Wake Forest Athletics
Post-game Quotes
2/3/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 3, 2010
Recap | Final Stats | Notes
Wake Forest Head Coach Dino Gaudio
Opening statement...
"I think that was a really hard-fought and a good win for us. To go through the first half of the ACC with games at Miami, at Georgia Tech, at Duke, at North Carolina, to be sitting at 5-3 right now, I'm proud of those guys in that locker room. I thought our defense at the outset was just outstanding. I thought we came out with a lot of energy and a lot of emotion, and I think we really did a great job of guarding them early. I also thought we did a terrific job down the stretch. I think they scored one point in the last five minutes and I think we stopped them on seven or eight consecutive possessions. I think that was the difference in the game, along with making some big free throws down the stretch - C.J. [Harris], L.D. [Williams]. It was a good win for us as we move into the second half of ACC play."
On Miami outrebounding the Deacs, 36-34...
"I just think their interior guys were crowded around the basket. It was really tough for us to slice in there and get offensive rebounds, and I think that's why. We needed to do a better job. We were getting so many stops so, obviously, there's going to be more offensive rebounding opportunities for them. I thought our kids did a really good job when we were up 17. In that little sequence after that we had 10 fast-break opportunities. My guy Mike [Lepore] behind the bench was keeping track on his computer. We scored on only three of the 10 and had four turnovers. And we're really good in transition - that's the other side of who we are. We just missed some good shots and turned the ball over."
On Wake Forest's defense throughout the game...
"We started the game being really aggressive; w trapped all ball screens. When the ball went in the post, we trapped the post. We were being really aggressive then at about the five- or six-minute mark, Frank [Haith] started to set the screen a little higher. Now we're trapping it maybe 30 feet out on the floor and then they were just kicking it back. They were just popping that post instead of rolling him, kicking it back. Now our two guys are way out here and they started to drive us. We said, 'Do we change now or wait till halftime?' And we said, 'Let's just wait till halftime.' So in the second half, then as we went down, we just played ball screens hard. We didn't trap them as we did the start, because I think it really took them out of a lot of their offense. And then as we went down the last five minutes, we said we're going to switch all ball screens except on [Dwayne] Collins. We had a guy on a guy... And that's really what we did down the stretch."
Wake Forest Freshman guard C.J. Harris
On his strong defense tonight...
"After that loss at Georgia Tech, that next practice you don't understand how many defensive drills we did, and I think that carried over to tonight."
On the team trying to get the ball in his hands down the stretch...
"We work on our free throws so much, and I feel like I have the confidence in myself and the team has it in me to go out there and knock down free throws."
On winning despite scoring drought late in the game...
"That just shows how good our defense is. Coach [Gaudio] says we're going to face adversity and we're going to have droughts in our scoring because we don't have all the great one-on-one guys - we're a better team than one-on-one players. Our identity is defense so it brought us through tonight."
Wake Forest Senior center Chas McFarland
On winning a defensive struggle...
"I feel like we're a team to stick together through the hard times. We might not be scoring [a lot] but we got stops against Maryland, in overtime against Xavier, in overtime against Richmond... We try to find a way to win games but I think that's a great compliment to this team and how hard we play. The great staple is our defense."
On being halfway through conference action...
"We've just got to continue to get better practice after practice and game after game. We've just got to continue to work as a team to get better and finish out strong."
Miami Head Coach Frank Haith
On Miami diminishing the Wake Forest lead in the final minutes...
"I thought we had a chance at the end of the game to make some plays. We had two open looks we just didn't make down the stretch. I thought if we were able to make those shots it would have given us a chance to put more pressure on Wake Forest."
Thoughts on the game...
"Our execution was much better in the second half. Our post guys were more active. We stood around a little be there in the first half and got down. Our guys fought to get back in the game, we just didn't make the plays we needed to down the stretch to win the game."
On coming back from a 17 point deficit...
"That is hard and we've had that happen to us a couple of times. Getting off to a better start is what we wanted to do. It was gradual, we just didn't make any shots. We allowed their defense to really pressure us. We turned the ball over way too much."
On limiting Al-Farouq Aminu...
"He's been a focus of ours in terms of knowing where he's at and having a body on him all the time."
On playing Wake Forest...
"The biggest thing is when you play Wake Forest you've got to be able to get back into transition defense. We limited that for the most part although Ishmael Smith was able to get us in transition a couple of times, but he didn't have those highlight reel plays that he normally gets."
