Wake Forest Athletics
Postgame Quotes
11/15/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 15, 2008
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Wake Forest Head Coach Dino Gaudio
On the game...
"I thought it was a good start to the season for us. We did some good things. I think we came out of the gate and held them. We did a nice job of sharing the ball again. We know we are not a great shooting team, 2 for 11 is disappointing. A plus was shooting 75% from the free throw line; we spent a lot of time on that. Negative things we did was give up too many offensive rebounds. Our guards have to get in that top of the key area and run those rebounds down."
On shooting one sixth of shots at the three point line...
"I think our focus has to be on throwing the ball inside. We talked about the line being a little bit further and making sure our feet are set. I like to see Jeff Teague to shoot a little bit more because I think he is a very good three point shooter. He shot 40 plus last year for us. As long as it is one sixth of our shots I'm fine with it."
On what you have been stressing the most up to this game...
"Without a doubt it's been our defense. If we are going to be good we have to be solid on the defensive end of the floor. My biggest disappointment would be the backboard for us and our box outs. I was pleased with our effort on our offensive glass but we spent a lot of time working on our defense and it could have been a little better tonight."
On opening the game with L.D. Williams...
"I just think he is a big time defender. He can guard whoever is out there. At the ten minute mark before the tip off we had not anticipated doing so, we just went in at six minute mark and just made a quick adjustment. I feel comfortable with him guarding."
Wake Forest Freshman Al-Farouq Aminu
On phone call he had with head coach Dino Gaudio after practice...
"Coach said that was one of the best practices I've had. The intensity - he said I need to maintain that throughout my practices, and then when we play that will only make me a better player, and us a better team by pushing each other.
On transition...
"It is harder. People are stronger and quicker so it's a little bit of an adjustment. Before the game, [Coach] just said run the floor and you'll be able to create an open floor."
Wake Forest Sophomore Jeff Teague
On how it felt to hold N.C. Central to one field goal in first 23 attempts...
"It felt good. We played great on the defensive end for the first part of the half, but then at the six-minute mark they came out and hit a lot of shots. They hit some open three-pointers. Some were contested, some weren't."
On Aminu's collegiate debut...
"I would say he was impressive. He showed you why he was ranked so high and why he came here with all the hype, and he proved it."
NC Central Head Coach Henry Dickerson
His thoughts on NC Central's performance...
"At the beginning of the preseason we thought we had 12 players and we lost two to injuries before the year. We knew we had two big kids waiting to play by December 12. We thought we could weather the storm. As you can see we are down eight players now. It's very difficult to come into an environment like this with the players that Wake Forest has and compete. We went out and signed some pretty good players but unfortunately those guys aren't playing. You just try to go out and do the best you can. Our guys know what the situation is when you play here. It is very difficult. You have to execute and you have to compete to have a chance. [Wake Forest's] size and their ability was just too much for us."
On NC Central's slow offensive performance, especially at the start of the game...
"The freshman point guard that we have, Vincent Davis, it's his first year playing. Our big kid in the middle, it's his first year playing too. We had a lot of inexperienced players. You can tell them all you want to tell them. Once you step on that floor it's totally different. I think with the inexperience and not knowing what to expect; they never recovered from that. It would have been very difficult even if we would have made some shots. It still would have been a situation where [Wake Forest] would have worn us down because."
On Jeff Teague vs. Ishmael Smith at the point...
"With Ishmael, he has jets. He makes the whole team run. He pushes the ball so quick and that gets guys running. He puts more pressure on the defense because of his dribble penetration and his speed and his ability to locate open guys. They are two different types of players, both excellent players but I think you guys would have been better with Smith in because of the way he can push the ball. He puts tremendous pressure on the defense and I think that will make a difference we you guys get him back."
