Post-game press conference notes: Providence

lou v

All-Conference
Staff member
Aug 27, 2004
17,536
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Chris Collins

Obviously, this was a huge win for us. Probably the understatement of the year.

Spent a lot of time letting the air out of the balloon after the opener. Thought they were tight vs. Merrimack. Needed to relax.

Knew we were going to play much better, play hard, play with a lot of fight.

Switched our defense. Had matchup problems if we were guarding them man-to-man. Shows the power of effort. They got 20 offensive rebounds, we had 20 turnovers, they had 25 more shots...and we won by 9. Sometimes analytics don't tell the whole story, guys. Sometimes it comes down to heart.


Getting over Merrimack: Saturday was off day. Spent time together in room on Sunday before practice. Everyone talked about what they were feeling. It was one of those let-it-go moments. Guys seemed free. Made a ton of mistakes tonight. But played hard, united.

Providence's run: Struggled with that. When things don't go well, we've had a tendency to fold. There are gonna be runs in a 40-minute game. The house can't be built of cards. At 5 minute timeout, talked about it. Young got a big bucket, Miller on the baseline. Got all these young guys...they're gonna look young. Really like this group going forward. Games like tonight are huge.

We did a lot of things wrong. We needed a feel-good thing. Playing zone. Physical team. Two guys are 24. One is the same age as McIntosh on my staff. In zone, can't block out as well. Gotta take care of the ball. We had 6-8 TOs under our control.

Playing zone: Sometimes you've got to shuffle the deck. Some kind of change was good. Good game plan for this game. Didn't feel confident had a good matchup with Diallo. Thought guards would give them problems. Gave up some good looks but didn't let them do isos or pick-and-roll.

Green DNP: Way the game went.

Ball goes in when your heads in the right spot. Guys strugglign with shots. Just compete

Ryan Young: So proud of him. Got his head kicked in every day by Dererk Pardon. That's no fun. It gets you tougher and gets you better. Dererk and Barret took him under their wing. Redshirted because they thought it was going to be a really good player.

Zone long-term: We're gonna use it. We have good size. We have bigger guys. We still have to work on our man but we found something successful. First time we played it so have advantage of ambush attack. People have seen it now, will be prepared. Still have to use man.

Beran: He showed his talent. Banged two 3s. Huge part of what we're trying to build. We feel really good about our nucleus moving forward.

Young role: What he did tonight. Need him to anchor, rebound, he's got size. Skilled kid, he can pass. Hit corner jumper. Has a chance to be a very good player. Huge part of our future.
 

lou v

All-Conference
Staff member
Aug 27, 2004
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Anthony Gaines and Ryan Young

Getting over first game: Gaines: Had a bad performance to open season. Came together Sunday, looked each other in the eyes and said that can't happen. Young: Wasn't our team. We were flat.

Young strong point of game: Going up strong in paint. Lot of buckets created by Anthony, Spencer in lane. Credits teammates.

Young on Pardon: I was raw. Helped me in every way. Taught me to work hard and be physical. He was always working, doesn't take any plays off. Can't take any minutes off. You could do that in high school. It was eye opening for me. Huge for everybody on team. Beating me up but it was the best thing that could've happened to me.

Gaines on overcoming runs: Communicated on defense, continued to stay locked in.

Turnovers, mistakes: Gaines: We believed we could win. Gives us confidence. Knows what kind of team we can be. Can still improve. You find that out every game, what you do well, what you need to get better at.

Young on zone: Lots we can get better at defensively, especially offensive rebounds.