Postgame Quotes
2/28/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
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Wake Forest Head Coach Danny Manning
Opening Statement…
"Well obviously this is not the exact way you want to leave a senior night. It's a very disappointing loss for us on senior night, and this is not the way we wanted to send out our seniors. I thought in the first half we did some things that were pretty good, but throughout the course of the ball game our untimely turnovers came back to haunt us. Late in the ball game there were a few times we really needed to get stops and weren't able to get stops. I think Virginia Tech did a very good job of spreading us out, driving the basketball, and getting to the free-throw line. They had some guys come in and make some big shots for them, mainly Seth Allen. I thought he came in and was a good lift for them."
On Devin Thomas' return...
"We just wanted him to come back and play with effort and energy. You have to be focused, and you have to do whatever you can to help the team be successful. That's no different than before the suspension and after the suspension. It still holds true going down to Duke and going to the ACC Tournament. He needs to play in that manner in order for us to be successful. To his credit, while he was suspended, I thought he practiced pretty well."
On building momentum into the ACC Tournament...
"We come in tomorrow and we have to have a good day of practice. We go down to Durham, get a night's rest, get up, have shootaround, go to the game and find a way. That's the bottom line. We have to have some good energy going into the ACC Tournament, without question. We know who we're going to be playing, NC State. Before we get to that we have to play Duke at their place."
Virginia Tech Head Coach Buzz Williams
On the state of the Virginia Tech program… Maybe that's for other people to decide. As I've said to you guys before, I wish that I had maybe a better perspective. But I think when you're so consumed with trying to figure out what's next, I just think that it's hard to be unemotional and to be able to answer that question with any validity. As the month has played itself out, I think that we're playing better. I think that they're playing for one another more. I think they'd better identify the recipe from which we have to play. I think they're more accepting of the negative margin that we have to start with. I think that all of those things are good signs relative to our maturity…I don't know that it's right from my lens to talk to those guys about what transpired prior to our arrival. I think what is healthy is to improve, to not be satisfied, to not be content…I'm very transparent with them. I tell them where we're at. I tell them what's happening within the league. I don't know that that's necessarily the right thing for a coach to do, but within our culture, team rule number one is: Always tell the truth, no matter your emotional state. Secrets are lies. That's team rule number one, so I just tell them the truth.
On earning a first-round bye in the ACC Tournament…
I told them that if we win, we get a bye [in the first round of the ACC Tournament]. But I don't think our guys completely get that. They don't know what the bracket looks like…I don't think you want to have a team full of guys like that. I think you want to have a team full of competitive guys who are trying to figure out how to win the next one.
On the play of Justin Bibbs…
As the season has played itself out, I'm not as concerned with Bibbs as maybe I should be. He's the most offensive efficient player we have. He's the most defensive efficient player we have. He's never, ever, ever going to play out of the scouting report. I don't know that I take him for granted, but I don't ever even want to sub him. I'm just working with these other four guys, and Bibbs has always been the constant…I told Bibbs that earlier this week. [I said,] "You're so efficient, and I apologize if you feel like I'm wearing you out." He never comes out in practice either. I could tell from his gait, I could tell from his spirit, I thought he was in a really good groove from the start.
On playing at Wake Forest on senior night…
Codi Miller-McIntyre missed three shots. Since we've been here, that's the highest number of misses he's had. So we can't guard him. And I've always thought that even if Devin's [Thomas] line doesn't say he scored a lot, he always forced help. Going into tonight's game and looking at the three games we've played Wake, it was a tied ballgame; it was 244-244. I guess as a coach, yes, I was wary of it. I didn't bring a lot of attention to that to our team. We haven't had much success on the road in our tenure, so I think that our team needs to be thoughtful about our own team versus the atmosphere.
Codi Miller-McIntyre
On how the game ended...
"We got to get stops. That's been our achilles heel the entire year. Getting stops when it matters. We have to play better defense."
On what the team was missing in the second half...
"Probably just the defensive mindset. I've been saying that all year. We scored 74 points. That's more than enough points to win the game. We just have to get stops. They made a run and went up 10. Then we fought back and at one point we were down four. They made another run. We couldn't score the ball, but they were converting on offense. At the end of the day, they were more aggressive on defense, that's why they won the game."
On fixing problems that have been present all year...
"As a whole, we have to get tired of losing the same way, over and over. If the whole team doesn't feel that way, then you will continue to see losses like this. I think we showed that one game. A full 40 minute effort against Boston College. It's just a mindset as a whole team and not one or two people."
On his thoughts leaving the floor for the last time...
"It was tough, the four years being here. I think we both understand that. It was great to be able to play in the ACC and at a great school like Wake Forest."
Mitchell Wilbekin
On what the seniors mean to the team...
"The main focus was to win for our seniors. Especially this year. the way Devin (Thomas) and Codi (Miller-McIntyre) have been the face of the program for their four years. A lot of people have left, but they've stayed committed. They've been working hard and they've been great leaders for myself and the freshmen coming in. It was tough. It always hurts."
On the next game...
"The season's not over. We've got to get ready for a tough Duke team. Then we play NC State in the first game of the tournament. We've got two games left, but we want to have more. We just got to keep working hard."
Devin Thomas
On how the team did when he was not playing...
"I thought we played well. We played together."
On what they need to do against Duke...
"Just coming together. Believing in each other."
