Post-Game Quotes
December 24, 2004 | Men's Basketball
Recap | Final Stats | Notes
NCAA Men's Basketball
(#12) Washington 110, Houston 63
Friday, Dec. 24, 2004
Bank of America Arena/Seattle, Wash.
Post-Game Quotes
WASHINGTON HEAD COACH Lorenzo Romar
General Comments:
"Twenty-four turnovers we committed, after that there's nothing that I can complain about at all. It may have been our best. I can't think of too many more performances that we've had that we've done a better job throughout the entire game on both ends of the floor. Defensively, I thought our guys were as good as we've ever been, and then we really shared the ball and made shots. What a great game by our guys today."
On his team's composure:
"We played like veterans today. This is not me trying to pull the wool over your eyes. You look at the teams that Houston has played and what they've accomplished, they're not a top-20 team at this point but they were no walk in the park. For our guys to come out here and play the way we did, I have to say I was impressed with our guys."
On the potent Washington offense:
"When Jamaal Williams came into the game, right away he was aggressive and made a few baskets. We could be wrong but it appeared that their gameplan was to really extend their defense and guard our perimeter. What Jamaal did and then eventually Bobby (Jones) and then Brandon Roy, was break that surface line where they were able to score and now they were so extended we were able to get easy baskets. It also started with our defense. They went a long time without scoring. Eventually we got out in the open floor and maybe that broke them down a little bit, broke their aggressiveness down defensively."
On Houston's defense:
"No one had defended us like that this year. It took us a few possessions to figure out what they were doing because we hadn't seen that in any of their games that they had played this year. But once our guys figured it out and we spread the floor and got it inside, we adjusted to what they were doing at that point, and once our guys adjusted their was no looking back."
On if he was concerned someone would get hurt:
"A little bit, there was a little concern. But I thought there were a couple times where there wasn't really a reason to call a foul and the officials did. I thought they were doing that just to try to keep the game under control. They were trying to manage the game at that point."
On Jamaal Williams:
"We'd like to see him get an assist once every four games maybe. We knew when he came in here, we've watched Jamaal play since ninth grade, and that's what he's always done regardless of who the competition was. So we knew that was going to be what he would do for us out there. Jamaal, at times, when there's a double team or when there's nothing there, he needs to be a little more patient at times. But he is such a good scorer with that ball down there, it's hard, you don't want to take a scorer's initiative away, so there's a delicate balance there. At times he could do for a passing rehab though."
On completing the non-conference season:
"If we ended up 9-2 or 8-3 and we played the right way, we wouldn't have been able to complain. For us to be 10-1, we're very pleased. And with the one being on the road against a very good Gonzaga team, I would say we had a successful non-conference season."
On Brandon Roy:
"In terms of his knee I think his knee has responded fine. In terms of his conditioning and timing I'd say he's probably about 80 percent right now. He played--pretty good, 16 points in 15 minutes--and that was about all he could play tonight. Obviously, before he was injured he was playing 30-35 minutes easy, without needing too much rest. So he's got to build that up. The most difficult part is over in that his knee is okay."
HOUSTON HEAD COACH TOM PENDERS
On what he told the team after the game:
"We won't have another game like this, I'm pretty sure of that. We've just got to hang together and try to take something positive out of it."
On the officiating:
"Washington outplayed us. I'm pretty sure that the way Washington was playing - in their own building and hitting on all cylinders - that they probably would have beat us, but they were allowed to hand-check with two hands, use their arms, knock our guys to the floor ... It was clear that that was their game plan - they knew they could get away with it and the officials allowed them to get away with it.
"It'll be good to get back to Texas, back to officials from our area who respect us and our players. It'll be nice to get back. In our next game, we'll have officials from our area, from Conference USA, and it'll be a totally different thing. But, this game will toughen us."
On what to take from the game:
"This game will help us. Our kids have got to go through games like this. These guys came out and beat us up physically, and that should be good for us."
