University of Pittsburgh Athletics
Post-Game Quotesheet
12/30/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
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POST-GAME QUOTESHEET
Florida Gulf Coast at Pitt • Petersen Events Center • Pittsburgh, Pa. • December 30, 2014
Pitt 71, Florida Gulf Coast 54
Quoting Pitt Head Coach Jamie Dixon
Opening Statement:
“I really liked what we did offensively, we were unselfish and moved the ball well and we got good shots throughout. I can only think of maybe one or two questionable shots. I liked how we spread our assists around. We handled some of the things they were doing, switching some things and recognizing those. Also, the inside-out, I thought that was good for us. We got touches by Mike [Young], I thought his three assists in the first half were big for us and it opened up our offense and didn’t allow them to double-team and we played well out of that. A lot of good things, but I wish we could’ve defended better. [Brett] Comer, their point guard, is very good and we did get six turnovers out of him but he was constantly in the lane finding guys and I wish we could’ve kept it going more. They kept fighting and battling. They are a good team. They are picked to win their league and they’re probably a NCAA tournament team. It’s a good win for us going forward. A lot of good things here, the minutes were spread out and we had a lot of good performances from our bench. I thought Sheldon [Jeter], Josh [Newkirk] and Derrick [Randall] did some good things. It was good to get those guys going.”
On forcing 16 turnovers tonight:
“I thought the early double-team caused some of it with their big guys and that was effective. I thought we guarded the ball screens well pretty early but it seemed as the game went on they got a little more in the lane. I think the double-teams early helped us and got us going. We came up with a lot of loose balls and that’s been an emphasis for us, we felt that was something that really hurt us early in the year and that is usually something you can’t address and improve on, but we have and I think that was a big part of it too.”
On Sheldon Jeter:
“I thought he did some good things. Guarding on the perimeter is something that is new to him, but he’s done a good job. We’re continuing to get him going there and offensively he’s just got to find ways to get baskets around the rim, layups and free throw line. I see him getting better and better. He’s worked hard and is being rewarded for it.”
On spreading minutes:
“With Derrick [Randall] and Joe [Uchebo], when he gets back, we’ll have to figure that out. I think we need that other guy and I think Sheldon is a good player and he’s been doing some good things for us now. It’s nice to have a big wing to throw in there too at times and I thought this was a good team to have him against the boys as a driver with good athleticism.”
On heading in to conference play:
“I still think we can play better but everybody sees that. We took care of business down the stretch. We’re 6-0 since Cameron [Wright] has been back and most teams don’t have their most experienced guys out at the start of the year and you have to figure it out. I think we’ve got what we need and we’ve got the players, there are no excuses. We’ve addressed a lot of things. I think we have a good rotation and we’ve just got to continue to improve. They’ve obviously got room to improve. We’ve got room to improve. We have no excuses. We have the guys and the ability to get better.”
On rebounding and number of putbacks:
“When we’ve come up short, we’ve usually been out-rebounded. I think it’s been more of a challenge with this group. I thought we’d be better earlier but we’ve had to work on it. We’ve emphasized it across the board: all guys rebounding. I wanted to out-rebound this team by more than two. Our goal is to outrebound teams by 10 and take care of the ball. We’ve seen improvement but we’ve got to keep working on it.
Quoting Pitt forward Michael Young
On outrebounding FGCU:
“We have been focusing on rebounding lately - everybody, all five of us, our guards and whole offense have been putting an emphasis on rebounding. We come into the games and try to get more rebounds. Cameron [Wright] and I both had six rebounds, so when you have a guard and a big rebounding, you should be outrebounding other teams.”
On playing the center spot:
“I played against big guys before. Obviously I am playing against bigger guys now being at the five spot. I am comfortable at it. When I am at the five versus the four spot, there is more one on one. I have more space to work whether I want to go post or mid-post. There isn’t one five man in the country that can guard me as far as playing inside or outside so I am very comfortable playing the five spot.”
Quoting Pitt forward Sheldon Jeter
On getting into a rhythm with more playing time:
“It felt a lot better. The past couple games I would get in and come right back out. This game I was able to get in, start getting a rhythm and make some plays. It felt really good. I had to give more of an effort defensively. That what was holding me back and keeping me on the bench. The past couple weeks I have picked it up defensively. It wasn’t the system. The system doesn’t teach how to keep somebody in front of them. That was my problem. I wasn’t keeping anybody in front of me. That was my problem and I think I fixed it.”
Quoting Pitt guard Cameron Wright
On the last two non-conference wins being prepared for ACC games:
“We just want to get better every day and keep preparing. We know that North Carolina State is a good team and we just want to get started with ACC play.”
On FGCU’s turnovers:
“We just want to be more aggressive. We have some very intense and physical practices and we wanted to translate that onto the court.”
On finding a rhythm to take on bigger teams:
“Basketball is majority mental. We can’t go out there saying that we are too small. It is about heart and mentality. I know my teammates are all about that. We go out there every play and play our hardest. We don’t focus on the negatives and I wouldn’t even call it a negative. We just focus and all of the positive things we do on the floor.”
On Sheldon Jeter’s development:
“I am so excited about how he is playing lately in the games and also practices. He is in the gym every day and working. He wants to be out there and wants to contribute. I am glad he is finally getting his opportunity because he deserves it.”
Quoting Florida Gulf Coast Head Coach Joe Dooley
Opening Statement:
“Pitt did a good job of coming out and being aggressive. Part of their aggressiveness forced us into some turnovers. We turned the ball over more than we had previously in the season, some of the turnovers were uncharacteristic. They turned those turnovers into points. When you get eighteen points off of turnovers that is a big deficit. They did a good job, especially in the second half. We made some runs with attacking the backboard. It really hurt us on the offensive backboard in the second half. They hit timely shots and that’s what good teams do. Pitt is a good team.”
On playing many road games:
“It’s a tough stretch. I don’t care where you are at, I think it is going to help find out some of the things we need to work on and things we need to get better at. It has exposed some things but those things happen, especially on the road.”
On having two more non-conference games:
“We have a game on Friday then we go out to Santa Barbra who is very good. It will give us a chance to get some practice. Our young big guys are going to be good, they just need time. We have got a lot of work to get ready for our conference.”
On playing teams like Pitt to help them in their conference:
“The level of physicality from the ACC teams as well as Big East teams and Santa Barbra has a big kid that is a monster. It will allow us to get out big guys some experience. We have got an experienced perimeter. If we can learn from these things that does help our program and it helps us.”
On the rebounding matchup against Pitt:
“It is an 8 point game, we give up an offensive rebound, and it goes back to 10. We get it back to 9, then at the end of the shot clock they put in a 3. From there it spirals. We give up consecutive offensive rebounds, one of them off of a free throw. The one we had, we actually knocked it out of our own hands. If you go after the ball like they do, I think that is some of the things our big guys can continue to learn.”
Quoting Florida Gulf Coast guard Brett Comer
On his turnovers tonight:
“The first two were really just bonehead ones from me. Then the two after that were just two missed lobs. Another one was just through a guy’s hands. They kind of pressured me, but it was just a lot of bonehead plays by me.”
On the offensive rebounds by Pitt:
“It’s tough. They went after the ball like men. They really hit our big men, went after the ball and got almost every rebound through the stretch. They got two free throws offensive rebounds in a row. When you give up rebounds and second chance points it is hard to make a run or try to make a comeback.”
On Pitt pressuring their ball handlers to limit alley-oops:
“We still had those opportunities. In the first half I think we had 3 alley-oops then we had 2 missed ones. We just didn’t convert. We did get what we wanted off the ball screen action, we just didn’t make great plays.”
