Nov. 25, 2008
Recap | Box Score | Photo Gallery
– Head Coach Paul Hewitt
This was a hard game to quantify. It doesn’t really have a personality does it?
“Yes it was a very non-descript game. Early on, we had one of those droughts that we saw on Saturday at Mercer where we had some makeable shots and just couldn’t knock them down. That is definitely a concern moving forward. We have to try and figure out a way to get some easy baskets.”
You knew guard depth was going to be shallow tonight. How did the ballgame unfold from that position?
“[Iman] Shumpert did a great job from the beginning. He established a nice tempo for us. Our mind set going in was if we could get 30 good minutes from him, Gani [Lawal] Zachery [Peacock] and Alade [Aminu] then we could make up the other 80 minutes from the other guys and be in good shape. They did a nice job, but again the concern coming out of this ball-game is where are we going to turn too when we hit those offensive droughts.”
Defensively, fans will see 47 points allowed. Will you see a good defensive performance?
“Yes, in the second half. I thought we did a nice job defensively in the second half taking charges and that has been one of the things we’re working on. I think the guys have done a good job buying in and making sure they’re in the right position defensively. I’d like to see us be a little more daring if you will, to try and create some more turnovers. Since we are not pressing, we are prone to some of those droughts and we need to try and manufacture a little offense and it is easy to do it with turnovers.”
Do you think you have been a better team of getting your hand in the passing lane these first three games as opposed to last year?
“We’ve done a lot of drills and the assistants have done a great job instructing this. Getting your hand in the passing lane is one thing. Knocking it free and coming up with a turnover is another and that’s the thing I’d like to see us do more.”
One step at a time – one taken tonight, now you have Thanksgiving on Thursday and a game with Jacksonville Friday night. They have played a great schedule. What do you need to do looking ahead to Friday?
“[Head Coach] Cliff [Warren] has them playing very well. They were in the Atlantic Sun championship game last season and have already taken Florida State to the wire this season. They were also in a four-point game in the final minutes with Georgetown and they played Baylor pretty tough last night over in Waco, Texas. I know they are going to press us, so the one thing we need to do against them is take care of the basketball and avoid those droughts. I’m not going to guess whether we will have Mo [Miller] back on Friday. He had a concussion and while he is passed it, we are not going to take any chances.”
