Wake Forest Athletics
Post-Game Quotes: Wake Forest vs. IUP
11/5/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 5, 2009
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Wake Forest Head Coach Dino Gaudio
Opening statement...
"I thought that was really good for us. (Julian) Sanders had scholarship offers from Old Dominion. We know Akita McLain played at Boston College. I thought that game was a good game for us. I thought we did some things really well. We guarded pretty well in the first half. That has to be a staple for us. We did a pretty good job on the backboard. I'm really happy for a lot of guys that worked their tails off over the summer, shooting the ball. We shot 8-for-19 from three tonight. At the beginning of the game, I think our first three or four shots were three's. We were just settling. We were rushing a little bit. That's natural the first time you're out there in front of the people. I was really pleased with kids. We had 21 assists, which is very, very good for us. On the negative side, 21 turnovers is not very good. We played 11 guys 11 or more minutes. That sometimes gets you a little discombobulated too when you have so many guys coming out. We wanted to give everybody a look. I really thought we got better from our Black & Gold scrimmage to South Carolina. I think we got a little better from South Carolina to here. Now we have seven practices to get ready for Oral Roberts."
On IUP packing their defense into the lane...
"They played all man-to-man except when it was baseline. Every thing we've seen from last year, that's how they played. We talked to the Maryland coaches and that's how they played them as well. We told the kids that they can't make the first drive, because they're driving into a bee hive. Make a drive and kick and another drive and then we'll get something. They're a little bit excited, but I think it was good for us."
On Al-Farouq Aminu...
"He's really, really talented. From his freshman year to this year, his practice habits, how hard he goes, how much he talks has really made big strides. It's paying off."
On the contributions from the freshmen...
"I think it was good for them to get in there. I thought Konner Tucker did a great job for us. That's what he has to do. He has to make open shots and he did. He did and he got fouled and he made free throws. C.J. (Harris) has been a pleasant surprise all preseason. He's playing a little bit of two and a little bit of one. He's done very well. Ari (Stewart) struggled a little bit, but we're really excited about his athleticism and stuff."
Senior guard L.D. Williams
On having to shoot the outside shots today because of IUP's defensive scheme...
"We see it every day in practice, too. It's nothing we haven't seen, and it's nothing we won't see in the future. You come to practice, you might see us stay after practice 30 minutes to an hour and see us still shooting. We know that's going to happen so we work on it when we're not in the gym."
On the team's 42.1 percent from behind the arc tonight...
"It goes to show you put in work, you reap the benefits... We put in the time and we're reaping the benefits."
Freshman guard C.J. Harris
On his experience playing in the exhibition game against IUP...
"It was good. I was just trying to get my feet wet. [There were] bright lights and a lot more people in the stands than in high school. But I think I fared well, and it was against a good team. I liked it."
On playing against the zone...
"They're going to pack it in. The coaches said that before we came out so the shooters have to get ready to shoot. When I came in, the first open shot I got, I let it go. And Coach [Gaudio] said if you ever knock some shots down, you'll be able to get some playing time because people are going to pack down on us because we're so big inside."
On the team's outside shooting...
"We have some good shooters on this team. We've been shooting every day before practice and after practice. We'll be ready to knock some shots down."
