Nov. 18, 2008

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Maryland Head Coach Gary Williams

On the game:
"We are working hard in practice every day. Our young guys are not going to be perfect at this point in the season. But as long as we continue to work like we are, we can be pretty good because the effort is there. Every team has to work hard this time of the year, but I think we have a chance to be pretty good. I haven't seen anything in the first couple of games that will keep us from getting there; we just have to continue to work."

On Greivis Vasquez's performance:
"He proved last year by making second team All-ACC as a sophomore that he is a good player. It is early in the year and no matter what they did that year before, players need that positive thing to happen. I think tonight was very positive for Greivis, and in the first half he really did a lot of positive things for us. He played the one, two, and three for us in the first half. We have the luxury this year to move some people around, but in doing so it takes a little longer to get things where it's smooth all of the time. In the long run, being able to play a lot of people will be a strength for us."

On common threads:
"We are just like every team I saw on television last night. I think we are scoring a lot of points. We are not getting them early and we would like to start better, but I think we will."

On Jin Soo Kim's performance:
"He's got a good feel, but he has to feel it on the defensive end. He is getting himself in trouble by going for the steal too much. He is good at that, he's 6-8 and he's quick and he can steal the ball, but you've got to pick your spots. Right now he's getting into foul trouble and hurting us when he goes for a steal. But I'd rather have a guy like that who is that aggressive than trying to get a guy pumped up to do that. He's really going to be good. He loves to play and he has a good feel for the game. Offensively, he gives you another passer."

On making improvements:
"The obvious thing we need to work on is starting games, you want to be able to put points up on a consistent basis. It is okay to be nervous this time of the year. We have one senior and there are going to be some guys who are going to be nervous. I don't have a problem with that as long as that doesn't carry over to the defensive end, which it hasn't. We haven't scored early and we have been able to stay in the games because of our defense. As long as we can continue to play hard our offense will come, but we can't neglect the defense to try to get the offense up to speed. They both have to be there for us."

Youngstown State Head Coach Jerry Slocum

On the game:
Through the first two media timeouts we did a good job controlling the ball. We knew what they were going to do pressure-wise, but we just turned the ball over. It was self-inflicted wounds. You can't go out against a team of that caliber and turn the ball over 13 or 14 times in a half.

On Maryland guard Greivis Vasquez:
He's a pro. That guy's going to the next level. On top of it all he has really good size. He's a tough kid, and he's a tough player for our guys to guard.

On the school facing top tier teams over the years:
Every year it's made us better, and we've grown from it. And that's the way we'll take this one. We'll work at getting better, learn from our mistakes, and go forward.

Junior Guard Greivis Vasquez

On playing the shooting guard position:
"I have to get used to the flow of the game because it is completely different when coming off the ball rather then trying to make my own shot. I think I did a good job of playing within the offense tonight and not trying to do too much."

On beating Youngstown State by 24 points:
"I think we did a good job playing as a team tonight, a lot more games are going to be close this year because a lot of talent is spread around college basketball. When people think we only beat Youngstown State by 24 I say we played a good game and never let a good team back in the game."

On leading the team in scoring tonight with 28 points:
"I want to do anything I can to win the game. If I turned the ball over 10 times a game but we won every time, then I would be ok with that, so to me it doesn't matter how many points I score as long as we win."

Sophomore Guard/Forward Cliff Tucker

On the team starting out a little slow tonight:
"As a team we definitely started out a little slow, but it is only the second game of the season and I think everyone has their improvements they have to make. After we fought through the beginning of the game I think everyone played well."

On the Maryland defense:
"I think we did a real good drive of putting pressure on them in the first half, we were pressuring the guys we knew weren't the ones who usually handled the ball. We are getting a lot of steals, which had helped our offense out a lot this season."

Junior Guard Eric Hayes

On the play of Greivis Vasquez:
"Yeah, once he gets going you have to start looking for him, and setting up plays for him. I thought he did a good job of keeping in control of the ball, and also dishing the ball out. He definitely played a big part in the win."

On the play of the defense:
"We have been real good defensively, playing pretty good half-court defense, and Greivis was getting a lot of turnovers for us, and a lot of points off the turnovers. We did pretty well playing our press defense, getting a couple turnovers there. I think overall we did a good job."

On the play of the guards off the bench:
"Yeah we don't have a lot of guards in the first place, so the guard play off our bench tonight I thought was good. It's not easy to come off the bench and help out with the full-court press and everything, plus it helps to have guys off the bench because it keeps everybody fresh."