Postgame Quotes
11/5/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 5, 2006
Tom Crean
"I think once we settled in, we played well. We were very slow in the beginning of game, but the last 12 minutes of first half we started to pick it up. In the second have we really started to flow and move the ball. Our defense was active, but in the second half, the three sophomore guards played very well together. David and James turned up the defense. We need to be able to play different ways. Whether it's a zone, man, or full court. This is something we can build on."
"We got to see some different combos tonight. We wanted to get our guys out for short bursts, get bodies in for minute and a half frames, get water, and get back to work."
"There are a couple main things we can work on. We need to pass the ball with the creativity and the enthusiasm that we did in the second half for the entire game. Our ability to close out on shooters and communication was not as good as it should be. We had a lot of slippage in second half with our communication. Our free throws were off, but they will come. It was the first time in our building tonight, for many the first time ever. We need familiarity in the building."
"I was feeling good tonight. My teammates did a great job finding me. I felt good tonight. When we were running moving ball, I got lots of good looks. Many teammates passed up good opportunities to find me."
"At first I thought we were too aggressive, looking for shots too quickly. As I slowed down, I got to see what was going on and watch teammates, watch openings in the offense. David looked very productive, he gave me a break with his ball pressure on defense. He made a lot of contributions on the defensive end and produced on offense."
"We did a pretty good job keeping down our turnovers and made few mistakes. We did a pretty good job taking care of ball."
"I think we got a good taste tonight. Our team is close but still not there yet, especially on defense. The offense is coming along. We need to come back to practice and lock down on defense. We have a lot of new guys and playing with referees on regular basis is something we will need to get used to. One of the biggest things we need to do is play defense with our feet. Once we get our defensive rotations down, we will be right where we need to be.
