Men's Basketball: Jahvon Quinerly and David Jones Press Conference -February 3, 2024

David nine points in the first so they 32 minutes 16 in the last 739 how do you describe what got into you at the end of that game that's what he does I just wanted to win the game for real that was so regular we' seen it from him before it's nothing he did it last time we played them 15 and five so that's what he does hey JQ last game you said you want to get this feeling out of your your chest and stop watching film what type of feeling is going I know it's only one game but how can this be the start of something for the rest of the season um I mean you know to start this was this was a big big win for us coming off four game losing skar um you know I'm really proud of the guys and the fight that we showed I mean being down what was it 13 with six 14 with six minutes left and to come back and be able to win that game I mean it just goes to show you that you know these guys care we care and um you know big shout out to coach cuz he made some some big adjustments and he drew up some really good plays in that game I think you know I said it um when I was when I was interviewed after the rice game I think just that was the turning point I really do JQ um what was it like to see that ball go through the net after you know not hitting a shot I mean obviously one of the biggest game one of the biggest shots of the game besides Davis game winner but what was that moment like for you to kind of just like drop your shoulders a little bit and see it fall through yeah no that felt really good I think it's one of the only only game since I've been in school that um I couldn't put the ball in the basket today um but I never let my confidence waiver I mean I said it after the rice game this little SL I'm going through is nothing I haven't been through before so I just trust my work that's all Javon I know this is different but last time youall had a slump I think it was the old Miss Villanova losses y'all came out Texas say them and handled business and you said that I think y'all had a series of player Le meetings was something what happened this time behind the scenes that allowed y'all to go from what we saw past three games to now kind of being together and being cohesive um we didn't have any player meetings but you could tell the communication and the focus was different in practice and in our film session you could just tell you could feel the tension in the air kind of um with the losing streak that we were on guys were like like super locked in and I think it showed because we were able to to guard the ball a lot better than we have um in these last couple games today and you know that's what I'm most proud about how we played on the defensive end and Javon specifically in the second half what was it that change that made you guys start playing with you know more intensity playing playing defense um and what something said or was it was it who was on the floor what what what was different I think we knew I mean we know it's at stake um you know this is a team that that could make a run in the NCA tournament and um you know losing this game we would have it would have put us in a ho in a real hole um even though we still in a hole right now but it would have put us deeper in the hole and I think guys know knew what was at stake and you could tell I could tell by looking at my teammates in those huddles that nobody gave up even down 14 with 5 minutes you know nobody gave up hey David uh when times get tough there's a lot of noise on the outside right that gets kind of loud do you guys did you guys hear that over the last couple of weeks have you guys been hearing the noise one noise that's my answer uh I don't know I don't know what you're talking about no no um is that part of the reason why you're able to get through tough times is that you do block all that out you are able to block all that out yeah my bad uh Penny mentioned that you guys are playing small ball now and you mentioned in adjustments how do you feel about that now um I I mean I just feel like you know everybody was ready to go today um Nick jordane came out the starting lineup he was ready to go he had two backtack layups late in the game was big time for us um I think no matter who on the floor um you know it's just we got to buckle down and and and exhaust ourselves especially on the defensive end and I feel like you know regardless of if there's a small ball lineup or if uh I think we had a lineup with Malcolm and JB in today um you know just being able to go out there and exhaust yourself on the defensive end um that's that's big time so I I don't I don't think it really matters um you know what lineup is out there as long as you out there playing hard and uh showing some some toughness um it'll be a good lineup Mills has went down do you two feel like like you have to be the leaders now this team um definitely some more pressure to to start talking more cuz he was one of our vocal guys and actually he's doing a great job of um still being a guy to speak up in Armenians and and expresses Express itself um you know he played at a high level um before coming to Memphis so he knows what um I feel like a winning program supposed to look like so he's he's still very vocal with us and you know me I just feel like after the four game SK I got to step up even more and Dave is doing everything that he can as well um so yeah I would say yeah to answer your question Javon you just mentioned how deep of a hole you guys would have been in had you lost this game um is it safe to say that you guys saved your season today with uh with this you could say that uh guys you uh Javon you emphasized rebounding the last game when it not rebounding but defense the last game as a reason why the offense was kind of shaky this game you guys picked it up in the second half and was able to do well on defense and rebound talk about how well that uh flows for you guys mentally especially in a game where you're not really getting any free throws and the shots just aren't falling well yeah when you guard um it's easier to rebound cuz you in position and I feel like especially our last eight minutes out there you know we were able to guard really well and it put us in great position to rebound I think that was um that might have been you know a difference today uh for both of y'all I know y'all have only been here you know a few months now but what have you learned about kind of what Tigers basketball means to this city city of Memphis and in a weird way like this losing streak y'all had do you think you even kind of gained more insight about kind of how much the city cares during well I knew I knew how much the city care when I came here and played when I was at Alabama I mean it was Electric in here um and I think that team had went on a on a bad losing streak as well before they came in and beat us and you could just tell the the crowd I mean the fans that are still with us I mean you could tell that this this is the Basketball City and that's something that I personally miss going to Alabama you know that's really football B um is number one and basketball's on the rise but um you could tell like this is a basketball City so I think the guys know that too so we fighting we fighting to keep this thing alive for sure but Penny's mentioned that huddles a lot of times can be chaotic I think he used the term squaring things up a couple weeks ago after the USF game but he said today that there were a couple like real bonding moments in those huddles where you guys came together can you walk us through that I mean you could just look you could look in somebody's eye when things aren't going well and see where their heads at and today I mean I looked at all my teammates and I could tell nobody had given up and that was a clear sign clear indicator that we I felt like we was going to win this game regardless and um I feel like that that shows some growth