University of Pittsburgh Athletics
Post-Game Quotesheet
11/24/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 24, 2006
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POST-GAME QUOTESHEET
Pitt vs.
Quoting Pitt Head Coach Jamie Dixon:
Opening Statement:
"I thought this was a great performance by us. Given how good
On Pitt's passing:
"We try to recruit passers, guys who really have a sense for it, because it's not something you can coach. I think this is probably the best team we've ever had in that regard; we do it inside and out and top to bottom. Aaron [Gray] really set the tone, which is something he doesn't get enough credit for. He makes the passes that lead to assists, so his role doesn't always show up on the stat sheet."
On the play of Mike Cook:
"He's a small forward with point guard skills. What really separates him is his passing, which we've always liked about him. We just need to convince him to stay on the ground more and let his court vision and feel for the game take over."
On defending
"Coming in we knew they were going to try to push the ball. I thought we did a good job limiting our turn-overs in transition which is something that their offense thrives on. I thought how quickly they push the ball up-court caught us off guard early, but we adjusted well as the game progressed."
On Pitt's perimeter play:
"Everyone played really well, so it's hard to put your finger on one thing. I am very pleased with the way Sam Young has improved at guarding the perimeter; he's come along much more quickly than we could have hoped. It really makes our whole team stronger to have him play like that."
On the play of Gilbert Brown:
"We were happy to get him a chance to play. His ankle was heavily wrapped and is still only at about 80%. It's really a tough situation for him, getting sick and the hurting himself. He missed the first 19 days of practice, so we wanted him to see some action at this level. The red-shirt is still a possibility this season, but he's going to be a great player for this program."
On the upcoming game against Robert Morris:
"I haven't seen the film yet, but given the scores I've seen from their games this has to be the best team they've ever had. We know they have some good players returning and Mark Schmidt is a great coach, so the game is going to be a challenge. Like most of the teams we've played so far they're picked to win their conference. They fit with what we're trying to accomplish early on."
Quoting Pitt's Antonio Graves:
On Pitt's shooting:
"It's easy to shoot like that when we're executing so well. They're a good team, and we knew how they were going to try and play us. Coach was really good about installing some new plays this week that would get us open, and we knocked down the shots."
On how Pitt felt coming into the game:
"We were pumped up for sure. We had a mindset coming in that we wanted to show everyone what we could do against a team of this caliber. The focus was to prove that we could get stops on defense, and we were able to build the big halftime lead doing just that.
On what this game says about Pitt:
"I think it shows that we're an all-around talented team that can win in a number of ways. We have a lot of weapons on offense, but the strength and what will ultimately win us games is our commitment to defense."
Quoting Pitt's Mike Cook:
On how
"Every team is going to try to take him away from us, they know how good and valuable he is. We just have to be ready to step up and take what the give us, because to take him out they have to leave some other things wide open."
On Pitt's passing:
"Making the extra pass is something we worked on all week in practice. We saw on film that they were athletic and liked to jump out in the passing lanes, so we made it a priority to find take our time and find the open man. It was especially important considering they were double and triple teaming Aaron [Gray]."
Quoting Pitt's Ronald Ramon:
On his play:
"I just have to be ready all the time. With all our talent they can't guard everyone, so there are going to be games when other team's defensive plans leave me open. It's just a matter of bringing the same mentality and executing every night."
On whether this game was a test:
"Every game is a test. The next game you play is always your biggest test. If you start thinking otherwise, and treating every game differently you're going to end up falling short of your goals."
Quoting
Opening statement:
"Tonight we ran into a
On the transition defense:
"I wish I could pick out only one thing that got us into trouble. They really put us on the defensive and we had trouble on defense. I'm sure we can do a better job."
On an overall evaluation:
"We are going to have to use this as a learning tool. After tonight we need to get to the drawing board. It is possible to make second half adjustments and if you are able to make those adjustments then the second half is not impossible. As a team, Pitt is so unselfish. They make that extra pass and seem to enjoy making the extra pass, which is very hard to defend. They have accepted their roles and are able to execute the offense. When players play unselfish like that, it makes the offense run smoothly. It is very unusual to have such talent buy into a philosophy but I think every player here has totally bought into the coaching philosophy."
