North Carolina State University Athletics
Coaches' quotes
12/30/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
NC State head coach Sidney Lowe quotes
“We played a very good ball game from both ends. Our defense did a great job and didn’t allow easy shots. Our guards did a great job out front guarding the wings. We contested about every shot and didn’t allow them many second opportunities.”
On Ben McCauley: “They do a nice job of positioning themselves, and Ben had to work extra hard with his footwork to get around to make those shots.”
On Brandon Costner: “Unbelievable. Such a great effort. We talked about having to step up and shut out the big guys, and we told them their strength was on the inside. He did a good job shutting them down.”
On Gavin Grant: “I think the most important thing is that Gavin plays the right way and he did that. He took shots when they were there. If you play that position you have to sacrifice and play the right way.”
On Dennis Horner: “He doesn’t force anything and he knows how to get open. He’s consistent and we’re not worried about him making mistakes.”
On Trevor Ferguson: “He was what we needed with Gavin in foul trouble. You could tell he was still a little sick, but having him in running the show helped. He gave more than we thought he would be able to.”
UNC Wilmington head coach Benny Moss quotes
“It was a little discouraging because we spent the entire break working on turnovers, our offense, and our defensive execution. We didn’t turn the ball over today, but our execution was not good on offense. We did a very poor job of sharing the basketball. We did a lot of dribbling and taking quick shots, and we really worked on being patient and passing the ball around. We only had nine assists on 18 baskets, and we’re used to having assists on two-thirds or more of our baskets. I don’t know if it was the opponent or being on TV or the fact that we had a lot of family here, but we did a lot of playing around with the ball, lots of dribbling, but not enough passing.”
“We have to go back to playing team basketball, sharing the ball, moving it around. We did not do that today. One of our objectives was to make them work. They’re only playing six guys right now. We wanted to get them out and make them run and play defense. We let them off the hook instead by forcing bad shots and not moving the ball.”
On the play of Vladimir Kuljanin: “He’s doing a good job and making progress. Defensively, he’s not allowing opponents to make passes as deep into the post as he used to. Guys used to catch the ball deep on him and score over him, He’s gotten better at that. His defense is catching up to his offense. The next phase for him is to become that guy on offense who demands the ball in the low post.”
