Nov. 1, 2011
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UNM vs. Davenport Exhibition Game
November 1, 2011
Head Coach Steve Alford
Opening Statement…
“I am very pleased because we have a had some strange practices and we have definitely had to ride them hard. We have battled a little bit of injury with Cameron (Bairstow) early and Phillip (McDonald) for the entire practice season so far, so we have been out of rhythm a little but I have liked our focus and concentration. We have been very physical in practice and we are a strong physical team and we needed to play against someone else and I think we really responded in a lot of ways. This was a good basketball team. Coach Paddock does a great job and makes me extremely proud. His team has really good defensive pressure, really good team for us to play and hopefully they have had a good experience in Albuquerque the last three days. But all in all, very pleased with how our guys played.”
On getting out the kinks, air balls, air passes etc….
“We have played hard in practice but haven’t been as tough and as smart minded as I want. I thought even through a poor shooting first half we were able to score in the forties. We started shooting the ball more in the second half and scored near the fifties. Both halves offensively, even with not shooting the ball we got to the line a lot.
Our teams that have always had success make more foul shots than the opponent shoots and I think tonight that happened. It tells me how aggressive we are offensively.
We know we are going to have some guys that it is their first time playing on the floor and shots aren’t going to go in. But we are working hard and doing the things we need to do so that is a positive.”
“We made comments as a coaching staff, you got Emanuel (Negedu), Alex Kirk, Phillip McDonald and Chad Adams sitting in street clothes, those are four pretty good players that are supposed to be out there. When we get Phillip (MdDonald) back that will increase our depth at the back court. We can do some of the things we want to do. Our trapping was good, we want to trap some ball screens and we threw some presses out and I thought that was really good. We forced twenty-two turn overs, we haven’t done that in a while. So if we can get active like that our two forwards, AJ (Hardeman) and Drew (Gordon) in particular, to increase the pressure of that helps those two get out and run. I thought Cam (Cameron Barstow) did a lot of good things with chewing up space inside.”
On Tony Snell…
“Tony can shoot it. Tony turned over the first pass of the game and last year when he did that he was trying to find a rock to hide under for the next two minutes and I thought he did a really good job here of turning the ball over and moving onto the next play. He made a couple really good plays after that and those are positive signs.”
On offensive rebounds…
“It’s frustrating, I have said it before that we are not the rebounding team that I want us to be. We were really active at both ends. We did a really good job at the glass and I thought that was key in the outcome of the game and that has got to be a strength of ours. We are athletic, our guards are good rebounding guards and obviously our three bigs do a really good job. Board play is key and tonight is better than what I have been seeing in practice.”
“I can’t say enough about our crowd. Being able to play and exhibition game in front of 12,000. That doesn’t happen across the country very often. If you go looking at these so called BCS schools that are playing their exhibition games check out their attendance. We are very blessed that we have the fan base that we have and it really helps our guys. Our back court is all freshmen and sophomores other than Jamal (Fenton) and Phillip (McDonald) so for these guys to get this kind of experience is really gonna help them. I can’t say enough good things about our fans.”
On playing defensively, both Drew and Kendall diving for the ball… “I wanted to clap too because we have been harping on this in practice. That is just who we got to be. We want to be more physically. We want to be able to be able to be more disruptive physically and I think we were tonight. I think we got them out of a lot of things because of our defense.
And then we get out and run and when we get in that run we are explosive. But we can’t be careless when we run and we had a little bit of carelessness in spurts. ” On Jamal Fenton… “I thought he played really well. Jamal gives us energy, he gives us a personality that this team needs. I thought he did a lot of good things, he shot the ball well. His defense started everything that we do. He did a lot of good things.”
PLAYER QUOTES
Senior Forward Drew Gordon
On sophomore forward Cameron Bairstow
“Cam has gotten a lot better from last year. He’s put a lot of work in at the weight room, and it’s pretty obvious since he’s came back that he’s significantly heavier this year. But it’s going to be big, coming down the stretch, Cam knows how to use his body really well. He’s a problem for anyone who guards him. He’s strong and he knows his position and his footwork. It’s going to be huge for us.”
On his double-double performance
“It wasn’t too bad for the first game. I think that there are some things I need to improve on. That includes being more vocal on the floor. Our freshmen are kind of new to our system and how loud the Pit gets during the game.”
On the different looks the team put out
“It was really exciting. Coach put a whole bunch of different combinations on the floor tonight, and saw how well we worked together, how we gelled, and I think that we did actually really well for the first time out. A lot of the freshman were being rotated and were having to play some big minutes.”
On being the de facto go-to player playing the most minutes
“It something I want, but not necessarily something I need. I want whatever is going to win. If I’m having a bad game, or if there’s a better combination that works, I’d be happy to step down and get the win. Today made me realize that I might be playing a lot of minutes throughout the season. I have to be prepared for that and take care of my body.”
Sophomore Guard Tony Snell
On the position(s) he plays
“Point guard, shooting guard, small forward, power forward. But I only played three.”
On his slow start
“I kind of off started bad. I tried to make it up.”
On the crowd
“It means a lot. It means a whole lot. We didn’t know we were going to have that much people just for an exhibition game. That’s we know how the crowd is for us. They’re supporting us and we’re supporting them by winning games.”
On the different combinations Coach Alford used
“I think it’s a good thing. Just to see different lineups and see how we go.”
On handling the pressure of the preseason hype
“The team handled it great. We have a big target on our back, and we just have to prove, one game at a time.”