Story Links
VIRGINIA BASKETBALL
Postgame Quotes
Florida State 73, Virginia 62
Virginia Head Coach Dave Leitao
Opening statement:
“The way Florida State plays basketballsystematically and methodicallywore us out and wore us down mentally, starting with the beginning of the game. We have been preaching for the last couple of days about offense. You have to take advantage of every opportunity to score because there just aren’t that many.
“They have averaged giving up 27 points in the first half of the games that they have played. They do a really good job from the outset. I knew coming off of the Miami game that they would be getting back to business. They look at themselves and I look at them as a very good team. They aren’t getting quite the amount of respect or attention as everybody else at the top of the league like North Carolina, Duke, Clemson and Wake Forest.
“There really isn’t that much difference plus or minus so we played a very good team that I believe is going to win on the defensive side of the ball and they really, really, really guard you. With the few open looks that you get and make and the other times that you don’t, you have to really work to get balanced and quality shots and obviously we didn’t do that. And obviously we paid a price for it.”
On being down by only 14 points at halftime:
“I told them that it was a manageable score and they could come back; we just did that the other night. The flip side of that is you don’t want to live like that. The difference is that the style of play that they have doesn’t allow teams to just go on these spurts. They have got quality, veteran leadership in the backcourt. (Toney) Douglas is a terrific player and he is just going to mange his way and their way through those kinds of things.”
On the challenges of FSU’s zone in the first half:
“I thought their man-to-man was much more challenging. They were only in it a few times on the out-of-bounds and our problems weren’t with that. Our problems were getting quality shots in the half court when they were guarding us man-to-man.”
Florida State Head Coach Leonard Hamilton
Opening Statement:
“I thought our players played with tremendous energy from start to finish, and that was because we have a very healthy respect for Virginia. We watched all their films and realized they very well can be 3-1 as opposed to 1-3. We watched them play Syracuse, Virginia Tech, and Maryland and we knew they very well could have pulled those games out. I think as a result of the respect we had for them, we elevated our focus and intensity. We created some easy opportunities for us in the first half with some deflections, getting good stops, and getting some easy baskets. We have not been as consistent as we would have liked all year long. Virginia and Florida State both are very young teams, and we’re still learning and growing as we are going through the season. Nonetheless, I was proud of the consistent effort that we played with throughout the entire game today.”
On Florida State’s defense:
“We were focused and Virginia had some good shots that normally would go down for them that just didn’t fall. We were in that situation the other night in Miami where we had five good looks there in the first half and some uncontested shots that didn’t go down. Sometimes you have a game where even though you have good looks they don’t fall, and I felt like they had some good looks, but they just didn’t fall for them. But I did think we did a pretty good job defensively.”
On the first half:
“We had seven turnovers in the first several minutes which shows our inexperience. We made some mistakes there toward the end of the first half where we made poor decisions with the ball, so I felt very fortunate to be up 14 at halftime. Even though we played great defensively and we rebounded, I just thought that there were several periods where we just didn’t take care of the ball and made some ill-advised decisions.”
On Florida State’s offense:
“Deividas Dulkys and Luke Loucks are shooting the ball very well. Their percentages might not be as high as you would expect guys who are capable of shooting the ball well, but they are good shooters. They are freshmen, and sometimes they play like freshmen. Jordan DeMercy has worked very hard on improving his shooting. I’m not surprised that they knocked down the open looks.”
Virginia Guard Jeff Jones
On the mood after the game and staying positive
“Everyone is just trying to stay positive. Coach always says that it’s a tough league in the ACC, and that is what everyone came here for. We just have to keep practicing and keep working hard to try and get through it. It’s tough; everything is tough. When things are going bad, it’s hard to get through. Nothing is going to be easy, especially in this league. We realize that, and we just have to keep fighting.”
On role-playing and uncertainty of playing time
“I just try to prepare myself as best as possible. I’m always ready when my name is called, and when I get out there I just try to give 100 percent.”
On first half problems
“It is just getting off to a slow start and trying to adjust instead of attacking them first. So that’s what we have to do; we have to attack teams first and not let teams attack us and have to fight back.”
Virginia Guard Sylven Landesberg
On first half problems
“I think we were just thinking too much and weren’t executing our stuff. We weren’t playing basketball, we were just thinking a lot, and that really affected us. I’ve never been through anything like that, but when something like that happens you just have to find a way to get out of it. We came out in the second half a lot more offensive-minded. “
On offense-defense balance
“At times we come out and we might be more defensive-minded, and we don’t think too much about the offense. Then other times we switch those up, but we have to put those together and play the whole game.”
On the upcoming eight day rest
“I think there is a lot of wear and tear going on with our bodies. So being able to rest a little bit, get our legs back, our bodies back, that can help us a lot.”
On team youth
“We are a young team, but I don’t think we should be able to use that as an excuse anymore. We are far into the season now, and we know what we have to do. So I don’t like using that excuse anymore. We have to start learning quicker than we are now.”
Florida State Freshman Guard Deividas Dulkys
On mentality:
“Coach (Leonard) Hamilton gave a great plan; we knew everything they were going to do. We were able to contain the dribble and we did what we were supposed to do.”
On team play:
“We are a team. We have guys that are capable of scoring any given day. Any guy can do the job out there and that is what makes everyone happy.”
Florida State Senior Guard Toney Douglas
On second half:
“We had to make sure we came out with the same intensity after the half as we did at the beginning of the game. We knew they were going to go on a run so we had to match it.”
On energy level:
“Our energy level on both sides of the ball along with our transition points helped us to extend the lead. ”
On ACC road games:
“If you win your road games and take care of business at home, it will look good come March.”
On defense:
“Our defense created a lot of offense for us tonight. Our main focus tonight was to contain the dribble and we were able to do that effectively.”