University of Pittsburgh Athletics
Post-Game Quotesheet
3/17/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Recap | Box Score | Notes
POST-GAME QUOTESHEET
Pitt vs. George Washington • National Invitation Tournament • Petersen Events Center • Pittsburgh, Pa. • March 17, 2015
George Washington 60, Pitt 54
Quoting Pitt Head Coach Jamie Dixon
Opening Statement:
"I talked to the guys, this is obviously a disappointed group. I know we are a better team than what we played. We had good practices. We practiced hard these last three days, the guys were excited about playing. We outrebounded them by six so we are going after things. We are a low turnover team and tonight we weren't. Some of the passes, some of the decisions we made were not what we normally do. We had transition opportunities we couldn't finish. The free throws wore on us as far as not knocking those down. We had opportunities down the stretch. We fought back and we tied it up, so we are battling. We couldn't make the shots. I thought we had a couple good looks, we didn't knock down free throws. Those change the game and we certainly are disappointed. It is a disappointed group. The seniors are struggling with the loss. It is tough because this is not the team we thought we could be this year. With that said, this is where we finished."
On the turnovers:
"I think they got into us a little bit, overplayed some things and we talked about it. We saw that at times where they seem to be aggressive out on the wings. That was something we had talked about and prepared for. Some of the passes we made, whether it be transition or loose balls, we just didn't make the play. It was bad. There is no other way to say it. It was bad decisions, bad plays and uncharacteristic at the same time. We haven't lost many games because of turnovers but tonight this was the case."
On coaching this team:
"We haven't been what we needed to be defensively. Sometimes we were able to win with some offense and making shots, as every team does. Consistently, to win games on the road, to win in the low scoring games, you have got to defend better. Especially if you're not going to make free throws and not shoot it great. It has got to be a defensive thing. Your defense has got to be there and the rebounding. That has been evident from the start early on. We knew we would have struggles because of the younger guys, new guys, and guys in different roles. We did improve. The numbers surely indicated that. We didn't finish down the stretch. It only affirms what we have always believed. That defense has to be a constant."
On building in the offseason:
"The close games, the plays down the stretch, those are what separates teams. I still go down to the defense and the rebounding being the constant. These guys were in different roles, different positions, asked to do different things than they ever had. I don't know if they were as prepared as maybe they thought they were."
On the core of team coming back next year:
"We are going to be working and get after it. This year there was improvement. It was not to where we needed to get to. This is who we are and this is what we got to do. We can say these thing and talk about it but we have got to do something about it. That is the position that we are in."
On the teams' energy level tonight:
"We outrebounded them by six, usually that is a pretty good indicator. I know when you lose and the stretch we have been in, it is going to be said that we are down or weren't ready to play. We came back, we were tied up so it's not like the team ever quit. We practiced hard the last three days. There was definite frustration during the game, it was not like a lack of intensity. When things don't go the way we want offensively, it affects what we do. That is a maturity aspect of it that we have got to address and do a better job of. We've got to make some strides in that area."
On the team doing what they need to do on their own in the offseason:
"We talked about in the locker room when we met afterwards and the things we've got to do. It's got to be working on our deficiencies. These guys are in the gym. I can't say enough, these guys want to play. They want to work. We had three very hard and intense practices. The day off they played. They want to do things. I think we need to work on our deficiencies. Sometimes they work on the things they already do well. We have got to recognize what we don't do well and address it."
On mental fatigue with the losses at the end of the season:
"That is what many will say and look at given the situation. You're playing really well, you've won 7-9. In two weeks you get tired or mentally fatigued. I didn't see that in practice. Maybe it was. That is the easy thing to talk about. We didn't see it. They came and practiced hard. They were hungry and they played hard."
On the 30 second shot clock:
"I thought about that afterwards and it didn't seem to have a lot of affect. I think it is something we are going to see. It is something that is going to be put into play here shortly."
Quoting Pitt guard James Robinson
On the 30-second shot clock change:
"It did not affect us at all. We practiced with the 30-second shot clock so it didn't throw us off. We didn't have too many late offensive possessions anyways so it did not become too much of a factor."
On what to take from this season:
"We hit a lot of adversity throughout the course of the year. We have to learn how to take adversity, especially in a game and bounce back and respond. We have to work on dealing with adversity better and not allowing it to affect our play during long stretches."
On moving on from this season:
"We are going to stay together, even though we lost a couple games down the stretch. We are all really close off the court so we are going to be together a lot. We will be in constant communication talking about what we have to do next year. We have to get better as a team. We all want more than what we did this year. We just didn't get it done so we have to use that as fuel to our fire and be ready to work as a complete unit this summer."
Quoting Pitt post Michael Young
On the free throw shooting:
"We had a lot of opportunities in the game to get a groove for ourselves. We had a few turnovers in the beginning which led to their easy baskets. We had some uncharacteristic turnovers and if we change our turnovers, we would have a different outcome in the game."
Quoting George Washington Head Coach Mike Lonergan
Opening Statement:
"I am really happy with the win. I have a lot of respect for Jamie Dixon they have a young team and I was proud of our defense, everyone that plays on Pitt has a positive assist-to- turnover ratio and that has been our Achilles heel all season. We were second to last in assists in the A 10, and the worst assist to turnover ratio. However, tonight we didn't turn the ball over and we made Pitt turn the ball over, and that was a key statistic for us. I knew they (Pitt) were going to be good defensively and play hard, but our guys responded. I think it is important for our program; we were disappointed with our month of February, which kept us from going to the NCAA tournament. But I told our team we have a chance to win an NIT game, which GW basketball hasn't done yet and we get a chance to play on an ACC court and get a road win. Now we get to advance, so we are definitely happy about playing."
On his team's key success factors to win the game:
"I think focus, our mental focus was there. That has been an issue for our team for whatever reason. Kethan (Savage) got off to a great start tonight, and when we are scoring it makes guys play better defense, and then with free throws it is the opposite. When we start to miss free throws it becomes contagious and we had some of our best shooters up there. That is what we are really going to work on in the off season, just to cut down the turnovers, and be a little bit more mentally tough. But for right now we just need to get ready for whoever we are playing next."
On his evaluation on what his team had to do to win:
"Having Joe (McDonald), Patricio (Garino), and Kethan (Savage) combine for 14 offensive rebounds, to me that was just heart and effort and energy, and we had it tonight. For whatever reason our focus was there; I think our guys really wanted to win and they were battling on the board. The 14 offensive rebounds were key and not giving the other team the ball 14 times with turnovers, that was definitely a key to our success tonight. We got some contributions from guys off the bench, Paul (Jorgensen) hit a big three and some other guys gave some good minutes playing defense and it was definitely a team effort. Our inside guys were struggling to score, I give Pitt credit, we were 3-15 at one point, so we had to manufacture some points in different ways."
On his teams strong second half defense tonight:
"I think it is because we guarded well tonight. Going back to the Virginia game, we were up four at the half and we lost by 17. When we struggle to score in the second half, we just stop playing hard, we stop playing defense and we stop rebounding. That has been the frustrating thing about this season, but tonight even though we had some scoring droughts, we figured it our defensively. We got to the free throw line, we got offensive rebounds and we want to make a run here but we have to get better for next year too. We will get a lot of our guys back and we play a tough schedule and we want to win the NIT or go as far as we can. But tonight should prove to these guys, even when you are not shooting well, 34%, when you play defense and rebound, like we did tonight, you can beat anybody."
