Post Game Quotes From Ohio State vs. Virginia Tech – Ohio State Buckeyes
12/6/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 6, 2003
Recap| Box Score| Notes
Ohio State Head Coach Jim O’Brien
On the game
“It was a vast improvement over our last game. We were a little bit more aggressive and we did a better job of playing harder and with enthusiasm.”
On intensity
“Let me say I think it should be a given how hard you play. That should just be the way it is.”
On the team’s play
“We need to combine playing hard and playing well. I thought we did a good job of that in the first twenty minutes, but not as well in the second half.”
On changing to a two-three zone set
“It’s hard to be preaching man-to-man defense all week and then switch to a two-three zone. We tried to be aggressive as could in the early going and play it out from there.”
On the Fuss-Cheatham’s effort
“Brandon makes plays. He is probably our best penetrating guard on the team and I think he did some very good things today.”
Virginia Tech Head Coach Seth Greenburg
His impression of the game
“I appreciate our players’ effort in the second half. In the first half we played hard but we did not compete. I think we competed in the second half and created better scoring chances. Ohio State was able to gain a rhythm in the first half and we could not contest any of their shots.”
On Virginia Tech’s second-half adjustments
“We tried to pressure them on defense a little more and create turnovers. We also tried to put up shots from the outside and try to open the game up. I thought we had a chance but we missed some opportunities. I think in the second half we proved to ourselves that we can compete.” On the negatives of today’s game
“In the first half we could not shoot the ball very well. We also were unable to penetrate into the zone to create scoring chances. In the second half we penetrated better and created scoring opportunities but could not keep control of the game.”
Ohio State Player Quotes
Sophomore guard J.J. Sullinger
On Ohio State’s early momentum in the game
“It all starts in the locker room. We knew we had to play tough and hard today. Luckily our shots fell early in the game.”
On O’Brien’s expectations of the team
“We just have not been playing to our expectations or our capabilities. Coach O’Brien is pushing us so we can become a better team. Today we started in the right direction in doing that.”
On the team’s progress
“Are we where we need to be? No. We showed that in the last five minutes, but we’re working on it. We won, that that’s a start.”
On teammate Brandon Fuss-Cheatham
“We have all the confidence in the world in ‘Fuss’ (Fuss-Cheatham). He is our point guard and we trust him in handling the ball.”
Junior guard Brandon Fuss-Cheatham
On his general play in the game today
“It was encouraging to finally hit a jump shot today. I just try to knock down the shots I can get. My game consists of taking three to four shots a game. But it did give me confidence to make the jump shots I took today.”
Sophomore forward Terence Dials
On the team’s defense
“Today we wanted to play with intensity after everyone in the country saw the way we have been playing, we wanted to take a step forward and play good defense.”
