University of Pittsburgh Athletics
Post-Game Quotesheet
1/6/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 6, 2014
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POST-GAME QUOTESHEET
Maryland at Pitt, Petersen Events Center, January 6, 2014
Pitt 79, Maryland 59
Quoting Pitt head coach Jamie Dixon
Opening Statement:
“It was good. Our bench was the thing that got us going in the first half and continued throughout the second half. The thing I noticed and thought was a great sign of growth and maturity for Durand [Johnson] was not playing much in the last game. He was sick, didn’t practice the two practices prior and didn’t play a lot. He played well in the couple of minutes he had played. He had great energy yesterday and it reflected in his performance today. That says a lot about him, a lot about our guys and so that’s great to see and it’s a great reflection of why he has improved that much as a player. He plays hard and yes, he is going to make some mistakes. He brings intensity every day when he’s out there and that is why he has gotten better. I’m proud of him and Josh [Newkirk]. I thought Jamel [Artis] played well in the second half. Chris [Jones] played well for us the other day and Derrick [Randall] did good things for us as well. That was key and it got us going with everyone else in the second half.”
On how Josh Newkirk’s brings a change of pace:
“He played really well early in practice. He played well early in the preseason. Then had a small stretch where he hasn’t played well but obviously last two games he has been terrific. He’s a great kid. He listens and wants to get better. He has a lot of physical tools and is quick. He is a good decision maker for a freshman and can shoot the ball well. He hasn’t shot well for a stretch but he was good the other day and terrific for us today.”
On his initial thought on ACC play:
“It is terrific. As a kid you hear about the ACC and the Big East. So far I like it after two games but we have a long way to go and a lot of improvements to make. We have a lot of great teams to play against and a lot of great places to play at. We are fortunate. We went form a great conference to another great conference. We are excited to be a part of it and I thought our fans were too.”
On if he had to re-teach man to man defense due to the rule changes:
“There’s no question. We try to do a better job of getting in the lane help side. With the rules you can’t hand check or grab so it’s been an emphasis and a battle. It’s been a challenge to get guys to play that team defense and even more so than in the past. We have had to adjust according to the rules. We have made a big emphasis of that.”
Quoting Pitt forward Durand Johnson
On what sparked the 11-2 run to end the half:
“We just played hard. Coach Dixon gets on us a lot about our play at the defensive end because that’s where it all starts. We all bought into it and we went out there and played hard, made a run and got it going”
On whether he embraces playing defense now:
“Yes, definitely. Coming off the bench, I just try to play hard and bring energy because the other guys look to me on the team for that. Whatever I have to do, I want to be the guy who brings the team up.”
Quoting forward Lamar Patterson
On whether Maryland stopped pushing back in the second half:
“We are a team that likes to grind people out, so if that was the case then so be it. We just want to go for forty minutes. Last game it showed that we got punched in the mouth but we were able to come back. We just want to be a forty minute team and if teams can’t run and stay with us, then I guess that is good for us.”
On changes he sees in the team when Durand Johnson starts hitting shots:
“Both of them are spark-plugs. They know they have to bring the energy; Josh (Newkirk) has done well and Durand (Johnson) played great. It is good to see these guys step it up a notch in big games like this, especially in ACC play. We expect that from them all year long.
On the team’s start in the ACC:
“It is a good start to begin play at 2-0, but there are a lot more basketball games left and we want to finish strong until the end. “
Quoting freshman guard Josh Newkirk
On getting eighteen minutes for the first time this season:
“It means a lot. It gives me a big confidence boost. I like being able to bring that energy like they (Durand and Lamar) said. Hopefully I can keep doing the little things right and continue to play more.”
On if his offensive game has improved as this season has progressed:
“Definitely. You have to be in the gym constantly working on your weaknesses and improving your strengths. I have definitely been working harder, so that has helped me to this point.”
Quoting Maryland head coach Mark Turgeon
Opening statement:
“I thought Pittsburgh was terrific. They were deep, had a lot of guys make shots for them, executed well and they were tremendous on defense. I thought we were really good for the first 18 minutes in this building. We played at a pretty high level for us but we just didn’t finish the half. We didn’t start the second half very well. We hung around, 12, 13, and 10, right around there, and then we just didn’t get it done late. You can never make a serious push. We cut it to 10 and we got (Michael) Young to shoot a quick three and he missed it, and we had five guys standing around and watched. I wasn’t particularly pleased with the way we finished the game defensively and offensively, but I think you’ve got to give Pitt a lot of credit. I can’t believe they’re not ranked at 14-1. They’re as good as anybody that we’ve played. They’re a terrific team that’s well coached.”
On the differences between the first and second halves:
“We didn’t make shots. I hate when coaches say that it could be as easy as ‘they made shots and we didn’t,’ but we missed a lot of open looks, and (Pitt) seemed to make them. We gave them some confidence, but it’s not that simple. Our execution wasn’t quite as good in the second half and our defense just was, I thought we tried to guard in the first half, but I don’t think defensively we were dialed in during the second half. I think the score and missed jump-shots kind of affect our defense in the second half.”
On his thoughts regarding Pitt making a run in the ACC:
“I don’t know about the ACC. I just know who we’ve played, and we’ve played some pretty good teams. Pitt’s good. Pitt’s really good. They’re deep, they’re physical, they guard you, they play hard and they execute. It’s a different guy every night for them and they’re really deep. You’ve got Durand Johnson going 6-for-8 and (Josh) Newkirk going 3-for-4. It’s pretty nice for the first ACC home game for guys like that to step up. They’re good, and (Lamar) Patterson is as good as advertised. They’re terrific. I can’t see a lot of teams coming in here and beating them in this building, but it’s been that way for years around here.”
On reflecting and moving on from tonight’s game:
“I know we lost by 20, but I’m more encouraged now than I was three hours ago. I know that sounds crazy, but they shot 53-percent and we shot 45, and it’s all correctable things for us. I know that sounds crazy but I feel like we’re better than the final score. The things that we didn’t do well we can correct. We’re getting there. We’re 2-1 in the league. We’ve got to go to Florida State. We’ve got a lot of road games early so we’ve got to become a good road team.”
On the Panthers’ defensive physicality:
“It’s hard to drive on them. When you drive you’re going to get bumped, they’re going to reach in, and a lot of times they strip or hitch it, so I do think that we settled for too many jump shots. I won’t mention any names, but we settled for some of those, which disappointed me, and we didn’t rebound well. In the first half, I thought we rebounded, but in the second half we didn’t rebound.”
On the final minutes of play:
“It’s hard when you’re at home and you’re up 18 to keep playing. It’s easy to come back and we couldn’t make a dent. It was just a lack of patience on offense and just no concentration on defense. It’s frustrating. I just kept thinking ‘let’s make a little run.’ I thought the game was going to end up like six or eight or nine, and that’s why I thought it would end, so it didn’t. We learned about it. You can’t sit there and play like that. There’s a lot of basketball left in the season. We’ll learn from tonight. We won’t play many teams better than this. This is a heck of a basketball team.”
Quoting Maryland guard Seth Allen
On Pitt’s run to take the lead at the end of the first half:
“You have to give them credit, they hit like every jump shot and we couldn’t get together a set of stops. We were scoring but we just couldn’t stop them.”
On Coach Turgeon feeling encouraged even after this loss:
“I think he just sees the potential we have and for as bad as we played, we were still in it. He’s smart and he just sees potential. I feel the same because from day one I’ve always believed in us.”
On if Pitt brings more physicality to the ACC:
“I wouldn’t say they bring a different style, a lot of teams in the ACC are pretty physical. It wasn’t them though it was more so us, we couldn’t get stops, but we’ll play them again in a couple weeks.”
