Opening Statement:
“They scored six points on the first three possessions in the second half so that shows how effective my halftime talk was but again Brice Johnson and Marcus Paige I thought were really big. They took a one point lead and I think it was only one possession. When Brice missed the two free throws on the technical and then Marcus made two free throws and we got the ball out of bounds and we didn’t score then so we only got two points out of it but later on we really made some big plays and Joel Berry made a big three for us again. We had missed some shots around the basket and Brice was there chasing it down and putting it back in for us.”
On Florida State:
“ Those guys were great. I thought there kids, again, Rathan-Mayes was something else and I thought Beasley and Bacon in the second half were exactly opposite of what they were in the first half. They were really effective with there athleticism and rebounding the ball on the offensive boards. We were very fortunate and very lucky.”
On Brice Johnson’s performance:
“ I tell our guys in the locker room all the time about some of the great performances. Ive had guys, Nick Collison against Duke had 20 points and 20 rebounds. Shawn May against Texas had over 20 points and rebounds. Tyler Hansborough had 40 one night. But this is about as good as any I have ever seen, particularly on the road. 39 points and 23 rebounds is really something. Especially for Brice because his effort has to be higher and more consistent and it was there tonight.”
On his small lineup opening up the floor:
“ You know people think that when Kennedy Meeks goes out we’ve had Joel James in the game and he’s more of a stand still guy than Meeks is and Isiah was in there and I think it was just Brice was effective going to the boards and getting more rebounds when you go there. Sometimes you don’t get to the offensive board nearly as much.
On Florida State’s Defense:
“ They pressure you a lot and they pressured us in to some turnovers. We turned it over 16 times and we are averaging around 10 or something a game. They also pressure you and it opens up for drives more and when you drive it breaks down the box out and if you miss the shots then Brice is there to get the rebounds and if you have five seven footers and you’re able to drive it still breaks down the box outs.
On the rule changes effecting offense:
“ None. I don’t think its that big of a factor. I like everything and trying to open up the game more they shot 34 free throws and we shot 32 so it’s a lot of foul shots but we made 24 and they made 24 so both teams shot a pretty good percentage. I don’t like not having a five-second close guarding rule. I think we need that if we are going to promote team play and flowing action because we allow one guy to stand there and dribble the ball all day.”
“They scored six points on the first three possessions in the second half so that shows how effective my halftime talk was but again Brice Johnson and Marcus Paige I thought were really big. They took a one point lead and I think it was only one possession. When Brice missed the two free throws on the technical and then Marcus made two free throws and we got the ball out of bounds and we didn’t score then so we only got two points out of it but later on we really made some big plays and Joel Berry made a big three for us again. We had missed some shots around the basket and Brice was there chasing it down and putting it back in for us.”
On Florida State:
“ Those guys were great. I thought there kids, again, Rathan-Mayes was something else and I thought Beasley and Bacon in the second half were exactly opposite of what they were in the first half. They were really effective with there athleticism and rebounding the ball on the offensive boards. We were very fortunate and very lucky.”
On Brice Johnson’s performance:
“ I tell our guys in the locker room all the time about some of the great performances. Ive had guys, Nick Collison against Duke had 20 points and 20 rebounds. Shawn May against Texas had over 20 points and rebounds. Tyler Hansborough had 40 one night. But this is about as good as any I have ever seen, particularly on the road. 39 points and 23 rebounds is really something. Especially for Brice because his effort has to be higher and more consistent and it was there tonight.”
On his small lineup opening up the floor:
“ You know people think that when Kennedy Meeks goes out we’ve had Joel James in the game and he’s more of a stand still guy than Meeks is and Isiah was in there and I think it was just Brice was effective going to the boards and getting more rebounds when you go there. Sometimes you don’t get to the offensive board nearly as much.
On Florida State’s Defense:
“ They pressure you a lot and they pressured us in to some turnovers. We turned it over 16 times and we are averaging around 10 or something a game. They also pressure you and it opens up for drives more and when you drive it breaks down the box out and if you miss the shots then Brice is there to get the rebounds and if you have five seven footers and you’re able to drive it still breaks down the box outs.
On the rule changes effecting offense:
“ None. I don’t think its that big of a factor. I like everything and trying to open up the game more they shot 34 free throws and we shot 32 so it’s a lot of foul shots but we made 24 and they made 24 so both teams shot a pretty good percentage. I don’t like not having a five-second close guarding rule. I think we need that if we are going to promote team play and flowing action because we allow one guy to stand there and dribble the ball all day.”
