Postgame Quotes - The Xavier Game
1/3/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 3, 2010
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2009-10 Wake Forest Men's Basketball
Postgame Quotes - The Xavier Game
January 3, 2010
Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum - Winston-Salem, N.C.
Wake Forest 96, Xavier 92 - 2 OT
Wake Forest Head Coach Dino Gaudio
Opening statement...
"I think that was a great, great college basketball game. I think Skip (Prosser) would have been proud of it. Not who won, but of the effort both teams put forth. Chris Mack does a marvelous job with that basketball team. That is a hard playing, tough, hard nosed basketball team. We're very fortunate to win the game. For me, and I'm sure Chris would say the same thing, this game is lose-lose. I've never been a part of a game like this where after the game you feel so melancholy that two of the guys you care about and love on the other side are going home with a loss. I'm very proud of our kids. I'm very proud of the Xavier kids. It was a very hard fought basketball game. It was a terrific win for us against an NCAA Tournament team."
On the intensity of the game...
"There was a lot riding on the game. Jeff Battle had the scout and in his pregame talk he asked the four seniors to say what Skip meant to them. I walked out of the room. I was choked up. I tried talking to the kids two days ago about it and I broke down. I couldn't even finish my talk. There's no question there was a tremendous amount of emotion in the game."
On if anything was said at halftime about rebounding...
"We evened the score up in the second half. They were beating us to balls. They were quicker to balls. They were a little tougher on the offensive boards. We have guys in there that we have to carve out. We played a big part of the first half without Farouq and Chas (McFarland), but there's no excuse for that. Much better job in the second half on the boards and Farouq for the second game, had a magnificent second half. What a game Ishmael Smith had. Just terrific."
On if this was the best game he's seen Ishmael Smith play...
"I really think so. 28 points, nine rebounds, three blocks. Pretty good game. I don't think he's ever played a better game. Maybe he'll refute the coach on that, but that was a great basketball game by that kid. The whole second half we were trying to get the ball in his hands. We ran 152 ball screens from different angles and different sides. He's really good off that."
Xavier Head Coach Chris Mack
Opening statement...
It's a tough game for many reasons. The first of which, is that I wish the game wouldn't have to be played. It's the first time I've been back inside to Joel Coliseum since Coach [Prosser] passed away, and being on the sidelines was a lot tougher earlier on than I expected it to be. I thought the game could've gone either way. My message to the kids in the locker room after the game was simply [that] we played a Cincinnati game the other day that could've gone either way, and we were jubilant in the locker room, and they weren't. One play here, one play there, missed shot here, missed shot there - we'd be feeling a lot different about the outcome of today's game. I give so much credit to Wake Forest, their coaching staff, their players - they're extremely talented. I thought our kids fought really hard, but man is Ish Smith good. He was the absolute difference in the game tonight. I'm happy for those guys; I'm disappointed for our team.
On the effect of Jason Love fouling out...
Losing Jason [Love] that early on [made us] a different team because we're used to Jason being a rock out there. He can play the four, he can play the five, and he's very comfortable guarding talented players like Al-Farouq Aminu. He guarded Joey Alexander a couple years ago in the NCAA tournament for West Virginia, so Jason's been in that role before. But it was a very physical game, I felt like our foul trouble really hurt us. The message at halftime was defend without fouling, but they were quickly in the bonus in the second half again. You credit Wake Forest because they're big, they're long, they're strong, and they get you out of possession a lot.
On how he conveyed the emotion of the game to his players...
I talked to them about what Skip [Prosser] meant to me, who he was as a person and as a coach. Not necessarily just right before we played Wake Forest, but they experienced Skip in different ways because of the way I coach. I'm a direct reflection of Coach [Prosser] and having played for him, having coached under him, there are so many things that I'm passing on to my players that I believe and I took from Coach [Prosser]. We talked last night about how Coach [Prosser] would be proud of a team that got on the floor, and the first possession of the game I thought there were two times when we didn't get on the floor for a loose ball and I told our players that. I think that was the last time they didn't get on the floor.
On having the ball at the end of regulation and the first overtime...
I thought we could've gotten a better shot at the end of regulation. Jordan [Crawford] took a shot that was both contested and blocked - both final shots were blocked, one going to the rim and one on the pull-up. We wouldn't have been in the situation that we were to win the game if it weren't for JC [Jason Crawford]. He made some terrific shots down the stretch and because he had done that I wanted to put the ball in his hand and if I had to do it all over again I would've really stressed to him to get to the rim. [Terrell] Holloway did what I asked and got to the basket and McFarland made one heck of a block to seal it to go into double overtime.
