Postgame Quotes

Story Links

2010-11 Virginia Basketball Postgame Quotes
December 22, 2010
Seattle 59, Virginia 53

Virginia Head Coach Tony Bennett

On Virginia’s defense in the game:
“They certainly exploited us. They had 18 points in the paint in the first half, and 30 for the game. Defensively, the best player on the floor was Broussard. He was a hard match-up for us. When we did trap, it was a poor trap. Even some of the other kids who hadn’t scored really took advantage of us. We didn’t play good post defense, and we didn’t keep the ball out of the lane. Certainly they made some tough shots, but our defense did not take away much at all. They shot 50 percent and they got to the lane a lot. Mike [Scott] wasn’t himself defensively. But we were laboring on the scoring and he was drawing a lot of attention. We got in the situation where we went with four guards because we needed some scoring, and that softens our defense on the front line.”

On Mike Scott’s play:
“They did a good job of fronting him. We said, ‘we’ve got to be a little more conscientious.’ I thought we needed to attack more offensively, off the dribble. Similar to when we played Washington, if they really pressure you…you’ve got to be able to bounce it. That was better in the second half, and then we got some more inside touches to him. He wasn’t himself. I think that it’s impressive that he could play after getting scoped in that short amount of time, and that’s certainly a credit to Ethan [Saliba] and Doc for getting him ready. We’ve got a lot of improvement in front of us.”

On lost 50-50 balls to Seattle:
“I challenged them before the game. I said, ‘every possession of the defense I want to see you out-work them, out-hustle them.’ I told them it wasn’t that they weren’t hustling or trying, but I thought our awareness for the loose balls was really poor, whether it was just scooping it up with two hands and possessing it, or scrambling and it dropping behind you. We weren’t alert and aware where the balls were. They had a nose for the ball. They were on it, and our reflexes looked slow. They won the 50-50 balls all the way.”

On goals for the rest of the break:
“I see some of our limitations. I know we’re playing it pretty close to the vest. We have to be really good in the little areas, like we had to against Norfolk State. We’ve been fortunate, and we took one on the chin. You better look in the mirror and say, ‘Okay. Let’s get back to trying to do the little things we always say.’ Eliminate losing. They didn’t get points in transition. They got points in the paint. Our strength in our defense has always been that they don’t get it. We call it our “pack” because we protect the lane. That wasn’t happening tonight. So, we have work to do on that. We’re 8-4, and had some nice wins. We escaped some games that could have gone the other way. We try to improve over the break, play the competition, keep stepping up. We have to, otherwise we’ll be sitting here a lot and it’ll be tough.”

Seattle Head Coach Cameron Dollar

Opening statement:
“Obviously, for our program – developing and building – any win we can get on the road is a good win. I’m really excited about the way our guys competed and played throughout the night.”

“For Virginia, this is probably more of one of those trap games. They had a win a couple of days ago and when you’re getting ready for the holidays, there is always a sticky period there. They had some guys out and are still getting them back in. Their rhythm was a bit off and we were fortunate because we didn’t rebound as well as I would have liked down the stretch and they got a lot of looks at it. We were just fortunate that they missed tonight.”

On preparing for Virginia’s shooting:
“They are actually good shooters. What we wanted to do was contest their shots. I have been able to see them play a lot of games this year. They can shoot it. They’re tough. They’re young, but with youth comes spotty play – just like with my guys. I came in here thinking that they were going to be rock solid and they were hard to score against. Coach Bennett’s teams are always sound, hard to score against, don’t turn it over and take good shots. It’s like reading a book – his teams don’t change much from that. So I was expecting that coming in.”

On shutting down Joe Harris:
“We were familiar with Joe from high school and from how well I think he’s played this year. We tried to get through his screens and contest his shots. Basketball is a rhythm game, so if your rhythm is off a little bit, you definitely can take advantage of that.”

“I think we were able to bother Joe a little bit on the defensive end by posting him up and attacking him there, which can conversely mess with your offense. I thought we caught him on a good night and were able to take advantage of some stuff that maybe later on, as they continue to develop, you won’t be able to take advantage of.”

What does this win mean for the program:
“It’s special, no question, to go into an ACC venue and come out with a ‘W’. We’re building our program, literally, from scratch. This is my second year, our third year of being a Division I, and we’ve been able to get some good guys in and build a foundation of how we want to play. Frankly, I’m continuing to develop as a coach, as well. There are things I need to do better for our program. We’re all working; we’re a work in progress. It’s always good to have external symbols that we’re moving forward. A coach can only tell them so much that they’re getting better without progress on the outside and them seeing it. So this is great for us.”