University of Connecticut Athletics
Connecticut 60, Central Florida 51
12/20/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 20, 2009
HARTFORD, Conn. - Post Game Quotes from Connecticut vs. Central Florida
Connecticut Head Coach Jim Calhoun
"It seems like every year around this time of the year we end up having one of these games."
"I don't think we're a great shooting team, but I think we're a pretty good shooting team. You can't just leave us open. But more and more teams are probably going to get closer to playing like that unless we get some inside offense."
"I thought we looked really logie."
On Ater Majok
"He certainly did not have the kind of debut he or I would have expected. Not that it was going to be spectacular, but certainly it could have been better...He just didn't play very well. He didn't look like he was ready to play, and was very hesitant about everything that he did. He's a shot-blocker who didn't block shots. He's a rebounder who didn't rebound...The 16 minutes is about what he deserved...He's always had a great engine. That engine was shut off today."
On Alex Oriakhi
"Alex had his worst game since he's been here, energy-wise...Alex doesn't want the ball. He made the decision a while ago that he's a conscientious objector. He doesn't want to score. And rebounding. He's decided now that, after averaging 11 rebounds for the first games that he's probably not going to get a rebound either. He just was lousy today. Had no energy whatsoever."
"Donnell Beverly gave us a little bit of lift off the bench."
"We turned the ball over, couldn't make a foul shot."
"We turned it around with Gavin [Edwards] getting 11 rebounds for us - even though he didn't get enough shots, with Jerome [Dyson] doing a really good job defensively, particularly on [Isaac] Sosa. And Kemba [Walker], in the last 10 minutes, really played their point guard great, who had been controlling the game a great deal."
"We just didn't play with energy."
"We're good, and we can be really good if we play hard. If we don't play hard, we're not going to just out-talent you. You have to play hard every night...If we play hard, rebound, take full advantage of what we have, then we're very good...Today, we did the right things in the last 10 minutes of the game."
Stanley Robinson
"We came out pretty slow in the first half and everything wasn't going for us. But in the second half Jerome [Dyson] came in and made great three point shots, Kemba [Walker] did a great job, and I stepped it up too."
What was different today? "I was more confident in my shot and more determined to get to the basket. I just wanted to be determined in what I was doing."
Do the dunks get you going as a player? "It not only gets me going but the whole team and the crowd."
Ater Majok
Are you simply going to put this game behind you?
"I'm not going to put the game behind me. The game is going to be a learning experience. It's always going to be there. Every time I feel like `why am I here?' that (game) will be my motivation. I'll get the tape from that game and I'll play the tape over and over so I can know I don't want to see that anymore. I don't want to have that feeling anymore."
What did you learn about yourself today?
"I am not a relaxed player. I'm an energy player. I also saw a different side of Coach Calhoun that I haven't seen. I also learned this is not an easy game. It's a tough game and I know what I have to do to get better...And no matter what Coach says or how the fans react, no matter what, play hard."
Gavin Edwards
"It was sloppy, but a win's a win."
On Ater Majok
"Having a good game your first time out is not easy. I've never seen it as along as I've been here."
"I was very proud of our guys in the way that they battled. Certainly, we have tremendous respect for this program and what Coach Calhoun has done, and how well they play and how hard they play."
"When they needed to step up, Stanley Robinson and Jerome Dyson certainly stepped up. They took over some things on the offensive end, and we didn't have any answers when those guys stepped up and did that."
"The kids fought hard and I'm proud of their efforts."
"I was very pleased with the first half. I thought we took very good care of the basketball. Therefore, their offensive transition game didn't get started that first half. Certainly we would have liked to make more shots, but not many people make shots against UConn."
"We expected it would be tough on the offensive end, but I thought we did a good job of taking care of the basketball, and then not so good in the last 15 or 16 minutes of the game."
"We needed to take better care of the basketball in the last 15 minutes."
"I thought we gave great effort on the offensive boards."
"You have to credit UConn, but in the last seven minutes of the game we didn't execute offensively in anything that we tried to do."
