University of Pittsburgh Athletics
Notre Dame vs. Pitt Post-Game Quotesheet
1/4/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 4, 2006
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POST-GAME QUOTESHEET
Notre Dame at Pitt
January 4, 2006
Quoting Pitt Head Coach Jamie Dixon:
Opening Statement:
"It was a great game. Both teams made plays. There was great execution and solid decision making on both sides. They made their shots and we both battles. I thought it showed tremendous character with everyone both young and old responding. It was just an unbelievable game."
On Carl Krauser's play:
He was tremendous the whole game. I thought his defense and rebounding really stood out. When he fouled out, where do you start? We had different guys step up and throughout make excellent passes, with very good shot selection. Even the defense on Chris Quinn was good, it's unbelievable some of the shots he made."
On whether he considered fouling at the end of regulation:
"That's something that we never consider, but after the way Notre Dame shot the ball, tonight we considered it. The percentage of them hitting a three pointer versus everything that has to go right on a foul shot, we like to take our chances with them shooting a three."
On whether it's the craziest game he's coached at Pitt:
"Their shots were deep and oftentimes we had a hand in their face. Our guys made plays tonight and there were very few mistakes. Some of the shots Notre Dame hit were from 35-40, if you step out on those it's bad defense. It was a game for the ages and I'm just glad we battled and found a way to win."
On the importance of his young players winning their first Big East game:
"You want to win them all. There's no extra value to tonight, there's nothing special we should take away from tonight other than this is the effort we need throughout conference play."
On the final shot of the first overtime:
"We wanted to call time out as soon as the basket went in, but the referee didn't see me. I talked about our execution earlier and I thought to get that good of a shot with 1.5 seconds speaks to that. Everyone did exactly what they were supposed to on the play."
On Levon Kendall taking a lay-up rather than dribbling away time at the end of regulation:
"You never pass up a lay-up, but tonight may have actually been the exception. It's usually a good thing, and once again great execution by Levon. It just came down to their guy making a play again."
On controlling Torin Francis:
"He's a great player, a tough kid, a former McDonald's All-American. I think the key is that we have tough guys who can battle down low, and we're deep so we can keep rotating guys in to play him very physical."
On the play that set-up Ronald's game winning three
"It's the same play we ran at the end of regulation. There was a great ball screen by Sam, excellent penetration by Levance; Aaron ducked his man and Ronald hit his spot on the floor perfectly. Once again, it was just great execution.
On Notre Dame's success in making threes at the end of the game:
"I thought our defense was good. Sometimes at the end of games guys are looser, and they know you can't foul. It was just a case of them hitting really tough shots."
Quoting Pitt's Ronald Ramon:
On the play the led to the game-winning shot:
"We tried to make a play off Notre Dame's zone. We ran it earlier in the game and it worked. I knew there was a good chance the ball was going to come to me. It was a screen up top and whoever is open has to make the play. I knew I just had to be ready."
On not having Carl Krauser in overtime:
"It's tough because he was the guy making plays. He's our energy guy and our leader on the floor. When he went out we knew it was time for everyone else to step up."
Quoting Pitt's Carl Krauser:
On watching his teammates in overtime:
"It's an inexplicable feeling, the way my teammates battled. We stayed together, and did what we needed to do to win. At the end of practice we scrimmage for five minutes. I told the guys before overtime, this is just like practice, five minutes we have to get through."
On the emergence of young players:
"I believed in my teammates from the jump. Coach asked me before the season if I believed this could be one of the best Pitt teams ever, and I told him 'yes.' We've got a mix of young guys, veteran guys and all of them are legit Big East players."
On Levance Fields' play in overtime:
"That's the
On Notre Dame:
"They're a great team with a great coach, and every time we play them it's a classic game. I just love my teammates and love the game of basketball and I hope the fans appreciate the chance to see these young guys play for three or four years."
On the fans harassing Chris Quinn:
"I don't want them to stop getting on him! They should distract him and make him miss. He did everything right, he played his guts out and he gave his team a chance to win."
Quoting Pitt's Levance Fields:
On his play in overtime:
"Coach looked at their defense and gave me the heads up to do what I wanted to do. Once I started breaking guys down off the dribble, that opened up the entry pass to guys like Sam and Aaron."
Quoting Pitt's Aaron Gray:
On his success in the game:
"From the tape I knew I would have to play good defense and avoid foul trouble. That allowed me to make some plays, and I was just able to come out and have a really good performance."
Quoting Notre Dame Head Coach Mike Brey:
Opening Remarks
"I lost track during the game. It felt like we played seven league games. It was a great game. They gave us a chance to win and we made the plays when we needed to."
On Chris Quinn
"He plays great here. I felt like he played like the best in the league in the last twelve minutes. I didn't want to screw him up."
On experience from game
"I hope we grow up from this we got to find the positives."
On the difficulty of defending Pitt
"They have a high basketball IQ. They are an unselfish group and I credit that to Carl (Krauser). I'm glad they're not a repeat opponent. (To Pitt players in the room) `We'll see you guys in
On Pitt now
"With (Chris) Taft and (Chevon) Troutman gone they are a lot quicker. Their other teams used the half court more now they mix it up and keep fresh bodies in the game"
Quoting Notre Dame's Chris Quinn
On the chanting from the crowd
"I don't pay much attention to it, I just continue to play the game. I hear stuff everywhere and I'm sure teams hear stuff when they come to play at our home."
On pace of game at the end
"We had to force some things and score quickly"
Quinn on experience in similar games
It felt like my high school days
Quinn on what it was like to lose
"It was tough to take. We gave ourselves a chance to win, we need to learn from this."
