Dec. 28, 2006

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Maryland Head Coach Gary Williams
Opening Statement:
"We're moving the ball well. We had 22 assists. We still had some sloppy turnovers, but in that type of game I thought we were pretty consistent. We didn't lose focus, and that is the maturity level you like to see. We're still working on our rebounding. I'm not completely happy with the way we rebounded tonight, especially in the first half."

On Mike Jones:
"Mike was open, and the players did a good job getting him the ball, which is always important for a shooter. Mike was in his rhythm tonight. He took good shots. What impressed me most was in the second half when he drove baseline and made the reverse lay-up underneath the basket. He probably couldn't do that last year. He's a big-time shooter because he has range. He's got the legs to shoot those shots."

On Greivis Vasquez:
"Greivis is a basketball player. Everybody wants to label this guy as the point guard, that guy as the two-guard. I don't really get into that. I'd rather have guys who can really play. In other words, how could you describe Juan Dixon? What position did he play? He basically played wherever he wanted to. There's something about certain players that can give energy to the other players. I think Greivis definitely has that ability. His enthusiasm carries over to the other players. As a freshman, that's hard to do."

On Maryland's defense:
"Our defense was good early. There was some pressure to score, because we were scoring every time down the court. That takes its toll. Our defense has been good. We work at it a lot. The thing is, though, if we play good defense and don't get the rebound after we force the tough shot, that's a wasted defensive effort. We've got to couple the rebounding with the defense."

On the freshman guards:
"I have always thought we had six guys that could start. I like Greivis' energy coming off the bench. Eric Hayes is going to be a really good player. It wasn't always smooth out there for him tonight, but he's a freshman and that's going to happen. That's how the good players learn; they come back the next day ready for practice. That's what Eric does."

On the inside game:
"We'd like to be working the ball in right now. You have to take what the other teams give you. Right now we're getting open looks. We'll take that. We have to have the ability to score inside when the time comes. We're working on that."

On Maryland's potential:
"I like the players. They really work hard. They are willing to listen. We have the intangibles. Our offense is unselfish. We do a great job of sharing the ball. Defensively we are better than last year. At the same time, rebounding is something I think about at night. We need to get more people involved on the glass. It can't just be Ekene Ibekwe and James Gist. We have to have guards step up and get five or six rebounds."

Maryland Guard Mike Jones
On the game:
"We just focused on trying to start the game well. We wanted to be active the whole game, and we worked on that in practice. I think that showed tonight."

On his shooting:
"I love our point guards. Really, the whole team is good about looking for a guy who is hot and letting him put it up. Tonight that was me, and everyone was looking for me and getting me the ball. I was surprised that [Mount St. Mary's] didn't come out on me as much and make me put the ball on the floor, but I just took advantage of the situation."

On coming off an ankle problem:
"It's a lot better. I just have been keeping it treated and I've tried not to let it cramp up or stiffen up. I've been working hard in practice to keep in game shape, and that paid off."

On playing during winter break:
"This is one of the down times of the academic year, and it's a great opportunity for us to stay focused on basketball. We just want to stay together as a team and keep working hard."

Maryland Guard D.J. Strawberry
On Mike Jones:
"Coming into the game we were working on getting him open shots. We were working the ball around today and finding him open and he was able to knock them down. Early on, [Mount St. Mary's] left him open in their zone, and they couldn't stop him. We know he's a great shooter so we just look for him and try to get him going early."

On the fast start:
"It has to be hard for the other team. I know that when we have gotten down early, it takes a lot out of you to come back. We just have to jump on teams like that all the time. Teams will be down on themselves and, especially with our pressure, it will take a lot of energy for them to come back."

Maryland Guard Greivis Vasquez
On Mike Jones:
"Mike and I were talking before the game, and he told me that he was feeling good tonight. I told him that I'd look for him, and I did. He was hot and he hit some big shots for us."

On the importance of good shooting:
"We know that we didn't shoot well in the games that we lost, so we've been working on getting better every day. Our main goal right now is to get ourselves ready for ACC play. We want to finish the season at the top of the conference."

On the inside game:
"We have to work the ball inside and get ourselves some shots there, too. When guys get the ball, they get happy and they start shooting well, so we want to get everyone the ball as much as we can."

Mount St. Mary's Head Coach Milan Brown
On Maryland's guard play:
"[D.J.] Strawberry was holding it all together. He was the guy that, when there was something missing, he can provide it. That's something I'm pretty sure the other guys look to him for ... Mike [Jones] is also shooting the ball, probably, how everybody thinks he is capable of shooting."

On settling down after falling behind in the first half:
"It's just one of those things when you get in this kind of environment and get down early it's tough because you tend to try even harder to do some things. It gets you frazzled as a player because you start doing things that are uncharacteristic of your style of play."

On Maryland's interior defense:
"They blocked 15 shots. Probably 10 of those were from two feet. I don't know if we would have made them, but there was a possibility of 20 points that came within a few feet from the basket that were just erased."

On positive things to take away from the loss:
"Despite the score we were able to compete. Our guys were competitive for 40 minutes ... We were down but kept fighting and that's all you can ask for in a situation like that, especially when you get down early. It was good to see that everybody was willing to continue to fight and also that we kept trying to play and execute."