Post-Game Quotesheet
11/10/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 10, 2007
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POST-GAME QUOTESHEET
Pitt vs.
Quoting Pitt's Head Coach Jamie Dixon:
Opening Statement:
"This is a very good win for us against a team that's likely to be in the NCAA tournament. I'm not sure if you ever want to play a team with six seniors and a pressing defense in your first week of games, but that's what happened today and I thought we responded well. I was disappointed we turned the ball over 14 times, I think we're smarter than that against the press, but it gives us something to work on. Overall though, we took good shots, worked the ball around very well and were unselfish which is how we like to play the game."
On Pitt's passing:
"When you have guys like Sam Young, DeJuan Blair and Tyrell Biggs, bigger guys with guard skills, you expect to be a good passing team. We pride ourselves here on being unselfish and looking for the best shot possible, so we've had some very good passing teams in the past. However, I think for the reasons I just mentioned above this has a chance to be the best passing team we've had certainly since I've been at Pitt.
On the play of Sam Young:
"You look tonight at the stats and you'll see his shooting was great, but I continue to be impressed with things like his defense, his leadership and the way he's approaching things when out on the floor. He works very hard at being the best he can be, but also at making his teammates around him better, which is fun for a coach to watch."
On DeJuan Blair's early foul trouble:
"That's something that I put on the defense as a whole. Big guys are going to get fouls called on them because it's physical down low and there's a lot of contact. We've dealt with our big guys being in foul trouble before and we'll deal with it again. Sometimes it's not even the big guy's fault there's a foul called, it could be the result of another guy letting his man get through. Our defense needs to get better and it will."
On Pitt's defensive philosophy against
"It's not something that worries me because our guards play bigger than they are. Levance rebounds very well and Ronald has been matched up throughout his career with bigger guys, so it's something we're accustomed to dealing with."
Quoting Pitt's Levance Fields:
On the play of Sam Young:
"If he keeps making shots the sky is the limit for him. He's the type of player that can score in so many ways that nothing is out of the question. When we commit to playing in transition that suits his strengths very well, so I have a ton of confidence he's going to be very special this year."
On Pitt's transition game:
"We definitely love it as players. It's a different look from the way we usually do things, but it's also a fun way to play. I'm confident that we have the talent and commitment to the style that we'll keep playing this way once we get into the Big East schedule."
On playing against North Carolina A&T's press:
"There were some break downs early where we weren't getting the ball to our press breakers, and that's when the turnovers came from. We have the mentality that teams shouldn't want to press us because we'll hurt them if they do. I think you saw that happen as the game progressed where we were able to get some quick buckets because we beat the press."
Quoting Pitt's Sam Young:
On hitting so many three pointers:
"I was open a lot so I took advantage of that. I think they lost track of me sometimes, where their big guy would think I was going down into the post, and instead I bounced back out to the top of the key. I worked on that shot a lot because of who often ends up guarding me, that shot is usually open."
On being down early in the game:
"I had confidence the whole team would pick it up. We got together in the first media time out and decided that we were going to come out after that and show them who was in control. Our goal was to prove that they didn't belong on the floor with us."
On how effective he feels he can be from three point range:
"Someone told me that it would be a very effective weapon if I could shoot around 35% for the season. Naturally then my goal is to raise that a little bit and shoot closer to 38-39%. I think if I'm able to do that, not only will that help my scoring, but it will open things up for other players as well."
On what is goal is for scoring coming into a game:
"My goal is to average a win every game."
Quoting
Opening Statement:
"I just want to start off by commending Pitt's performance tonight. They went on a good run with eleven minutes left in the first half. They hit some big three-pointers, capitalized on turnovers and played well off the bench. They played a lot of players tonight who all played hard and well and accomplished a lot."
On Sam Young's three-point shooting:
"Well yesterday, he [Sam Young] was 1-for-9 in three-point shooting, so his shot at the end of the half was surprising. I think he got into a good rhythm both with three-point shooting and beating our guys in the paint. Pitt had 14 offensive rebounds which was a key part of the game, as well as making a lot of three-point shots and lay-ups."
On Sam Young as a threat in the Big East:
"I think he [Sam Young] will be tough to guard in the perimeter. However, I think the Big East is going to be a really tough conference, especially teams like
