University of Pittsburgh Athletics
Post-Game Quotesheet
11/4/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 4, 2006
POST-GAME QUOTESHEET
Pitt vs.
Quoting Pitt Head Coach Jamie Dixon:
On his team's performance:
"What you saw out there were two very good teams playing. I think there was a point early where we could have pulled away, but they have very experienced talented kids. There were things we could have done better, but their play had a lot to do with the final score. It was good competition and that's what we were looking for tonight."
On what his team could have done better:
"We'd like to hit every shot, but especially our free-throws I thought left some room for improvement. We're trying to be perfect out there, and we need to be way more patient defensively. Our defense will improve as we play more, but we never want to get outscored at the free-throw line."
On the play of his guards:
"What you saw was great passing and a lot of unselfishness. The few turnovers they did have were on things like moving screens and going after a loose ball, so very good on that end. I thought they also took a lot of good shots, which is indicated by our high shooting percentage."
On
"We were trying to hold the ball for the last shot. We got fouled, missed our free-throws and they turned around and got a buzzer beater. That's a four-point swing right there, and those things happen. Also, I think it's early in the season and we're still learning how to play tough defense for 40 minutes. There's still room for us to grow in that regard."
On using three guards at the end of the game:
"We'll do that sometimes when we know teams are going to press us. I thought they made good decisions with the ball and didn't force any plays. We did however miss some free throws at the end that prevented us from pulling away."
On his starting five:
"Nothing's written in stone at this point. You're always looking for the best combination, so you can never say for sure who's going to start. We had some guys in foul trouble tonight, and even apart from that had guys coming off the bench, like Levance [Fields] who played a significant role. No team uses the same starting five throughout the season; it's the rotation as a whole that's key."
On Sam Young's playing both small forward and power forward:
"Gilbert [Brown] being healthy gives another perimeter player, and opens some things up for everyone, including Sam. The way we run our offense there's not a lot of difference between the two positions, so he doesn't have to make that many adjustments."
Quoting Pitt's Levon Kendall:
On his success shooting from the outside:
"It's nice to get off to a good start, but it's something I've worked on so it's not completely a surprise. What I really want to do is keep it going throughout the season."
On his overall offensive game:
"I got started off with some easy baskets, and I think that really got me into the game. Then with the attention they paid to Aaron [Gray], I was able to get some good open looks and knock those down. Also, I think we ran the floor really well as a group tonight, and that led to some points in transition."
Quoting Pitt's Aaron Gray:
On playing with Levon Kendall:
"We've played together for four years now, and that experience really helps on the court. You just get an overall sense of where the other person's going to be and what they're going to be thinking in any situation."
Quoting Pitt's Antonio Graves:
On the team's perimeter defense:
"It wasn't where we wanted it to be tonight. We need to get better on the ball, but especially at filling the gaps when they drive down the middle towards the hoop. We knew coming in they had good guards who would look to penetrate, and we didn't stop them as much as we should have. We'll just have to work harder to get better."
Quoting
Opening Statements:
"Compared to
On playing three Division I teams during the preseason:
"We need a knock back into reality, so we use these three games as a teaching tool to challenge ourselves at a different level. It's a great fundraiser for our programs to be playing here at Pitt, at
On getting beat up with a rough preseason:
"You get a false sense of security if you beat up on teams you know you can, so this is something we need to do, to challenge ourselves. We didn't make shots tonight and we didn't execute because Pitt ran us out of our offense. We're a very young basketball team and we're just trying to get our feet wet. We're still learning each other and as the season progresses we'll be in a better situation to execute."
On what the team had learned so far:
"This team has the potential to be a good team because of the flexibility that we have. We have a lot of interchangeable parts and we can create problems with our quickness on the perimeter. This is the best group of perimeter players I've had at
