University of Pittsburgh Athletics
St. Francis (N.Y.) vs. Pitt Post-GAme Quotes
11/29/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 29, 2005
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Pitt/St. Francis Quotes
11/29/2005
Head Coach Jamie Dixon
Opening remarks
"I thought it was a very good win for us. St. Francis is a very good team and I think they're going to do very well in their conference this year. They're experienced, they had a good coach. Coach Nash does a good job with them. They have good size, good athleticism and they're pretty experienced with seniors and juniors. I think they're going to do very well this year. They just won at Fordham, so I think that tells you something. We did some good things. Offensively, I think we really passed the ball well, we got good shots throughout the game, took care of the ball. Our defense was good, not great but we're going to continue to get better at that. I thought Ronald did a great job in the second half on Brown, Keith too, at times, and so we did a good job. It comes down to team defense, those guys really stepped up as far as guarding him. He's a dangerous player and can really score in streaks and I thought we gave him a few too many open looks early. We adjusted. We did a good job in that area. I thought Ronald was very good on the defensive end and I thought Carl was very good on the defensive end, away from the ball. There were some possessions there defensively where we rotated well and caused some turnovers. It was good, it was improvement. As far as our first four games we've seen steady improvement and I thought we had a lot of good performances by a number of guys. Antonio turned his ankle so we were without Antonio there for awhile and we didn't have him, he's one of our better defenders. Obviously Doyle was out too as well so all of a sudden we were trying to get guys to play a little bit more minutes than they've been used to."
On Ronald Ramon's improvement on defense
"Ronald was always been a good defender for us, even last year. He's done a very good job with the transition. He is better though. On the ball, more active with his hands, ball pressure, those types of things. I think he has improved but we thought of him as one of our best defenders last year, as a freshman. That normally doesn't happen but he got to play a lot of minutes as a freshman."
On the defense being "good" not "great"
"You never want to think you're great right now because you've got to keep improving. It's all about improving. We always talk about being, you know, you're either improving or you're getting worse, you're never staying the same. So we've got to improve and I think our post defense has gotten better. I think that was pretty good. I think we did a good job passing, I think our unselfishness was very good. We're going to knock down some more shots, I know that's going to be coming here shortly"
On combinations and rotations
"I think there's a rotation there that guys are getting used to and they understand what their time is, and with injuries things change and that's happened with Doyle and Antonio. So I think we're going to have a number of guys in there but I feel comfortable with the amount of guys we're playing and the guys who they're playing with. It's new guys playing different roles. Even the returning guys are in completely different roles than they. This is a good team that we beat, and executed well throughout. If we make a few more three's I thin we look even better. I thought we passed the ball well and got good looks, and did what we wanted to do. We got the ball inside early, which is what we wanted to do as well. We executed our plays a lot better and we ran more plays today too. So all in all, 8th day in a row we've been playing or practicing and that was a concern of ours too. That is much longer than we normally go, so we'll have tomorrow off. So I thought we were pretty fresh, considering we don't normally go for eight days straight."
On expectations of Carl Krauser
"I thought he was really patient with things. He didn't shoot a great from three but they were all pretty good looks and he did some good things. They feed off his energy, there's no question. The plays he makes, his energy, his leadership. It's one thing to talk about it but it's another thing to do it. He's been doing it in practice, and he's doing it in the game and you can see he's a much better defender than last year and I think that's carrying over to our guys as well."
On Aaron Gray improving
"I thought he did some things; he looked more comfortable going up with it. There was one time that he passed that he should have gone up with the ball but yet he also had patience in the post too when he got it. Teams I think are going to double down a little bit more as this goes on. He didn't average a lot of points last year so people are maybe a little surprised at his numbers right now. His defense has been much better away from the ball, he still has a tendency to get some fouls, coming down, moving his arm forward but those are things that we continue to work on. Again, the progress from his senior year in high school to now has been steady yet dramatic."
On Aaron helping out where they lost players last year
"It's obviously key. You lose two big guys but we have lot of confidence in him and I think the players did too. When you saw his conditioning and his body improved, I think those were thins that kind of stood out so I think the guys had confidence in him and we had confidence in him. We knew it was going to be a process when we recruited him. Its been steady, he's worked hard so it's a good sign. I think Levon (Kendall) has played very well, he's done a lot of good things. Four assists, that's a lot out of a big guys, and his defense is very good for a big guy. He does a lot of things out there. I think Sam (Young) and Tyrell (Biggs) are going to give us some good minutes too. We're throwing so much stuff at them right now but they're going to be fine."
On early shots
"We went inside and that was what we wanted to do and that was what we talked about coming into the game, we wanted to get the ball inside. Like I said, we ran a lot more plays early, that's just part of the process as the season goes on, guys feeling more comfortable with the plays and sets. I think we executed our plays very well and we'll continue to use more of our sets. I thought we also got good looks on the perimeter."
On pulling away during the second half
"I think our defense. We made our three throws too, I think that was a big part of it. We shot the ball well from the free throw line. We were getting more penetration."
Quoting
Opening Statement
"For teams like us, coming into an environment like this, you have to play your best game to win. I thought for 20 minutes we did that. In the second half we had too many turnovers, too many mental mistakes and I thought Pitt had a lot to do with that. Their size and strength was a huge factor and really managed to knock us off our game."
On what his team gains from a game against the Big East
"You learn to play against teams that have mismatches. Aaron Gray is a monster who's going to play in the NBA. We just don't have a guy like that on our roster. Then later on they can rotate in their young guys, who are strong and physical and we just can't match-up. They simply wear you down physically."
On Aaron Gray's biggest strength
"I think his biggest strength is how well he runs the floor. He's tremendous at turning from defense to offense. He gets down the court and either scores in transition or beats his man to the post position."
On Pitt's Second-Half Defense
"Big East players aren't going to let you have to halves like that. Christian Brown had a great first-half, but Pitt did a great job denying him shots after half-time. He got frustrated and that's what a good defense can do to a guy who's used to scoring."
Quoting Pitt's Carl Krauser
On his mindset coming back during the second half
"I just really wanted to come out and give my team a big energy lift in the first half. I always explain to them after the first half, the first five minutes of the second half is our most important and we need to come out with great energy, great ball pressure and staying together is going to be a big part of winning this ball game here tonight. So I just wanted to come out here and provide a spark for us in the second half."
Carl Krauser on letting a team hang around and working with teammates
"When we come out there and we're not focusing or not playing great outside defense and things like that, it causes teams to come out and hit open shots and great shots. That's when we dig ourselves a hole and have to dig ourselves out. So what we have to do now is concentrate on the couple of days off that we have to practice and just really dig down and basically have a self check within ourselves as a team and come out here and give forth the effort for 40 minutes of defense."
On Pitt scoring 31 points off St. Francis turnovers
"It is a lot of fun because we take pride in our defense. Sometimes we just really, really enjoy playing defense because we know it provides offense for us so when we're out there, or we're working in practice and we're playing great defense Coach rewards us with points and things like that so we kept that in mind in the second half and just really went out there, talked on defense, rotated well and just really caused a lot of turnovers and converted on them."
On passing Curtis Aiken on the all-time scoring list
"I really don't think about records and scoring and things like that. I just really try to come out here and try to do what I'm capable of doing, and that's putting the ball in the hole, finding guys and playing great defense. I'm just trying to help this team win a Big East Championship and a National Championship."
On talking to Curtis tonight
"He told me congratulations. He's a big mentor and a big part of the reason why I've gotten better this year. A lot of these guys in
On Aaron's size advantage, focusing on getting him the ball
"It's always the focus to get the 7-foot guy the ball. We have a great advantage. We have two great big men down there that can move the ball, run the floor, score. You know they bring a lot. And I always want to get Aaron the ball. I told him the second half we're coming right back down to you the first play. He provides a great big presence."
Quoting Pitt's Aaron Gray
On feeling more comfortable
"There's definitely been improvements since my freshman year. A lot of that goes to my teammates, tonight I really didn't have to do much. I had great passes, when I was running the floor guys were hitting me. I definitely feel more and more comfortable. I'm still not at where I want to be at. I still feel that there are a lot of things I can do better at but right now I'm doing alright."
On expectations of Carl Krauser
"He's our team leader in the locker room, and out on the court, as well as off the court. He's one of the main reasons that Pitt is looked at as such a physical and overpowering team. One thing about Carl is we know we're going to get that every day, in practice or in a game."
On tonight being his best game of the season
"It's hard to say. I things well and I did things that weren't so good so you'd have to ask Coach Dixon about that."
On losing key players from last year
"We lost Chris (Taft), Chevy (Troutman) and Mark (McCarol). Our three inside guys but I knew right away that coach Dixon had a lot of confidence in me and I knew my teammates had a lot of confidence in me and that's my motivation to get out there and play the best that I can."
Quoting Pitt's Ronald Ramon
"On his defensive boost early in the second half
"I just try to go out there and help the team as much as I can. If coach wants to put me in and try to play defense, then I try to come in here and do the best I can and help the team."
On playing a more physical defense in the second half
"More team defense. We had to get more focused. At the beginning we were giving up shots, we weren't talking on defense at all. In the second half we were talking more and the team defense was good."
On clamping down on Christian Brown in the second half
"He's a great player. We played against each other in high school. It was kind of like a pay back, if you want to put it like that. We played against each other for the city championship back in
