STACK OPEN
Didn’t play with urgency to start
Freshmen were jacked up, “shot the ball over the basket” at first and settled down
First unit didn’t set the tone
Gave up too many points in the paint, didn’t crash the boards
It’s the first game, they’ll improve
To Jordan Wright, what were the first-half issues?
Didn’t come with intensity, didn’t make shots
Didn’t get feet in the paint and that was part of the plan
What led to more success in second half (Wright)
They played tight in the first half and came out with nerves
They moved the ball and made shots
23% turnover rate (Wright)
Have to be strong and decisive with the ball
You only took five shots, were there more there? (Wright)
I just take what they present
I do what I’m asked
We ran the offense and sets we were supposed to run, I’m fine with it
How much of first-half struggles related to what Memphis did? (Wright)
They switched everything, they’re long
We’ve got a lot of new guys, have to get used to playing with each other
What did you see in the freshmen?
Dort, Lewis gave them great minutes
They’re versatile
They’ll be big for them
Who’s Memphis remind you of?
LSU, they switch a lot
They play hard and long and crash the boards
We’ve got to go back to the drawing board and get more physical
STACKHOUSE
When he went to the freshmen late, what was the thinking?
Older guys weren’t playing well
They didn’t have great starts, nerves got them, they were juiced up early
Once Colin Smith got in the second half, he was more comfortable
Malik Dia did some good things on offense, he stepped up and took a charge
That group got the lead to 10, Memphis got a transition bucket and then Dia missed a layup and that was a 4-point swing
The freshmen did some good things, when you play teams that switch like that (it’s difficult)
They’ve have liked to play Robbins more but the switching posed an issue
Dort is more of a threat around the basket than the others and that’s why they went with him late, he showed ability to protect the rim
They’ll go back and watch the film and get a lot of out it, they wanted to get tested by a team they feel is a Quad 1 team rather than a team they’d beat by 40
Lack of intensity in the first half, what needs to change that?
He wouldn’t say lack of intensity, they were juiced up a bit
A lot of their mistakes were self-inflicted
They’d play good defense and then let a team get an offensive rebound
Guys hung their heads when they missed an assignment
They threw up a lot of wild shots, even when they got in the paint
They did better at that in the second half but they had to start better
Last few years they’ve played their best at the end of the season, was this a move to get the level of early-season play higher?
It just worked out, they’d rather have played in a week but they both had an open date
They’ll keep playing Memphis
They didn’t really know what Memphis was, but they’re an old team
“They had a kid that damn-near played with me.”
They’ve got 24- and 25-year-olds and Vandy’s youth showed up
“We’re young but we’re talented with our youth.”
They need to play their young guys and get them experience; if it was an SEC or NCAA-tournament game they might have played their older guys 30 minutes.
Emmanuel Ansong got banged up, had a shoulder issue, had a bad fall
How challenging to get a rotation set, what will it look like?
Guys will play themselves into minutes
Noah Shelby has been as good as their backup guards but he’s behind Lawrence and Shelby, he’ll get a chance to compete and earn minutes
During the season, they’ll all get a chance, mentioned walk-on Miles Keefe
Said Lewis had been “as good as anybody” and was coming out of concussion protocol
Said the freshmen didn’t always represent what he’s seen but you’ll see that in the non-conference games
Dort
Good defensively, knows their sets, will play
He’ll be in the picture somewhere
Pregame with Penny, the game in general, want to share anything there?
They scouted each other
Memphis reminds them of LSU, they didn’t have a great success the first time around but they had their number later
Penny’s a great coach, doing a good job,
Liam’s third foul, did that change anything?
No, it’s center by committee, they’ve won a lot of games with QMB
It’s a tight-knit group
QMB will be Liam’s biggest cheerleader and the other way around
What they’re building is around sacrifice; Wright wanted to play more than he did tonight but they have to make decisions on where they need to go and grow
It would have been great to win the game but if they played everybody 37-38 minutes then the freshmen don’t get that experience and he’s looking more at the big picture
They need to win and make sure they have a good résumé at year’s end
Didn’t play with urgency to start
Freshmen were jacked up, “shot the ball over the basket” at first and settled down
First unit didn’t set the tone
Gave up too many points in the paint, didn’t crash the boards
It’s the first game, they’ll improve
To Jordan Wright, what were the first-half issues?
Didn’t come with intensity, didn’t make shots
Didn’t get feet in the paint and that was part of the plan
What led to more success in second half (Wright)
They played tight in the first half and came out with nerves
They moved the ball and made shots
23% turnover rate (Wright)
Have to be strong and decisive with the ball
You only took five shots, were there more there? (Wright)
I just take what they present
I do what I’m asked
We ran the offense and sets we were supposed to run, I’m fine with it
How much of first-half struggles related to what Memphis did? (Wright)
They switched everything, they’re long
We’ve got a lot of new guys, have to get used to playing with each other
What did you see in the freshmen?
Dort, Lewis gave them great minutes
They’re versatile
They’ll be big for them
Who’s Memphis remind you of?
LSU, they switch a lot
They play hard and long and crash the boards
We’ve got to go back to the drawing board and get more physical
STACKHOUSE
When he went to the freshmen late, what was the thinking?
Older guys weren’t playing well
They didn’t have great starts, nerves got them, they were juiced up early
Once Colin Smith got in the second half, he was more comfortable
Malik Dia did some good things on offense, he stepped up and took a charge
That group got the lead to 10, Memphis got a transition bucket and then Dia missed a layup and that was a 4-point swing
The freshmen did some good things, when you play teams that switch like that (it’s difficult)
They’ve have liked to play Robbins more but the switching posed an issue
Dort is more of a threat around the basket than the others and that’s why they went with him late, he showed ability to protect the rim
They’ll go back and watch the film and get a lot of out it, they wanted to get tested by a team they feel is a Quad 1 team rather than a team they’d beat by 40
Lack of intensity in the first half, what needs to change that?
He wouldn’t say lack of intensity, they were juiced up a bit
A lot of their mistakes were self-inflicted
They’d play good defense and then let a team get an offensive rebound
Guys hung their heads when they missed an assignment
They threw up a lot of wild shots, even when they got in the paint
They did better at that in the second half but they had to start better
Last few years they’ve played their best at the end of the season, was this a move to get the level of early-season play higher?
It just worked out, they’d rather have played in a week but they both had an open date
They’ll keep playing Memphis
They didn’t really know what Memphis was, but they’re an old team
“They had a kid that damn-near played with me.”
They’ve got 24- and 25-year-olds and Vandy’s youth showed up
“We’re young but we’re talented with our youth.”
They need to play their young guys and get them experience; if it was an SEC or NCAA-tournament game they might have played their older guys 30 minutes.
Emmanuel Ansong got banged up, had a shoulder issue, had a bad fall
How challenging to get a rotation set, what will it look like?
Guys will play themselves into minutes
Noah Shelby has been as good as their backup guards but he’s behind Lawrence and Shelby, he’ll get a chance to compete and earn minutes
During the season, they’ll all get a chance, mentioned walk-on Miles Keefe
Said Lewis had been “as good as anybody” and was coming out of concussion protocol
Said the freshmen didn’t always represent what he’s seen but you’ll see that in the non-conference games
Dort
Good defensively, knows their sets, will play
He’ll be in the picture somewhere
Pregame with Penny, the game in general, want to share anything there?
They scouted each other
Memphis reminds them of LSU, they didn’t have a great success the first time around but they had their number later
Penny’s a great coach, doing a good job,
Liam’s third foul, did that change anything?
No, it’s center by committee, they’ve won a lot of games with QMB
It’s a tight-knit group
QMB will be Liam’s biggest cheerleader and the other way around
What they’re building is around sacrifice; Wright wanted to play more than he did tonight but they have to make decisions on where they need to go and grow
It would have been great to win the game but if they played everybody 37-38 minutes then the freshmen don’t get that experience and he’s looking more at the big picture
They need to win and make sure they have a good résumé at year’s end
