University of Pittsburgh Athletics
Post-Game Quotesheet
2/7/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 7, 2008
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POST-GAME QUOTESHEET
Pitt vs.
Quoting Pitt's Jamie Dixon:
Opening Statement:
"That was a big time shot by a big time player. I've said all along that I'm the luckiest guy in the world to coach Ronald Ramon. He's a great player and an even better kid. The play call at the end, we were looking for penetration and to create based on that, which we were able to do. It was a great shot by Ron but it was Keith Benjamin that really made the play by finding him with the pass. Everyone stepped up tonight and it was a great win over a great team."
On West
"We said all along that they had the wrong guy at the line shooting. I'm not sure why it took so long for them to take a look at the play, but the key is they got it right."
On the play of Brad Wanamaker:
"Brad gave us a great effort tonight. I felt like our guards have really been playing too many minutes, so we wanted to make a conscious effort to get some other guys more playing time. Brad really made some great passes, and everything just kind of flowed out of him from that. He was really ready to go."
On Pitt's foul trouble:
"Foul trouble is something that we've been fighting, especially with our depleted line-up. We've been subbing more on fouls recently that I can remember and that changes the game. It's not the ideal situation, but it's the hand we've been dealt and we have to respond."
On the in-bounds play that Keith Benjamin scored on with one minute to go:
"Well it's certainly not exactly how we drew it up. They're guy covering the in-bounder switched out leaving Keith open, and DeJuan was able to find the open man. He's a great passer with great hands, and it enables him to adapt and make a play like that."
Quoting Pitt's Ronald Ramon:
On the final play:
"I tried to get an open guy when I brought the ball in. My first look was to Sam Young and they did a good job covering him, so I got it to Keith. Keith sucked two defenders with him, and I saw some open space and just kind of drifted over there and Keith did a great job to find me. It takes a great team effort to make a play like that."
On how he got open on the final play:
"That's a tribute to Keith Benjamin. They were forced to worry about the guy with the ball then and that allowed me to get open. They knew he could make a play if the didn't collapse on him."
On what went through his head as he shot:
"I just spaced out. I wasn't thinking about the clock or the situation. I just tried to make a clean catch and get a good shot off. It felt good coming out, but you're never sure as a shooter until you see it swish through the hoop."
Quoting Pitt's Keith Benjamin:
On the importance of this game:
"This game is huge. Every game is huge from here on out. The Big East is a crazy league, and you never know when you're out of it. Even if you have four losses you're not out of it. We're playing well on defense and once we get back to playing like I know we can on offense, we're going to be a tough team to beat."
On defending
"They're guards are great. You have to make sure you pressure them the entire time. If they catch the ball 30 feet from the hoop, you have to be there with them. If you let them get into the flow of the game, they're going to beat you. You have to take them out of their rhythm."
Quoting Pitt's DeJuan Blair:
On Ronald Ramon's shot:
"I knew it was good when it left his hand. I have all the confidence in the world in my teammates, and we all did a great job fighting through and pulling out the game. We have to build on this now and get a winning streak going. I think we're getting on track now. We have to keep our heads up and keep moving forward."
Quoting the officials regarding the free-throws taken off the board, as told to Pitt Associate Athletic Director E. J. Borghetti (pool reporter):
"It was a correctible error situation and it was corrected within the parameters of what the officials were allowed to do by rule."
Quoting West Virginia Head Coach Bob Huggins
On the questionable foul shooting incident:
"I've never been involved when that happened. Said they had the wrong guy at the line. It's never happened in a game where I've coached. I didn't see it, but by rule it's a correctable error."
On his defensive view of the winning play:
"We were switching every cross, we had four guys switching and one guy decided he was going to push up, for whatever reason. He pushed up, we get screened, Wellington Smith thought he needed to go help, he went and helped, and he made a good shot. I mean that was the guy we talked about, you can't let him beat us and you can't let Sam Young beat us."
On Joe Mazzulla:
"Joe's one of us, Joe's the guy you want on your team. Joe's the guy you want on your side."
On their defensive lineup at the end of the game:
"Well it wouldn't have mattered, because the guy that we had in didn't switch anyways, so it wouldn't have mattered. You switch everything, you don't give them a look at a 3. When it's a 2-point game what are you going to do? Let them go shoot a lay-up and go into overtime? You got to guard them."
On the situation of the team right now:
"Well, I think it's pretty apparent that we can beat anybody. We can also get beat by anybody. We got to suck it up and go play. Sometimes you depend on people you shouldn't depend on. We're going to have to figure it out. We just don't score the ball very well. We got to figure out some ways we can score a little bit better. Saying that, we're supposed to be a good shooting team, I mean, that's what they told me. And then we go 7 for 17 on the foul line, and it's consistent, it's a pattern."
On why Alex Ruoff wasn't scoring:
"They're guarding him. I mean, I think everybody comes in saying they aren't going to let Alex get 3's on him."
On Ramon's last shot:
"I thought he wouldn't make it."
On Pitt's defense:
"I mean they're a good defensive team. Jamie's doing a great job and I think they are one of the better defensive teams in the league. I'm not so sure they're so good that Joe can't hit the rim on his first like 3 or 4 though. Jamie's doing a great job with them, they do a great job of fortifying the basket. But we score 54 points, and hold them to 55, our defense hadn't been the issue. We just don't make plays when we have to make plays."
On changes they need to make:
"We need to play guys that will listen, that when we say we're switching everything, have 5 guys out there that you can count on. It's my fault, it's my fault."
