Postgame Quotes - Wake Forest vs. Miami
2/11/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
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Wake Forest Head Coach Danny Manning
Opening remarks....
"Tonight we came out and Dinos got us off to a great start. He knocked down some shots, stretched the defense out, and gave us really good energy on the offensive end. That propelled us to a pretty good first half. The second half Miami came out - and they are a well-coached team. Jim does a good job. They beat us in the second half 37-30 but the first half was enough to carry us through the game. We got very fortunate down the stretch. Angel [Rodriguez] got where he wanted to and he missed the shot. We have to do a better job of rolling off the basket. We will take it and move on."
On the impact of Dinos' three pointer at the end...
"There is plenty of time to come back. It's a long game. There are still plenty of possessions in the game. I thought it was a pretty well-executed play. The pass was on time and on target. I would rather him take a three than a layup because he struggled making layups tonight."
On the danger of relying on 3-pointers in the first half...
"Well we had the right guys shooting threes first of all, and that's a big part of it. The one thing about it is we only made one three in the second half. At that point in time, the defense has to come out and guard us. That opens up driving lanes for Codi and post play for Devin. So, mission accomplished in that regard. They have to take note of it and make some adjustments, and they did that. [With] those guards, they are one of the best 3-point shooting teams in the league. They are very aggressive. I watched Angel play for a long time and he is great player. Sheldon I watched play in high school as well. I thought Reid was outstanding tonight also. They have a really talented team and we are fortunate to come away with a win and we are glad to have it."
On Codi's play....
"Codi's overall play is overlooked. His stat line for a point guard is an outstanding stat line. He had eight points, six rebounds, seven assists, one turnover, one steal, in 29 minutes of play. That is an outstanding stat line. We want Codi to always be aggressive, especially in the open-court situations. On ball screens, we want him to turn the corner and get to the paint. He started putting more pressure on the defense by turning that corner and kicking it out to shooters. We had guys knocking down shots. In the end, because of those guys knocking down shots, he had a lane to the basket and he made a really big play for us driving to the basket and getting fouled."
On finding a way to win...
"It means a lot. This is a game we would have lost two months ago. It's good that we're still learning how to win in these close situations. They even went up with about two minutes left and we came back and got a big stop at the end."
On his shot to get the lead back and get him to 1,000 points...
"I think we were down so at that point it meant a lot. Also, a milestone of mine that I never got in high school meant a lot as well."
On finding his teammates towards the end of the game...
"Dinos [Mitoglou] can shoot the ball really well. That's almost a bucket every time. When I drove, I noticed I had two people on me and Devin [Thomas] was right there underneath the basket. They did a great job of getting into position to be open so I could find them."
On how to beat Virginia...
"Just be confident and be decisive. We'll need our freshmen to knock down shots, especially the way Dinos did today because the play really good defense and it will be difficult to get all the way to the basket. If they're knocking down shots it'll be easier to spread that defense out a bit."
"We have to stop making them so close. At home it is fun...It always feels good to win no matter how you get it."
On Codi as a teammate...
"Coach looks to him as a leader on the team, so it is not a surprise at what he did at the end of the game. He was not scoring as much as he wanted to, but he did not let that effect his defense or assists. He is a great player."
On improving close games this season...
"Details play a major role here and playing hard. We made some big shots and we were good on rebounds and that is how we won the game."
On playing with Darius...
"I know I need help with my inside game and I know that Darius is there to help me. When I miss a shot he grabs the rebound."
On Dinos making the last three...
"It felt like a lifesaver. I have watched him shoot so many. Just watching him make it...everybody on the bench went crazy."
On Codi getting 1,000 points....
"I told Codi to attack the room because nobody in the conference can stop him. I know his last two years if he can do that every night he is going to be unstoppable."
On playing with Dinos...
"I mean everyone has been telling me that he is a better shooter than me [laughs]. I know if I can just bring a guy with me to make shots then we should be good. I love playing with Dinos, he does so much stuff that I am trying to do in my game. I want to be able to shoot like Dinos. Anytime he catches it, we know it is pretty much going in."
On improving in finishing close games...
"Being in those situations in practice, Coach puts us in situations where we are down with three minutes and we need to get a stop and play good defense."
Miami Head Coach Jim Larañaga
On the last possession of the game...
"We just ran a high screen-and-roll. We wanted to screen, and pick and pop for Angel Rodriguez. It was up to him to make the decision to drive or shoot. We got the switch we were looking for. He drove it probably a little late. He got started a little bit later than we would have liked. But he got the shot we liked, and it just spun in and out."
On the adjustments made at halftime...
"The two things we kept telling the team was, one, guard the three better. They shot the lights out in the first half. And we had to rebound the ball better at the defensive end. We kept telling our guys to drive more. I thought we could beat them off the dribble. We did a number of times. Davon [Redd] did, James Palmer did. When you beat the team off the dribble, a lot of times you can get to the rim and get fouled."
On the impact of Konstantinos Mitoglou's critical 3-pointer down the stretch...
"We had just gotten the lead, and got it to four. I remember the shot but I don't remember how they got it. Our switching on ball screens wasn't as good early in the game. We didn't switch well on the ball screens [then]."
