University of Pittsburgh Athletics
Post-Game Quotesheet
1/14/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 14, 2007
POST-GAME QUOTESHEET
Pitt vs.
Quoting Pitt Head Coach Jamie Dixon:
Opening Statement:
"I guess the thing that I'm the most proud of is how well our university and our program came across in this ESPN Game Day event. It's tremendous exposure and it lets people know what kind of school and what kind of students we have here. As for the game, it was two great teams that played well, and fought and battled right until the end. It's exactly the kind of game you hope for when teams of this caliber meet up."
On Pitt finishing with 22 assists:
"It's unbelievable. I think sometimes both programs get more credit for their defense, but we're both pretty good offensive teams as well. Our execution, our passing, and really our unselfishness held throughout the entire game. I've been saying all year that unselfishness is the kind of thing that spreads with a team, and it's spreading with us right now."
On Pitt's scoring depth:
"It's what we do, and have been doing all season so it doesn't come totally as a surprise. To have so many weapons makes it easy to read a defense and then take what they're giving you in a particular set. It's also helpful that we have nine guys who can create spacing, then make a pass to exploit it. Not many programs have that many players cn play like that."
On the play of Patrick Ewing:
"He had a career high tonight, and you never go into a game predicting a career high. One thing we noticed about him was that even though he hadn't taken a ton of shots, he was still shooting at a very high percentage. I think sometimes when you have big lead like we did when
On the play of Mike Cook:
"Mike really had impressive numbers across the board tonight. His assist-to-turnover ratio in particular stands out on the stat sheet. He's really gotten better as the year has gone on, as he did last year even though he wasn't playing in games. Last year he improved as a shooter and this year it's been his decision-making, knowing when to leave your feet and attack the basket. That said, I still think, as I have all along that his passing is his greatest asset, especially for a guy his size."
On Pitt making it a point to attack the basket:
"We go into every game looking to attack the basket first, either through penetration or through an interior pass. Tonight, I think this was a big reason why we shot such a high percentage, and even some of our misses were on good, wide-open looks."
On the play of Levon Kendall:
"Levon certainly did a lot of good things tonight. His offensive numbers stand out, but I was just as impressed with the job he did defensively on Jeff Green and Roy Hibbert in particular. What you saw out there tonight is what we see from Levon everyday in practice, and it's what we've come to expect."
On Pitt's free-throw shooting:
"We were certainly very good at them tonight, though I wouldn't go as far as to say they made the difference in the game. I think at the end we were up so
On the match-up of Aaron Gray and Roy Hibbert:
"I thought Aaron [Gray] going up against Hibbert was certainly a key to the game, but maybe not the all-important match-up everyone made it out to be. Both of them had similar numbers coming in, and actually had almost identical lines in the game tonight. But there were four other guys on the floor for both teams, so, as always, it never comes down to just one match-up."
On Pitt's tough early schedule helping them in this game:
"When you're coaching during a game, that kind of thing never crosses your mind. We've one a lot of games at Pitt playing a lot of different kinds of schedules so sometimes that gets overplayed. I think practice has much more to do with improving than anything."
Quoting Pitt's Mike Cook:
On Pitt finishing with 22 assists:
"We try to play like that all the time, in every game. We know the players around us are talented and trust them to make the right play when they have the ball. Coaches preach unselfishness to us all the time; it's just a matter of executing when you're on the court."
On how he scored 18 points:
"I just go out there and play. Tonight we tried to spread the floor, which is easy to do when you have big men who can move like we do. They just suck people in and that creates space for me to hit an open jump shot or drive the lane."
On his matchup with DaJuan Summers:
"There was some elbowing, some talking, and after he blocked my shot I thought he went a little bit too far. It got us really excited when Ronald [Ramon] hit a jumper over him right after that, and when we get excited and fired-up like that, the other team better watch out."
On Pitt's biggest strength:
"It's definitely our depth. Aaron Gray is great, but we also have so many players on this team capable of getting a double-double or scoring twenty points every time they step on the floor."
Quoting Pitt's Levon Kendall:
On the importance of this game:
"Every game in the Big East conference is important. It's especially nice though to beat a team that you've known all along is going to be with at the top of the standings for the whole season. We just have to bring the same toughness and confidence when we play UConn on Tuesday."
On the crowd tonight:
"They were pumped-up and we absolutely fed off of that. In the locker room before the game, we were all talking about how it was like having a 20-point advantage before we even stepped on the court. All we had to do was keep the crowd in the game."
Quoting Pitt's Aaron Gray:
On matching up with Roy Hibbert:
"I'm just happy we won the game. In terms of the match-up though, it was exactly what I thought it would be. They were very physical and made sure to contest every shot or move I made. I just had to keep my composure, not get carried away with the emotions and start forcing things."
On whether Pitt's tough early schedule helped them in this game:
"Whenever you play a tough game, it's a god sign of where you are as a team. Playing Oklahoma State in particular allowed us to key on some things that we've worked on to improve. However, what we really took away from all that is that you don't want to be the best team in December or January, you want to be the best team in March."
Quoting Georgetown Head Coach John Thompson III:
Opening Comments
"That's a very good team. We didn't play poorly, they're [Pitt] just that good. They're all experienced. Every single one of them has played in big games like this. They're poised and all around just a very good team."
On Pitt getting the loose balls:
"We made a good effort throughout the game when it came to getting the loose balls. Our guys pursued them, but Pitt just has a tendency to make things happen for them. We were down big there for awhile, but we were able to fight back and then we just some bad bounces. It's those bad bounces that got us and they [Pitt] are who caused those bad bounces to happen. They scored on almost every possession. They're guards were just terrific tonight. They played so well."
On guarding a balanced team like Pitt:
"That's why they're good. It's that balance that they have. Like I said earlier, they're all experienced and they've all played in the big games before. They've all been in tough situations and they've become tough players. If you focus on Aaron Gray, that's a mistake because he's surrounded by some great shooters and passers. But he's also a great passer. If you guard him heavily, he can kick it to guys outside and he knows they can shoot and they do."
On Patrick Ewing Jr.'s performance tonight:
"Patrick [Ewing Jr.] came in and did what he's supposed to do. He brought energy onto the court with him and that's what we need him to do. He did a good job guarding Aaron Gray and collectively I think we did a good job tonight. We just ran into a good team. They [Pitt] played very well."
On the fans and atmosphere:
"I think their [Pitt's] fans give them more of a boost than they bring us down. We played in a lot of difficult environments to get ready for this one and we didn't let the crowds affect us in those games. They're fans are just awesome, but like I said I think they affected them [Pitt] more positively than that affected us negatively."
On looking ahead to the next time
"I think I still have to digest this game. Both teams shot 60 percent. I guess that means there wasn't much defense being played tonight. With the exception of that stretched they had in the first half, we played well and guarded them well. Right now, though, I'm not thinking about Pitt again, I'm thinking about
Quoting Georgetown's Patrick Ewing Jr.
On his performance:
"I came in to the game and just wanted to help our team get a win. I wanted to do what I could do to make that happen."
Quoting Georgetown's Jeff Green
On losing a game his team played well in:
"This doesn't feel good at all. We missed a few stops we needed to get the win. We need to get better on defense. If we continue to let big teams score, we're going to continue to lose." Coach Thompson: "And that's not going to happen."
On playing a team like Pitt:
"Aaron Gray and Levon Kendall are just good. They play good low and they can shoot. This team has a lot of good parts and that's what makes them really hard to defend."
On playing at the
"These fans are great. They have great fans. But we can't come in here thinking about the fans. We're not playing the fans, we're playing the team. The fans can't beat us. The team can. We have to do what we can to take the fans out of the game."
