Quotes From Gary Williams' Friday Press Conference
1/14/2005 7:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 14, 2005
Head coach Gary Williams:
On what was emphasized after the recent ACC road trip:
"We emphasize that we're the only team in the country that played the No. 3 and No. 4 teams in the country back-to-back on the road. We didn't play great in either game, but that doesn't mean we're not a good basketball team. We have to prove it, obviously you have to go out and show it, but we still think we can be a good basketball team."
On the second half vs. Wake Forest:
"The guys who were on the court did a great job - Mike Jones, Sterling Ledbetter, Will Bowers. They played with a lot of intensity. You can't get away from that. Any time you're playing a good team, Temple for instance, if you don't play with a high intensity level then you're not going to be able to do some of the things you want to. That's a part of college basketball."
On Temple guard Mardy Collins:
"His ability to get shots off in traffic impresses me. He's one of those guys that you think you're playing pretty good defense on and he still gets his shot off."
On point guard John Gilchrist
"It's a situation that we're trying to get straightened out because he is a good player. He was the MVP of the ACC Tournament. I haven't forgotten that, and we want John to play really well because when he does it makes us a better team. Everything is connected as a college student. You go through ups and downs; every college student does whether they play basketball or not. You just get a lot of attention if you happen to be a very good basketball player.
"We've talked a lot. John is a scorer playing the point guard position. When you have a scorer's mentality, you look at things differently than a point guard who doesn't shoot as much. We need John to shoot the ball, he's one of our scorers. The other part of being a point guard is to play the other team's point guard, you're the first line of defense because the other guy has the ball most of the time. And then you have to be able to run the offense and get everybody involved. It's a hard job. It's the toughest position on the court; it's like being a quarterback in football. Everything starts with him touching the ball most of the time."
On Temple's zone defense:
"They do a great job of making you think you have an open shot but by the time you shoot the ball you're covered. Against any zone, you have to be aggressive against it. And you have to make shots."
