Postgame Quotes
11/4/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Wake Forest Head Coach Danny Manning
Opening statement…
"Defensively we have to give Piedmont credit. They came out, made some shots early, and got comfortable offensively which put us in a tough spot early on. I thought we responded well, and I thought the ball started moving. We were able to knock down some perimeter shots which opened up the in-between game for us. I thought we did a really good job of trying to share the basketball and getting to the right spots offensively. Defensively we still have a long ways to go, but today was the first game of our season. This was just the first step, and we have many more steps to go. We need to take them quickly in order to get prepared for our non-conference season and our conference season."
On importance of exhibition game vs Piedmont…
"It's nice for six guys that have never worn a Wake Forest uniform out on this floor. That was one of the reasons I left Keyshawn out there for the most minutes. He missed all of last year and I wanted him to get back into that groove and back into that feel. We go back and watch film. We go back to, defensively, are we guarding our principles? Are we doing things we're supposed to do on every possession? Every time the ball is moved, shot goes up, do we all box out? Do we all go pursue the basketball? Once we secure the ball are we all running down the court? Those are a lot of things we try to take away from every game we play."
On playing against zone defense…
"I think it helps us out with Syracuse and Louisville. Those two are zone teams. Syracuse isn't as aggressive as Louisville in their zone, but they're still a matchup zone team. I think we have some guys that are capable to make a shot on the perimeter. I think that opens up a lot of different things for us. I think we settle for far too many 3-pointers tonight. I think we should have established in that zone trying to get the ball to that short-corner area, right outside the block or the high-post area before we shot the basketball. We have to try and work it a little bit better and get a touch in the paint."
Piedmont International Head Coach Josh Howard
Opening Statement...
"I'm very excited about being [back at Wake Forest]. It's been a while since I've been on the floor, especially as a player, so a lot of memories came back. I was just excited to get my team over here and giving them that opportunity to experience this type of atmosphere."
On Piedmont-International's performance…
"Overall I think they competed. That's the word I put on the board today: compete. They didn't give me the 50 points that I wanted, but we were close. At the end of the day, to get a team as late in the season as I did, and to get the things in their mind to get them to compete this fast, shows a lot of growth in them. I'm proud to see that."
On how the game against Wake Forest can help Piedmont-International in the future…
"The mental [side]. Just being able to fight through runs, like what we went through [tonight]; being able to deal with big teams, which we might experience once or twice in our conference. At the same time, knowing we had some guys we couldn't get back until second semester, so we didn't even have a full team. For those guys to go out there and get this growth and this understanding is going to help us a lot with that too."
On if his team noticed his retired number banner in the Coliseum…
"They were messing with me. Just the overall enjoyment of this is awesome. Like I said, my kids enjoyed it too. We have a game on Monday and we're going to use this is a stepping stone to let them know about competing and just being ready to play."