Collins:
Opening statement: Thought they did a lot of good things. Main takeaway was getting Alex going. Thought his D has been good but haven’t established him on offense. Said he played well against two good big men.
On the three-point shooting (9-for-22 on the day after starting 0-for-8): Aaron and Tap’s shooting was key in second half. First half was tough start despite getting great looks, second half was big.
On getting a win before finals week: Going into finals, it always feels good to win. It's not always easy to play right before finals, their minds are a little bit off. We’ve got eight days to get our legs back and finish the quarter off strongly.
On whether they called plays for Olah or if he just demanded the ball: Combination of both. Usually their first play is called for Olah to get him going. Lots of times he loses his confidence offensively, did so the past couple of games. No one was more frustrated after VT than Alex, felt like he was ready to bounce back and dominate. Seeing the ball go in got him going. Really wanted to establish him, overload zone on the side to get him open looks. Also credits Joey van Zegeren with great defense, thought they dominated at the center position.
On getting scoring contributions outside of McIntosh and Demps (combined 18 points and 15 assists): It’s awesome. Those guys have carried us, and will carry us on many nights. 15 assists and only four turnovers. We have two teams, if you take out our shooting ability, we have other guys.
On sitting Scottie Lindsey for most of the second half: I just go with whoever has it rolling. Rode Scottie against New Orleans, Taphorn against Virginia Tech. Tonight was Aaron. Says they all play fairly similar roles, whoever has it going he's going to ride them more.
On how his expectations have changed compared to the beginning of the season: I expect a lot of my teams and myself, my expectations don’t change. Expects to win every game, wants to focus on each individual contest. Says he sees many crazy upsets around the country, wants to avoid this by maintaining focus.
If you had told him they would have started 7-1 with some close wins on road, he would’ve taken it. Felt best after UNC than maybe any other game, despite loss he saw some looks on his team’s face that were encouraging.
On the team's defense: Have to continue improving defensively, still a little ahead offensively than defensively. Wants to be able to win defensive battles, not just high-scoring shootouts.
On resting McIntosh and Demps: Trying to get Bryant and Tre some rest, played Scottie along Bryant at the two-guard to get Demps a break. Trying to sub them out at timeouts so they can rest for all the TO and some game time.
Alex Olah:
On his mindset heading into the game: I try to make them guard me. I had a stretch where I kind of struggled, felt a break through coming.
On his play of late: I thought I played good defensively, just couldn’t shoot it on offense. After Virginia Tech, I had a stretch where I said this is it, I cant have any more games where I score like four points, I’m a senior and I need people to trust me offensively. If you look at my trend, I always struggle in non-con, I don’t know why. I watched film with Coach James, I realized I was not playing strong, not playing physical. Focus on going through bodies rather than fading away.
Aaron Falzon:
On making a three while missing a shoe: When I'm open coach tells me to shoot it, I just didn’t have a shoe on.
On gaining confidence as the day moved on: at the end of the first I had two threes. When that third one went down, I just felt it. No real adjustment, I just put it up. Added that the basket "looks pretty big every day."
Opening statement: Thought they did a lot of good things. Main takeaway was getting Alex going. Thought his D has been good but haven’t established him on offense. Said he played well against two good big men.
On the three-point shooting (9-for-22 on the day after starting 0-for-8): Aaron and Tap’s shooting was key in second half. First half was tough start despite getting great looks, second half was big.
On getting a win before finals week: Going into finals, it always feels good to win. It's not always easy to play right before finals, their minds are a little bit off. We’ve got eight days to get our legs back and finish the quarter off strongly.
On whether they called plays for Olah or if he just demanded the ball: Combination of both. Usually their first play is called for Olah to get him going. Lots of times he loses his confidence offensively, did so the past couple of games. No one was more frustrated after VT than Alex, felt like he was ready to bounce back and dominate. Seeing the ball go in got him going. Really wanted to establish him, overload zone on the side to get him open looks. Also credits Joey van Zegeren with great defense, thought they dominated at the center position.
On getting scoring contributions outside of McIntosh and Demps (combined 18 points and 15 assists): It’s awesome. Those guys have carried us, and will carry us on many nights. 15 assists and only four turnovers. We have two teams, if you take out our shooting ability, we have other guys.
On sitting Scottie Lindsey for most of the second half: I just go with whoever has it rolling. Rode Scottie against New Orleans, Taphorn against Virginia Tech. Tonight was Aaron. Says they all play fairly similar roles, whoever has it going he's going to ride them more.
On how his expectations have changed compared to the beginning of the season: I expect a lot of my teams and myself, my expectations don’t change. Expects to win every game, wants to focus on each individual contest. Says he sees many crazy upsets around the country, wants to avoid this by maintaining focus.
If you had told him they would have started 7-1 with some close wins on road, he would’ve taken it. Felt best after UNC than maybe any other game, despite loss he saw some looks on his team’s face that were encouraging.
On the team's defense: Have to continue improving defensively, still a little ahead offensively than defensively. Wants to be able to win defensive battles, not just high-scoring shootouts.
On resting McIntosh and Demps: Trying to get Bryant and Tre some rest, played Scottie along Bryant at the two-guard to get Demps a break. Trying to sub them out at timeouts so they can rest for all the TO and some game time.
Alex Olah:
On his mindset heading into the game: I try to make them guard me. I had a stretch where I kind of struggled, felt a break through coming.
On his play of late: I thought I played good defensively, just couldn’t shoot it on offense. After Virginia Tech, I had a stretch where I said this is it, I cant have any more games where I score like four points, I’m a senior and I need people to trust me offensively. If you look at my trend, I always struggle in non-con, I don’t know why. I watched film with Coach James, I realized I was not playing strong, not playing physical. Focus on going through bodies rather than fading away.
Aaron Falzon:
On making a three while missing a shoe: When I'm open coach tells me to shoot it, I just didn’t have a shoe on.
On gaining confidence as the day moved on: at the end of the first I had two threes. When that third one went down, I just felt it. No real adjustment, I just put it up. Added that the basket "looks pretty big every day."
