Post-Game Quotesheet
12/23/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Recap |
Box Score |
Notes |
Photo Gallery 
POST-GAME QUOTESHEET
Holy Cross at Pitt • Petersen Events Center • Pittsburgh, Pa. • December 23, 2014
Pitt 58, Holy Cross 39
Quoting Pitt head coach Jamie Dixon
Opening Statement:
“We did what we wanted to do with the defense. That was our emphasis these past couple days. The rebounding was important as well. Our goal was to hold them to 35 field goal percentage and they shot 30 percent. Our goal was to outrebound them by 15 and we outrebounded them by 20. We got those things. We wanted to be less than ten turnovers and we had a couple at the end that cost us that goal. They kept playing hard and battling but we did some good things on the defense end and offensively. We got the ball inside. It wasn’t our best shooting day, but we got some guys minutes and that was important, with Joe [Uchebo], Derrick [Randall], and some other guys in there. We kept our minutes low and that helped our defense as well. This is five straight wins with Cameron [Wright] back with us. We are getting a couple days for these guys to go home. We come back and get ready on December 26, 2014 and have four practices before Florida Gulf Coast. I am looking forward to it. I thought we had some good play from our front line guys. Michael [Young] could have played some more minutes but he had a couple fouls in the first half. He played well, as well as Jamel [Artis]. I wanted to get Joe and Derrick some minutes. We are just continuing to improve.”
On working hard defensively:
“I told the guys there was an emphasis on coming up with rebounds. We felt in our last couple games, we have defended well at times and not come up with rebounds or loose balls. I thought early on we did that. It has been a challenge for us as far as having good defensive possessions but not coming up with the long rebound or deflection. We went with our defense today. We preach that, winning with defense. If your offense isn’t up to par, the defense has to be a constant and I think that was the case tonight.”
On the long scoring runs today:
“It seems like we would like to get a few more runs. I feel like we haven’t finished some transitions and opportunities as well as we could have to open things up in games and that is challenging. We have good ball handlers and we are a good passing team, but we haven’t been what we need to be in that area. It is something we are going to work on getting back out here. Spacing in our transition is sometimes lacking. Getting stops and transition baskets is the key to those runs. We would like to get more transition opportunities. I thought we had opportunities and didn’t do as great of a job finishing.
On Jamel Artis’ improvement:
“It is good to see him on the glass. There are things he can improve on. He had to do a lot of things defensively. They are hard to guard with all of the ball screens on the perimeter, all four guys can shoot the ball and they are all playing outside. It is a challenge for us at times. I thought for the most part we guarded them pretty well. We got over extended a few times, but that is something that will come with doing it time and time again. Jamel did a good job in that area. We are just trying to get him to be more vocal and more of a presence in what he does. He has played a lot and one of our most experienced guys at this point so he has to transfer that to the other guys as well. With Ryan [Luther] there and him, we got pretty good production. Ryan gave us four points and a couple rebounds in ten minutes. Between those two, their 38 minutes were productive with good defense. They were guarding Holy Cross’ leading scorer in [Malcom] Miller often times.”
On their game schedule:
“They do need some time off. We have four practices which will hopefully be productive. There is no question, we have gone hard and had so many games. We have had to put guys at different spots. Talking about roles, the important thing is trying to limit guys playing in more than one spot because of situations. Now we can define and limit most guys to one spot and the spot that they are most comfortable with. Florida Gulf Coast is a good team and has a good RPI. This is where we want to be but we have to go forward. Everybody goes through how to come back from Christmas and that is always the challenge.”
Quoting Pitt forward Jamel Artis
On dominating in rebounding:
“We just emphasized that every day. We came out. We rebounded. We just played harder than them tonight. We wanted it more. We didn’t worry about going home; we just wanted to win this game and out rebound them.”
On the 10-point lead at halftime:
“I think we executed more down the stretch. We were unselfish in some points of the game and rebounding. That’s what it came down to and we made stops.”
On taking control in non-conference games:
“I mean that’s what we’re supposed to do in non-conference games. Come out, play hard and execute on offense and defense, as well. Like I said, the defense stepped up for us and the offense just came as the game went along.”
On the big run in the middle of the first half:
“I think we were up by eight and we didn’t look back. We didn’t give them opportunities to score the basketball. We kept pushing, we kept going down their throat and we kept going up.”
On preparing for ACC play:
“It’s a good game going on break. We sit and watch film when we get back and watch the game online. We out rebounded them, we played harder than them. It was a good game coming off the stretch on break. That helps a lot.”
Quoting Holy Cross Head Coach Milan Brown
Opening Statement:
“I’m really proud of our guys’ effort and how hard we played. We knew it was going to be a tough task to come in here and play. It was exciting to see us battle, with them playing as hard as they did. They were just a little too big and a little too strong.”
On why they (Holy Cross) couldn’t knock down shots:
“I thought we had a couple quality looks but they (Pitt) forced us into some bad shots as well. We rushed a couple shots, but we kept fighting. The things we did on the defensive end were the only thing that kept us in the game in the first half.”
On Pitt outrebounding them (Holy Cross):
“That was something we talked about. I like the size we have, but it’s obviously not what Pittsburgh is bringing to the table; we knew that was going to be a factor. My main thing was just to continue to fight. Some of the times, it was just God-given talent and strength that we lost out on tonight.”
