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Quotes, video off UConn's win over UCF
Some video and quotes off UConn's 67-60 win over UCF Thursday night at Gampel:
KEVIN OLLIE:
“Start of the game, I really liked our aggressiveness. We wanted to get back to playing UConn basketball.”
“We just relaxed. Good teams can’t relax. But, I was proud of our guys in the second half. To hold that team to 60 points, when they were averaging 75 in the American Conference, that’s a pretty good job by our defense. Now, we’ve just got to understand, to win games in big-time environments, we’ve got to do a better job at the free throw line.”
(on UConn's 21 assists to eight turnovers)
“I’ll take that ratio, any day ... It’s hard to guard when you’ve got 21 assists.”
(playing at Gampel)
“It felt great. Our crowd was great. The student section was jumping up and down, and we felt the energy. It’s just great to be back home. It seems like we haven’t been home in like a month, and we haven’t played here in, like, two months. Just to get a little home-cookin’, come out here and play, and let our fans know we’re gonna come out and play with energy and passion.”
“Hopefully, they keep coming out, because we need them."
(on Omar Calhoun's powerful, where-did-that-come-from? slam dunk)
“That was pretty nice. Then Daniel came back with a dunk after that. To see that explosiveness, I know Omar’s getting back to himself. To make that play was big-time.”
RYAN BOATRIGHT:
“That’s what we’ve been looking for all year, man, to come out like we did in that first half, with that intensity and that ball pressure on the defensive end. It was fun being out there. Everybody was sharing the basketball. There was a lot of energy in the crowd. I tell the guys all the time, if we can start the game like that, we’ll be in every game.”
“That’s always disappointing when you make the game harder than it’s got to be. Once you get a team down 18, you’ve got to step on their neck and put them away. That’s what teams do to us. You get down 13, they try to kill us and put us away. But, young team ... it’s a learning process.”
“If we can get the big man to take one step forward, he’s gonna catch that lob all day long.”
“I love playing at Gampel. To get the students here early, they’re rowdy, and then the crowd is magnificent when we play in Gampel. I don’t know why we don’t play as much in Gampel, but I wish we did, definitely.”
HAMILTON:
(on his steal that thwarted a 3-on-1 UCF fast break that could've cut its deficit to four with just over 7 minutes left)
“I knew he was gonna pass the ball. I knew he was gonna try to dish it to the big man so he could get a dunk. I acted like I was gonna play him, and I slid back and got a steal, and we got a fast break.”
(on Calhoun's dunk)
“That caught me by surprise. That caught me by surprise. I’ve seen him do a couple of dunks in warm-ups, but I’ve never seen them in a game, so that caught me by surprise a little bit.”
KEVIN OLLIE:
“Start of the game, I really liked our aggressiveness. We wanted to get back to playing UConn basketball.”
“We just relaxed. Good teams can’t relax. But, I was proud of our guys in the second half. To hold that team to 60 points, when they were averaging 75 in the American Conference, that’s a pretty good job by our defense. Now, we’ve just got to understand, to win games in big-time environments, we’ve got to do a better job at the free throw line.”
(on UConn's 21 assists to eight turnovers)
“I’ll take that ratio, any day ... It’s hard to guard when you’ve got 21 assists.”
(playing at Gampel)
“It felt great. Our crowd was great. The student section was jumping up and down, and we felt the energy. It’s just great to be back home. It seems like we haven’t been home in like a month, and we haven’t played here in, like, two months. Just to get a little home-cookin’, come out here and play, and let our fans know we’re gonna come out and play with energy and passion.”
“Hopefully, they keep coming out, because we need them."
(on Omar Calhoun's powerful, where-did-that-come-from? slam dunk)
“That was pretty nice. Then Daniel came back with a dunk after that. To see that explosiveness, I know Omar’s getting back to himself. To make that play was big-time.”
RYAN BOATRIGHT:
“That’s what we’ve been looking for all year, man, to come out like we did in that first half, with that intensity and that ball pressure on the defensive end. It was fun being out there. Everybody was sharing the basketball. There was a lot of energy in the crowd. I tell the guys all the time, if we can start the game like that, we’ll be in every game.”
“That’s always disappointing when you make the game harder than it’s got to be. Once you get a team down 18, you’ve got to step on their neck and put them away. That’s what teams do to us. You get down 13, they try to kill us and put us away. But, young team ... it’s a learning process.”
“If we can get the big man to take one step forward, he’s gonna catch that lob all day long.”
“I love playing at Gampel. To get the students here early, they’re rowdy, and then the crowd is magnificent when we play in Gampel. I don’t know why we don’t play as much in Gampel, but I wish we did, definitely.”
HAMILTON:
(on his steal that thwarted a 3-on-1 UCF fast break that could've cut its deficit to four with just over 7 minutes left)
“I knew he was gonna pass the ball. I knew he was gonna try to dish it to the big man so he could get a dunk. I acted like I was gonna play him, and I slid back and got a steal, and we got a fast break.”
(on Calhoun's dunk)
“That caught me by surprise. That caught me by surprise. I’ve seen him do a couple of dunks in warm-ups, but I’ve never seen them in a game, so that caught me by surprise a little bit.”
Labels: Amida Brimah, Daniel Hamilton, Kevin Ollie, Omar Calhoun, Ryan Boatright
posted by David Borges at
10:02 PM
3 Comments:
When Purvis enters the game, the home team loses a player and the opponent gains a player. Very difficult to win playing four men against six men. The world title belt holders have a roster with many others who create this nonsynergistic result to varying degrees. How did the coaches see a Ferarri? Do they need contacts or just have a very good sense of humor?
I'm no UConn apologist -- the team obviously has its issues. But I do think that a.) you're being a little too harsh on the Huskies and b.) the program has earned the right for fans to be patient. How many times have UConn teams peaked at just the right time, in March. Not saying this one will, but it's fair to wait and see.
Even the casual fan knew that the for TV World Belt King would lose Baz to graduation, Kromah, Gif and Deandre would likely move on well in advance to starting the fourteen title thrust. Who manpower plans for roster procurement? This staff does not play chess, that is a govan. This staff cannot scout either if they believe terrence, rodney, samjr, lubin, nolan can be even close to worthy replacements. I now know why the new training center was built; to train the assistant coach to some day be a real head coach. This facility is certainly not luring any prospects or the usual projects.
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