Postagme Quotes
December 31, 2005 | Men's Basketball
Dec. 31, 2005
Recap | Box Score | Notes | Photo Gallery
ECU Head Coach Ricky Stokes
Opening Statement:
"I can't say how proud I am of our players. I couldn't be anymore pleased
with how hard they played, how they listened, how they tried to get better
and continue to come out and work to get better. It is very pleasing to see
that it all came together against a very talented UNC Wilmington team."
"I really wanted us to get off on a great start because they are bigger and stronger than we were and tend to shoot the ball better than us. We wanted to mix our defenses on them often and I thought that helped us to get off on a fast start."
On Reason For Shooting Well: 3We wanted to spread the floor a bit and tried to use our quickness. We were able to open the floor a bit, penetrate and kick the ball out when we needed. We were quicker to the ball today and in transition our athleticism played into our hands this one game and we were able to get some easy baskets and that gave us some confidence early."
UNC Wilmington Head Coach Brad Brownell
Opening Comments:
"All the credit today goes to head coach Ricky Stokes and the East Carolina
basketball team. They played a hard fought, very spirited game and played
exceptionally well. ECU shot the ball extremely well in the first half. We
had some breakdowns in our personnel scouting early and ECU got some threes
and that gave them some confidence."
"I didn't anticipate the way our team played today because I thought we were ready. Wwe practiced well the last couple of days. Obviously John Goldsberry had another tough night for us, which is rare."
On ECU Defense Of Goldsberry: "ECU played some zone and we thought they would. I thought John got some good looks early in the game, but just didn't make them. Late in the game he obviously tried to force a few things to bring us back. When you're down 20 you try to make some plays and do different things to find a spark."
On UNCW Inside Game:
"I didn't think that our inside play was good at all today. We went into the
game trying to get the ball inside a little more, but I didn't feel like our
post players did as a good a job as I would have thought with catching the
ball inside and being able to finish and make some plays."
ECU senior Corey Rouse
On The Quick Start:
"We were really excited to play this game from the tip. We knew that over
the past few years they have gotten the best of us, so we wanted to come out
and show the fans what we were made of."
On Out-rebounding UNC Wilmington:
"The whole week coach Stokes has been harping on us to box out and for
everyone to start rebounding. So we just took it upon ourselves to go out
and rebound as a team and not let them beat us."
On Getting Out To A Fast Start:
"It felt great for us to come out firing and getting out on them early. It
was nice knowing the other team had to play catch-up and we had a little
comfort zone where we could maintain and play our style of basketball."
On Spreading The Ball Around:
"I think that everyone has been coming out and playing their game lately.
Everyone has been contributing when they can in the form, hitting their
shots, playing defense and rebounding."
ECU Freshman Sam Hinnant
On The Locker Room Emotion After A Big Win:
"The coaches were dancing around and everyone had smiles on their faces
about the win. But we can't rest on just this game, we have to turn our
focus on Wake Forest and get ready for another tough game."
On Current Team Play:
"Right now were are taking each game one at a time and going out and having
fun and learning each day. That has been the biggest difference between now
and the previous games"
ECU Junior Japhet McNeil
On His Play:
"During the course of a season you will have ups and downs and you have to
pick yourself and teammates up when they're down. Today, I realized that we
needed this win to boost our confidence and to have a successful season. I just wanted to help my team win."
On Taking Care Of The Ball:
"That was a big key for us today. When we take care of the ball, we get shots
up on the rim and that leads to baskets and rebounds, which is where we have
been successful lately."
