Postgame Quotes
December 21, 2006 | Men's Basketball
Dec. 21, 2006
ECU Head Coach Ricky Stokes
"In the first half we probably played as well as we could. Other than making shots, our defensive game plan was to mix up the zone with different looks like the 2-3, 1-2-2 and box and one. We just tried to confuse them. At halftime we talked about playing two halves. They hurt us with a couple transition baskets. I don't know if that was due to our depth but give them a lot of credit. I think Jenkins hit two big shots and you could see the air come out of us. We did not come together like we needed to.
On the physical play
"They do have two big seniors. Give them a lot of credit. I think Bradshaw is on some of the NBA boards. He is a big and strong physical presence. He can step out and shoot the three. They have played a lot of postseason basketball. They do a great job sealing. I thought Gabe handled himself well. I told Taylor Gagnon as he walked into the locker room that he really battled tonight. It is a physical game down low and they really try to set back screens in order to get the ball down low to their big guys. We are just disappointed that we were not able to sustain our first half effort into the second half. We played 20 minutes against a very good basketball team. We told the players that the key is now to play 40 minutes. We have to play longer and harder. That is what we will try to do."
On Sam Hinnant
"It's funny. Sam had a really good day of practice. They were teasing him earlier for dunking the ball in practice. Maybe Santa brought him a magic potion to rub on his knee as an early Christmas present. It is the first time he dunked the ball in a while. Going up and down on two knees was tough for him, but I think tonight is the best he has felt in a while. It was nice to see Sam have the type of game that he did."
ECU guard Jeremy Ingram
"We played a great first half. We actually were in the ball game. I think we didn't come out with the intensity that we came out with in the first half. A couple of transition baskets and a couple steals turned into a bigger lead for them.
On his health
"Right now I struggled with conditioning. I only practiced two days and I've been off two weeks. Over the break I will be conditioning and trying to get myself back in shape and ready for the second part of the season."
ECU guard Sam Hinnant
"I definitely felt a difference. I lost my confidence a little but the coaches have been on me and my players have confidence and I felt good tonight I am just sad we lost the game.
"We got down on ourselves and we came apart from each other. I feel like the first half we stayed together. We missed some shots, but we played great defense. We need to just keep playing hard."
