University of Richmond Athletics
Men's Basketball Post-Game Quotes
03/04/2007 | Men's Basketball
March 3, 2007
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| Highlights
Richmond Head Coach Chris Mooney
On Locking Up An Atlantic 10 Tournament Berth
"I thought we played well, it wasn't like we backed into it. We got off slow to start, but the rest of the game we were very, very good. We are deserving to get there."
On This Win Being Important To Building The Program
"We've played well here lately. As we look back this is an important step for our program because our team is so young. It's a great accomplishment for them, a step certainly in the right direction. This is a game, when we look back on it, will prove to be important for us."
On Richmond's Success Against URI's Zone
"We knew we would see some zone, zone has been very effective for them. When we got more aggressive and we didn't just settle for first open three, then we got a couple of whistles and it also opened perimeter shots up. It's because we more aggressive. Our defense was turned up a little bit. Guys hung in there, played pretty tough. The aggression went up a little and that really helped us."
On Oumar Sylla
"Oumar was 5-for-6 from 3. That's tremendous. With O, besides the shooting, what he's really been able to do is bring so much energy to the game. He really infuses our team with so much energy, which really goes a long way because of how young we are."
On Richmond Keeping It's Poise
"Even when things weren't going well for us, we still hung in there, still defended, we tried to look forward to the next thing rather than getting stuck focusing on what just happened, especially when that was negative. I think we are improving at that. It's a sign of maturity. We're certainly not as good as we can be, but we're certainly improving."
On Brian Morris
"He was terrific today. What I like about it today is, he didn't start shooting well. The three 3s that he made might have been his last three, so I like that he stuck with it. He had confidence, he made foul shots."
On David Gonzalvez
"David Gonzalvez had eight assists to one turnover, his development as a lead guard has been tremendous."
On The Spiders Having Single-Digit Turnovers For The Fourth-Straight Game
"That's a great number to see because at the beginning of year turnovers were a huge issue for us. To play in this game that had so much on the line and to only have nine (turnovers) and again be under 10 is a good sign for us. We really emphasize not turning it over and that is difficult with all the different people handling the ball and all the movement we have."
On Richmond's Freshmen Staying Composed Down The Stretch
"I think that's part of a maturing process. We have so many young guys, and the tendency when you're young is to take care of the initial problem immediately. When you get a little more seasoned, you think, 'OK, I can continue to do this and play and try.' I thought we put ourselves in position to make good plays and not settle and have to make a hard shot."
Richmond Freshman Brian Morris
On His 3-Pointer With 1:12 Remaining
"I had to believe it was going in. Gonzo came off a screen, and my man went to help on him. I knew if he passed to me, I was going to shoot."
On Whether He Thought His 3 With 1:12 Remaining Sealed The Game
"After what we've been through, I wasn't going to be too quick to judge, but I felt confident."
On Making Three Second-Half 3s
"It was especially good after starting off slow, making those last three and putting my team in a position to win."
On Richmond Playing Aggressive
"When we've gotten our wins at home, that's really how they've come. Playing that well, rather than playing on our heels and tentatively. We go out there with attitude looking to get the win and thinking this is the way we are going to do it."
On Richmond Keeping Turnovers Down
"People have been able to witness the progression of it. As it started off there were a lot of turnovers early on. I think we are grasping the offense now. We realize we can go through games with eight or nine turnovers and regardless if we are playing 35-40 minutes, we still need to take care of the ball."
On The Freshmen Growing Up
"After you play that many A-10 games you don't really feel like freshmen anymore. We got experience that not a lot of freshmen get the opportunity to have, and all of a sudden you become sophomores.
On Playing Fordham In The Atlantic 10 Tournament
"They're a good team, they've been playing well lately. We were up late when we played them here and we're just gong to go with the attitude that if we can beat these teams, we can play with anybody in the conference. We're going to go with the positive attitude and see what happens."
On Making The Atlantic 10 Tournament
"It's a huge confidence boost, you're sitting at the bottom of those A-10 standings for so long and you feel like you are getting better and feel like you are playing better. To now finally see a result, being one of the top 12 teams in the conference tournament, feels good. All the hard work has played off."
Richmond Freshman David Gonzalvez
On The Spiders Making 15 3-Pointers
"(Brian Morris) hit some open shots, Oumar hit some open shots. We've been shooting the ball with a lot of confidence lately."
On The Spiders Sharing The Ball
"We definitely made the extra pass. Coach doesn't really have to stress that much anymore because we are a very unselfish team."
On Oumar Sylla's Career-High 19 Points
"I'm in Oumar's ear a lot, telling him he's got to relax and just play and that's what he's been doing the last couple games. His confidence is really up."
On Going To The Atlantic 10 Tournament
"The last three games we matured a lot as a team. We know we belong there and we have the ability to shock a couple of teams."
Richmond Head Coach Jim Baron
On Richmond's Offense
"They got some space on their shots because they made the extra pass. They did a great job of looking for each other. They're just terrific passers. They get the ball inside and out really quick, and they hit shots."
On Rhode Island's Zone Defense
"I thought our zone in the first half was terrific."
Richmond Sophomore Jimmy Baron
"We came out extremely flat. We didn't play solid on defense. That was our main weakness. They passed the ball in and out of our zone and we weren't able to get to their shooters."
