Postgame Quotes
November 19, 2005 | Men's Basketball
Nov. 19, 2005
Recap | Final Stats | Notes
East Carolina head coach Ricky Stokes
On Tonight's Game
"I thought that we played well in the first half. We had some mental lapses that let A&T stay in the game, and so we went in at the half down by 4. In the second half though, we found our composure."
On Corey Rouse
"We called his number quick and often, and he turned in a great individual performance. Thirty-five points and 17 rebounds is something that I will take every game. I'm so happy for Corey and how he has matured and become a leader."
On Sam Hinnant
"Before the game I asked him if he was nervous and he told me that he wasn't. It really shocked me and I told him that I liked that and that I liked his composure."
On The Defense
"Our zone defense is really deceptive and I have to give the credit to our staff for doing a wonderful job and getting our players ready."
"We can't line up for 40 minutes and just go toe-to-toe with teams. We are going to do a lot of different things out of the zone, give teams a lot of different looks, but we will play man defense."
On The Atmosphere Of Minges Coliseum
"The students and Pirate fans were fantastic tonight. With the football and women's basketball games this weekend there is a lot going on in ECU sports and the atmosphere here tonight was fantastic."
Senior Corey Rouse
On the game
"I thought we played a hard game and I thought that the other team was very competitive.
They came out at the beginning shooting the ball very well and they were very focused. It took us a while to get into the game, but overall I think the team played well. We just need to cut down on the turnovers and slow the game down."
"It seemed like at the end everybody just picked up and started clicking, and we started playing a little bit harder. It seemed like from there we just took the game from them and got it back in our hands."
On scoring 35 points....
"It feels like any other game. I just came out to play and I felt very good before the game. I just try to do what I can to help our team win. I just want everybody to be into the game and do what they can and play hard. The sky is the limit for our team. We have a young team and we are very competitive."
Sam Hinnant
On the game...
"I think that we played real hard after the first couple minutes of the game. They [North Carolina A&T] played real hard as well. I think we could have played harder at the outset; it could have been the first game jitters. I am looking forward to the next game."
On things that the team has worked on since the exhibition game "I think the main thing that we worked on in practice was holding out on the defender, getting our hands up, and breaking the press. We knew A&T was going to press the whole game and we worked on that for at least 30 minutes each practice."
On Corey Rouse....
"We work every day in practice; getting the ball to the post and back out to the perimeter. It is like he [Corey Rouse] has eyes in the back of his head. I am going to ride him through my whole freshman year until he is gone. I look forward to more games. "
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