Postgame Quotes - Wake Forest vs. Virginia Tech
1/10/2018 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
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Wake Forest Head Coach Danny Manning
Opening Statement...
"The game did not start out as well as we would have liked. Virginia Tech came out and played a really good first half. We didn't provide the amount of resistance that we needed to provide and they jumped out to a sizeable lead at half. We came back in the second half and did a couple things right, but not enough to put ourselves in a situation to have the ultimate outcome that we wanted. We've got to continue to work and get better."
On Justin Robinson's offensive rebound after Wake Forest had cut the deficit late in the second half...
"It was a bad miss. It was an air ball, I believe, and we didn't track the ball and he just stepped in front of Bryant Crawford and got the rebound and put it back. We didn't help ourselves by turning the ball over on the next possession. It also doesn't help when you turn the ball over 13 times and only have 11 assists."
On Doral Moore's performance...
"We want to get paint touches. We talk about getting that through the pass and the bounce. All of our bigs can make themselves more available, but our guards can also drive it downhill more. We want to get paint touches by the pass or by the dribble and we have to continue to do that. That's when we play our best. That's when we're our most efficient, when we get paint touches."
On Virginia Tech's run at the end of the first half...
"We shot the ball a little too soon, and then we had fouls to give and didn't take them. We didn't close the half the way we wanted to at all. We have to do a better job of that. We'll continue to work on those situations and get better at them."
On the team only having 11 assists...
"I don't think it's not sharing the ball. A lot of it has to do with missed shots. We didn't shoot the ball at a high clip in the first half. 37 percent. When we shoot the ball better, it will help in the assist category but you have to give Virginia Tech credit."
Virginia Tech Head Coach Buzz Williams
On Virginia Tech's offense in the first half...
"Obviously, I think it looks a lot better when you make shots. I thought we did a good job defensively of getting stops. Like any team in college basketball, when you get stops, you have more opportunities to play in transition. I thought we played more in transition in the first half than we have in a long time, particularly in league play. That was a byproduct of getting stops."
On the team's hot 3-point shooting...
"As a head coach, I've never adjusted a player's shot. I believe true confidence can only come from your work and I think our guys work hard. That doesn't mean that you're going to make every shot. Our turnover rate has been incredibly high in some games, too high, and then when you also don't make shots, that only compounds the problem. We turned it over nine percent of the time against Pitt. Today, we turned it over 15 percent of the time. That obviously helps."
"I think another piece to that is playing for one another. We had 20 assists on 30 baskets against Pitt and 20 assists on 29 baskets today. That means the ball is moving. That probably means the defense is in rotation and probably means there are some baskets in transition and all of those things, especially when you have multiple guys on the floor that can shoot, are beneficial."
On Ahmed Hill and Justin Bibbs' performances...
"I don't know which shots that Ahmed Hill and Justin Bibbs have shot and missed that I would classify as bad shots. There are 351 Division I teams with 13 full scholarships. Ahmed Hill is sixth in the country in effective field goal percentage. I've never coached a guard that's even in that realm. I think Justin Bibbs, in the last 20 years at Virginia Tech, he's number three three-point field goal percentage. Those are two guys I'm very lucky to have on my team."
On Justin Robinson's play down the stretch...
"I thought he did well right there at the end. I thought we handled their runs with the highest level of maturity we have shown this season. There were multiple teams when they cut it to six or seven. I thought Justin Robinson was exactly what you want your quarterback to be when the game gets close. I think he made all of his free throws, which is always good."
