Postgame Quotes - Wake Forest vs. Richmond
12/3/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 3, 2011
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Wake Forest Head Coach Jeff Bzdelik
Opening Statement...
"You're going to play like you practice. It was a sloppy practice yesterday, and we got off to a sloppy start. We gave them 13 extra possessions in the first half. I think they got seven offensive boards and numerous turnovers. We can't do that. All of a sudden we have some desperate effort and energy, and we came storming back. But we dug ourselves too deep of a hole. I told them after the practice yesterday, it was not acceptable, and you will play like you practice. I do give Richmond credit."
On the team's maturity...
"You don't need to be a junior or a senior to be mature. They've played enough games to realize they need to play with desperate energy and effort at all times. That's defense, rebounding, and cutting hard. It takes two people to pass and catch and that's one of the things on the game plan - sure passes."
On coming back from a 23-point difference...
"It's a credit to the character of our team - they care. They had to see that when they play with desperate energy and effort, they're going to put themselves in a position to have success and come storming back like that. It's a credit to who they are as people, but we need to have that fire right from the opening tip."
Chase Fischer and Carson Desrosiers' shooting less...
"From Carson's standpoint, he posted up and we didn't get him the ball. He should have more opportunities, and that's a combination of him and our perimeter guys. We need to post up strong and get it to him. As far as Chase, we've got to look for him when we drive in there. It's that simple."
On free throws...
"We didn't shoot a free throw in the first half, and that's a testimony to our lack of aggressiveness because in the second half we went 16 times. We weren't aggressive right out of the gate. We were just standing and throwing the ball to the post instead of cutting. For whatever reason we weren't ready to go."
On the team coming back...
"It was a collective desperate feeling. They realized they were getting blown out at home and that they had to put a stop to it. All of a sudden we come storming back because we had that feeling. The players will tell you that my pregame talk was about what you can control. You can control your enthusiasm, your efforts, your energy, your emotion, your togetherness, and your grit - that's what you can control. That's half this game. It's your passion; it's what separates people from good to great. You can control that."
On sustaining the passion when facing High Point next week...
"I believe in these young men. A loss is only a loss if you don't learn something from it. We have tremendous respect for High Point. They've played very tough teams. They'll be jacked up, but we'll be jacked up too. We're playing at their place, but as I've told them, I've never seen a fan come down from the stands to block a shot or grab a rebound. So it's us and them."
Richmond Head Coach Chris Mooney
Opening Statement...
"I'm proud of how we played. I thought we played really well except for that stretch there in the second half where the pressure disrupted us. Any time we can play well enough to win, we'll take it. I'm really pleased with the win tonight."
On the play of freshman Kendall Anthony...
"Kendall is pretty fearless. He has an ability to get his own shot and get in the lane during the course of the game. It is very helpful because he's not going in there and feeling out the game. He's assertive, and you need that. He's just in the midst of learning the other phases of the game, but the ones that he has down pat are pretty good."
On Richmond's strong offensive start to the second half...
"I thought we played great right there. We had the opportunity to run, and Cedrick Lindsay is a great guard in transition. He makes great decisions, and he's very fast. The consistent thing all day though, was our defense. When we were set and playing half court defense, it seemed like we were pushing them (Wake Forest) out a little bit. Darrius (Garrett) is a very intimidating shot-blocker, so that was a big help for us. It was a huge help as we pulled away because they were having trouble scoring."
