Post-Game Quotes
February 03, 2005 | Men's Basketball
NCAA Men's Basketball
(#13) Washington 99, USC 69
Thursday, February 3, 2005
Bank of America Arena/Seattle, Wash.
Post-Game Quotes
WASHINGTON HEAD COACH Lorenzo Romar
General Comments:
"We were pleased with our effort. On the downside, too many offensive rebounds for them: 24. On the positive side, 32 assists for us on 42 field goals is outstanding. Our guys did a great job of sharing the ball. Jamaal Williams got us going early, made some shots in the paint. Our guys picked it up on the defensive end, began to force turnovers and then that's when the game changed. A number of good performances individually by our guys today. Will Conroy was very, very good putting the pressure on the Trojans and finding shooters. He was outstanding tonight."
On slow start:
"I don't think if we're down it means we're sluggish. Our second group came in and that's when we really started pressuring and forcing turnovers. So maybe we did start out a little slow. But our backs have been against the wall for so long, we had to bring it, we didn't have time to be sluggish in games in the past last year down the stretch. So I think our guys just developed an identity of coming out and working hard. It doesn't mean we'll win every game but I like our approach and how we come out aggressively."
On run at end of first half:
"We got up with our quickness and played the passing lanes and applied pressure on the basketball. Guys did a pretty good job of taking them out of what they wanted to run offensively. When our guys are playing aggressive basketball like that, we are a much, much better team."
On Tre Simmons:
"He caught fire at the end and really began to shoot the ball. Give Will Conroy a lot of credit and the rest of our guys for finding him. Our guys understand when Tre starts hitting, that he's capable of doing what he did tonight. You could just see that our team began to look for him in situations where he just had to spot up and get open and they found him. Again, give Will and our team a lot of credit for that, of recognizing that he had it going. And Jamaal had it going in the first half and our guys recognized that, I thought. Kind of an unsung hero with all that tonight was Brandon Roy. He was looking for people, he was getting the ball inside to Jamaal in the first half and that's just kind of what he does. He didn't score a lot of points but I've called him a provider before and he was kind of a provider tonight. He rebounded the ball and got us in a good offense."
On Simmons' scoring mentality:
"When he gets going it's fun to watch. Some guys are good shooters but when they get around 18, 19 points, they don't quite know what to do. They're out in the middle of the ocean. Now Tre, if he has an opportunity, with the exception of those two free throws, he'll just keep scoring."
