Wake Forest Athletics
Post Game Quotes
11/9/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 9, 2007
Postgame Quotes
Wake Forest 85, Fairfield 60
Nov. 9, 2007
Wake Forest Head Coach Dino Gaudio
"I'm really happy for our kids. A lot of emotion went into this game, all the way (back to) July. I thought our guys handled it very well. One of the things we did in preparation was (watch) the (Skip Prosser tribute) video yesterday before practice. I told them 'this is what's going to be on the screen tomorrow and we're going to watch it now and practice because we're going to have to watch it tomorrow and play.' Because when I watched it in the office by myself this week, I broke down. It's just hard to watch.
"I'm proud of our kids. I thought our defense was good, especially in the first half. We keep a point per possession chart. We scored a point per possession which is incredible. Fairfield is a very good basketball team. They have four starters back from a team that won 10 of their last 13 games last year. They were on a great roll at the end of last season and they have a good coach in Ed Cooley. We held them to .72 (points per possession). I'm proud of our guys. We have to get a little bit better on the backboard. We need to get a little bit better than that."
Seemed like the kids took this as a celebration.
"We talk about that in the locker room all the time, that somehow we have to make this a celebration of his life. First practice we had (this year), we said 'all the coaches are here because of Skip and all the players are here because of Skip.' We're all here because he brought us here. Before the game, we said 'if Skip were here, he'd be mad.' All that stuff out there for him, he wouldn't have wanted that. It was always about the kids, it was for the kids. He's up there somewhere smiling now, but he would've been mad."
Will this be the hardest game because of the pregame tribute to Skip?
"I'm sure some other games will be harder, but I don't know that there could be a harder experience going into a game than what we went through. I can't even describe all of it. It was difficult. I went over and hugged Grandma Jo before the game. She was crying, I was crying. You wanted to win so bad for him, it's almost a relief. It's like 'thank goodness, we did it.' I tried not to put any pressure on the kids but I felt a lot of pressure going into this game. Just me personally. Not from anybody else, but just for my buddy."
You forced 23 turnovers and they shot 38 percent from the floor. Is it mission accomplished?
"It's mission started, it's not mission accomplished. We worked diligently on the defensive end of the floor. Our defense is a little different than it was last year, philosophically. We're not trying to get into the passing lanes like we have in the past. We're trying to keep it a little tighter, guarding 17 feet and in. What we didn't do well was guarding the 3-point shooters.
"I'm happy we have nine days until we play again so we have some time to clean up some stuff. I remember back in the day when I first got into college coaching, it seemed like we had six weeks to practice before we played a game. I remember taking our Xavier team to this high school and scrimmaging, and that high school and scrimmaging. For some reason we always went to Batesville, Indiana and practiced and ate at this little chicken place. Last year, we had 24 practices before the first game. This year, we had 22 practices. So I'm glad we're going to have a little layoff so we can tighten some things up."
Fairfield Head Coach Ed Cooley
On honoring Skip Prosser before the game...
"I give Wake Forest credit on a great night honoring Skip Prosser who is a mentor of mine and I spoke to him about taking the Fairfield job and leaving Boston College. He being at Xavier and also at Loyola, understanding the Jesuit mission. So it was a sad night with me being very close to the staff, which I am. Jeff Battle is probably my best friend in the business, and I just wanted to make sure I was here to support him any way I could."
On controlling the tempo...
"I thought the team definitely could have rallied behind that emotion, especially to start the game. As much as we wanted to control the game, we really didn't have a chance to. My hat goes off to them making 14 threes I believe. Harvey Hale really came out of his shell and shot the ball well. I think everybody in the building made a three against us tonight."
On the game in general...
"We weren't just very good in transition defense. But you know, it's our first game. We played a lot of young guys. We're a mid-major program trying to get better. We have some kids from the South that we wanted to get home. That was the reason we played down here, so their parents would have a chance to see them get on the floor. But, all in all, we're not trying to compete against Wake Forest; we're trying to compete in the league in which we play. And I think that this game will serve us really well to prepare us for what we're trying to do as a program."
Sophomore L.D. Williams
On handling the emotions of the night...
"I feel like we handled it well. It was definitely emotional coming in after seeing everything about Coach Prosser. I mean I feel like we handled it pretty well. We came out and got out to an early lead and handled business from the beginning like we were supposed to."
On Wake Forest's three freshmen...
"Those guys, the sky's the limit. I'm so excited about playing with these three guys. You saw what James can do. J.T. (Jeff Teague) is quick as or maybe quicker than Ish (Ishmael Smith). Gary Clark can shoot the heck out of the ball. Harvey Hale had a night like he had tonight. Gary is just as capable as having a night like that."
Freshman Jeff Teague
On the defensive pressure...
"The guard he was really a talented point guard. They told me to pressure the ball, so I tried to take it every time I could. We have a pack defense, so it's easier to pressure the ball because you know you have help."
On playing on the night Wake Forest honored Skip Prosser...
"For us I don't think there was more pressure, but there was just more enthusiasm. We were really enthusiastic about winning this game for Coach Prosser. There's a banner now in the Joel, so we know now that especially every home game he's watching us and he's still coaching us. We know day in and day out when go on and off the court, Coach Prosser's in heaven looking down upon us telling Coach Gaudio to tell those guys to rebound better and to get those guys to play better defense. Coach meant a lot not to just the program but to everybody in the community. The support showed that tonight. We were really enthusiastic about getting on the court today and showing everybody what we were ready for."
