Postgame Quotes
11/11/2007 7:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 11, 2007
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Maryland Head Coach Gary Williams
On tonight's game:
"I knew North Florida could play, because most of their guys played last year and they have some experience. They did a good job against us in the first half. We were a little impatient, rushing a little bit with 14 turnovers. I thought we learned our lesson at halftime. We talked about slowing down and making the extra pass."
On Guard Eric Hayes:
"I thought Eric Hayes played a very strong floor game the whole game ... He got measured against Steve Blake as soon as he came here, but people were measuring Blake as a senior versus Eric as a freshman. So you've got to give Eric time to see how good he's going to be in four years. He's better this year, he sees more things and he's a lot more confident."
On the Terps' rebounding: "We were more aggressive going after the ball. We had more people going after the ball which helps. We have some big guards and they can rebound so we want them in the mix as well."
On Center Bambale Osby:
"Boom was kind of in a fog the first half and in the second half he got out of it. I think when he missed that dunk it really shook him up and got him going. We need him. We only have two seniors and he's one of them."
On missing James Gist and Landon Milbourne from the lineup:
"It was good for our players now that it's over because they had to make adjustments. There are things that happen over the course of a year with 35-36 games and this was a new experience for me."
Senior Forward Bambale Osby
On the Maryland's second half performance:
"After the first half I think that everybody broke out of their first game jitters. Coach said to slow down the offense and make your reads and we did that and we were successful."
On being a mentor to incoming freshmen:
"The coaches go over the coaching aspects of the game but not the player side. The guys coming in want to know what it's like to play, what is going to work and what is not going to work, so they come to me and I just tell them."
On tomorrow night's opponent, Hampton:
"We watched the first half and they're a much different team from last year. They're going to shoot a lot of threes, but they're also going to kill you on the boards. It's going to be a much different look for this game."
On the absence of James Gist:
"I was messing with James all night, telling him he looked really slick. But it will be good to have him back on the court. We're going to need him."
Sophomore Guard Greivis Vasquez
On the performance of the freshmen:
"They played good. [Adrian] Bowie, Cliff [Tucker], Dino [Gregory], all of them did a pretty good job today. They're still rookies. It's hard. They're going to be good and we're going to be a very good club."
North Florida Head Coach Matt Kilcullen
On tonight's game:
"For the most part I thought there was a lot of good, positive play tonight from our younger players. I thought Justin Cecil did a good job. I thought (Brent) Wood did a great job giving us a lift off the bench. But all in all, we didn't handle the ball well. You can't come out on the road starting a second half, turning the ball over in two consecutive possessions and give a good team help. A good team doesn't need any help and we gave them help right at the beginning of the second half where we didn't get shots on our first two possessions. What a good team does is build on that. They are very well coached and they came out in the second half with intensity."
On the team's transitioning to Division I:
"We are going to keep building. We are in a transition process to Division I. We are building and I definitely feel that we are in a better position than we were last year, but we still have to make steps towards transitioning. Team wise, we need to understand what is a good shot and what isn't a good shot, but most importantly to just learn the value of every possession. If we are able to handle the ball better and pick our shots, we have some guys that can put the ball in the basket."
On Cecil's play:
"Justin is a very versatile player. He has the opportunity to do some things on the outside for us, which hopefully we are able to get more of an inside play."
North Florida Junior Tom Hammonds
On his individual performance:
"I was trying to be aggressive out there and trying to go to the basket. I've just got to finish. I was going to the basket and there are some big guys there. I've just to concentrate and get the baskets. I thought overall I did alright, got some rebounds, got some steals but I just need to knock down more shots."
North Florida Freshmen Justin Cecil
On team performance:
"We played pretty well as a team. We played real well in the first half. We moved the ball really well and everyone was getting their shots but then towards the second half we just lost focus and we had a couple of turnovers early. They gained the momentum and we could really never get it back."
North Florida Senior James Grimball
On team performance:
"We have to play harder and finish the game as a team. If we do that, we'll be fine."
