Post Game Quotes
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March 11, 2005
Virginia Head Coach Pete Gillen
I was proud of our team. We are disappointed losing. We didn’t have much gas left in the tank. Duke is a great team. I think the end of the first half hurt us. We got a little out of kilter. (Lee) Melchionni did a great job. I thought we did a very good job in the first half on (J.J.) Redick and a very good job on Shelden Williams, two All-Americans. Melchionni just killed us with the four three’s. We came back and cut it to two after being down 12 in the first half. We just could not make shots. We couldn’t move — J.R. (Reynolds) was dehydrated and had intravenous (fluids) in his arms before the game. We just had nothing left and got overpowered by a great team. Our kids played hard. We just could not make shots. We tried, but we just didn’t have enough gas in the tank playing against a great team.
(On success of David McClure and Lee Melchionni’s being due to the focus on Redick)
We keyed on Melchionni. We were supposed to play on him. He was their fourth option after Ewing, Redick and Shelden Williams. Those are three great players, but we are supposed to be on him. We were supposed to cheat on McClure a little bit. He did a nice job driving and hit a three. He is a good player. Anybody that plays at Duke is a scholarship player and is certainly going to be an excellent player. We had trouble rebounding and they got some stick backs. The offensive boards because we are small and they are more physical. We didn’t play smart, we left Melchionni alone and he is a good player.
(On his future at UVa)
I don’t want to talk about that. I want to talk about the game. This is the ACC Tournament. That will be determined next week. I will just say this … the University of Virginia deserves better than 14-15 that we gave them this year. I take the blame for that, not the players
(Did you ever envision this year ending like this after starting 8-1)
Sure. We lost one of the best players on our team in Jason Clark. He was one of our best players. He is eligible by NCAA standards but not by Virginia standards. I’m proud of the school’s academic tradition so I’m not complaining. We lost a tremendous player. When you lose a tremendous player, a 6-8, 240 pound senior, that is going to hurt you. We were not the same team without Jason Clark, who was a three-year starter.
Virginia guard J.R. Reynolds
(On Duke pulling away in the second half)
I think we just ran out of gas at the end and missed a couple shots. We just ran out of energy at the end.
Virginia forward Devin Smith
(On the game)
It’s disappointing. We lost so we have no chance to go to any type of postseason. We lost today but we gave it all we could. We didn’t have a whole lot of energy left in the tank at the end of the game to try to make another comeback. Everybody fought until the end of the game so we can keep our heads up about that. Everybody left it out there.
(On head coach Pete Gillen)
Coach Gillen, he’s meant a lot to me in my career because he took me in and brought me along. Even through all my injuries he supported me and always had confidence that I could produce. Even though I wasn’t practicing all the time and not doing a lot of things he just always had confidence in me that I was a good player. He helped me out a lot.
Virginia guard Sean Singletary
(On the game)
I thought we played well. We just kind of ran out of energy. We got up on them early and got the lead but we couldn’t hold it. We don’t have a lot of depth. It was a tough loss; we were in the game but just fell short.
(On his first season as an ACC point guard)
It was real tough. I learned a lot from the great guards in the league and about timing, about how to pick my spots. Coach Gillen taught me a lot about how to play the position. He’s coached great guards before and he knows what he’s doing.