Postgame Quotes
1/8/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 8, 2008
Recap | Final Stats | Notes
Wake Forest vs. BYU
January 8, 2008
LJVM Coliseum, Winston-Salem North Carolina
Wake Forest Head Coach Dino Gaudio
On the win against BYU...
"I thought that was a terrific, terrific win for us against a very, very good basketball team. That's an NCAA tournament team. They'll be back in the Top 25. Last night at about nine o'clock I'm watching their game with Michigan State and I'm like, 'Whooo. How are we going to beat these guys?' I thought they were very, very good. I thought our guys played very hard. I thought they [Wake] played very well. We practiced really hard for four days in preparation for this and I think it had a long way to go for us winning the basketball game. I apologized to Dave [Coach Rose] as I was walking off the floor. My assistants were screaming, 'Get Ish out! He's got a cramp,' with about 30 seconds left or whatever it was. So, I called a timeout. In no way, shape or form were we trying to savor that moment or anything. I think I have to calm my assistants down. We just wanted to get the basketball in at the end of the game because even then, with 30 seconds left, I wasn't sure we were going to win. It was a great win for us against a great, great team. They'll [BYU] be dancing in March. I'm happy for our guys."
On the low turnover numbers from Ishmael Smith...
"We've really tried to emphasize that with him in practice. When you've got two guys like him and Jeff [Teague], who play really fast, there's a propensity for those guys to turn it over. Last game, he had 11 assists and no turnovers. Tonight, he had 10 point and two turnovers but we've been trying to concentrate on it a little bit more. I've been trying to slow those guys down sometimes. When I see that there's something not there, then I'll try to pull them out myself so we can run a set and get into something. He's done a terrific job for us."
On the first half performance from Wake Forest...
"The season is young. I thought we played really well. That's the best half we've played against a team of that caliber. I thought we played really well against Fairfield, our first game. I thought we had a very good second half against Bucknell. I'll concede that. That first half, against a team of that ilk; that was a pretty good half of basketball."
Brigham Young Head Coach Dave Rose
On Wake's performance...
"I thought that Wake Forest did a terrific job of pushing the ball early and number ten [Ishmael Smith] is a terrific player and we had a hard time controlling him and he gave a lot of opportunities to his teammates to get good shots. So we kind of got behind the eight ball early and we couldn't get them stopped in transition, and offensively we missed a lot of shots early, probably shot the ball a little bit quick. We got our first two or three shots blocked, I think we were affected a little bit by their athleticism and we never really got into a rhythm offensively how we play and a lot of that had to do with Wake Forest and their game plan and I give them a lot of credit. They beat us pretty good tonight."
On Chas McFarland's defensive impact on the game...
"I think that defensively that they were coming from different spots and Trent [Plaisted] got to where he was looking around after he got his first or second shot blocked, and that doesn't happen a lot with Trent and I think that it sped him up quite a bit and Trent's a lot better when he plays at a more workable pace. I thought that he was in a hurry for most of the first half, I thought he settled down a little bit in the second half but I thought his pace was sped up and a lot of that had to do with the defense he was facing."
On Trent Plaisted's offensive struggles...
"That was the problem was that we threw the ball in there and then they did some things that caused problems for Trent [Plaisted] and then we got the ball back out on the perimeter and like I said their athleticism sped us up they were getting to us quick and so we had a hard time of getting the looks at the pace that we like. I thought Jimmer Fredette did a great job of coming off the bench and giving us a lift offensively, he was able to penetrate and get in the seams, hit a couple shots, and he was able to create some things off the dribble with the ball. That was a plus for us. The way that we play is to get that ball in the post, and spread the floor, and hit shots. Tonight we had a hard time doing that."
Wake Forest Player Quotes
On his new starting role...
"I feel more comfortable. I've gotten to know the guys a lot better. I used to come off the bench and bring a little fire from there. Now that I'm starting I've gotten to know the guys I play with better. I think my confidence has improved. I'm shooting the ball very well, so that helps. I'm getting some steals that leads to some easy layups."
On the upcoming ACC season...
"We've got a tough one at BC. It's going to be tough in the ACC. This year we are going to try to bring something to the table."
On the Wake style...
"One thing we do have is variety. We have a wide variety of scorers. In one game Jeff Teague might go for 26 like he did tonight, another night might be Chas's night. We have a variety of scorers and I love every bit of it. We are playing hard together."
On staying ahead of BYU at the point...
"We knew he had an advantage athletically. But we knew we couldn't get into a three-point shooting contest with them, or it would be a long a night. I took it upon myself to really push it. We got some easy baskets and got the game going. We felt like they didn't want to get into an ACC track meet with us.
Wake Forest Forward James Johnson
On BYU's tempo on offense...
"We play a quick-paced game. When we were scouting them, they were running really fast as well, pushing-up and taking shots. So, I don't think they were playing outside of their game. Maybe their shots weren't dropping or we were just getting our hands up. But outside that, they played their game, we played our game. Luckily, we came out with the win."
On Jeff Teague's ally-oop turned 3-pointer...
"When I saw him hit that I knew he was on fire (laughs). That was the first time I've seen that- throwing the lob and the three goes in. After that you could see Jeff Teague's confidence build-up and from there on out he was Super Teague. He plays hard all the time, even in practice. He keeps me going. He keeps everybody going. His momentum, we build on that. Today he had to carry us and he did that."
Wake Forest Center Chas McFarland
On Wake Forest's improvements on defense from last year...
"We have a whole new defense this year. We run the pack. We're not letting people get beat off the dribble because the rest of our team is there to help them. I think we've come a long way on the defensive end."
On if BYU was hurrying its shots offense...
"That's their game. They're a great team. There for a while, they were Top 25. That's their game. So, they had to continue to play their game."
