Postgame Quotes
2/6/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
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Wake Forest Head Coach Danny Manning
Opening Statement...
"Today was a difficult game. It was a difficult afternoon. I thought the way the game started, we did some good things in the first half. I thought we moved the basketball well. We did a good job of attacking. They call a timeout towards the end of the first half and go on a run. We come in at halftime and come back out and they go on another run and then, from there, we're playing catch up the whole time. I think we have to continue to play with the same intensity and mentality that we played with when we were winning early on in the game. When teams deliver blows, we've got to deliver blows back. We didn't do that nearly enough this afternoon."
On the continuing second half struggles...
"We have to play with more effort. You have to play with more intensity, but I think the attention to detail (is important). I think when you go back and look, for 11 minutes in the first half, we're doing something right that worked for us. We have to continue with that same mindset for the duration of the ballgame. You're going to take blows, but you have to be able to give blows back. Right now for us, we've got to play defense where we finish the possession. I think a lot of times we've played pretty good defense but we give up an offensive rebound. We gave up 12 tonight. We have to do a much better job of that. Also, we knew that this was a very talented transition team and we lost some guys in transition.
On responding to adversity during games...
"You've just got to continue to grind and fight and battle. It's not where you go out and try to make a hero play. It's consistent, solid basketball. Defensively and offensively. Doing your job every possession. We had far too many breakdowns. It's something we'll continue to work and we will get better at."
On the problems getting going in the second half...
"I couldn't tell you in terms of it's no different than the things we did in the first half when things were working for us. We've just got to be able to, when teams go on runs on us, go back and be solid enough to come down and defensively, bow your neck and get stops. Offensively, drive the basketball, get into the paint, force help and then go from there. We got to the free throw line 25 times so we are getting the ball to the paint. For us, we shot it pretty well from the free-throw line, but when you give up 12 offensive rebounds and you have 13 turnovers, that sums up pretty much a lot of the game."
On Devin Thomas' lack of touches in the first half...
"We wanted to get the ball inside. He struggled in the first half going 0-for-3 from the field. When Devin catches a ball with his back to the basket and he's able to make a quick move, he's successful. If he catches it out off the block a little bit, I think we want him to drive the basketball more and force more help.They had some long guys back there who stayed in front of him and walled up and were able to contest his shot. So that length did bother him tonight."
Florida State Head Coach Leonard Hamilton
Opening statement…
"In the first half of this game, Danny (Manning) really had his team very well-prepared for everything we tried to do offensively. Each time we tried to run one of our offensive systems, we had a very difficult time getting to our spots. He took away certain things that we've been successful doing the last four or five games. We tried one after another and another, and we could not get any type of rhythm because of their defensive schemes. We were able to get a spurt at the end of the half. We got some stops, and we were able to get out in transition into halftime with a four-point lead. I think the thing that made the difference in the game tonight, I thought that the quality of our depth stepped up. Our seniors gave us good leadership, but I thought we had a period there in the second half where a couple of guys off the bench really gave us a tremendous amount of energy, and gave us a chance to get the lead. At that particular point, we were able to maintain that for the rest of the game. You have to give them credit. They were very well prepared and they shut us down in the first half. In the second half, the defensive stops we got, we turned them into transition points and I thought that made the difference in the game."
On a high-scoring second half…
"We thought we had to earn everything. In the half-court, they did a very good job of not allowing us to get to certain spots and get any type of offensive rhythm. They knew our players very well, and they backed off of non-shooters, they clogged up the lane. We were struggling. What really broke the game open was the fact that we got some defensive stops and got out and got some easy baskets and extended the lead."
On defending Devin Thomas…
"Obviously, the respect we have for him is probably one of the reasons why our guys knew that if we didn't play him very well, he could go off for another double-double. We talked about him all week long. He's a double-double machine. I thought we did a pretty good job of trying to keep the ball out of his hands. You really don't hold a guy like that down. We had on the board how many guys had to stop Devin, and I said all five. We had to pressure the ball, we had to get to the front and we had to crowd him if he caught the ball. I think out of respect, our guys executed the defensive plan we had for this game. We knew if he got the ball in the area where he's accustomed to getting it, we were going to have a very hard time stopping him."
Wake Forest Senior Guard Codi Miller-McIntyre
On what needs to change in the second half...
"It's just the mindset coming out that we need to finish it. We practice way too hard to let this keep happening. In terms of energy and effort, I think we practice extremely hard. The second half isn't reflecting that at all."
On the defense struggling in the second half...
"It's a lack of attention to details and just finishing. With the energy, we have to do a better job with staying locked in completely on defense."
On what the team needs to do going forward...
"We need everybody on the team to step up and contribute. If we're not making shots and not scoring, we have to do something else to help the team. We say it every day."
Wake Forest Senior Forward Devin Thomas
On what went wrong in the second half...
"It's the same thing that's been happening every other game. We have to guard the ball."
On what the team needs to improve on going forward...
"I think our main struggle is selfishness. We were unselfish when we started the season 8-2. Now, for some reason we're playing selfish and we don't play defense. We're coming down and just taking quick shots instead of setting up the offense. Everyone's not rebounding the ball on defense and then when we take quick shots they get fast breaks and it's hard to stop that, especially against a team like Florida State."
Wake Forest Sophomore Forward Cornelius Hudson
On Wake Forest's second half...
"In the first half, we came out strong, but in the second half, I feel like we just let this one go. That's how the ACC goes. Against every team we have to come out with firepower and get ready for the ACC Tournament."
On what the team needs to do moving forward...
"Every team has their ups and downs. We just have to be ready to play 40 minutes of good basketball. I don't think this whole year we've had one full game against a big team."
