North Carolina State University Athletics
NC State-West Virginia Coaches Quotes
12/28/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
NC State head coach Jim Valvano
"I looked at my brother and said Get Mom and Dad and let’s go get some pizza.’
"At first there was a tendency for me to think we had not played very well. But a couple of things changed my mind. First, they were quicker than I thought. They were a really good team. Secondly, with the clock you will see a game of spurts. College basketball has always been a game of runs and you’re going to see more in a game like this than one which is 39-36.
“I saw this as a directional game for us. I felt it would determine where this team was going. There were two good teams coming off losses so anything could have happened.
“There is a tendency to say we played poorly, but they [
"When Whittenburg gets revved up he can fire, he can put it in.
"With what we have coming up, this was very important. We’re a very good team, coming off a tough loss. We needed to turn things in the right direction, to see how we could go under those circumstances, because we may face that situation in the next few weeks.”
“I think we learned something with this game. We came off the loss at
“We had a horrible start but after that our offense started to click and we really got into the game. Then in the second half it was our defense that took over forcing a lot of turnovers.
“That’s one thing about the clock. Whenever you have to piut it up the game is bound to be played in spurts.
“I felt our overall performance was very mediocre. We weren’t anywhere near as consistent as we were against
On his shot-blocking abilities: “It’s really an instinct for me. I try to play a dominant defensive role in every game, and I try to concentrate on every defensive part. But I love to block shots. It’s a thrill for me.”
