NC State-Virginia Coaches Quotes

March 26, 1983

NC State coach Jim Valvano

“Yesterday I told you that I had been in this business for 16 years and this is a dream to play in the Final Four. I hoped we were up to how big this game was and I was proud of our team before Lorenzo knocked in those two free throws. Ralph Sampson is the greatest player I’ve ever been on the court with... he shoots well, he dunks well and I have empathy with a coach like Terry Holland and a player like Ralph Sampson in this situation.

“We told Lorenzo he’d better make those free throws or we would send his butt back to Brooklyn. I said, Lorenzo, you’re going to knock them in, you’re going to knock them in.’ Then, before the team went out just after we broke the huddle, I pulled Sid aside and said Here is what we do if he misses...’

(On fouling Wilson at the end of the game): “I wanted us to foul immediately. I didn’t want to lose to Ralph. If we were going to lose, I wanted to determine that outcome. Wilson knocked the first one right in, but fortunately he missed the second one. The question then was just how soon should we go for the shot. We went in a 1-3 chaser at the end, with Whittenburg on Othell Wilson, three of our players in man-to-man and Lowe floating in the middle. Wilson is so creative with the basketball (as is Sidney). We just tried to clamp Ralph and let them throw it up. If we were going t lose, I wanted to do so from outside.

“I try to put myself in the other coach’s shoes and I assumed they would be aggressive. We got trapped at the end and give them credit, they had nice pressure. We decided after we lost the ball at the end [Stokes] that we would not hold the ball, but take it to the basket.

“When Whittenburg’s on, there is nobody I have more confidence in. Yes, some of our players do have carte blanche to take those shots, but without Lorenzo Charles we don’t have the opportunity to do that. He deserves a lot of credit.”

NC State senior guard Dereck Whittenburg

“I knew I could come back and make it to the NCAA, but not to the Final Four. [Valvano interrupts: “I told the team I had a dream he would come back and knock in a jump shot at the ACC Tournament, but that’s where the dream ended. If I had known the script would go this far, I’d have sold the rights.’] Whittenburg continues: “I kept looking at that 3-point line and felt like I had good shots. At the last I was thinking about making a move to the basket or get a good shot. I wanted to do something good. When you play H-O-R-S-E with Terry Gannon every day after practice, you learn how to shoot that far out.

 

NC State senior guard Sidney Lowe

“Coach is good at letting us play and he helps us feel so relaxed. He gives you the feeling that you play like playing back on the playground. [Valvano interrupts: “Sid, that may increase your meal money.”] Lowe continues: “I told Lorenzo at the end that we were on our way to Albuquerque. When we (Whittenburg, Lowe and Bailey) were freshmen, I felt before we left NC State that we would be in the Final Four. Unfortunately, we were not there the first three years.”

NC State senior forward Thurl Bailey

“When [Mullen] missed, I was looking for the rebound, but it went long. I thought about going up to block Wilson, but I just stuck my hand up. Sampson is a great one. Whenever we play against him, we have to alter our shots and I did that in the first half. But in the second half, I just had to come out and take my shot at the top of the key and take it to them. I got fatigued, so I know Ralph had to come out a few times, too.”

Virginia head coach Terry Holland

“We had three options on the final play. First, we wanted to go inside to Ralph, but they were running a box-and-one and we couldn’t get it to him. Our second choice was for Wilson to penetrate, to try to make something happen, but they had Whittenburg one-on-one on Othell. Our third choice was to take a perimeter shot. We put Mullen in to give us two good outside shooters. We thought they’d cover our first two options, and we were prepared.

“The shot [Whittenburg] took to tie the game is the type shot we wanted to give up in that situation. Dereck Whittenburg is obviously a fantastic basketball player, and there’s not much you can do to take away the shots he takes.

“We were trying to go inside to Sampson or go the other way to our perimeter shooters, Carlisle or Mullen. I thought when Wilson came up with the rebound we had a pretty good chance.

“This is a tremendously tough loss for our guys. I think we played hard and NC State played well. Of course, they made the plays at the end of the game, and they deserved to win. We wish them well in the Final Four. They certainly are a strong representative from our conference and our region.”

North Carolina State University Athletics

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