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VIRGINIA BASKETBALL
Postgame Quotes
Virginia 91, Maryland 76
Virginia Coach Dave Leitao
On senior night:
“With all the conversation and the tribute and everything else that goes along with senior night, it’s hard to come up with more words and more superlatives for what the four seniors have given us since I’ve been here, and Sean in particular, but he saved his best for last. I’m not sure that any coach or any person could be given any more by an individual than I’ve been given in the three years we’ve been together. Somebody asked me the question, Do you think that with all the distractions that it might throw a guy off as it sometimes does?’ But I’ll bet you dollars to doughnuts that Sean only used it as motivation. In that second half, he was a one-man wrecking crew half-court, full-court, offense, defense, he did it all. It’s a great way [to end his career] for all of us, and I hope we’re zeroed in because I’m not so sure in our lifetime that we’ll see a guy perform night in and night out the way he has over four years.”
On the other players wanting to end Singletary’s career with a victory:
“We talked about it. Whether that is exactly the case, who knows? But you’d like to think that there was a one-for-all, all-for-one kind of mentality out there today. We talked about it before we even bounced a ball this year, that all seasons are for seniors. It’s something for them to remember when they have big bellies and gray hair or going bald and have to lie to their grandchildren about how good they were. They can always talk about this night. The fact that those guys did what they did and had six guys in double figures and played, especially in the second half, the kind of defense we did is a tribute to team basketball and a tribute to our leadership and a tribute to our aggression overall.”
On Adrian Joseph’s play:
“He’s not missed a practice in the three years I’ve been here. He doesn’t complain in any way when he’s not playing well. He just comes back the next moment or the next day and tries to do better. Whether it works or not, he’s going to keep plugging away. As a result, when I get mad at him, I can never stay mad because I know where his heart is.”
On Virginia’s defense:
“Usually what’s been going on lately is that if we have a good half defensively, it’s the first half, and then we kind of relax. But today I thought we played really, really close to the vest because they turned up the heat and started going inside. Vasquez started turning the corner on those screen-and-roll situations and really coming after us. I thought we did a much better job of protecting the paint and rebounding the basketball and as a result got some real good fast-break opportunities.”
Senior Guard Sean Singletary
On the night and the memories for the seniors:
“Definitely, everyone gave 100 percent out there. Coach had a solid game plan and we executed to the fullest the team definitely came out to play, and it made it possible for me to score my points and do my thing. In the end, we got the win, and that is all we needed going into the ACC tournament. I just wanted to go out there and give it my all as I always do, and fortunately we had everybody knocking shots down, playing defense, and playing with a lot of energy so it made it even sweeter for me. Everyone knows I like to run and get out into open court, and we were able to do that for the majority of the game.”
On scoring his 2,000th career point:
“I am always playing with guys that let me score and let me lead they let me be the leader offensively and defensively, so it is just a credit to my teammates and my coach.
Not considering that it was my last game, I just wanted to go out there and have fun. Winning is always fun no matter how you get there”
On the team’s character and the recent rally:
“Yes, we are definitely playing our best basketball right now, but our record does not show all of the hard work and sacrifice we have put in this season. Hopefully it is going to pay off soon. I think we are going to make a lot of noise in the tournament.”
On what will be most memorable from tonight:
“ All my family’s sacrifices have paid off. I was able to come here and get my jersey retired I was able to get a win in my last game in this gym, which I spent so much time in.”
Senior Forward Adrian Joseph
His thoughts on senior night:
“It is a great feeling going out like this after your last home game, the last game as a senior at JPJ. All I can say is it was unbelievable and I enjoyed my four years.”
On looking ahead to the ACC tournament:
“We had a great game tonight and I believe everybody’s confidence is up, so I look forward to going to the ACC tournament along with these teammates.”
On winning on senior night:
“Two years ago we played Maryland on senior night, which was the last game in U-Hall. I thought a lot this week about how much losing that game hurt. I didn’t want my senior night to be the same as that.”
Maryland Head Coach Gary Williams
Opening remarks:
“I am really disappointed. I think that we competed pretty well in the first half, but in the second half we could not play defense, and we have been a good defensive team. I think that going in, we had a good field goal percentage, and not being able to shut down Virginia hurt. A player like (Sean) Singletary makes that very tough, but we really did not get a good effort defensively. Virginia gained confidence, which always happens in that situation. As they saw they could score, their confidence picked up. To their credit, they came ready to play. Dave (Leitao) did a great job of keeping them motivated as they were going down the stretch. I am really disappointed in our defense. The offense is one thing, not getting to the free throw line, all of those things, but you have to play good defense. Virginia played better defense than us in the second half tonight.”
On where the defense faltered:
“It is not one guy not being able to stop Singletary, although a lot of people had trouble covering him. We had to do a good job of helping on Singletary, yet still be able to shut our guy down, which teams have done this year against Virginia, and we were not able to do that.”
On Singletary’s impact:
“I think the thing that Singletary should get the most credit for is coming back to school this year because he would have been drafted in the first round. I really believe that. It was a pretty mature move to come back. Some people say, Well, he might hurt himself,’ but I disagree with that. The people that watch and really know his game know what he means to Virginia, and tonight is a good example of how he gets the other players involved in the game. Only guys that can run the show have that ability.”
What influence does tonight’s game have on the postseason:
“Whatever it is, if we win the ACC tournament, we go to the NCAA. That solves it.”
On the impact of Laurynas Mikalauskas tonight:
“I know compared to the first time we played Virginia, (Lars) Mikalauskas makes a big difference. I do not know how many minutes he can play in a row, but whatever the block of time is, he never quits on a play. He goes after every rebound. He knows their offense really well. He is a very good passer. He made a few passes tonight that were great passes. The other thing about him is that it looks like the team is more confident with him on the court. I think that he brings a certain toughness to the team, which is really important.”
Guard Greivis Vasquez
On the loss against Virginia:
“We played a team that was 4-11 [in the ACC], and they played harder than us. We take it as a team. We have to show up in the ACC tournament. We have to grow and learn from this. We need to win the ACC tournament. We want to make it.”
On the upcoming ACC tournament:
“This is the first time I’ve been in this situation before the ACC tournament. We beat Virginia Tech. We were tied in fourth in the ACC. I just care about the team. We just have to take care of business, and win at least three games in the ACC.”
On what the team needs to do better:
“Get tough. We have to get tough. People who go through this type of situation, if you’re not tough, you won’t go forward in a good way. This is a tough league. You have to take the hits and move forward in a positive way. I don’t think we’re doing a good job of taking the hits. We feel sorry for ourselves, and don’t get back. That’s how it is. They played harder than us, and won the game.”
Forward Bambale Osby:
On the loss against Virginia:
“Just because we lost tonight, it doesn’t take away from the Carolina win, the Georgia Tech win, the Charlotte win, and the Boston College win. We won 18 games. We’ve still done a pretty good job up until this point. I still think this is the worst time we played. We’re just in a funk and we need to get out of it.”
On the difference between the last few games:
“It just looks like we’re not doing a good job of finishing games. We’re up at the half and all we had to do is finish the game, but we couldn’t do it. We did the same thing against Clemson and Duke. If we can do a better job with that then things will go a lot better.”