Postgame Quotes
12/20/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 20, 2007
Recap | Final Stats | Notes
Wake Forest Head Coach Dino Gaudio
On the win over South Florida
"I thought it was a very, very good win for us. I thought it (South Florida) was a very good basketball team. They come in very hot; winners of seven straight. A very strong, athletic team. I'm really proud of our kids. They did a terrific job. (I'm) really proud of them. I thought they competed. It was even on the boards. When you hold a team like that to 34 percent from the field and 15 percent from threes, a team that is shooting a 3-point percentage like they are; that's outstanding. I told the kids I was proud of them. The biggest game of the year is Sunday."
On Wake Forest's shooting performance and 19 assists on the game
"What we've tried to work on a little bit is trying to improve our decisions. When we have the break, let's take it. When not, let's pull it out and execute in the half court. We did a very good job of executing in the half court. After the Georgia game, we spent a half-hour block in practice where we went over six plays. We just went over them, and over them and over them. Then the next day we got six more and we went over them. We had a couple of bad decisions in the second half. We tried to go to fast again. But we've really spent time on executing. Our defense has been solid all year. It was really solid tonight. They had 17 offensive rebounds but we battled them on the backboard."
On whether or not this was Wake Forest's best game of the year
"The Fairfield game was a very good game. I thought we played very well against Fairfield. But with the caliber of the team we played tonight, [Kentrell] Gransberry's being looked at by NBA guys, this was probably the best win of the year start to finish."
On Jamie Skeen and Harvey Hale's performance against South Florida
"Harvey had a hot hand and when he hit a couple, we went right back to him with a couple of set plays. I pulled Jamie in front of the team yesterday and said, 'We need you to score for us, you've got to be a double-double guy for us." And he's sitting there and raises his hand, but I don't call on him because I'm not sure what he's going to ask (laughs). So, I just ignore him and he puts his hand down. We go out to stretch and I say, 'What was your question?' He says, 'Coach, I don't want the guys to think I'm selfish.' I just said, 'Ok.' So, we stretch and huddle up and I say, 'Fellas, over here. Does anybody think Jamie is selfish? Does anybody here not want Jamie to shoot the ball?' Nobody said a word. Then a couple of guys start saying, 'Jamie, shoot the ball...' So then I ask Jamie, 'Are you alright? Ok. Let's go.' When he plays, he should be a double-double guy for us. Seventeen (points) and seven (rebounds) tonight, almost."
Sophomore Guard L.D. Williams
On the USF Game...
"We've really been working on execution in practice. We've been working on breaking down offensive stats and seeing all our options and trying to score off every options. We showed tonight that we could execute on just about every set we run."
"There was a stretch for about seven minutes in the first half where we got lazy, but for the most part we've played pretty much the best we've played all season. Everyone pretty much hit it on all cylinders."
Junior Guard Harvey Hale
On the USF Game...
"Our defensive created our offense. We had really good D so we got off on the fast break and made good shots."
"Tonight we showed a lot of character and what kind of team we can be."
On his four three-point baskets...
"I knew my players wanted me to shoot it and the coaches wanted me to shoot it. I knew I hit one, and I didn't care if he [the defender] was there or not, I was going to shoot it."
USF Head Coach Stan Heath
On USF's Performance...
"We weren't very good tonight. Wake had something to do with that. I give them a lot of credit. It just wasn't there for us tonight. The difference was their ability to guard us and our ability to miss shots. Hopefully we'll learn from it and be better for Saturday."
"We didn't play as aggressively as we needed to play. I didn't think we quit. I thought we played poorly at times but on two different occasions in the first and second half we came back and cut a big lead to make things interesting."
On Gransberry's Performance...
He wasn't here tonight. I kept trying to figure if that was the guy I've been coaching for the last month and a half. It was really an a-typical performance for him. They did a good job, they doubled him and fought him pretty hard for positioning.
