Postgame Quotes
November 15, 2009 | Men's Basketball
Nov. 15, 2009
East Carolina Head Coach Mack McCarthy
On liking a challenge early in the season
"Yeah I do. We probably learned more about ourselves today than we did on Friday night for sure. It also gives you a standard to address; what kind of effort does it take to play against a really good basketball team and they are a really good basketball team. They have a lot of different ways to beat you and a huge margin of error because of all of the different tools they have, whether it is size or athleticism or depth or quickness at the point guard spot. They've got a lot of different ways to beat you shooting the basketball with Steward and Aminu, who's even better than he was a year ago and now can take on a more focal point in their offense.
"I learned a whole lot more today and I'm also more encouraged. I know it's hard to be encouraged when you get beat that badly, but we did some things. We have to learn to take care of the basketball and we've got to really run the floor in defensive transition. I thought I saw more good things tonight than I've been seeing in practice.
On playing in Greensboro Coliseum
"I love playing here. I've had good experiences here. Last time I was here as a head coach we won three straight games and won the Southern Conference Championship."
On the crowd
"I thought they had an active crowd and I was tickled to death that we had so many people here. I like playing great games in great venues and this is one of the great venues in college basketball."
Wake Forest Head Coach Dino Gaudio
Opening Statement
"I thought our kids played hard and with a lot of energy today. The two teams seemed to mirror each other. Both teams have great guards, Ish(mael Smith) for us and Brock (Young) for them. Also, both teams have great small forwards in (Al-Farouq) Aminu and Darrius Morrow. I thought our defense was outstanding, but we gave up too many offensive rebounds. We have to do a better job of defending without fouling too. We can't play defense when they are shooting free throws."
On missing three pointers
"I'll take 33 percent. 33 percent is the same as 50 percent from two-point range. We're not a terrific shooting team from three and we realize that. The post got a lot of touches tonight and that was good for us."
On the strength of Al-Farouq Aminu
"His work ethic from last year to this year has been outstanding. As you can see, he is a pretty good player. He can post it up or step out and hit the three. He is a tough matchup for opponents."
