Jim Foster doesn't easily surrender to the temptation to throw tiny tantrums or unleash outsized displays of emotion.
It's just one of many reasons his University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women's basketball teams almost always play with such admirable poise and purpose. Befitting a 68-year-old Hall of Famer, Foster knows a little anger goes a long way, so best to use it wisely rather than widely.
UTC's Moses Johnson heads for the goal as Florida's Elif Portakal guards Monday, Nov. 14, 2016, at McKenzie Arena.But having watched so many of his supposedly best players disappear both physically and mentally during Monday night's 72-61 loss to No. 20 Florida inside the Mocs' own McKenzie Arena, the coach boiled over. At least he steamed a bit.
"We have some people who don't come to compete right away," he said.
Of a seeming lack of focus by his team, Foster soon added, "Through the course of a game, you know (at least you should) who's hurting you (from the other team). Yet every time she's there it's a surprise because there's no communication. That's a problem."
She, by the way, is Eleanna Christinaki, who scored 29 points, pulled down nine rebounds and generally did whatever she wanted whenever she wanted against a UTC team that had won at Big Ten member Rutgers three days earlier.
And the Mocs have got at least two more such problems to solve in the seven days to come, hosting No. 23 Indiana on Thursday night at Bigger Mac before heading to Louisville on Saturday, Sunday and Monday for games that include a date with the No. 5 Cardinals on Monday.
"We're playing teams like this for a reason," the UTC coach said. "We're playing real teams."
Then Foster fumed, "It's over. We're moving on."
It's a long, long way from over. The Mocs now stand 1-1 on a very young season. They have 26 regular-season games to go, then the Southern Conference tournament followed by, they hope, the NCAA tournament.
So while Florida coach Amanda Butler may have volunteered without the slightest bit of prompting that these Mocs "are a good team, well-coached, good players" and that "they're going to put you in tough situations," Foster wasn't buying it. At least not this night.
Sounding as if he was ready to sell at least half his team to anyone willing to make a reasonable offer, he said, "We're not tough enough. We don't challenge each other enough. (But) I'll find five (who'll play the way I want). I'd like to have 10, but I'll find five."
If a single statistic sent Foster over the edge, it surely was rebounding. The Mocs got killed on the glass 46-26. And that lone stat, a figure so often associated with want-to over how-to, undid so many other categories where the Mocs shone, such as hitting 12 of 13 free throws (Florida made 6 of 10), dishing out three more assists (14 to 11) and collecting one more steal (10 to 9) - good enough work to briefly hand the home team a 51-50 lead seconds from the close of the third quarter.
It also didn't help UTC that all those good numbers were ultimately lessened by three starters combining for just five points as well as three players seeing action without grabbing a single rebound.
So Foster fussed and fumed during his 100th game as UTC's coach as he almost never does. And at least one of his Mocs seemed to get the message. Ironically one of the newest ones, Clemson transfer Shelbie Davenport, who said of this defeat, her coach's 17th overall since coming to the Mocs: "For us to be at our best, we need everybody on this team to be ready every night."
Because that's how real teams, teams with realistic NCAA tournament dreams, play every night. It's also, of course, how Foster's teams play most nights, which might be why his bark is on display far, far less than his basketball team's bite.
Contact Mark Wiedmer at mwiedmer@timesfreepress.com.