USF Men's Basketball
USF vs. UConn
March 6, 2010
USF Sun Dome
Postgame Quotes
USF Head Coach Stan Heath
Opening statement ...
I thought that was a big win for our program. A team with the tradition and history of UConn, with a lot riding for both teams on this game, I thought we played really well. And we needed to play well.
I was really proud of our seniors out there. It was their last game, and I just thought they all, even if it was one minute, went out there on the court they showed great leadership. They made plays at different times out there during the game.
Chris Howard obviously has been here the longest. I think he is a special special player. You don't see a lot of the things he does maybe in the box scores sometimes, but behind the scenes he is the communicator, he is kind of the brains on the court. He is one of those guys that keeps the team together; the glue guy.
Mike Mercer who has been through so much, he came to me and just said, "thanks coach for just giving me one more chance." I almost cried, myself. I really know that he deserved it and made the best of it, and I think that is what we do with young people sometimes.
Now it's on to the Big East tournament because we are still playing a lot of basketball. It's fun to be playing this time of the year.
On preparing for the BIG EAST Championship ...
We knew they weren't going to lay down, and were going to get a big punch from them. We bent a little bit, but we didn't break, and I think you have to do that. Obviously we would love to have finished it off with a 14-15 point lead, but UConn is too good of a team for that to happen. When we needed to make some plays, we had those two free throws that sealed it. They were getting a lot of momentum, they cut it to two, and Chris knocked down a couple, which gave us a little cushion to finish things off.
On getting into the Tournament ...
We have to win games. I wish the committee would take into account maybe the missing pieces we have had through the year. I think sometimes they do and sometimes they don't, but there is no doubt that when Augustus Gilchrist is healthy that the way he can play, we are a totally different team. He gives us that other guy when Dominique Jones maybe needs a little break, or has exhausted so much energy to keep things going for us. So I hope that they would take that into account, but the only thing we can do is play basketball and try to win games.
On Jarrid Famous' impact on the game ...
His play kind of kept us going. We needed some free throws, we didn't get them, but he gave us an extra possession to give us a basket, another cushion. With the lead we had, and he didn't play one of his better games, and we need to get him going a little bit more but he did make some timely plays. He made some free throws, the put back you mentioned, and he had a couple of rebounds in there. It was good to see him respond to not having a great game and make some plays to help us.
On not having a losing record in the BIG EAST Conference ...
Well I think it is a huge statement for us. I remember when Doug Woolard and I were talking and people were telling me, "Oh you can't win there." "It's too hard of a job. It is the hardest job of America." I think we have proven that is not true. We can win here, we can have success. We had success this year in this league; the best basketball conference in country, and we certainly don't want this to be a one-year wonder. We want to be satisfied where we are right now. There is a lot of basketball to play and some more things that we can accomplish, and we need to do that.
On Gilchrist on the defensive end of the court ....
He has grown a lot. He does take more pride in his defense, and he called me into the office and said, "Coach can I talk to you a little bit?" All he talked about was "Coach, I want to win. I just want to win." So you can tell he has more of an emphasis on other areas of the game and not just scoring. Obviously he is healthier, he can get up and down the court a lot better. He still is getting a little bit stronger but those plays as you mentioned, the jumpball, rebound, and blocked shot, those are key stops. Kemba was just going wherever he wanted to go, and we are not the only team that happens to. But that was a key key stop. I kept telling the guys, you have to send a message in the paint. Whether you block it or whether you take a charge at it, or knock somebody down, you have to send a message. Because if not, they are just going to keep on coming.
