Postgame Quotes

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2010-11 Virginia Basketball Postgame Quotes
February 26, 2011
Boston College 63, Virginia 44

Virginia Head Coach Tony Bennett

On a tough loss:
“We certainly struggled offensively and we’ve had games like this before where we weren’t able to hit the shots or have enough guys scoring, but this was one of the first games where I felt like we really got outplayed defensively. It was 28-21 and it came easy early for us, but from that point on, our defense really let us down. They did some nice things, they had some tough matchups, but we were fragmented defensively. We didn’t have the defensive performance that even against Duke we stayed in there, that wasn’t the case today. When our cold shooting and our offensive output was down, our defense didn’t carry us.”

On the defensive play:
“We decided to trap the post, which we only do sometimes, so we needed to come and be aggressive with the trap or to not trap at all. But today we were in no-mans-land. Whether it was miscommunication on a dribble hand off, if we were switching it or we were not, or even just transition defense, we were below average or poor. It really started spilling over into the rest of the game. Sometimes we stayed too long and left a shooter wide open, while sometimes we wouldn’t stay at all. We had a poor performance on both ends, but defensively that was difficult for us.”

On losing the lead:
“Our offense probably affected our defense. We were pretty good early, and that lapse at the end of the first half really hurt us, and then it just snowballed from there. Whether it was perimeter shots, in the lane, getting guys in the plays or some silly fouls on our part, in every aspect they really took it to us. I also didn’t think there was great communication. Even early they missed some shots and I didn’t think we had our togetherness and our alertness for most of the game. We had too many uncharacteristic breakdowns in the first half, and then they really got exposed in the second.”

On what could have been improved:
“Get the ball across half-court, I believe, and then run some offense. We talk about being aggressive, we work really hard to get our people in the middle and up the sideline, we just want to really attack. But there were some times where there was some hesitancy, and times we just had to break it and get a score. But we weren’t able to do that and the turnovers taking time off the clock, it certainly hurt us.”

On Joe Harris:
“He had some rebounds early, he does have what I call a “nose for the ball.” He goes up and grabs it with his size, being 6’6″. If there is one bright spot it is that he had 10 rebounds. But he has shown that pretty consistently with his minutes. He has the ability to snatch the rebounds and be quick off his feet.”

On Assane Sene:
“He made some nice plays early. When he bobbled the one and it when in, I thought this might be his night. But they really ‘satellited’ off of him, they either would go underneath and get off of Jontel [Evans] and they really started sandwiching Assane so we couldn’t get it to him. He got some early, but there were some hard matchups for him at the other end of the floor. But they did some good things against him. He hasn’t scored a ton for us, but he started out well and I was hoping we could have used him more.”

Boston College Head Coach Steve Donahue

Opening Statement:
“I was very proud of our guys, especially after our Miami game and how things settled in there. Obviously to come on the road and beat a very good team, I thought we played very well. I just thought it was a very good team effort. It didn’t start off great, yet they fought through some things. It is great when your defense is a catalyst in that as well.”

On Virginia playing four guards:
“I think both teams have changed since that game. When I watched the film, I thought they played very well at our place. I think that was the start of Tony [Bennett] thinking about going four guards. I thought they did a great job. I was very concerned. We changed our personnel to guard them and I thought our guys did a very good job guarding them.”

On Tony Bennett’s coaching skills:
“I just admire what Tony has done for the past two years here and at Washington State. I think he is an incredible coach, so I was really pleased that we were able to execute on offense. He just does a great job with this group.”

On the sequence of shots made at the end of the first half:
“Making shots, as simple as it sounds, is a huge part of the game. You work and you do all of these things right, and the kid steps up. If you make it, you feel good about yourselves and you feel good about what you are doing. We needed that.”

Virginia Senior Guard Mustapha Farrakhan

On Virginia’s defense:
“By not playing defense, we weren’t giving ourselves the best chance to win it. We were doing what we usually do, but the style of offense they played didn’t allow us to get too far in the gap or help too much because of the back cuts. That style of offense is different than what most teams run.”

On Virginia’s lack of effort:
“It was surprising, but they were running a good style of offense. We just weren’t communicating today or giving ourselves a chance to win with our defense.”

Virginia Freshman Guard Joe Harris

On getting past a tough loss:
“It’s tough but you have to have a short memory. You have to forget about this one and move on.”

On Virginia’s lack of communication:
“We didn’t communicate as well as we have in the past, and we were kind of losing our guys. You can blame it on a lot of things, but it was just that not everybody’s head was in it.”

Virginia Junior Center Assane Sene

On the game:
“I was doing what I always do, playing hard. I know my role on this team. Offensively we just weren’t making shots, and that happens. Sometimes you make shots, sometimes you don’t.

On having a good start:
“When you’re hot, you’re hot. We all know each other, so they know when you are hot. If you are, they are going to keep giving you the ball, even if you don’t ask. I think that was the case, because I was really focused on finishing.”

Boston College Junior Guard Reggie Jackson

“We knew we had to get a win, a big win. They beat Virginia Tech down here and they’re a tough team. We just wanted to get a win to stay alive for a tournament possibility. We just came out ready to play.”