Postgame Quotes

Story Links

2010-11 Virginia Basketball Postgame Quotes
November 18, 2010
Stanford 81, Virginia 60

Virginia Head Coach Tony Bennett

On what changed in the second half:
“They made a run and then we made a run to catch up, but they’re a balanced team. They shot the ball well, but I thought there were some key possessions, giving up some offensive rebounds and just the ability to make them earn. I can live with them hitting hands in the face threes, but I thought their offense certainly out-performed our defense. We just couldn’t get stops and we didn’t have the ability to sustain. There were little stretches when we played defense, but in order to compete on the road against a team that has balance you have to make them earn a little more and I thought we fell short in that category. They made it hard on us. They rushed us into some shots. We were looking inside to Mike (Scott) to get him some touches, but they did a pretty good job of guarding him. I thought they stepped up and we couldn’t maintain and keep up defensively with them.”

Did you expect all of those three-point attempts by Stanford in the second half?
“They are a very good shooting team. Aaron Bright is a Washington kid. I know (Anthony) Brown can shoot it. I don’t think (Jeremy) Green had a big outing his first game and I told our team when a player of that caliber doesn’t have a particularly good game he’s going to be very aggressive. And he certainly was. Some of his shots were very tough. He’s a very good player, I remember him from last year. They have a nice ball club.”

What was breaking down in the second half?
“We talk about areas we have to be really good in and first is always setting our defense and not giving up transition buckets. Another area is careless turnovers and there were a lot the first half. Another area is offensive rebounds. I thought those three areas we did not get good marks in, but especially the transition D. They got some long rebounds and they push it hard and whether we were just a little asleep or there was miscommunication every time we made a mistake they made us pay. That’s like cold water in the face. It wasn’t an effort thing, but you have to be so alert against teams that can stretch you.”

With so many young guys and this was the first time they faced adversity at this level, do you think it fell apart quicker because of that?
“We don’t have a defensive identity and I think that’s really hard for them on the defensive end. It’s the first time they’ve been on the road and you saw some fumble fingers and some travels and some rushed shots. I think we were a little uneasy at times, but there’s only one way to get better at that.”

The players mentioned they were a little bit rushed in the second half. Were you surprised that happened in the second half and not the first?
“I thought we were poised in the first half. We moved the ball well, we had them stretched out and we got into the lane. For the most part we were comfortable offensively. The turnovers were the part that bothered me, but those weren’t because they forced us. They certainly upped their aggressiveness. I’ve said it before that when your defense gets shaky I think it makes you feel a little panicky on offense. Those things I think correlate. That’s why your defense has to be good to hold you in there when your offense is shaky and our offense was trying to hold our defense in there. That’s the wrong way.”