Miami vs. Buffalo Postgame Quotes (January 20, 2008)
1/20/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 20, 2008
Recap | Final Stats | Notes
Miami Coach Charlie Coles:
"By winning, hopefully our players feel better about themselves and that we can take a more positive approach, because I don't think we have. We've been real hesitant and looking over our shoulders. Some of that may be me, but they've got to take responsibility themselves. They've got to say, `it's me, too; I've got to play.'"
(On playing zone defense) "I'm trying to tell a few of my coaches that if you're not playing a good man-to-man, you're probably not going to play a good zone."
(On winning his 200th game at Miami) "When I first started coaching, once I coached my first game--which we lost--I said to myself, `I'm going to do this for the rest of my life.' And I also said that I'm going to be tough enough to do this for the rest of my life. Nobody's going to stop me from coaching. While I haven't won every game and there's been some seasons not quite as good as some people would like them to be, I'm still coaching. And that was my life's dream. So I'm proud of that. I'm proud of my 200th win for that reason."
Miami's Kenny Hayes
"In the first half, we had a bunch of open looks that we missed that we normally don't miss. In the second half, our post players stepped up and made some key passes and layups, so that helped us a lot."
(On playing without Michael Bramos) "It's a big piece without Bramos. Tim (Pollitz) called a team meeting yesterday, just for the players, and Bramos pulled me aside and told me that I had to step up. He told me that Tim couldn't carry the load by himself, so I tried to step in and do my best. Normally, you expect Bramos to come off a screen and hit a big three for you or make a key play. It was a big difference without him, but we have to adjust and learn to play without him."
Buffalo Coach Reggie Witherspoon
"The most deciding thing from our standpoint was them having some poise as it relates to their decision making. Ours wasn't as good. As we anticipated, it was a defensive struggle. Neither team shot it well. The intensity and the amount of energy that both teams put out caused the shooting to be down. The defensive effort was definitely high."
(Did Miami's zone defense throw them off guard?) "No, we absolutely thought that they would play zone. We haven't been playing well against the zone. If I was playing against us, I would have done the same thing."
