University of Richmond Athletics
Men's Basketball Post-Game Quotes
01/10/2007 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 10, 2007
Richmond Head Coach Chris Mooney
On The Win
"This does a lot for us. We have been in a lot of close games, but didn't quite finish against Fordham and we were in a close game with Virginia Tech, but didn't finish. This will infuse some energy back into us as we keep building a little at a time. We are so young, every positive we need to accentuate and enjoy."
More On The Win
"For us, this is a big win. Any win is a big win, but for us, especially to win our first Atlantic 10 road game, that's huge. On the heels of playing very well against Fordham, we played very well tonight and this time got the win."
On Pulling Out The Win
"Saint Louis came in here and didn't win, St. Bonaventure has some talented guys. I thought we played well, we played with composure the entire night and we played with confidence the entire night. Those are great things to see from our young guys."
On Richmond's Backcourt
"Our backcourt was very good. Brian Morris are going to be very good basketball players. We have trust in those guys. The good thing is Gonzalvez had eight rebounds and Morris had that big rebound at the end of the game. They're tall, they do a lot of things, they're very good passers. They're complete players and game after game they'll just keep getting better and better. With Ryan Butler back there too, it's good to have those guys for four years."
On Oumar Sylla
"Oumar Sylla played very well in his first game back. He gave us a huge lift. It would be hard to play much better in your first game back. He had a big time drive across the front with a hook shot, the free throws, the rebounding. There are 20 guys, including the coaches, in the locker room who honestly could not be any happier for anybody, than they are for Oumar and the kind of person he is."
On The Defense
"St. Bonaventure has some guys that are very difficult to guard, but I thought - besides a few stretches - we played very well on defense. Our defense with Oumar (Sylla) back there and our young guys developing, I think we could become a good defensive team."
On What The Spiders Did Differently Down The Stretch Tonight
"We rebounded a little bit better down the stretch and we ran our offense well. If we can run our offense well and not turn it over, then we will get good shots. If we're getting good shots, they don't even necessarily have to all go in, but we've just got to keep getting open shots."
On Dan Geriot Returning To Make A Clutch Basket Down The Stretch
"I went out there to see him with Jeff Gaylord, who was assisting him, and he definitely had a bruise in his thigh and he said his toes were numb. The next thing I know they said that Geriot's ready. I said `wow, let's get him in there.' That's a big time shot. He's such a good player, the future is so bright for him. How many 18-year old big men have an array of moves in the low post?"
Richmond Freshman David Gonzalvez
On Breaking The Losing Streak
"All the losses it was just a big mental battle, we've been going hard in practice and coach says we've been getting better and better. It was just a matter of trusting him saying that we just have to keep running our plays and it's going to work out. The Virginia Tech game helped our confidence after seeing them beat Duke and the Fordham game, even though we lost, we still kept our head up because we see the potential in ourselves. Tonight we just came out hungry and got the W."
More On Breaking The Losing Streak
"At first, with all the losses, we kept losing and coach keeps saying we're getting better and he sees the potential, but we were kind of getting down. The losses definitely didn't help. After the Virginia Tech game we saw how close we were. We just hadn't been able to put two halves together but after the Virginia Tech game we saw how close we got and they just beat Duke. We have to just keep listening to coach, he definitely knows what he's talking about."
On Looking Ahead To The Rest Of The Season
"I feel real good about the rest of the games we have this season. This just showed us what we can do if we just put our minds together and everybody's on the same page. Oumar coming back was a big, big boost. I feel very confidence coming into conference play. All games before were just a learning experience. They matter because they helped, we wouldn't be where we are now as a team. We're liable to do anything, we could surprise a lot of teams."
Richmond Freshman Dan Geriot
On Returning To Make A Key Shot
"Once I saw the opening I just took it. The adrenaline took over."