University of Richmond Athletics
Men's Basketball Post-Game Quotes
01/07/2006 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 7, 2006
Recap | Box Score | Notes | Photo Gallery
Richmond Head Coach Chris Mooney
On The Game
"Their guards were able to spread us out and play one-v-one and they were able to get in the lane. If that guy wasn't able to make a basket, he was able to get it out to an open shooter. It's a difficult problem to solve because of their quickness. It creates problems because we were so worried about (Steve) Smith, and all of sudden, other guys are able to drive around. They are just good basketball players."
On Richmond's Defense
"Our defense needs to be excellent and right now it's average to below average. When it's excellent, we have a good chance to win. When it's not, it's difficult for us."
On Gaston Maliva
He's terrific. He's such a hard worker. He's very aggressive. Clearly, he's not the most skillful player in the world, but he's got so much energy and he's so active. He's always trying to do something positive. I thought he was terrific. He gave us a chance."
Richmond Junior Gaston Maliva
On Trying To Bring His Team Back Into The Game
"I was just trying to bring more energy. I think that was what was lacking throughout the game. I was trying to do hustle plays and be more energized. I was trying to get more aggressive on the offensive end and just trying to see the openings and attack harder."
On Finding His Role On The Team
"The coaches have been working with me on the one-v-one so that they can use me on the offensive end. I've been working a lot on being a driver and finishing strong."
On Being Matched Up With Steve Smith
"We were just trying to keep the ball out of Steve's hands. He's a great athlete and a great player. So we thought that if we could keep it out of his hands, we would probably have a good chance to win."
La Salle Head Coach Dr. John Giannini
On The Game
"I'm very pleased. We came here against a winning team who has beaten some strong opponents, like Seton Hall and Old Dominion. I'm pleased with our team's effort. They obviously present unique challenges in their style of play and defensively, they are outstanding."
On La Salle's Offensive Game Plan
"I give our players a lot of credit for executing the things we wanted to do offensively. We tended to get pretty good shots and we didn't really turn it over against a really good defense. We emphasized some individual match-ups defensively where we needed people to guard their leading scorers and we did a very good job of that. If we would have rebounded the ball a little bit better, it would have been an ideal night for us. They out hustled us in some situations and that hurt us."
On Steven Smith Not Having A Dominant Night
"I'm really pleased that all our players have improved since 14 months ago. Everyone on the roster was much better in the last month of last year than in the first month. And I think that they are better again now. I think that they are just good kids who have worked hard to improve and it shows in the results."
On Gaston Moliva
"I've always thought he was a good player. In looking at other teams and other players, I thought that he was one of the best freshmen in the A-10 (two years ago). I know he's a very capable player. It doesn't surprise me at all that he hurt us."
On Richmond's Defense
"They are a tremendous defensive team. They are much bigger than us, they are extremely well-schooled in how they switch, and they are very effective at it. We tried to create situations where we had a quickness advantage, where we might be able to get a dribble penetration. We tried to cut Steve to the post at difficult angles. The most effective thing for us was the dribble penetration. They are bigger, but we used our quickness to our advantage at times."