Post-Game Quotesheet
11/27/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
POST-GAME QUOTESHEET
Kansas State vs. Pitt, EA Sports Maui Invitational Third Place Game, Lahaina Civic Center, Lahaina, Hawaii
Quoting Pitt head coach Jamie Dixon and players Michael Young, James Robinson and Ryan Luther
THE MODERATOR: Coach, some opening comments on tonight's win.
COACH DIXON: Obviously, we showed a lot of character from a young group that's gone through a lot of changes over a short period of time here in the last couple of months, and they responded in a big way. That's a very good team, Kansas State, that we beat, and we beat it the way we wanted to do it as far as defense, execution on the offensive end, and smart play throughout. So very proud of our guys how they responded. We were obviously embarrassed by our performance yesterday and they responded in a big way. So really a true test of character by our guys in this situation. Very proud of them, and I look forward to practicing on the layover on the way back. We've got a tired group. We've got a tired group that they've everything they can. They've been through a lot, and I think going forward here we're going to be in good shape.
Q. Just talk about the team's surge in the second half and what was going right for your team?
James Robinson: We had a three-point lead going into the half, and we were pretty excited at our first half performance, but we knew we had 20 more minutes, and Kansas State wasn't going to back down. Basically we knew they were not going to quit, so we had to turn it up another notch for that last 20 minutes. We still made some mistakes. We still did some things we need to correct. But for the most part we needed to execute and finish strong down towards the end of the game.
Q. This is the probably the first time you guys as a team looked like Pitt, in terms of how you defended and the urgency on that side of the ball. What changed from last night to today that you were able to come back out and play that way?
Michael Young: Being embarrassed on national television. I mean, that will do it. I mean, basically we got embarrassed last night and everybody went back to the hotel and it was a bad feeling. Coach told us we have an hour to feel bad and then turn around and you've got a good team in Kansas State who played Arizona tough the day before. So we knew we had to come out and play hard. I just challenged everybody last night to find it within themselves to play as hard as they could. We came out and played really, really hard on defense. We paid attention to detail and got the job done.
Q. Ryan, first podium game for you comes on this stage in Maui and a big win like this, how encouraging is that for you as a young guy going forward with the way you played tonight?
Ryan Luther: It was definitely good to get a little confidence, couple more minutes. When they get on the floor, I'm looking to play defense. Really I made a couple shots because I was working on defense, and got some easy looks and some good set-ups there.
Q. Talk about how happy you guys were that Joshua hit that last shot?
James Robinson: It's always good to see guys like Josh Ko, Mike Lecak, and Aron Phillips-Nwankwo get in the game. But especially for Josh's homecoming, to have him come out and hit that shot was big. I think we were all really excited for him. It was just big time. I think that's something we're all going to remember, and hopefully he does too.
Q. Just overall thoughts on the tournament now that it's over. What you guys got out of it, and what you can take from it going forward?
Michael Young: Well, we ended up beating a good team in Kansas State, and we're taking this game to our next -- I think it's Indiana. Just from the tournament, a lot of experience for me being a sophomore and being a captain on this team for the first year, and really trying to lead this team offensively and defensively. That was a lot of experience for me going up against different types of teams that we might see in the ACC. Also good experience for our young guys, Cameron and Ryan. Ryan played really big today. I was proud of him as far as defense and offense, and making shots. Overall as a team, we're a pretty young team. So this was a great experience. Having this game and winning big I think is what we're going to take off. We've seen it once. We knew we were going to play defense. We went out there and showed it, and I think as a team we're going to take off.
Q. Jamie, what exactly were you able to do to get them to play as well as they did defensively considering the battles you've been fighting for the last couple of weeks?
COACH DIXON: Well, we felt like we were making strides even though the numbers didn't seem to indicate it in the last couple games. So I think getting healthy, I think getting Ryan, getting Derrick back. I think those are important things. Obviously we've been kind of -- no team has gone through as much changes in a month and a half, two months than we have as far as what we thought we were going to have and what we did have. So it's just been a process. Every day has been something new. I think we responded in a big way. We let some things bother us on the offensive end that hurt us and affected our defense. That's something we've got to get beyond. But playing -- Ryan has become one of our best post defenders, if not our best. It's been an amazing transformation considering where he came from in the summer. So it's just getting guys better, and just having guys available I think is usually a factor. We don't spend too much time talking about what we don't have, but we've got some good performances from a lot of guys, and I think they'll get better. This is something they needed and they earned it.
Q. You guys held Kansas State to one guy in double figures, Thomas Gipson. What do you think he did well across the board defensively?
COACH DIXON: Well, we double teamed him pretty much throughout the game. I thought we turned it on and off a little bit, trying to keep him off balance. I thought that helped some. I thought we did a very good job on Foster. I can't really explain that because I saw some of the shots he hit and the plays he made last night in the semifinal game. He's very good, very good. But I don't know how we were able to contain. We did a good job on the ball screens with him. I thought that was important. He scores off of that, and we didn't want him to get to the foul line, I thought that was important. We didn't want to give him any easy ones. We thought we made a mistake on the one he hit in the first half on the simple to the corner pass. But other than that, I thought everything was pretty well guarded.
Q. What happened? They got you guys down quick. What did you do offensively? What happened right there?
COACH DIXON: To me there were some strange turnovers. You had a drive to the rim, and we were in a pretty good spot. He slips. Drops it out of bounds. But that's what killed us other the night. The turnovers in the transition baskets, our defense. You look at the stats and look at field goal percentage defense. You go, if you turn it over and they get lay-ups on the back end, that's not much defense that can be played. That's what started again today early in the game. We're a low turnover team. That's what we're going to be. I think we have to find our personnel. We obviously went into a season thinking our two leading scorers were going to be two other guys, and now we have to readjust, and that's not what you normally do at this time of the year. But we're fighting. We're battling, and I think they showed a whole lot of character going forward. So we have guys in roles that never even thought a visit our possibility. You may have guys in new roles, but then you're talking about putting guys in new roles they didn't even think about going into the season, and that's what you have in this situation right now. I mean, we're going to red-shirt Ryan Luther and Cameron Johnson. Obviously a couple things happen and now you can't, so you have to readjust.
Q. What did you learn about your team in these four games here on the island. Did you get what you wanted out of it?
COACH DIXON: We're exhausted. There is no question. Probably more so than I anticipated. The travel was tougher than I thought, and I've done it a few times. But just how things worked out. But what we saw is this is the team we are. Not the team we were a week ago or two weeks ago, and this is what we are going forward. I'd rather be at this point at the end of the week than the other way around. So that's what you want to do. You want the team that gets better, and we obviously have. We've got an opportunity to grow here going forward. We've got some adjusting to do still, but they're hungry. They did -- we executed, and they had success with it, and we needed that.
Q. Going after the UH game and going into this tournament you talked about the last game is usually how you feel going back. Now that it's done, how do you feel with all your Hawaii ties and at the end of this trip now with your team, how do you personally feel about this journey out here?
COACH DIXON: Obviously, you don't have the guys you think you're going to have, and you make plans and it doesn't work out the way you want it to, and we wanted to win the whole tournament. But Kansas State's really good. I'd rather, like I said, finish the way we just did beating a team like that as we did and the way we did it. So I feel good right now because you're only as good as your last game. But these guys needed to see what defense could do and what it could do for your offense. That was, I think, a big part of - a big big benefit.
Quoting Kansas State head coach Bruce Weber and player Thomas Gipson
THE MODERATOR: Coach, your opening thoughts on this afternoon's game?
COACH WEBER: Not much we can say. Obviously we're disappointed. They just out toughed us. I thought we got off to a good start. I thought a key was going to be our bench because we had played two very, very hard fought games the last two days. We used a lot of energy, so I thought the bench would be key. So probably put too many guys in at one time where we were up 10-4 or something, and they made the run to get it back. We never really got going again. They just had more toughness, more will to win, competitive spirit. We have guys play 34, 34, 34, 34, and they had the same schedule as us. They came over and played Hawaii, so there is no excuses. I thought we had very -- we had to share the ball better. When we move the ball and get it to open people, we're a better team. There was one possession in the first half where we moved the ball and got Nino a little jumper. After that we didn't seem to make the extra pass, get it to where we didn't have much continuity. That's my fault. We've got to go home and learn a lot about our team, and see we can make some strides.
Q. Thomas, I know you can't use fatigue as an excuse. But how fatigued was the team?
THOMAS GIPSON: I felt like we put everything in on the first two games. But like you said, it's not an excuse. We needed to come out and play, and they out-toughed us. So we just all have to overcome that fatigue and just play harder.
Q. Thomas, you played four games away from home now. How would you rate your experience? Where do you think the team is at this point?
THOMAS GIPSON: It's a good experience. Hopefully we can learn from it and go back home and get ready for the Big 12. We've still got a long ways to go, but I feel like this was a good first step for our experience in away games and neutral games.
Q. What were they doing defensively that maybe the other teams weren't that caused you some problems?
THOMAS GIPSON: They weren't really doing anything. We just got out-toughed. I don't know if we got outrebounded or not. But we weren't as aggressive as we were in the first two games. We weren't making the extra pass to the open game. That's just what happens when fatigue hits. Like I said, it's not an excuse. We've just got to keep moving forward.
Q. You mentioned that mass substitution in the first half. Is that something you were maybe trying to see rotation-wise?
COACH WEBER: There were two or three guys out all at the same time. Obviously other games at Long Beach or Purdue, that bench had played pretty good. But this game, we probably had too many guys at one time and didn't get a good mix. We didn't shoot the ball well. Pittsburgh, I'm sure Jamie will tell you they haven't shot it real well. And tonight they had some guys jump up and make shots. And then you feel better. I think they got energized when they made shots that last stretch of the half. We still have a good close to the half, and we were one possession. But first five minutes of the second half we just couldn't seem to get over the hump. We just didn't make the right read, the right play. You know, I think we had some guys trying to make plays on their own instead of doing things as a team.
Q. You said this is the kind of deal where you learn a lot about your team. So now that it's over, what would you say you learned about these guys?
COACH WEBER: I'd like to take this game out of it, but obviously you can't. But I thought we showed some competitive spirit since Long Beach. We showed a little better defensive intensity. We just got to find a little better niche offensively. I don't know what we got against Purdue, 80-something, but that was a lot against zone. We were horrible yesterday against a very good defensive team. But we can't rely -- if we don't make shots, we've still got to find ways to win games. We've got to go back, watch film, figure it out, and move forward.
Q. Justin had a little better game today. What does he need to do to take it even further and get going?
COACH WEBER: I think he played a little tentative. It was good. He got the dunk down, got a little excitement, I think he got a little better intensity. Now if we've got to make some shots, that would help us because we need some other offensive weapons. If we were like totally on Marcus, people pinch Marcus. So some other people have to make some plays and make some shots. We had hoped Justin would be a guy. Wes can do a little bit with slashing. Nigel can jump up and make some shots, but we didn't have anybody doing that today except really Thomas. I think Jevon had a good -- he still had the best energy of anybody. He still has to learn how to play and hopefully he loves the game. He wants to learn when we go back and watch film and figure some things out.
Q. Bruce, is that something you still have to emphasize with Marcus is other guys have got to make plays?
COACH WEBER: He drives. We've got some actions where we're creating opportunities for him. Now you've got to pinch on him. We told him an assist is a good stat too. Just besides, sometimes we've got to take away the three ball and make some other plays. We've got to help them with that. That's our job as coaches.
Q. In hindsight, that Long Beach game, is it still a good thing for you guys to have done that? This is a tough tournament, three games in three days?
COACH WEBER: I'm sure it is. And if you asked Jamie, should we play Hawaii, and we both talked about it this summer, people go home. There is one team 3-0, 3-2-1, 3-1-2, or somebody 0-3, and we're one of that group with 1-2, and now we have our schedule, power rating and all that stuff will be good. But we've got to get better and get some wins here quickly. It's not going to be any easier with Nebraska-Omaha. Long Beach, we learned about ourselves. It helped us with Purdue, helped us with Arizona, but obviously we didn't have enough ammo in the gun for today.
Q. How would you assess the way your team played defense today?
COACH WEBER: I didn't think it was bad. Halftime it's 30-27. I just think we got to that point in the second half where we had a lot of guys hit walls, and we couldn't make baskets. Just a little disappointed in that competitive spirit at that point to keep fighting it out and keep it where it's at 8 or 10. I mean, that's where the game should have been, probably, and we didn't do that.
