Jan. 21, 2011
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Opening statement:
"After a game like that, you wonder where that [effort] comes from compared to the efforts of last week. Playing three games in six days and the effort we made tonight was another thing. Obviously, we had more rest than we had for those other games last week. The thing that I can do as a coach is challenge the team to play Clemson at 2:30 p.m. Saturday, that's all we can do right now. Where this came from tonight, the way we played, pretty much the whole game, was a one-game thing. The games we've lost before, they weren't like that. Tonight was a different type of situation. Virginia Tech played well; Green probably had a career game. We just didn't seem to have the energy that Virginia Tech had. To their credit, they won the game. That's where we are now, we need to work on preparation and we'll be ready to go. It will be intense, playing a good Clemson team. We'll have to see what type of team we are and we go through this during the year. You can always lose, but I think it's how you lose that matters. I'm not real happy, anticipating Saturday. We still get to play Saturday, some 36 hours from now. I'm looking forward to the game."
On Virginia Tech's play against Jordan Williams:
"Jordan is a really good player. He's not like a guard, you have to get the ball to the inside player. We didn't look inside very well. We missed looks that we shouldn't be missing at this point. As the season moves on, you have to continue to work harder every game. As a team, we didn't have that kind of energy tonight. Virginia Tech played well against Florida State, (North) Carolina, and other teams like that. We just didn't do a good job attacking their zone."
On defensive play:
"Defensively, that's where things show up. It's every time a player has the ball in his hands, defensively, it about wanting to stop the other team. We got hurt by (Erick) Green. He did a good job against us. (Malcolm) Delaney played his game. He's really matured as a senior. He saw and made plays, doing a very good job as a senior."
On the rebounding imbalance:
"Going into the game, Virginia Tech had out-rebounded us in conference play. Going into tonight I thought we might have an edge in there. It hurt us. Bell had a very good game. The players don't understand that with a player like (Terrell) Bell, 1-for-3 tonight, he had a pretty good game with seven rebounds."
On Virginia Tech's defense against him:
"They did a pretty good job tonight. They played a packed-in zone and they gave our guards a tough game. I found myself forcing some shots because I didn't get that many touches, so when I did get the ball I tried to be effective with it and I took some dumb shots. I have to learn from it."
On trying to get the ball inside in the second half:
"In the first half it was tough because they were playing such a packed zone and we were forcing the ball in places we shouldn't have been. They disturbed our offense. We should have just taken our time and played our game but we took some dumb shots including myself. When I did get the ball I took some dumb shots and was impatient with the ball. They did a good job overall."
On how this affects the team:
"It's a tough loss as is any loss in the ACC but we aren't going to let it affect our whole season. It's just one game. We have to learn from it and move on because we have a game on Saturday."
On the quick turnaround:
"Yeah it's a good thing because we have a chance to make up for it. Some teams have to wait three, four or five days to play again but we play again on Saturday so it's a good thing that we get back at it again."
On Virginia Tech's quick start:
"They started off really well. They were up 12-0 and shocked us. Who would have thought that would happen? We felt like it was an uphill battle the whole game. It was tough for us to really get into the game; they did a good job of keeping the momentum on their side."
On Virginia Tech's play tonight;
"They were hitting tough shots and No. 11 (Erick Green) for them played really well; he scored more than he has all season I'd imagine. They had players step up and they hit shots and we didn't. We have to start hitting open shots."
On the quick turnaround;
"I think it can be a good thing. We don't have time to sit and mope around. We have to come in tomorrow and forget about this and focus on Clemson. We have to have a sense of urgency about us and come in and focus on Clemson."
On Maryland's second half runs:
"I thought we had a chance but then we struggled defensively. They ran a screen and roll and one of their guys was wide open and they scored a layup. It was little things like that the whole game, we would go on a run and they would get a basket. We struggled defensively and that was the reason why we lost."
On the team's effort:
"We are just shocked; I don't know what happened to us tonight. We started slow but I thought we were going to get ourselves back into it. Unfortunately we started off slow and played slow the whole game. Defense killed us; we weren't switching off screens and little things like that and you can't do that in the ACC."
Virginia Tech Head Coach Seth Greenberg
Opening statement:
"I'm really proud of our guys. I thought we played our best all season. We're getting better. I'm so impressed with our ability to share the basketball, trust each other and compete. Erick Green just had a monster game in terms of just playing with great poise. We talked about a couple of things before the game about playing confidently and playing with poise, playing smart, playing together, trusting each other. We did all those things. It was a really good team win.
"Down the stretch Malcolm [Delaney] made just some terrific decisions. We had good ball screens and great spacing. Victor Davila played terrific, caught the ball, ran the court. Jordan [Williams] is such a great player, but [Davila] took that challenge. It's so hard to tame [Williams] because he's so good... Overall, our defense was really good."
On the game:
"It's such a fine line between winning and losing. I said it on the conference call this week - it's a make and miss game. We made shots; it makes us look like a really good team. There's such a fine line between all of us. I don't mean in our league, I mean across the country. Tonight we made shots. We looked good."
On maintaining a lead:
"I think we were very alert defensively the first few possessions. We made shots so all of a sudden your defense feeds off your offense. We were sharing the ball, making the good decisions. Then we went to the zone and the zone was pretty active and we kind of kept them out front. But in the end when they made that run that's where I'm most pleased with our guys because we remained poised. And we had some finishes down the stretch where we really played good unselfish basketball, and that's what we're trying to do. Like I said it was a good win, but it's just one game and we've got to get better. We've got to get ready for the game on Saturday and the game on Tuesday. So we've got a lot of basketball and they're [Maryland] a very, very good team. If you watch them on tape - I've been saying all week they're the most efficient offensive team in our league and they probably utilize their personnel, just today they didn't make shots and we made shots."
On how they planned to contain Jordan Williams:
"The zone. I mean we tried to make other people beat us. But he's so good. I mean the guy is big, he catches everything. But we did a nice job of swarming. Coaching is all about what you can give and what you can take, and we first and foremost wanted to try and take away him. We didn't take him away but we wanted to try and take him away because he's such a good player."
Senior Guard Malcolm Delaney
On taking Maryland out of it's game:
"Coach [Greenberg] did a good job scouting. We knew we couldn't let them get into their flex because that's how they get started on offense and we just took them out of that in the first half and that kind of got them frustrated because they just started forcing up shots and turning the ball over some. They fell right into our game plan."
On getting an ACC victory:
"We need every ACC win we can get and the team understands that right now. We had a couple losses, but we don't let that hurt us, we just wait for the next game and come out and try to play our best."
On drawing the attention of Maryland while on offense:
"I like a lot of attention coming to me because then I can make other people better. People are stepping up and being more confident, making my job easier. Now everybody knows their roles, it's easier for me to make plays. I can score whenever I want but we don't need me to score 25 points a game for us to win. That's why it's easier for me than last year. Sometimes I had to try to just take over every game and this year we've got different people that can step up. This is the most fun that I've had since middle school."
Sophomore Guard Erick Green
On the 12-0 run to begin the game:
"That was huge. Just coming out I think we all felt good at the beginning and hopefully we don't let up anymore and keep going."
On playing on the road:
"It was a hostile environment and that's just how it is. We weren't worried about the fans at all. We just came to play and box them out and kept it going. Maryland's a tough place to play. The crowd was crazy and it really was a team win. It was probably the hardest place I've ever played in right now."
On having a career night:
"I had a good night tonight. Hopefully I can keep it going. My teammates look for me and keep me poised and I made big plays. I hit some big shots and I felt great out there."
