University of Richmond Athletics
Men's Basketball Post-Game Quotes
01/03/2007 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 3, 2007
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Richmond Head Coach Chris Mooney
On The Game
"I give a lot of credit to Virginia Tech, they hung in there and played hard the whole game. I think my team played well. We were doing the things that I hope become staples of our program, such as defending, running our offense well and playing hard."
On Richmond Play Over The First 30 Minutes
"I thought we controlled the game on both sides, our offense was good, we took care of the ball, got very good shots and didn't panic. They came out in a 1-3-1 to start the game and I thought we handled that well, and we played well against their man defense. Then on the other end I thought we defended very well. When they were running their offense we were tough, confident, competed, and played great defense. If the game could have continued like that we were in good shape."
On Virginia Tech's Zone
"They're 2-3 zone seemed to stifle us a little bit. We got back on our heels and lost our aggressiveness a little. We did still get some open shots, and especially on the road, it helps when you make them. But I'm proud of how we played."
On What Turned The Game
"A few key offensive rebounds really hurt us, and the zone hurt us it took the momentum away from how we were running our offense."
On Being Out-Muscled
"We're so young, that's another big challenge for us. How do you control that? I thought our aggressiveness was a positive, but we would play well on defense, they don't get that great a shot, but then they get the offensive rebound."
On Richmond's Defense
"I thought we played well defensively. We made it hard for them to get the shots they wanted. I thought our defense was good."
On Gaining Confidence
"Sometimes confidence is something that can be affected by many things, but the main thing I think it is affected by is how hard you work and we have been working very, very hard in practice lately. We've been crisp and competed. Walking off the court leading at Wake Forest by 13 and walking off the court leading at Virginia Tech, those our good things for our confidence."
On Another Learning Experience
"We played well, we competed, the confidence is coming up. It's tough, we haven't won in a while, but we worked hard and we're continuing to develop as a team. I think this was a positive going into conference play. We played well tonight."
On Going Into Atlantic 10 Opener Vs. Fordham
"This is an important time for us, maybe it's a good thing that we get right back at it on Saturday against Fordham. They're a team we're very familiar with having played them twice last year. This was a positive tonight and we can move on from here not satisfied because we didn't win, but pleased with our effort."
On Freshman Brian Morris
"He played a very good game. Overall his floor game has improved since the day he got here, how hard he's moving, the decisions that he can make. He's going to be a very good player and I hope he's on his way. David Gonzalvez also played very well. We're in good shape back there for the long run."
Freshman Brian Morris
On The Game
"It would have been better if we held onto the lead. Once they turned to that zone we started standing around, in a game that we had been moving around the whole time."
On Struggling Against The Zone
"We need to keep moving and passing as oppose to stopping and standing. We allowed their zone to make us play slow too. If we can pass the ball, get it into the middle and open up seems, we'll be fine."
On Still Learning The Offense
"As a guard there's a lot to this offense to learn. After eight or nine games you learn when the right time to shoot and when is a bad time, or when you should drive and kick. It just took a little while to learn."
On That Being The Best 30 Minutes Of Basketball Richmond Has Played This Season
"I definitely think so. If you want to compare it to something I would say the first half of the Wake Forest game. If we can hold onto that type of intensity for a whole game. This was a step in the right direction."
On Richmond Playing Hard
"Tonight was a big step in terms of intensity, defense and rebounding. I didn't see the first half stats, but rebounding was pretty close if not even, as oppose to last game we being down 21-6. If we can rebound with an ACC team, we can rebound with a lot of people."
On Richmond's Offense
"We're getting better and better offensively. It's tough to guard when we run it the right way. There's been games we've been lackadaisical, we haven't cut hard. Today, as a team, we seemed to be all on the same page. As soon as we get like that things are going to be good."
On What The Freshmen Have Learned So Far This Season
"We're getting a better understanding as we go. We've had times when practice wasn't as good. In college basketball everyday is hard and it's a tough thing to do. We're starting to realize that everyday, every practice, every shoot-around, we need to give that full effort just to make our team better."
Virginia Tech Seth Greenberg
On Switching To Zone
"We talked about the zone and we had been working on the zone. I gave the whole team a speech about the 2-3 zone (before the game) and how it slows them down and gets them out of rhythm. Then during the game, Jamon Gordon said, 'Coach, we need to play that zone. You said it slows them down.' So I figured if we were in the zone, we may as well trap them, too. I think that got them off balance."
Virginia Tech's A.D. Vassallo
On Switching To Zone
"The zone was interesting because they had been hitting shots from the outside. But we were able to cover their shooters and push them out, and they had no easy shots. They were uncomfortable because it was a new look for them. We had been playing man (defense) and they were getting pretty much what they wanted."