University of Massachusets Athletics
Postgame Quotes: UMass 63, St. Francis 49
November 23, 2006 | Men's Basketball
Nov. 23, 2006
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Head Coach Travis Ford Opening Statement:
"Tonight you saw some of the effects of the three road games, flying and being on the road for a long time. We were very sluggish. We're not going to win many games with that effort and that execution. We made enough plays to win. Luckily, Stephane Lasme came to play. Without him tonight, we would have really struggled. You're going to have these games every once in a while. It's better to win and learn than lose and learn. I don't know if tonight was about learning more than it was that we couldn't get out of it. We were sluggish; I don't think the guys meant to do it, I don't think it was that they weren't ready to play. They were ready to play, we couldn't get anything clicking. That said, you have to give St. Francis credit, a team we have watched three or four tapes on, where they were just flying up the court every opportunity. They slowed down the pace on us today, intentionally. They played a lot of zone. I give them credit for making it a tough basketball game."
Ford on his team's execution:
"Neither effort or execution were there tonight. I kept calling plays. We weren't just not running the play, we would run a different play. They just weren't focused. We weren't on top of our game tonight. There were certain times we went on runs and did some good things. We got off to a good start. I don't want to make it sound like we played terribly. We're 4-1 through five games, this is the first game that the effort wasn't there. I don't think it was intentional, I just think we couldn't get out of it. Hopefully we don't do that again. I don't think we overlooked St. Francis. I don't know what it was. I've been around the game long enough, you're going to have games like this. Hopefully you don't have many. We can't play like this Saturday. I know Jacksonville State very well, they're 20 points better at home."
Ford on whether he knew about Lasme's potential triple double:
"I had no clue. I knew he was blocking shots all night because I kept getting on my team on getting beat off the dribble. I love that he's on our team, thank goodness because they would have had a lot more layups. When he gets a lot of blocked shots, that means we're not guarding well one on one the way we need to be. But, every team has their strengths, and that is one of ours. I told our team at halftime that they get in to a bad habit knowing that Stephane is behind them. They know that if they get beat that Stephane will be there. That can't be the approach we take. We've got to get better at keeping our guys in front of us. Like I said, everybody has got their strengths and that is certainly one of ours."
Ford looking forward to Jacksonville State on Saturday:
"I know the head coach (Mike) very well. I love his coaching style. He is from Holyoke and his assistants are from Holyoke;that is one reason this game got put together. It's a tough place to play. He's always an aggressive coach, he will always throw something funky at you. He's got two post players averaging 24 points a game each. I've had three media call me Monday from down there wanting to talk about the game. I told them I had a game before them, but they didn't care. That's all they're talking about down there, UMass. They've never had a game like this. It's going to be packed. You can't look at their record because their best player, who is a post player, didn't play until last night. I hope our players get a grasp at how hard this game is going to be. It is a very well-coached team with very good basketball players."
Stephane Lasme on his performance:
"I like the fact that they count on me. I just don't want them to feel like they don't have to play defense. We have to get better defensively as a team."
Lasme on whether he was aware of the potential triple-double:
"I didn't know. I didn't really care. The only satisfaction that I had was that my brother was here. It was the first time he saw me play. The whole time I just kept thinking about winning the game"
Freeman on Lasme's performance:
"I didn't know. I think he had three or four blocks (at the half) and coach told Stephane he was doing great, but if Stephane is blocking shots, that means the guards are getting beat off the dribble. Coach didn't like that. Everybody knows they have the comfort of Stephane blocking shots. It's better if he gets blocked shots on his man; that mean's everybody is playing defense. I am proud of Stephane, I think this gives him more confidence. This is not his lucky night, this is Stephane, this is what he can do if he stays out of foul trouble. That is the only thing that is stopping Stephane, the tick tack fouls. If he can play a whole game, these are the kinds of things that he can do."
Freeman on Lasme's presence:
"Sometimes when Stephane has that feeling, he tells Tiki and Chris Lowe to lean their men towards him. So if the opponent drives, to drive towards Stephane. Sometimes, it hurts Stephane. He can get the tick tack fouls that land him on the bench. We have to understand that Stephane is there to help us, but he can't be our main resource and just get beat off the dribble. Teams will start going in to Stephane and that is going to cause him trouble."