RON HUNTER
"I'm not happy with our performance today. I was on our guys about the preparation. I thought we just thought we could show up to win, and I did not like that. The only positive thing that came out of today was R.J. (McGee) was really good. He got his chance. What I love about our freshmen is that every chance they get an opportunity, they've come in and rung the bell.
"I'll say that. I'm also going to say that Ray (Ona) Embo will not be a member of our team anymore. He decided to go back to France and be with his family, and that's all I'm going to say on him, and so next man up. He called me and said that he wanted to go back to his country and spend time with his family."
It did not take you long to get angry today. You called a timeout in the first two minutes after going down 4-0 and screamed at your guys. What were you saying?
"It was just that. I appreciate yesterday and I appreciate today. I'll be honest with you. It was almost something you've got to be careful what you wish for because I wanted that to happen, to be honest with you, so I could send that message. Again, as you're trying to build your program, it's not about necessarily who we're playing. It's about how we play. We had this long layoff. I don't like long layoffs. We were playing good basketball, and so you have to be a mature team to know how to handle it. If you look around the country, you see the the teams that aren't mature and they lose when they play these."
They had no one who could check K.J. Lawson, and he showed his full repertoire on the offensive end. How tough is he to guard?
"Every day he's getting comfortable. He's not the best athlete in the world, so it's taken a little time for him to kind of get going, but he's a hard guard because he can hit the 3 and he can score at all three levels. We wanted to go at him today. He was really good today."
He has some moves and counter moves with some tough-angle shots he is comfortable with on the baseline that you don't see too much anymore.
"He's got that old-man game. He looks like he can go out in the park and play with me and some of those older guys."
You mentioned R.J. How impressed with him are you?
"When things happen, I don't care what happens in life, it's an opportunity. I've said that to my own children, so whenever you get an opportunity, you never know when that opportunity's going to come, and I've preached that from day 1. So he took advantage of an opportunity. Defensively is what he's really good at, but I don't think any of us were surprised because he practices that way. We've played him out of position because on the scout team we need a point guard and he's got to play that point guard role. He's going to help us."
How much are you looking forward to USM on Wednesday and your first true road game?
"I'm really looking forward to it. I was looking forward to this game because I wanted to see how we would handle the week off and be able to respond after having success. This one I think we'll handle well because we love that underdog role. It will be just us, and that environment's a great place to play. When these guys are locked in and focused, trying to keep them locked in and focused all the time is going to drive their coach crazy."
You are down a point guard now. What's the plan?
"You know me. We're down a point guard, but we've got a better athlete and a better defender, so it becomes an advantage for us to be honest with you. It was hard for R.J. to get on the floor, so the next guy stepped up. The point guard situation, I've got enough guys that can do that. Teshaun can play it. Christion (Thompson) can play it. Nic (Thomas) can play it i I need to. R.J. plays it on the scout team. What we needed was a big-time athlete who can defend, and so adding him to the rotation is going to make us better, and of course we pick up TY (Tylan Pope) in about 10 days, so that's going to even make us stronger. We hope to get big fellow (Ibby Ali) back soon, so when we get healthier and strong. That's why I'm trying to get us to play the right way every time because right now we're not 100 percent yet. Wait until we get to the point we're 100 percent."
K.J. LAWSON
How did you feel today?
"I still don't feel 100 percent because I just got my wisdom tooth pulled and I didn't practice the first couple of practices when we got back, but it felt good to play. I did that against MTSU. I had 16 in one half, so I wasn't really worried about that. I'm just trying to play basketball."
Coach says you have a little bit of an old man's game.
"I just learned my jump hook from the best, Herb Wright, Lorenzen Wright's dad. We always trained and worked on jump hooks and different type of angle shots. It just comes from preparation, but it was a great team win today."
Coach was on you guys at the first timeout and was very loud is his anger. What were your thoughts?
"We've just got to come out ready to play and communicate from the jump. We can't let teams get comfortable. Coming from a big tournament we were kind of playing to the level of competition at the beginning. Hat's off to them. They are a great team, but we shouldn't let teams play with us. When we looked at the scouting report, they took Nebraska to overtime because teams let people get comfortable and hang around."
What did you think of R.J.'s performance?
"That was great. I'm happy for R.J. Like coach says, he plays aggressively in practice. He shoots the ball a lot, so to see him get some knockdown shots, because he can shoot and he can defend. That's one thing we know about R.J. He's not the average freshman. We know he's looking to be aggressive."
TESHAUN HIGHTOWER
What do you think of the way K.J. was playing offensively?
"I love it. I love it. Just go to him. Nobody could stop him, so we just kept going to him."
SOUTHERN COACH SEAN WOODS
What are your thoughts on K.J. Lawson?
"He can play, you know what I mean. He hit tough shots, but that's why he's a pro. I tip my hat off to him, and that's what it took to beat us. A pro beat us tonight."
"I'm not happy with our performance today. I was on our guys about the preparation. I thought we just thought we could show up to win, and I did not like that. The only positive thing that came out of today was R.J. (McGee) was really good. He got his chance. What I love about our freshmen is that every chance they get an opportunity, they've come in and rung the bell.
"I'll say that. I'm also going to say that Ray (Ona) Embo will not be a member of our team anymore. He decided to go back to France and be with his family, and that's all I'm going to say on him, and so next man up. He called me and said that he wanted to go back to his country and spend time with his family."
It did not take you long to get angry today. You called a timeout in the first two minutes after going down 4-0 and screamed at your guys. What were you saying?
"It was just that. I appreciate yesterday and I appreciate today. I'll be honest with you. It was almost something you've got to be careful what you wish for because I wanted that to happen, to be honest with you, so I could send that message. Again, as you're trying to build your program, it's not about necessarily who we're playing. It's about how we play. We had this long layoff. I don't like long layoffs. We were playing good basketball, and so you have to be a mature team to know how to handle it. If you look around the country, you see the the teams that aren't mature and they lose when they play these."
They had no one who could check K.J. Lawson, and he showed his full repertoire on the offensive end. How tough is he to guard?
"Every day he's getting comfortable. He's not the best athlete in the world, so it's taken a little time for him to kind of get going, but he's a hard guard because he can hit the 3 and he can score at all three levels. We wanted to go at him today. He was really good today."
He has some moves and counter moves with some tough-angle shots he is comfortable with on the baseline that you don't see too much anymore.
"He's got that old-man game. He looks like he can go out in the park and play with me and some of those older guys."
You mentioned R.J. How impressed with him are you?
"When things happen, I don't care what happens in life, it's an opportunity. I've said that to my own children, so whenever you get an opportunity, you never know when that opportunity's going to come, and I've preached that from day 1. So he took advantage of an opportunity. Defensively is what he's really good at, but I don't think any of us were surprised because he practices that way. We've played him out of position because on the scout team we need a point guard and he's got to play that point guard role. He's going to help us."
How much are you looking forward to USM on Wednesday and your first true road game?
"I'm really looking forward to it. I was looking forward to this game because I wanted to see how we would handle the week off and be able to respond after having success. This one I think we'll handle well because we love that underdog role. It will be just us, and that environment's a great place to play. When these guys are locked in and focused, trying to keep them locked in and focused all the time is going to drive their coach crazy."
You are down a point guard now. What's the plan?
"You know me. We're down a point guard, but we've got a better athlete and a better defender, so it becomes an advantage for us to be honest with you. It was hard for R.J. to get on the floor, so the next guy stepped up. The point guard situation, I've got enough guys that can do that. Teshaun can play it. Christion (Thompson) can play it. Nic (Thomas) can play it i I need to. R.J. plays it on the scout team. What we needed was a big-time athlete who can defend, and so adding him to the rotation is going to make us better, and of course we pick up TY (Tylan Pope) in about 10 days, so that's going to even make us stronger. We hope to get big fellow (Ibby Ali) back soon, so when we get healthier and strong. That's why I'm trying to get us to play the right way every time because right now we're not 100 percent yet. Wait until we get to the point we're 100 percent."
K.J. LAWSON
How did you feel today?
"I still don't feel 100 percent because I just got my wisdom tooth pulled and I didn't practice the first couple of practices when we got back, but it felt good to play. I did that against MTSU. I had 16 in one half, so I wasn't really worried about that. I'm just trying to play basketball."
Coach says you have a little bit of an old man's game.
"I just learned my jump hook from the best, Herb Wright, Lorenzen Wright's dad. We always trained and worked on jump hooks and different type of angle shots. It just comes from preparation, but it was a great team win today."
Coach was on you guys at the first timeout and was very loud is his anger. What were your thoughts?
"We've just got to come out ready to play and communicate from the jump. We can't let teams get comfortable. Coming from a big tournament we were kind of playing to the level of competition at the beginning. Hat's off to them. They are a great team, but we shouldn't let teams play with us. When we looked at the scouting report, they took Nebraska to overtime because teams let people get comfortable and hang around."
What did you think of R.J.'s performance?
"That was great. I'm happy for R.J. Like coach says, he plays aggressively in practice. He shoots the ball a lot, so to see him get some knockdown shots, because he can shoot and he can defend. That's one thing we know about R.J. He's not the average freshman. We know he's looking to be aggressive."
TESHAUN HIGHTOWER
What do you think of the way K.J. was playing offensively?
"I love it. I love it. Just go to him. Nobody could stop him, so we just kept going to him."
SOUTHERN COACH SEAN WOODS
What are your thoughts on K.J. Lawson?
"He can play, you know what I mean. He hit tough shots, but that's why he's a pro. I tip my hat off to him, and that's what it took to beat us. A pro beat us tonight."