My bad, I thought I posted this before leaving Blacksburg but just realized I didn't.
Opening Statement
I don't know how to explain it, but I don't have much to say. We shot the ball terribly. I thought, in addition to that, that they played so much harder defensively than we did. If you told me before the game that we were going to have a 5 point lead at halftime, I'd a been very pleased with that. I told them at the timeout, the four minute timeout or the eight minute timeout, whatever it was when the score was tied; if you'd told me that we'd be tied with 8 minutes to play, I'd a been satisfied with that. But I was not satisfied with the way we played. Go 3 for 23, you got to have enough courage to take that shot. You gotta have enough courage to step up and make it. Joel made a big three for us, there's no question about that. Brice made a big basket inside and then Joel found Justin underneath the basket for a layup and then fortunately for us, they gotta couple of misses on their end down there and we were able to get the rebound. Brice made two free throws after Marcus had missed the one and one. The Marcus made both free throws and then Brice made one of two. The work on the back boards was big for us; second chance points were 18 to 11. But it's about as ugly a game for us as it could possibly be. But, we're lucky, that's all I got to say.
On the play Brice had late in the game when they had the ball with three seconds left on the shot clock
Yes. It reminded me of John Henson, when we had John in front of the ball. He was a load to get the ball over him. Brice got the deflection then. In the first half, we had it out of bounds on the sideline, three seconds, and the guy makes a turnaround three from outside the three point line. And then they banked one in later in the first half, so I didn't think the stars and the moon was lined up very well. He's (Buzz) has really done a nice job with his club. I mean that sincerely. It's just that the ball didn't go in the basket a couple times for them. Buzz does a great job and I mean that sincerely. He doesn't get a raise for me saying that, I saying that because I believe it. We got some fortunate breaks.
On the importance of rebounding and do you stress that
I myself think rebounding is the single important factor in the game. We have been a good rebounding team all year. We're in the top 15 or 20 in the country in rebound margin. That's a huge part of the game for us. We had a tough time keeping those guys in front of us. You know, Blackshear was really good. I didn't expect him to step out and make the three like he did and he made a couple baskets going to the basket. For us, we decided not to worry too much about their big guys. We thought LeDay would drive and the other three would roll, but he showed us something there too.
On did they make adjustments to climb back into the game
We started thinking it was gonna be easy. So I took out Brice, I took out Kennedy, I took out Isaiah, three of our top six guys were out because of two fouls each. I've said all year long, our depth has gotta be important to us and I think it was.
On when you shoot that many three's, is that part of the game plan
In the first half, I told them I was not displeased with the shot selection. But we just needed to make them. I thought Theo took one bad one in the first half and I think we had two bad ones in the second half. Other than that, they were pretty good shots. If you're gonna shoot the ball, you gotta be able to make some.
On if Marcus was hesitant taking some shots and making some moves
Yes, yes. Hell, if I’d made 3 of my last 25 I’d have been hesitant, too.
Opening Statement
I don't know how to explain it, but I don't have much to say. We shot the ball terribly. I thought, in addition to that, that they played so much harder defensively than we did. If you told me before the game that we were going to have a 5 point lead at halftime, I'd a been very pleased with that. I told them at the timeout, the four minute timeout or the eight minute timeout, whatever it was when the score was tied; if you'd told me that we'd be tied with 8 minutes to play, I'd a been satisfied with that. But I was not satisfied with the way we played. Go 3 for 23, you got to have enough courage to take that shot. You gotta have enough courage to step up and make it. Joel made a big three for us, there's no question about that. Brice made a big basket inside and then Joel found Justin underneath the basket for a layup and then fortunately for us, they gotta couple of misses on their end down there and we were able to get the rebound. Brice made two free throws after Marcus had missed the one and one. The Marcus made both free throws and then Brice made one of two. The work on the back boards was big for us; second chance points were 18 to 11. But it's about as ugly a game for us as it could possibly be. But, we're lucky, that's all I got to say.
On the play Brice had late in the game when they had the ball with three seconds left on the shot clock
Yes. It reminded me of John Henson, when we had John in front of the ball. He was a load to get the ball over him. Brice got the deflection then. In the first half, we had it out of bounds on the sideline, three seconds, and the guy makes a turnaround three from outside the three point line. And then they banked one in later in the first half, so I didn't think the stars and the moon was lined up very well. He's (Buzz) has really done a nice job with his club. I mean that sincerely. It's just that the ball didn't go in the basket a couple times for them. Buzz does a great job and I mean that sincerely. He doesn't get a raise for me saying that, I saying that because I believe it. We got some fortunate breaks.
On the importance of rebounding and do you stress that
I myself think rebounding is the single important factor in the game. We have been a good rebounding team all year. We're in the top 15 or 20 in the country in rebound margin. That's a huge part of the game for us. We had a tough time keeping those guys in front of us. You know, Blackshear was really good. I didn't expect him to step out and make the three like he did and he made a couple baskets going to the basket. For us, we decided not to worry too much about their big guys. We thought LeDay would drive and the other three would roll, but he showed us something there too.
On did they make adjustments to climb back into the game
We started thinking it was gonna be easy. So I took out Brice, I took out Kennedy, I took out Isaiah, three of our top six guys were out because of two fouls each. I've said all year long, our depth has gotta be important to us and I think it was.
On when you shoot that many three's, is that part of the game plan
In the first half, I told them I was not displeased with the shot selection. But we just needed to make them. I thought Theo took one bad one in the first half and I think we had two bad ones in the second half. Other than that, they were pretty good shots. If you're gonna shoot the ball, you gotta be able to make some.
On if Marcus was hesitant taking some shots and making some moves
Yes, yes. Hell, if I’d made 3 of my last 25 I’d have been hesitant, too.
