Postgame Quotes
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VIRGINIA BASKETBALL
Postgame Quotes
Wake Forest 70, Virginia 60
Virginia Head Coach Dave Leitao
Opening statement:
“I thought from a strategic standpoint, if we could take away their rhythm offensively, one by fast break points, and by two making them move around and pass the ball multiple times on offense, that somehow physically and especially psychologically, you could dig into their rhythm. I thought that early on with the zone it had some level of effectiveness. They only scored three baskets at halftime off our half-court defense. They had the rest of them either off our turnovers or fast break baskets, that kind of thing. Inversely, I thought if we could rebound and run that we could maybe get more energy ourselves. I thought, especially in the second half, we allowed far too many second shots, which dug into our ability to run and get some transition baskets. Attitude wise, it helped them because they weren’t making plays from the perimeter. I thought playing the odds would allow us to pack it in just a tad bit more and make them have to make plays over the top. We got a number of guys for them shooting jump shots and unfortunately for us, they got those second shots in and made us pay. Essentially that was the difference in the game.”
On the effects of the zone defense on rebounding:
“I don’t think [playing zone defense makes rebounding more difficult]. I think rebounding is essentially an aggression statistic. What we do sometimes, man or zone, is play through the possession. The shot goes up, and we kind of wait for someone else to get it. As opposed to there could be five white shirts knocking each other over to get it. I think every man looks at the other man sometimes to grab a rebound, and obviously that is not the proper mindset.”
On the turnover to assist ratio:
“Ours has been bad all year long. It’s hard to give the ball back as many times as we do and still physically, and especially psychologically, stick to a game plan or believe in exactly what you’re doing. We have those empty trips. I would much rather shoot the basketball and miss, take a bad shot and miss, throw a hook shot from half court and miss, than turn it over because it leads to easy baskets. This is something we have preached, whether it be front court, back court, giving the ball back, or traveling. Those things don’t do what they need to do for our offense.”
Wake Forest Head Coach Dino Gaudio
Opening statement:
“All wins in this league are good. The wins on the road are great. What was a big problem for us throughout the game, free-throw shooting, was really a plus for us down the stretch. We made our last nine, so that was huge. We came early over here and had access where we could shoot some free throws before the game and maybe that helped us down the stretch. It didn’t at the beginning. I was kicking myself in the backside when we played Georgia Tech. We always shoot 50 free-throws on the day of the game and that was a noon game and we didn’t get a chance to do that, but we got some [time] over here and hopefully that helped us down the stretch with the free throws. That was big in the game. I thought our defense was very good, when you go into some one else’s house and hold them to 60 points, 41 [percent] from the field and 27 [percent] from threes. We didn’t score the ball great tonight, and when we don’t score the ball great, if you’re still guarding and you’re still rebounding the ball you get a chance to win. We gave ourselves a chance to win with those two aspects of the game. I think our bench gave us great minutes. Harvey Hale hit a great shot, Gary Clark got a big steal for us in the first half, and Tony Woods got a couple big follow-ups for us. He got four offensive rebounds in 16 minutes; he was big. So, a lot of guys contributed to the win.”
On sophomore Jeff Teague’s shooting in the game:
“When he was sitting on the bench before I put him back in, I said, Jeff, you’re not a good player; you’re a great player. And you just got to worry about the next possession, the next four and half minutes of the game, that’s all. And every time you’re open I want you to shoot. And he hit a big, big three for us. I think it was a big three for him too, but it was a big three for us.”
On the team’s performance in close games:
“If we can pull those games out, like we did today, I think it says a lot for us. It shows our character, which we know we have. It shows our resiliency. I think a couple weeks ago when we went into Miami, and we saw a lot of zone with them, when we didn’t score the ball it affected us on the other end of the floor. That did not happen tonight. Like I said, if we would have shot our free throws a little better, we’re a much better free throw team than we showed tonight, maybe the margin would have been a little more comfortable for us. But it’s good to sweat it out on the road and get a win.”
On getting offensive rebounds when facing a zone defense:
“I think it’s a little bit harder, when you’re in a zone, finding a body to box out. There’s no question. It’s a little harder in a zone because sometimes you’ve got to find guys to put a body on.”