Post Game Quotes
12/6/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 6, 2008
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Opening statement...
"I told our guys that this was a nice win for us. We're 8-0 going into exams, which is exactly where we want to be. We really emphasized in what time we had after the Indiana game in cutting down on our turnovers. We did a terrific job of that tonight with 11. I'm proud of the guys. Some guys have papers and stuff due tomorrow. I was telling someone last night that Ms. (Jane) Caldwell called and said we had guys in the library at 3 a.m. trying to get stuff done. It was a good win for us. We knew they were going to run time off the clock, but we had to be disciplined in our half court defense. We did a better job in the second half on cutting down on their threes. 81-52 against a very disciplined, well coached Bucknell team, we'll take that going into exams. I'm giving the team off Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. We might do a little cardio on Wednesday. I told them that I'm really looking forward to practicing again. We really haven't practiced since before Winston-Salem State. L.D. (Williams) didn't finish practice on Thursday because his knee was bothering him. Chas' (McFarland) knee was bothering him. Tony Woods had a thigh bruise. Jeff (Teague) has tendonitis. We literally went an hour yesterday. I'm looking forward to letting them heal these next three days and then really practicing for a good three or four days. I think we'll get better when we do that."
On attempting 21 three-pointers in the game...
"We watched the La Salle game and I bet Tony Hanson put together 12 clips. We would stop it and there would be a guy on the ball and four guys in the lane. There'd be a throw into the post and there'd be a guy on the ball and four guys in the lane. We knew they were going to pack it in. That (21 three-point attempts) is too many for us. One of the guys came off the floor and I said that there's a reason that you're wide open from behind the three. We were trying to run a little ball screen continuity. Jeff (Teague) made a nice bounce pass to James Johnson. L.D. (Williams) drove in hard one time and got right to the rim. Gary (Clark) had an eight to 10 footer that went in and out. When we're patient and play through that, it's fine. It's hard when you're wide open out there to not pull the trigger. Second half we were better defensively guarding the three-point shot. Coming into tonight we were fourth in the country defensively. We finished the 06-07 season 141st in the country in that same category. I think we can guard pretty well."
On the play of L.D. Williams...
"He's taking the ball to the basket a little bit more. If you take the three-pointers out of L.D.'s field goal percentage, he might be in the high 50's. As long as he keeps recognizing that, he'll be fine. The one play where he made the conventional three-point play was high energy. He went back and got the ball and finished strong, which was good."
On Ishmael Smith playing 19 minutes in the game...
"I feel more comfortable playing him. With a couple of the passes, he looked like the Ish of old. He made a pass to James Johnson in the lane. Five assists and no turnovers, it doesn't get much better than that for a point guard. I think his shooting will come around as well."
On Jeff Teague...
"To be honest with you, he hadn't played well the last three games. UTEP he scored a lot of points, but Pat Kelsey brought him in defensively and watched film with him. The Baylor game he was 1-for-10 with six turnovers. He had six turnovers against Indiana, so in two games he has 12 turnovers. I told him that I have tremendously high expectations for you and I know you do as well. He played pretty well tonight. He was really solid. The prior two games he had 12 turnovers, which is a lot from your point guard. He had two turnovers and Ish had none and our team had 11. The other night those two guys might have had nine and we had twenty something."
Wake Forest Players
Junior Ishmael Smith
On how he felt his shot was tonight...
"I had no lift. I thought all of them were good, but I was shooting them hard. This is exam week; I'm going to do my exams and study hard. But with any time I have to get in the gym this is going to be a huge rehab week. It felt good, obviously it didn't go in so it didn't look good, but it's getting better. So I just need to continue to work on my game overall and get it back to 100 percent."
On teammate Jeff Teague...
"He's one of the top scorers in the ACC. [Teague] can score the basketball with the best of them. I love going out there and playing with him. When we're out there together it's speed on speed."
Senior Harvey Hale
On having the defense being applauded this season...
"It's something that we're getting used to and we're taking pride in. Trying to go to the Final Four in the NCAA Tournament that's something you've got to do. You've got to guard, you have to play defense, you have to rebound, you've just got to do the little things. I think that's what we're really focusing on this year."
On L.D. Williams' development...
"L.D. really worked hard on his game this summer. He knew he was probably going to have to play the two. He worked on his jumper and he worked all throughout his game, but L.D. really takes pride in his defense. I'm grateful to have him on my team because he's a great defensive player."
Sophomore Jeff Teague
On his ball-handling performance against Bucknell...
"I just slowed it down today. One of our assistants, Tony Hanson, and I talked about the turnover situation and I looked at some of my turnovers and I was jumping in the air trying to making passes and things like that. He just told me to calm down and let it come, and tonight, I did pretty well defending the ball."
On Bucknell's head coach Dave Paulsen praising Wake Forest's defense...
"It was the whole focal point coming into this year. If we rebounded, if we defended, we were going to be really good this year because we knew we could score the ball, and we're doing it so far."
Junior L.D. Williams
On shooting percentage this year...
"I'm just being more aggressive going to the hole. Last year, I felt like I shot the three a little too much."
On 18-footer made it the second half...
"Jeff passed it to me and he was like, 'Shoot it, shoot it!' and I just dribbled and shot it, and it went it. It's a shot that I work on everyday; there's not a day that goes by that I don't shoot that shot. I'm more comfortable shooting those mid-ranged jumpers than I am a three. I feel like I'm better helping my team out when I'm hitting that shot."
On the depth of this year's team...
"That's how we're going to beat teams. We're really deep. I think we have three or maybe four guys averaging double-figure points, and that's how we hope that the season's going to be - a lot of guys averaging 13, 14, 15 and then you've got your eight, seven in there. That adds up, and we're going to be able to beat teams like that."
Bucknell Head Coach Dave Paulsen
Opening statement...
"I thought going into the game that Wake is a really good team and they demonstrated that. I was very impressed with them on tape and very impressed tonight. The thing that is probably overlooked is how good they are defensively. Obviously their length and their athleticism really bothered us. They have some guys who are quick and guys who can really raise shots. I think they are solid defensively. We played pretty well in stretches but their size and athleticism wore us down."
On what his team can learn from tonight's game...
"A long bus ride back. Number one it's a great venue to play in and you want to play against the best. We try to focus on ourselves and not the opponent, to play against the game and the standard of excellence. When we did what we were supposed to do we had a reasonable level of success. We were playing against bigger, faster, stronger guys and we wore down physically. Wake has certainly demonstrated that they are one of the elite teams in the country."
On the impact of L.D. Williams' points after Bucknell had cut the lead to seven...
"I think he hit a couple shots and got some penetration. You're not going to keep a team like Wake under control all of the time."
