we competed for all 40 minutes. Now we have to figure out a way to get over the hump after we have lost five games in a row. That is what streaks are all about. When you are on a winning streak you start to feel like you can't lose. Well, the opposite can happen in a losing streak, especially when you compete all 40 minutes like today and you just don't get it done. That's an awful hard thing to avoid, but we are going to go back to practice and we are going to work on it."
On whether there is a positive to take away for today:
"We talked to the team about what we should have learned from this and that is when we play together and we play the way we need to play, then we are a pretty good basketball team. When you look in the faces of the players and there are tears and frustration, you can tell that they know that they are just one step, one play away. The little bitty things that we talk about all the time can come back to haunt you. That's the issue that we are facing right now."
On the last play and whether the players got a little too excited that the pass was open:
"I think that actually happened a lot tonight. I think there were a lot of times that we had people open at the basket, and we threw it too high. On the fast break in that stretch that I was talking about earlier, how we had opportunity after opportunity, that's when we were passing it off each other's feet and throwing it a little bit too high because they were thinking of how open their teammate was."
On if the balanced scoring was part of the game plan or whether that is just how it worked out:
"We talked about sharing the basketball and making the extra pass. Tierney (Jenkins) didn't have a bad game, but she just didn't have as many opportunities as she usually does. You come into the league and you can hear the opposing players saying, 'That's a shooter," when referring to her. They (Arkansas) had done their scouting, and they didn't want to let her catch the ball. Tierney played pretty hard, but in order to have her be her most productive, we need to have others capitalize."
#40 Kaneisha Horn, Forward
On positives to take from this game:
"We came back in the second half ready to play, which was good for us. We usually have problems after halftime. We aren't always prepared like we should be, but we did a better job with that today."
On momentum before halftime:
"We tried to stay positive at halftime, and that worked for us because we came out ready. Coach (Hudson) told us we had to compete more than we did in the first half. We were supposed to pull this one out though, so that is disappointing. We just have to get ready for Georgia."
Arkansas Head Coach Tom Collen
On the team's goals for the game:
"Our goal going into the game was clearly not to turn the ball over. Our team goal was 15, and we had 15 at the half. That tells you that we didn't do a very good job taking care of the ball. These games are tough sometimes. I know that Alabama is in a bad wave with an 0-5 start, so I think you had two teams that wanted to win so badly but couldn't figure out how. Also, I think you had two teams that played like they were afraid to lose, and when you get yourself into a game like that where you want to win but you are afraid to lose, you probably don't execute and then make the plays down the stretch. I feel like that is what it was like a lot of the second half to be honest with you."
On the rivalry between the teams:
"Well I think that it has to do with last year when they came in and beat us in the last game there and dropped us in the tie with them for last place. But I think we are just both teams with an awful lot of pride and pretty good talent, teams that are actually headed in the right direction. In my opinion, it's two teams that think they are better than they have shown, and they both sense that. I think our games against each other have provided a pretty good rivalry at this point."
On improving offensive rebounds from last game:
"We got 11, and 11 is good but it's not great. In this league, 11 will put you in last place in offensive rebounds, so we clearly have a lot of work to do there. I know a lot of times it is the lineup we put on the floor, or it's the sets that we run that don't put us in good rebounding positions. Clearly tonight, the few offensive rebounds we did get were probably the difference maker for us. If you don't get one of those that could easily be the difference in the game."
