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Postgame Quotes
Story Links
November 23, 2007
Philly Hoop Group Classic
Independence Bracket
The Palestra
Philadelphia, Pa.
Virginia 100 Penn 85
Virginia Head Coach Dave Leitao:
Opening Comment
“Any time you play in a tournament format it’s about moving on and we were able to do that tonight. Obviously we’re still a work in progress. We’re playing a lot of people and we’ve got to get guys to understand better what their roles are. You can pick apart a game like this and what some guys did. Mike Scott came up big today and I was happy to see that Will Harris responded, but I look at it more from an overall standpoint. We’ve still got a lot of growth, especially on the defensive end, before we can start to understand that we have a chance to be good. We haven’t had a lot of practice time, which is probably my biggest concern because we’ve played so many games, to get right down to the things that are hurting us on defense. We’ll be able to do that obviously in another week or so. For now, it’s just win and advance.”
What did you see in Adrian Joseph tonight?
“He’s been playing much better throughout the year. He’s bought in 1000 percent to what we’re doing. He’s much more vocal. He’s playing the role of a leader, so as a result he’s doing more. He came in as a shooter and now he’s a guy who really shoots it and does other things. He’s been rebounding for us, this is his second consecutive double-double, he’s passing the ball better and getting fouled a little more. I just see a guy’s game expanding.”
You’ve got a lot of players from this area.
“We tried to understand that this was a business as usual kind of game, but at the same point in time human nature will tell you that there’s a lot of added excitement, not just for Ryan (Pettinella), a guy who played in this building for a while, but for guys who have played in high school in this building or guys who have been around Philadelphia for most of their lives. We came for a reason, so they can enjoy the experience and more than anything let their family, friends, coaches and people who have been around them and helped them get to this point in life enjoy watching them play.”
You had a pretty big margin on the boards tonight.
“Mike (Scott) has shown a propensity to have a knack for rebounding and that’s kind of earned him more and more time. I’m still asking guys to step up and Adrian’s been a guy and Mike’s been a guy. As the season goes on we’re going to continue to depend not only on those two but other guys to rebound.”
You play Seton Hall tomorrow so it’s the ACC versus the Big East.
“It’s two good teams and two really good conferences that understand what a high level of competition is all about. I expect a terrific game and just hope that we come ready and prepared to play.”