Dec. 23, 2011
Recap |
Box Score |
Notes |
Photo Gallery 
Opening statement:
"Another good win for us, I've watched about seven films on Radford, and that's the best I've seen them play. In the first half they were just making shots, they were executing, and putting in a new series in that we hadn't seen. We adjusted and I thought guarded better and they were still making good shots, banked one, in and really started feeling good about themselves. Their zone hurt us a little bit, but in the end we figured out a way to win the game and I think it was defensively. I think we've worked so hard defensively, and it showed in the second half. You take away the silly fouls we had 30 and 40 feet from the basket which got them to the line, which was the only way they could really score for awhile. I thought we played much smarter in the second half. Our positioning was better, and we played shots better, we just didn't rebound as well in the seconds half. We played small line ups, we played a lot of guards, and they were hard to chase. When you add Pe'shon [Howard] to the lineup, it's like we're starting over. It's a guessing game, I feel like we're starting over. We played with poise, we executed down the stretch, and it was a good win."
On how much of an adjustment it will be to add a player who will play 30+ minutes:
"I played him too much, but I had to. When his legs went he couldn't get to the rim, but it's hard. I've had teams that didn't win that flowed better than this is flowing. I know we've won a few in a row, but we're just still trying to find ourselves and we're going to add another guy next week. I coach by feel and we'll figure it out, but I'm just pleased with the defense. I know they're not a great shooting team, but we guarded, and that's a step in the right direction. Hopefully our offense will get better, and guys will trust their teammates more and we'll share the ball. We did a great job of taking care of it, and we really moved the ball against the zone during that stretch when we built the lead up. We missed a couple lay ups in there that we shouldn't have missed, and we could have built the lead up a little bit more."
On Nick Faust's shooting:
"Yeah I didn't know we had a breeze in the gym. It's tough, but the beauty of it and the fun part about coaching, is he didn't shoot a [three-pointer] again and he had 4 assists and no turnovers. He did everything we asked against the zone, he was spoon-feeding guys, he was penetrating, making plays for guys, or made the pass that lead to a pass because he penetrated. He did everything we asked the second half, and he was really solid defensively. He's really working hard on his shot, and he feels good about the 15-footer. I just want him to take good shots, that's the whole thing we're still trying to figure that out."
On if he's more comfortable spreading minutes out or finding one combination:
"I don't know. Hopefully we can spread minutes and help our defense, I just think having Pe'shon tonight gave us the depth to guard in the second half. Our guards got tired so I was able to rest guys, but I don't know how Alex [Len] is going to react in the games when he gets in, but he's been pretty good in practice. We have nine scholarship players now, and the blessing about Pe'shon being hurt and Alex not playing the first ten games is that Berend [Wejis], James [Padgett], and Ashton Pankey all got better, and our guards got better. We're going to have some quality depth now that I feel comfortable with."
On Pe'Shon Howard's help in the game:
"Pe'Shon [Howard] did a good job getting everyone on offense. It helped us a lot because we had more depth, so coach [Turgeon] was able to sub more."
On reinventing the team with Pe'Shon Howard's return:
"Everyone is getting used to getting Pe'Shon [Howard] back. Everyone is trying to get to the right position. It was a good test today and we won."
On James Padgett's and Ashton Pankey's high scores:
"It was really good. They gave our team more confidence. Having Pe'Shon [Howard] back forced everyone to be in the right position. Everyone had confidence tonight. We just wanted to get the win and we did."
On changes defensively in the second half:
"Coach told us to have some because if we didn't pick up defense then we were going to lose. We don't want to lose at home, so we had to pick it up and play better defense. We started giving effort during the second half because we weren't in the first."
On his struggles with shooting:
"I have a lot of confidence. If I miss a shot, then I am going to shoot it again. I have a lot of confidence I am going to make it, so I am going to keep shooting."
On Pe'Shon Howard's play:
"I think he did a really good job. He is definitely in game shape."
On playing a four-guard lineup:
"I like it because we got to run on offense and it helped us out."
On changes in the second half:
"We did a lot more talking in the second half. In the first half we weren't communicating with each other on plays. Coach [Turgeon] told me specifically to talk to the guards more because I can see the whole court basically."
On the team's offensive play:
"We attacked the zone. The middle was basically wide open. The biggest thing was passing the ball around, especially with Pe'Shon [Howard] back. There were a lot more passes being thrown and that really helped us with the zone."
On the team's transition:
"Pe'Shon [Howard] helps us with offense, and with Alex [Len] coming back next game there is going to be another change, and he is going to really help us defensively."
On the changes with Pe'Shon Howard returning:
"It was a little different with Pe'Shon [Howard] because we upped the tempo because we try to run more plays."
On his projections with Alex Len returning:
"Coach [Turgeon] thinks Alex [Len] is going to make a big difference, especially with spacing. I think I will be moving to the four-position instead of the five-position. With Alex [Len] being back, it really helps my game a lot because I will get a lot more put-backs and offensive rebounds, so we will be able to play off each other really well."
On being back:
"It felt great to be out there. The timing was a little off. It felt great at practice, so I was a little surprised it was off in the game. It was the first game, so it was kind of expected, but I got a little frustrated because I felt I could do better. I was happy to help the team and be out there with the guys."
On playing so much in his first game back:
"I wasn't surprised at all because in practice coach [Turgeon] would ask me if I was okay or if I needed a sub and I would push myself to try and practice the whole practice and if we scrimmaged I would try and stay in for the whole scrimmage. He told me yesterday I would not start, but during the game he was going to play me until I got tired. I kept telling him I was fine, so he said I'll keep you in. It was a test for me to see how far I could push it."
On how his injured foot felt:
"It felt great- no pain. I just felt a little bit out of shape. During the first half, I tried to pick up the ball further up court so I got a little tired. But second half, I got more used to it. No pain in my foot at all, just trying to get back into shape all the way."
On the possibility of missing the entire season:
"I just listened to the doctors and the most they said was twelve weeks, so I just took it and was seeing how it went. I kept feeling great so I was telling the doctors that and as time went on they said it would be shorter than twelve weeks."
On the team's future when Alex Len returns:
"When Alex is playing, I can't put into words how much of a difference he makes. I think you will all be impressed by him. At practice he and the team looked really good. When we went hard and Alex was on the floor, we looked like a completely different team. When he comes back, with Ashton Pankey playing well today and with James, I think our inside will be one of the team's strongest points.
On his team's performance:
"Well, we didn't win. It was a hard fought game right from the beginning. I thought we came out with great focus and great aggression and that's what allowed us to get off to a good start and we were able to maintain that for most of the game, even when we weren't making shots. I thought our guys continued to battle, making it tough on Maryland to score. They weren't able to stretch the lead out, even during the drought and it gave us a chance gave us a chance to win the game at the end of the game. We had a couple shots that looked good but didn't go down. I was proud of my guys' effort for 40 minutes, probably the first game that we've played for 40 minutes all the way through."
