Wake Forest Athletics
NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament Press Conference Quotes
3/16/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 16, 2007
Opening Statement:
We are extremely excited to be a part of the 32 teams remaining. We got off to a great start. It was so easy that we lost our focus and all the sudden we got a little sloppy and made some bad decisions. Give
How did you get through the loss of your sister?
It was a difficult thing; there is no question about that. She passed last night at 6:45 with Alzheimer's. It's been a very difficult time especially for my niece and nephew. I thanked the team after the game. I think the last game that she had everything mentally that she saw me coach was the national championship game. After last night my niece told me she had her mind back now and she'd be able to watch the game today. That was nice.
With your sisters passing, do you expect to miss any time with the team?
We don't know yet. We'll have services either Sunday or Monday. I don't expect to miss time. Right now these basketball items are the things that keep me going. The kids didn't know anything about it until after the game.
What kind of part did Marcus Ginyard play in the game?
I was extremely disappointed with some of our play off the bench in the first half. We had 6 turnovers off the bench and they played about one third of the minutes that the other guys did but Marcus only got two of those minutes. I felt defensively he is one of our better defenders and I wanted to have him in there more time and he really did a better job defensively. I allowed him to stay in there and shortened because I was mad at those guys about how they played when they got in there. I think they were some of the ones who thought it was going to be easier than they should have thought. It was no big deal, I told them everyone of them should have a smile on their face tomorrow at practice and I will too. I fully expect to give those guys a chance to go out there and do well and I expect they will do well on Saturday. Marcus in some ways may deserve more minutes than he's gotten all year long.
What impact did your sister have on your career?
She was 60. Alzheimer's is tough. We were close and she was important to me.
Are you concerned about the youth of the team?
I am not concerned greatly at all because that's the game of basketball. Coach Wooden 30 or 40 years ago said there are going to be slips and runs during the game and you hope your runs are more significant than the others. For some reason we've gotten the reputation that I don't think is fair. At
On avoiding lapses during the game:
Hansbrough: At times we had some letdowns offensively, but I think it was an adjustment to their 1-3-1 (defense) caused us a little problem. We'll work on it, our offense, at the next practice and see where we go from there.
On playing with a new face mask:
Hansbrough: I don't think I'm ever going to like a mask on my face after these couple weeks. I think the mask is a lot better. It fits tight on my face. I can see a lot better. It's just a lot more comfortable. I feel comfortable wearing the mask. I could wear it Saturday against
On recollections from UNC's last NCAA Tournament game with
Terry: My sophomore year when we played them, they were very athletic defensively and I think they bring the same thing this year. They're pretty good defensively. We just have to worry about what we can control and just play
Hansbrough: I haven't seen them play much. I'll get a scouting report on them pretty soon. I know they are a tough team. They are in the tournament and we're going to have to be ready to come out and play. When I've seen them play, they're a pretty good rebounding team, so I think we'll have to work on concentrating on the boards.
On how UNC felt when EKU pulled to within 48-44:
Hansbrough: I think it was one of those things where we had to stay poised and stay within ourselves. At the same time we wanted to keep attacking them and try to get a run and get some stops defensively. I don't think it ever got to the point where we just started shooting every time. I think it was one of those things where we had to get stops, convert and make shots that we all wanted.
On Terry's strong second half:
Terry: I was just trying to take some pressure off of our point guards - penetrate the gaps and attack their 1-3-1 defense. Once I penetrated, we had some open looks and I just took the shots.
Opening statement:
Obviously
On what contributed to UNC's late second-half run:
The first thing is their speed. It is amazing how fast they are. They just fly the ball at you. We had a couple of balls go in and out, so we were not able to get into our 1-3-1 (defense). When we did get into the 1-3-1, we did create some turnovers. I know they turned it over nine times in the first half against that zone. Our guys got winded very quickly. Again, most of the credit goes to
On why EKU stopped shooting three-pointers:
I think the big reason for that is the way they defended us. They were overplaying and were really defending the three-point arc pretty well. We were able to get behind them and completed some passes; then they tightened up again at one point in the second half and would not let us complete back-door passes. I think their defense dictated what we were able to do.
Is there anything in particular that stood out about EKU's fatigue?
All of our guys were gassed. We haven't had guys ask to come out that many times all year. Again, the pace that
One of our coaches mentioned at halftime that our scout guys are great, but they are not as fast as Ty Lawson. He is really the one who makes it go and he flew it up. It was very difficult for our guys.
On how EKU rallied to within four points in the second half:
I am incredibly proud of what our guys did here when we came back. Obviously for us to outscore
On next season's prospects given this season's NCAA experience:
I think it would be hard not to be encouraged. We've done so many good things this year: for this team to win 21 games, for Darnell Dialls finally hit a three-point shot, for our guys to compete and handle this atmosphere pretty well after the early jitters, we have a lot to be proud of. We were within four with 16 to play in the game after turning over and doing a lot of bad things in the first half. We're certainly going to leave here proud of our team.
JUNIOR FORWARD DARNELL DIALLS
What was the key in the comeback when you cut their lead to four?
Basically just sticking with our game. The main thing was we had to take care of the ball better and do little things we already knew how to do better, a lot of defensive things and offensive, just taking care of the ball basically.
At that point did you think you had a chance to beat them?
When we were sitting in that media timeout, and we were down by four, I think everybody had a great feeling that we were about to make even more of a run than we already had.
SENIOR GUARD JULIAN MASCOLL
How shocked were you at the speed of the game early?
I wouldn't necessarily say shocked, but expected. I mean Ty Lawson, all their point guards are really fast. The game gets faster in those first four minutes, so you try and tough it out because you know they're going to jump out on you. Shocked not really, but expected yes. They played a great game, and obviously they did what they were supposed to do in transition.
SENIOR FORWARD MICHAEL BROCK
What was it like in the first couple of minutes when they were hitting everything and you were struggling to get on the board?
I felt like it was time to get rid of all these nerves and play basketball. We knew what we had to do, and it was time to do it or else it was going to get worse. It's time to buckle down and play ball.
Do you think the crowd advantage was a factor for them early?
I don't think so. We knew they were going to be pushing the ball very well in transition. We were just going to have to contain them as much as possible.
