University of Richmond Athletics
Men's Basketball Post-Game Quotes
12/04/2005 | Men's Basketball
Dec. 4, 2005
Richmond Coach Chris Mooney
On The Spiders' Slow Start
"Unlike yesterday I don't think we came out with a lack of focus or intensity, we were just on our heels a little bit. They got a couple of quick shots early against us. We had kind of a hard shoot-around today, maybe it took us a few minutes to get our legs going."
"I'm searching for why we would start that slowly. We don't want that to become a habit, which it kind of has started to be. Do we need to start a different guy, do we need to come out in different things? We're going to sit down and think of different things we can do to help prevent (slow starts)."
"We try to in our shoot-arounds get in and get some running. We don't want to be lackadaisical because as a coach, if you're going to do things, you want to do them hard, you don't want it to be too light. Today was a little extra because we didn't have much time to prepare for Prairie View and we played poorly last night so you want to kind of work that out of your system. But today was actually our shortest shoot-around. We usually go for exactly one hour, today was probably 45 minutes."
On The Comeback
"We were on a big run to end the first half and then it was really hard for the to score in second half, that's kind of the way it should be. I was happy with the way we finished the game, I thought we did a very good job."
"When we came back, we came back our way, with our offense and by stopping them. It wasn't like we it was a barrage of 3-pointers or their turnovers, it was more our way of coming back. We chopped into the lead and then extended it. In a way it was a lot like Seton Hall, once we got going, we were just systematic. We just improved and improved and improved."
On The Play Of Gaston Moliva
"Gaston has really, really been terrific. I've been talking a lot to Gaston. The way we play is probably not tailor-made to his abilities. He's not a great perimeter shooter and not an excellent ball handler, but he's a basketball player. He is a strong defender who has a nose for the ball. I wish he had a little bit better hands because he would be getting 10 rebounds a game, but he gets in there and tips it. He's not afraid to throw his body around and he's really becoming a great defender."
On The Play Of Oumar Sylla
"Oumar was good today, he threw some really good passes. He's not the most fluid guy yet. It's been a difficult transition, but one that he's making progress with."
On Richmond's Size
"If you're starting a new program the way we are, you would probably take smaller more skillful players that would make the offense run more fluid, if had to choose. Now size is always a good thing. Even the shots Kevin (Steenberge) doesn't block, he changes. If we can fight and defend the post, which we didn't do well yesterday, we can just dwarf some teams because it looks like the lane is more packed in because of big guys. I wish our rebounding numbers were better, but that's going to come."
On Scoring Points In The Paint
"We need two point baskets. The more we can manufacture them, whether it's through our offense or on follow-ups, whatever it is that we need to do to get more."
On Playing No. 6 Ranked Louisville In Freedom Hall Monday
"This is a great atmosphere, this is the reason a lot of guys play college basketball. They're very good, obviously the building is going to be loud, and their coach is great. (David) Padget really gives them an extra dimension and of course their guards are very good. We're going to need to prepare, and hopefully get off to a good start, because a slow start could be deadly."
Richmond Senior Kevin Steenberge
"We had a fire lit under us, we realized we don't like losing and we saw that we were headed that way if we kept playing the way we did (Saturday)."
On Missing His First Two Shots, But Then Making 6-of-7
"Well in the past I would have been beating myself up worrying about it, now I know it's a long game. Certainly those first two buckets would have helped, but Jermaine did a great job keeping us going early. Now as a senior I know how to calm myself down, go in a little stronger and just make adjustments. That's all you have to do."
On Playing Under The Basket
"Everyone's realizing obviously I'm more comfortable down there, I've played there my whole life. Coach just wanted to make sure I was allowed and certainly able to play on the perimeter. Hopefully we can start mixing and matching both. I will have the opportunity to play on the block down low and then pop out and take a 3-pointer."
On The Play of Gaston Moliva and Oumar Sylla
"Gaston can pull down rebounds like nobody does and he had one huge block today. Oumar is tough on defense, he's so long and so athletic. When they play as well as they did today, it's extremely beneficial to our team."
On Playing No. 6 Louisville In Freedom Hall On Monday
"Jermaine (Bucknor) and I will talk to the guys tonight. A lot of them were not around for Kansas and Stanford (both Richmond victories). The big names in college basketball that we've been able to play against and be successful against, should help us. Freedom Hall has great tradition, but we're just trying to win a game. Once the ball goes up its 5-on-5. They obviously return a Final Four team, they're extremely athletic. They're ranking probably isn't high enough. You can't say enough about them, but I know our coach will have us prepared."