University of Pittsburgh Athletics
Post-Game Quotesheet
11/7/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
POST-GAME QUOTESHEET
Philadelphia at Pitt, Petersen Events Center, November 7, 2014
Pitt 82, Philadelphia 71 (Exhibition Game)
Quoting Pitt Head Coach Jamie Dixon
Opening Statement:
“Thank you guys. Well, we got a good game out of this one for sure. [Philadelphia] beat James Madison the other day, so we knew they’d be good. We knew they had all these guys returning. That’s why we played them. It was an honor to coach against a guy with that kind of a history. [Philadelphia head coach Herb Magee] is a legend. I don’t know him very well other than his reputation. It’s an honor to coach against him and play against his guys. I thought they were a clinic offensively. Congratulations to them. They’re obviously experienced, old, and good – well coached too. We’ve got to get better defensively; we know that. They do a lot of things that play against what we do defensively. They spread the floor, and we adjusted as the game went on, but I thought we could have handled it better. But give them credit. They’re good. We’ve got to get better defensively. Offensively, we’re pretty good. I think we shoot the ball well. We’ve done that consistently in practice. We pass it really well. And we’ve got a pretty good balance inside-out, scoring-wise. [We did] some good things in that regard. We knew they’d come in with the soft zone. That’s what they did the other day. We’ve got some things to work on, but I thought James [Robinson] did a really good job offensively. He also was our best defensive player. We had some guys that made some shots and did some things, but still are hurting us defensively. We’ll get that addressed and get better at it. I’ve got to do a better job of getting our defensive principles in place. The mistakes continue – yeah we’re young – but we’ve got experienced guys for our youth and we shouldn’t be making the mistakes we’re making."
On the play of junior forward Durand Johnson:
“[Durand Johnson] did some good things. He practiced a little better, and today he did some good things. But again, defensively, he made mistakes. Obviously, he made some shots. Our passing [led to] 20 assists. Often times we look at the results, but Mike [Young] was 10-for-16, and pretty much every one of those are underneath the basket. The guy we look at is the one that delivers that pass and puts him in a position to make a layup. It was the same thing with Durand. Every one of those shots were wide open. We’ve got to continue to do that. Offensively, again, I think we’re pretty good. We’re kind of a team-in-the-works. Even though we’ve got some returning guys, they haven’t been practicing. We’ve got to get more done in practice – defensively, and from the guys that didn’t play as much today.”
On the effect of exhibition lineups on the defensive scheme:
“We’re making the same mistakes. Again, I think the way that [Philadelphia plays], we don’t see a lot of teams where they can play four out like that, that are that skilled. They certainly were. Matchup-wise, to start the game, I think we made a mistake. I don’t know if it was a mistake; I think we knew what was going to happen, but we were trying to show improvement. We didn’t, and we paid for it. I don’t know if I would have started that way in a regular season game, but I wanted to see if we were at the point where we could handle a very skilled team executing well. Counter that with us doing things right. We didn’t. It got [Derek Johnson] going. We kind of made an adjustment there but he kept going strong. We went to the zone, and in the first play in the zone, we don’t do what we’re supposed to do. We’ve got some things to improve on, there’s no question. You look at their team; they’ve got seniors, experienced guys. Granted, they’re listed as a Division II team, but we know they’re very good. I believe we will be very good. We’ve got freshmen out there making mistakes. We’ve got [Joseph Uchebo] who’s a junior on paper but hasn’t played in three years. We’ve got Sheldon [Jeter] who hasn’t played in a year, hasn’t played with us. We’ve got Derrick [Randall] who hasn’t practiced. We’ve got a lot of guys that are making mistakes that shouldn’t be making mistakes after that. That’s why we practice. That’s why we play these games. I’m glad we had two teams exploit us like they did. Again, it’s partly because they’re good, partly because of how they play. At times, it can be a hard matchup for us. We recognized that going in, but if we’re good, we’ve got to be able to guard it.”
Quoting Pitt forward Michael Young
On how Philadelphia stayed in the game:
“They have a good team and a really good player. He basically kept them in the game and constantly made shots the whole game; it kept him confident.
On the improvement of his jumper this past offseason:
“I work on all aspects of my game in the offseason. My jumper was one of the things I really wanted to work on. I want to make more plays for my teammates. Going forward, I am a smart basketball player and I am just going to play the game. I am going to be aggressive and take what I get.”
Quoting Pitt forward Sheldon Jeter
On how Philadelphia stayed in the game:
“Our defense kept them in the game. Tonight, on ball, we didn’t play well. All around, it was just a bad defensive night for us. The only good thing is that we can better from here.”
On Philadelphia only playing 5 guys:
“Only one of their players came in off the bench, but they seemed like a really well conditioned team. I didn’t notice any of them getting tired. Maybe towards the end, some of their missed shots were due to fatigue, other than they didn’t seem tired.”
Quoting Pitt forward Durand Johnson
On how Philadelphia stayed in the game:
“We definitely let those guys get in their rhythm early. Our defense wasn’t as good as it normally is and should be. We are going to learn from this, get better and move forward.
On how confident he is in his shot:
“I was able to knock down some shots. After I made the first shot, it gave me a lot of confidence. I knew it was going to be a good night for me. My teammates found me and I was able to make some shots tonight.”
Quoting Philadelphia Head Coach Herb Magee
Opening Statement:
“We have a good team and Derek (Johnson) had a very good night but this is a really good basketball team for our level. I am not sure we could play in the ACC because we are not big enough or deep enough, but I like our team. All the credit goes to Pitt, if they didn’t make everything they looked at in the second half, it could have been a different result. They made a lot of tough shots, our guys were on them and they made a lot of threes. We couldn’t play them man to man because they were bigger and stronger."
On only playing five guys:
“I am notorious for that, if you look back on my career I am one of those coaches who only plays five and a half guys. The first four subs were all freshmen so I think it was better the way we played it.”
On the team’s mindset coming into this game:
“We are a decided underdog any time we play a Division I school but we have had success over the years with Division I schools. It’s a great game for us because we have nothing to lose. We beat James Madison and hang around with Pitt; we won’t see anyone this season that has the depth and size that Pitt has. There won’t be any team all year long that is as big and strong with the depth of Pitt, so it was a great game for us. I am very appreciative of Coach Dixon for playing the game.”
