Postgame Quotes
January 28, 2009 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 28, 2009
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Coach Mack McCarthy Memphis Post-Game Quotes 
East Carolina Players Memphis Post-Game Quotes
ECU Head Coach Mack McCarthy
On What ECU Did Well
"We turned the ball over 10 times in the first half and that kept us in a hole. But we were rebounding with them and getting to the free throw line, we just weren't making them.
"We got their big guys in foul trouble and weren't able to capitalize on it because we turned the basketball over too much in the first half.
"I thought we competed and continued to play hard. I thought we executed in the second half offensively and only turned the ball over twice. I thought we were unselfish, basically, and shared the basketball. But if you go 9-22 from the free throw line, that'll cost you a close game and it kept this one from being a close game, probably."
On Fixing Early Mistakes
"We had some assignments that were messed up in the press offense early. That kind of mental error is something we have to control. You can't worry too much about the things you don't have control over, but those things you do have control over, being in the right place at the right time and making the right decision. You should be able to control that and we didn't do that. As soon as we cleared that up and started executing offensively, we played for eight or nine minutes really well. We just couldn't get back-to-back or back-to-back-to-back stops."
On Jamar Abrams
"Jamar has great ability. As he comes to understand the game at the speed it is played, he really has a tremendous upside. He can contribute more on the floor than he's doing right now. He's a great kid and he works really hard. He's learning how to play in the structure of a college program. Tonight, we were able to play the line-up we that thought we might play some with Darrius Morrow, Chad Wynn and Jamar all out there together. It was a pretty effective line-up; we just can't do it most nights because of foul trouble."
Memphis Head Coach John Calipari
"Anytime you play a team that can make shots, as a coach (I think) until the game is over and the horn blows, you are scared to death. Anytime it got to eight or nine points, because I am always like this, (I think) they're going to make two 3s and it's going to be a two-point game."
"They played as well as anyone against us offensively this year by shooting the ball and scoring."
"At halftime I said `that is the best offensive game we have played all year'. I know what the score was and we played out of our mind."
"I got to give (Coach McCarthy) credit. They tried to stay in it. They made a couple runs in the second half and I had to burn a timeout. I'm just happy we get out of here with a victory."
"They are so dangerous because they can make shots, and they can make them from three positions. From the two, three, four and even the point guard can make 3s."
Senior Sam Hinnant
On The Difference In The Game
"We got down by eight points and cut it to single digits, but the big thing at the end of the night it was rebounding and turnovers, that hurt us badly."
On His Shot Coming Back
"My confidence is getting a lot higher now. I got down on myself a little bit. But now I'm just trying to look to score and doing that the best I can. I'm going into each game worried about my defense and rebounding, that's my big thing right now."
Sophomore Jamar Abrams
"We fought real well and tried to battle back. I think we're getting better.
"It [tonight] showed us that we have a lot to work on, but it also showed us that we can do it. We just have to work hard in practice every day."
