University of Pittsburgh Athletics
Auburn vs. Pitt Post-Game Quotes
12/4/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 4, 2005
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Post-Game Quotes
Pitt vs.
December 4 2005
Quoting Head Coach Jamie Dixon:
Opening remarks:
"We really executed throughout the whole game. It was a great team effort. We executed against a team that is a very good team. I was happy with how we came out and defended from the start. I couldn't single out one guy, it was really 11 guys doing it. I thought it was a big step for us as far as improving."
On the shooting improvement:
"We shoot a lot of shots during the week, always do. We hit a couple early, got some confidence going. It's all about taking good shots. It started from our defense."
On Levon Kendall improving:
"He's played very well throughout. Some people focus on numbers, they don't understand all the things he does. He's a great team player, he's a great kid. He's doing a good job on the boards, doing well with his defense. I'm very proud of him and everything he's done."
On keeping such a big lead:
"Once we got the lead we kept it. Sometimes it's difficult to keep up the intensity, but there was no drop off in intensity. It could be because we had new guys and kept them fresh. I thought that was a really good sign and a really big step."
Quoting Ronald Ramon:
On anticipating defeating
"They're a good team. It was about our defense. Our shots were better this game."
On the intensity tonight:
"A lot of guys said this was going to be our first test, so we came out with a lot of intensity and played hard. Everybody was on the same page."
On working on the shooting:
"We're always working. It wasn't a matter of us not working before, it was a matter of us not being as confident as we are now. I think it starts from defense. This game we were out there playing good defense."
On what it does for everyone else when shots are dropping:
"The big guys are more confident in kicking it out to us when we all know shots are dropping. They've always had confidence in us but when they know we're making shots it opens the game up for them."
Quoting Carl Krauser:
On shooting the ball better:
"Yeah it's really about having confidence in your shot. A lot of guys struggled from the field before this so we wanted to go out there and make shots."
On beating an SEC team making them a contender on the national scale:
"Pitt has always been a contender. We're a Big East caliber team, we're a good team, we've won championships. We have done a lot of great things in this conference. Playing a great team like
On feeling the crowd's intensity more tonight:
"We felt the crowd, it was electric through the whole gym. Everybody was out there giving great support. It really gave us a lot of energy and we really appreciate the fans at Pitt."
Quoting Levon Kendall:
On taking advantage of height:
"Anytime you see two freshman starting at the post eyes light up for a couple of guys like us. The same as any game though, you try to come out and play aggressive. Aaron's a tough guy to guard and we're working well together."
On finishing better:
"We've been working on that all season. Coach has put in a few drills for us to help us finish inside."
Quoting
Opening remarks:
"Pitt played awfully well tonight, possibly the best they've played all year. We got physically dominated at every spot. To start four freshman it's very difficult in this environment. They have been shooting the ball very well, I knew that was coming. They shot the ball extremely well from the three tonight. They were so much bigger than we were, Levon Kendall and Aaron Gray. It was men and boys, really."
On tonight's game showing what SEC competition will be like:
"The road is going to be difficult. This was something I talked about being a measuring stick for the future. We have a long, long way to go."
Quoting
On having friends or family attend the game:
"Yeah I had about 25 people. My dad, cousins, friends, close family, friends close to the family."
On anticipating such a physical game
"We knew it was going to be a physical game. I don't think we came ready to play in the first half. We came out better in the second half. It's hard to come back when you go into halftime down 24."
On scoring almost all his points during the second half:
"The first half they were playing real aggressive and weren't allowing me to get the ball."
On being a very young team:
"We told them how it was going to be coming in but telling someone something isn't going to make it register. Everybody had to learn first hand tonight what it's going to be like. This was like a SEC game for us. This was a good measuring bar for us so we know what it's going to be like come January."
