Wake Forest Post-Game Quotes
11/3/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 3, 2003
Recap?|? Final Stats?|? Notes
Quoting Head Coach Skip Prosser
On the game...
"It was sporadic but we'll take it. It was a great teaching opportunity. No one got hurt, so that's another positive. But we still have 10 more days of practice until Memphis at Madison Square Garden."
"We've not had the same starting group for two consecutive days so far. We're still putting it all together. I guess everything we do is a work in progress. With Taron Downey, Chris Paul and Justin Gray in the game, they can all shoot. But a big concern is rebounding. The other concern is playing against bigger guards. We're still going to explore all our options."
On Chris Paul...
"I think he had some good plays tonight. Eight assists and two turnovers is always excellent. The main problem right now is guarding the basketball. He wants to learn and he listens. He'll get better at it and improve defensively."
On the short preseason...
"Memphis has an extra 10 practices with the trip to Cancun. We could really use those extra practices. But instead we really tried to shorten our play list and do fewer things better."
On Eric Williams' zero fouls...
"He didn't play a lot of minutes tonight. But you don't have to be Jimmy Naismith to realize he had foul problems last year. But he's aware of it and he has worked mightily on it in the offseason. These teams are more perimeter-oriented, so he wasn't really tested. But zero fouls not being tested is better than four fouls being tested."
Quoting Former Deacon/Current EA Sports Guard Broderick Hicks
On Chris Paul...
"I think of him as a solid player. I've played with him before and it was good to play with him and the other guys again in Joel Coliseum. I felt like I was going the wrong way the whole time. I got love from the other Wake players. The Joel is a great place to play in; it's changed a lot, and I know the Wake team will do well this season."
On the demanding schedule...
"I treat it like a 9-to-5 job because I'm getting paid to do it, but it's very different than playing at Wake."
Quoting Trent Strickland
"We played like a team tonight. We had a lot of turnovers, but if we drop those and pick up our defensive intensity our offense will come along."
Quoting Taron Downey
"We've been working hard in the gym and that's a tribute to the coaches. This team beat us last year, and we wanted to come back and show them that we were a different team. We came out with a win."
Quoting Justin Gray
"We still have a lot of work to do, but we went out and played hard and everyone did the little things that counted. I'm just trying to get in a groove and take good open looks."
On Chris Paul...
"Chris Paul brings what we need to the team. Once we get him into the system, he'll improve and learn a lot."
Quoting EA Sports Coach Phil Bryant
On WFU's depth...
"They have exceptional depth. They're able to push the ball up the floor no matter who is on the court. They definitely pushed the ball much harder and faster than any team we've seen, maybe even Duke. They hit the three, they're strong inside, and they create tremendous pressure. They're a typical Coach Prosser team. They fight hard from the opening tip."
On the Deacons' backcourt...
"Their press clearly made a difference tonight. We were able to get some things accomplsihed against Penn State's press, but we were not able to tonight. I think the big thing wih their press is they rebound the basketball so well. The big guys get the ball out in a hurry and they're able to create offense right off the bat."
"Even when we pressed and I thought we had some chances to create turnovers, they just were able to reverse the basketball and get in a lot of 3-on-2 and 2-on-1 fastbreaks."
