University of Pittsburgh Athletics
Post-Game Quotesheet
3/20/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 20, 2014
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POST GAME QUOTESHEET
No. 9 Pitt vs. No. 8 Colorado, NCAA Tournament Second Round, March 20, 2014
No. 9 Pitt 77, No. 8 Colorado 48
QUOTING PITT’S Jamie Dixon, Cameron Wright, Talib Zanna AND Lamar Patterson
Jamie Dixon: Well, obviously our defense got us going in the first half, and it was aggressiveness. We really wanted to guard the ball screens, we really wanted to take aware their post offense and we did that early, and I think that was evident, but then also the unselfishness which we played with, I think 13 assists, one turnover in the first half speaks volumes, and these three guys are unselfish, we took good shots, and I thought they set a great trend. I thought Cameron was terrific early, defensively on Booker, and that got us going, and he played about as well as anybody. But Talib and Lamar, terrific, as well. Lamar was really patient, let things come to him and made great passes early and really set the tone, I think, with his unselfishness. Great start for us, and very pleased and happy with our intensity and our effort and execution.
Q. Talib, was there any one thing you saw that kind of fit your eye, or was it just overall you felt you to do whatever you wanted to.
Talib Zanna: I mean, just defense. We were just trying to set a tone. The energy, you can tell the energy was there and the focus. The first five minutes we played really good defense, and from there we just tried to get a lot of stops and just run the floor, and we had wide-open lay-ups.
Q. Lamar, when you're getting turnovers like that and getting fast breaks does that play into Pittsburgh's game plan? Word on the street is you may be the fastest guy in the tournament.
Lamar Patterson: Yeah, definitely. Defense is our main focus, so when we get turnovers it gives us opportunities to get out and go. Like coach said, we have a lot of guys who are unselfish, we've got play makers, a lot of good passers. When you have all that, playing up-tempo and getting in transition, that's what you want to do.
Q. Cameron, when you get up on a team like that, can you kind of smell blood in the water and keep pouring it on? What did you do to keep the focus up to put this game away pretty early?
Cameron Wright: Yeah, well, at halftime, Durand Johnson, he did a great job of staying on us, being in our faces and letting us know that we can't let up and we still have 20 more minutes left on the clock, and the level of focus and the intensity has to be the same.
Q. Talib, you've had an eight-game stretch now where you've played extremely well. How are you feeling? And second of all, what do you think has been the key over this eight-game stretch? Is it the end of your career? What is it?
Talib Zanna: I mean, I'm feeling good. I just want to take my teammates, James, the guards, Lamar, Cam, they did a really good job of passing the ball inside, and I know if I'm open the ball is going to get to me. I was just trying to be patient on offense and trying to just play the play we're running.
Q. You guys are starters. How much has it meant to you that Mike Young has matured the way he has and made a difference for you up front?
Lamar Patterson: It's a big thing when you have Mike playing the way he does. He rebounds, he's physical, and as a freshman that's all you can really ask for, just to be consistent in your effort. He brings it every day.
Cameron Wright: Yeah, he does a great job bringing toughness to the table. He deserves a lot of credit, but also Jamel does a great job in that 4 position coming off the bench and playing extremely well for us, also.
Talib Zanna: Mike, he's a really physical guy. We battle every day in practice. I think he's hungry, and he's going to be here for a long time. You know, I was just trying to talk to him and lead by example, and I think he's going to have a really good career here at Pitt.
Q. I talked to the guys in the locker room, and I asked them if they thought the first half was the best half you've played defensively as a team this year. You obviously have higher standards than they do, but they all seemed to think it was pretty close.
Jamie Dixon: It was pretty good, there's no question about it. It probably was, and maybe the North Carolina game early, first half, Wake Forest was very good. The good thing is we're talking about the last week or so, so we're a better team now than we were earlier in the year. That's what you hope to be. We fought through some injuries. We had to replace Durand. We got our rotations better. Our freshmen are better. We guard the ball screen really well, and our traps were effective, and our rotations are good. We're talking better, we're communicating better, and we've had freshmen improve, but we've had seniors improve, too, defensively, and I think we're a better team is what you hope to be. We have four returning players when Durand is out of the equation, so the opportunity to improve was there, and on most teams with four returning players you'd be talking about how young they were and use that as an excuse. We haven't used that, we've used it as motivation.
Q. The players talked about how when they finally bought into what you want them to do on defense how it opens up the offense. At what point did you see that click prior to today or something about the way they played today that the defense created the offense the way you wanted them to?
Jamie Dixon: I don't know if it's buying in, it's just getting better. We had four returning players. It's a process, it's a learning process. They've gotten better and we still have room to improve. There's always something to see and something to get used to. It's getting used to one another, it's trusting one another, it's being in the right place for one another. We did it early in the year, but we had some injuries, had to make some adjustments, had guys not out there and then we lost a few games, and we stuck with it. We've won a lot of games, we've beat a lot of good teams, and we haven't played perfect basketball the entire year, but we've played really well down this stretch, and I just -- this team has been terrific. They've tried to do everything we've asked to the best of their ability, and they've gotten better at it, which is all you can hope.
Q. In a tournament setting, do you see a big win like this as a good thing at building confidence, or do you see it as potentially them resting on their laurels a little bit with potentially a tough team in Florida coming up?
Jamie Dixon: I think we really -- I think last week was big for us, and we've gone through an interesting year with losing a really good player and really the emotional leader of our team in Durand, and then Talib and Lamar just not even being close to the players they were for a stretch. We've been through a lot. But I think we've recognized it, we've improved, and I think last week was kind of the eye-opener for us. We didn't win the tournament, but we played well. We felt we should have won it, and we came out of there feeling that we should have won the tournament, so I think our confidence has built up. And we won a lot of road games down the stretch there when we had to. We lost some tough home games, and we had the best record in the ACC in road wins on the road during the conference, so I think that was a confidence builder, as well. You win that many games on the road and the way we won them spoke volumes.
Q. You've mentioned the team is peaking right now, that they're playing as well as they had at any point in the season. You mentioned some of the reasons for that. Could some of that also be the team's mental approach, the character that you have here right now?
Jamie Dixon: We do have -- we have great kids. And I've said it all along. These guys are trying to do everything. Yeah, we haven't been perfect, but this is a team that we had four academic all-conference guys. We had the scholar-athlete of the year. We lost one of our best players. We had two guys go down that were not close to -- they probably shouldn't even have played, but they played, and we didn't focus on that. I mean, these guys have tried to do everything right, and we haven't been perfect at it because that's what young guys and new guys go through. But our assist numbers speak to how unselfish they are. Our defense hasn't been where it's needed to be to be the conference champion, but it's getting there. It was better today. It was better last week, and we need it to be better on Saturday.
Q. Would you address the fact of a potential match-up with Florida on Saturday?
Jamie Dixon: Yeah, I mean, we'll see what happens. Both coaches are good friends and I know them well, known them a long time. We'll see what happens here, but obviously Florida is the No. 1 seed, so I'm sure everybody is anticipating that they're going to win. Will is a good friend of mine, so I'll let it play out for about another hour and a half I guess and figure it out afterwards. Either way I'll be playing a friend and going against somebody we know well, and we'll be watching tape and getting ready. We're looking forward to the opportunity.
Q. Can you just talk about the defense and the man trap that you've employed since I guess the ACC Tournament?
Jamie Dixon: Yeah, we've used it the entire year. We're just getting better at it. We're just getting better at it. Talib is the best at it. He is the only returning big guy. You've got Jamel, Mike, you've got Derrick, you've got Joseph, all new guys, so it takes some time. It takes some time and it takes some getting used to, and we're getting there. It's been better this last week, and that's what you hope to be. It's key to our defense. It's something we can turn on and off, and we have it available always.
Q. Obviously your defense triggers your transition, but with Talib, Jamel, Mike, your big guys run really well. How important is that as being able to beat teams down the floor?
Jamie Dixon: It's been an emphasis, and they do run well, but it's learning to -- it's got to be fast, but learning to run well is key. Mike and Jamel, I think it's been developing, and Derrick, as well, too. Talib, it's always been a strength of his. He's better at it now, but it's that anticipation. It's that first step we talk about that decides if you're going to be open or if they're going to be open on the other side defensively. You know, they're playing against -- you're talking about, as I mentioned earlier, four big guys that are new that are playing against better athletes than they've ever played against, older players than they've ever played against, and there's a process, and they've improved and gotten better at it. Some guys have had some injuries and been out, so there's been those elements to get through, too, as well.
QUOTING COLORADO’S TAD BOYLE, XAVIER TALTON AND JOSH SCOTT
TAD BOYLE: Well, we're obviously extremely disappointed with our performance today. Credit goes to Pittsburgh. I don't want to take anything away from them. They're a great team. They've had a great year. They're good players and a very good coach. But the Buffaloes for some reason or another did not play the way we're capable of playing. As a coach you take responsibility for that, which I do, but we're just very disappointed. I believe in all of our guys. These two guys sitting to my right, Josh and Xavier, are terrific young men with a high degree of character and they're going to bounce back. The two I feel worst for are Ben Mills and Beau Gamble, our two seniors who don't get a chance to play much. They come to practice every day and battle and they don't get a chance to come back, but these guys do. The Buffaloes are down right now but we're not out. We're disappointed and we're better than the way we played today, but that's water under the bridge.
Q. Josh, obviously the start couldn't have gone much worse for you guys. Talk about how disappointing that was but then also the fact you couldn't get the ball inside and that contributed a lot to that.
JOSH SCOTT: Honestly, I wouldn't say it has anything to do with getting the ball inside to me. Defensively we were breaking down. They were getting lay-ups, and we weren't getting the stops, and so yeah, it was a nightmare start.
Q. Josh, as you're trying to come back into that game, was the way Pittsburgh played defense on you, kind of doubling you a little bit harder and rotating back out, was that something that you had to struggle to overcome as the lead was growing and trying to get back into the game?
JOSH SCOTT: You know, it's something I've had to work on all year, and they were a good defensive team and they rotated out of it. They covered a lot of space. So credit to them.
Q. Xavier, can you talk about their defense? Seemed like every time there was a loose ball they were right on you guys, three, four guys swarming. How does their defense compare to like Arizona or what you've seen this year?
XAVIER TALTON: I think they're pretty similar, actually. I know they were getting to the ball. They were getting 50/50 balls, as well. It just seemed like they wanted it more.
Q. Josh, what did Talib present today that maybe you didn't see on film, and what did you see from him that made him so tough to guard today?
JOSH SCOTT: You know, he was scoring a lot off of rotation help, and so one thing he showed me that I really didn't think he was going to do was he hit two jump shots or two, and when you're feeling it and you get a couple baskets, everything goes in, and I think that's what happened there.
Q. Can you talk about what your feelings were as that game went on and the lead is getting to 30-7? Did it feel helpless?
XAVIER TALTON: I didn't really doubt us. I mean, you've got to believe in each other all the time, and I thought we could get back into it. We just had to get stops, and we didn't do that.
JOSH SCOTT: You know, I agree with Xavier. We just didn't get stops. There's no helplessness on our team, we're just frustrated with ourselves for not doing what we came here to do.
Q. Tad, I guess the same question for you. I saw you towards the end of the first half kind of shaking your head. Was it hard to come up with any answers today?
TAD BOYLE: Yeah. You go in at halftime down 28, there's not a lot you can say to your guys positively. Other than the fact that we had to come out and compete, that's what -- you shouldn't have to ask your guys to do that. I was proud of our guys in the second half. We never gave up. These guys just kept battling and battling. It just wasn't our day. You look at every statistical category you want to. When you have five assists and 17 turnovers it's hard. You talked about that start they got off to. A lot of that was our own undoing. It was turnovers on offense that led to easy baskets for them, and then they got the juices flowing and the jumpers started going. Young hit that three-pointer, which he doesn't normally do. It was just one of those days for Pittsburgh where they had it going and we didn't. But you look at our defense, you look at our rebounding, we're down 15-8 at halftime on the boards. They're shooting 62 percent and we've got zero assists and 10 turnovers. It's pretty simple. We've got to take care of the ball better and we've got to guard better and we've got to rebound better. We didn't do any of those things today. I don't know what Colorado team it was.
Q. On that 13-0 run to start the game, was Pittsburgh players, defenders, getting in lanes or doing anything different?
TAD BOYLE: No, they're a great defensive team, and we knew that coming in. They're very well schooled. They're a great rebounding team. They got their hands on a lot of balls. I think the evidence to me was Pittsburgh is night and day better than us passing the basketball. They're really good passers, and we knew that coming in, as well. Coach Rohn did the scouting report. We knew off their ball-screen defense we needed to have high hands, we needed to get some deflections. But they were getting the deflections that turned into steals, we weren't getting the deflections and we weren't rotating on the ball screens, and they're getting lay-ups. I don't know how many they ended up with. I think they had 17 made lay-ups at the last media time-out. I mean, I don't know what -- the defensive effort and focus and intensity we had today was pathetic.
Q. Did it feel to you, like Xavier Talton, was one of the only guys that second half -- you said everyone was battling -- but he was really trying to put his all out there. Have you seen enough from him to give him a solid look for next year?
TAD BOYLE: Yeah, Xavier has been a starter for us for the last 10 games, so yeah, I mean, I believe in Xavier. He wasn't the only one battling, but again, he's got a high degree of character. I thought Xavier Johnson battled the second half, I thought Josh battled. We've got battlers on this team. Some of us didn't have our better days, but yeah, I believe in Xavier. He's started for us the last 10 games, so in terms of next year, he's got the opportunity.
Q. Your players talked about how Pitt seems similar to Arizona. You've seen some teams are really good guard play. What did you see out of Robinson and Newkirk today that made your team struggle?
TAD BOYLE: Yeah, like I said, I think Pittsburgh is a great passing team. They really move the ball. They come off those ball screens and they make the right decision and they get the ball moved side to side. They get you in rotations. We guard ball screens like Pitt guards ball screens. Arizona guards ball screens like Pitt. We all show hard and get over the top. The difference is they are very, very consistent in it, and offensively they do a great job of getting in rotations. Robinson is a good player. Zanna is a good player. They've got good players, there's no doubt about it. We thought maybe we'd get into their depth, and shoot, their depth came in and played well. It was Pittsburgh's day today, it wasn't our day. That's for sure.
Q. What does the future look like especially for next year?
TAD BOYLE: The future is bright for our program. We doesn't lose one guy. We got to this point because we've got good players. Our program is on the assent, it's not on the descent. We lose two seniors who weren't in the rotation, terrific young men. But if this can't motivate our guys going into the off season, for getting in the weight room, working on their game, whether it's passing, whether it's dribbling, whether it's shooting the ball, whether it's defense, rebounding, toughness, if this can't motivate them, I don't know what does. But I think it will. I know it will me to become a better coach. I've got to help them more offensively so we don't have five assists and 17 turnovers. We've got to keep -- we've shown the defensive aptitude in the past. We didn't have it tonight for whatever reason.
Q. You called a couple timeouts early in the run. What kind of adjustments were you trying to make that just didn't work?
TAD BOYLE: I was trying to stem the tide, just get a good shot every time down, guys, and we were trying to go inside early and we knew they were going to double the post. They did double the post. We didn't handle the doubles out of the post. It wasn't just Josh, it was all of our guys. We handled it a couple times, I think Tre'Shaun got fouled going to the bucket. But Dustin Thomas handled it in the second half, finding an open man a couple of times. But that's something we have to work on as a program and as individual post players because going inside is a big part of what we do and getting to the free-throw line is a big part of what we do.
