Postgame Quotes

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2010-11 Virginia Basketball Postgame Quotes
December 30, 2010
Iowa State 60, Virginia 47

Virginia Head Coach Tony Bennett

On the lack of an inside game:
“It’s a challenge certainly without Mike [Scott] and with Will Sherrill coming back and not at full strength, but we have to make some shots and we have to work to get good looks. You have to try to get into the paint, maybe off the dribble – Assane [Sene] made one and Will Regan had a good post move. But without Mike, and I don’t want to sound like a broken record, that’s an area of concern for us, trying to get an inside-outside attack. Now there’s a little more pressure on your defense when you get cold and that’s difficult. We need to keep going to the drawing board to get good looks.”

On lackluster performances lately at home after strong ones on the road:
“We have some different personnel and I think some teams are playing us differently, laying off certain guys and really jamming the lane and forcing some guys to shoot who aren’t as comfortable. We were good defensively early and I thought they were scrapping. It’s easy when you beat a Minnesota or Virginia Tech on the road to be all in, but when you lose tough games like this, that’s when it really tests you. We’ll have to really scrap and we’ll find out what our character is.”

On the slow start:
“I thought we were standing and then it looked like some guys were thinking we had to get it all back right away and sometimes we drove into a crowd or forced one up. At times we certainly looked disjointed. Then when guys did get good looks, a couple of them weren’t even close. That definitely weighs on you when you’re not hitting them.”

On Jamie Vanderbeken – did they do some things to get him open or were there defensive lapses:
“There were a couple defensive breakdowns. We were hoping Will [Sherrill] would be able to get there a little more than Assane [Sene], but we got a little mixed up in transition a couple times and they set a high ball screen and they had a pretty good guy coming off the screen in [Diante] Garrett and he’s going to separate and then when we tried to adjust to it some of our young guys had a hard time and didn’t show as long. They put some pressure on you – are you going to stop Garrett trying to get into the lane or are we going to try to scramble back to the shooter.”

On Mike Scott:
“He played against Seattle and felt great after the game – no swelling – and the guys went home and had a few days off for the Christmas break. The ankle didn’t swell and he felt great and better than ever. He practiced for a little bit and then all of a sudden had a major setback and whatever the case was, it locked up and now we’re back to square one. We need to keep taking a look at it and see where it’s at. It’s unfortunate. I know he’s discouraged and certainly I am, but we just have to take a good look at it, and we won’t put him in harm’s way.”

Iowa State Head Coach Fred Hoiberg

On the game:
“Our defense certainly kept us in it; we knew it was going to be a battle on the offensive end. They can defend as well as anyone in the country and we knew it was going to be tough. We held them 6-for-30 in the first half and that allowed us to have a lead even though we did not shoot the ball well. We came out in the second half and did a good job of finding the open man and getting loose in transition, with Scott [Christopherson] hitting a nice three and we continued to find Jamie [Vanderbeken] on pick-and-roll action. Our spacing was much better in the second half which allowed us to get the open looks.”

On Jamie Vanderbeken’s career-high 24 points:
“We knew he was going to be able to get some shots. We knew they would show hard on pick-and-roll. If we could get space on the weak side through back, he was going to have some open shots, and he did that. I am proud of his confidence and he also got in there on the offensive boards.”

On Diante Garrett joining the 1,000-point, 500-assist list:
“He is such a special player. I truly believe he is one of the underrated players. He does wonderful things for our guys and makes the game easier for everybody else. He was a huge key tonight as well for him to be able to help and close off gaps. For him to join that club, it is very well deserved.”

On the momentum of starting 12-2 with a six-game winning streak:
“It does give us momentum; we have one more non-conference game, one more tune-up going into our conference opener at Nebraska on Jan. 8. We need to continue to try to ride the wave. I am proud of the way the guys are out there competing every night and how unselfish they are playing. If we continue to play that way, we have a chance to surprise some people.”