Nov. 10, 2007

Recap | Box Score | Game Action

Head Coach John Thompson III
On Roy Hibbert...
"I think we made a few adjustments on the angles and how we were trying to get it to him. That's a terrific team (William & Mary) and a good game for us. They're a veteran team, a team that won't beat themselves and a team that runs a complicated offense that's hard to defend, both man and zone. I just told the guys, there are a million and one things we have to get better at, a million and one things we have to improve on. IN the second half, we adjusted a few things to get him the ball at different angles because the way they play - it's not a straight man, a straight zone or a straight 1-3-1 - and they make you think, which is good. In the second half, I thought our guys did a better job of figuring out, collectively, what was there and what wasn't."

On Roy's progress...
"He has grown up on the floor and off the floor. He's someone who came in unsure of himself, growing into his body, not the most confident fellow in the world to right now where he is extremely confident with what he's doing on the floor as well as off the floor, and his teammates and coaches are extremely confident in him."

On playing a team that switches defense like William & Mary...
"It's difficult, particularly early in the year. As you go along in the course of the year, you get a feel for it and a rhythm for it. It's one of those things, where most coaches spend so much of your time working on your man-to-man staff because that's what you're going to see. But with our first two games, we anticipated seeing a lot of zone so we have to work it in. We're not sharp in anything yet and hopefully we'll get there."

On the bench production of Chris Wright and Austin Freeman...
"They did okay. I'm not sure about numbers, but both of them are going to be very, very good. Chris hasn't had much practice time, so I probably left him out there a little longer than I anticipated. He said he felt okay and he's still progressing. Austin missed some shots he's going to make. It's the first game and both of those guys compete."

On playing games like this early in the season...
"I hope it's useful. I told the guys that they are a veteran team, they're well-coached and they come from a terrific conference and they're not going to walk in and not compete. You put your schedule together and think that's going to be a good test and as you start to prepare for it, you're not sure it's the right thing, but our guys responded. That game is how our games play out. I have to remind this year's group there are no 15-point plays. We methodically pulled away from teams and that's how we do things. We just slowly grind it out, we did a good job of figuring it out together and got a lot better looks in the second half. We have to do a better job of rebounding, a much better job of rebounding. They had too many second shots. But our defense, our zone, got better as the game went on."

Senior Center Roy Hibbert
On the stretch in the second half...
"Coach likes to emphasize us wearing everybody down, one possession at a time. I was working on getting down in the post and I had to demonstrate that I was going to try and score. When they collapsed down on me, I was able to pass it out to my teammates."

On what he said to Patrick Ewing, Jr. after the national anthem...
"We just usually say, 'Let's get it done.' We've been saying it since last year. It's our responsibility to make sure we clean up everything on the defensive end, rebounding and make sure we stay aggressive."

On the play of Laimis Kisielius...
"We scouted them and we knew he's a really good player. We knew he was going to try and shoot and we responded in the second half and tried to limit his shots. We rotated on defense, made sure we found the shooters and get a hand up so every shot was contested."

On his thoughts as the banner was raised...
"I felt proud of what we did last year, but Coach always emphasizes that last year is last year and it's time to move on. We're a totally different team than we were last year so we're working everything out now. Last year was nice, but we want to have something to look forward to this year.

Senior Guard Jonathan Wallace
On seeing Roy Hibbert attack the basket...
"It helps us out because it puts pressure on the defense to collapse. When Roy is being aggressive, it forces the defense to collapse and opens up avenues for scoring opportunities for other guys."

On thoughts as the banner was being raised...
"Seeing it raised, you can't help but think of what we did last year, but at the same time, we have to put it behind us and move forward."

On Roy's improvement...
"Besides his physical improvement, just mentally, he's getting a better grasp of the game and knows what needs to be done at certain points."

On the contributions from the bench...
"It's one of those games that Coach says you have to grind out. It didn't start off so pretty, but the involvement by the bench and everybody on the team, everybody brought a lot of energy and intensity and that's what carried us.

On playing without Jeff Green...
"It's the first game of the season, so we were just figuring out how it goes. We'll just take it one step at a time."

Junior Guard Jessie Sapp
On thoughts as the banner was being raised...
"We think it's a nice banner, but at the same time, that's last year. We don't want to keep reflecting on last year. We're in a new year and we want to try to potentially make it to the national championship game or win the national championship."

On Roy's improvement...
"He's grown a whole lot. He's a better basketball player. He moves up and down the floor really well. He's a great presence to have on our team. When you get the ball down to him, a lot can happen."