Rollins - First Round Press Conference Quotes
General Thoughts
Head Coach Glenn Wilkes Jr.: I think that we were obviously coming off a very emotional weekend last weekend, it took us awhile to focus, we didn’t shoot the ball well so we had to win it the old fashion way with good defense for the most part. Its like all year long, we’re a tough out and if you’re going to beat us, it’s going to be hard to do, were just a tough club to beat and so we hung in there and happened to make the last shot.
Q: When you’re struggling to shoot, what keeps your team in the game?
Wilkes: We have had several instances this year when we didn’t shoot the ball well, and we made the decision about the middle part of January that if we had to beat people with defense then that’s what we would do, but we decided okay, if it doesn’t fall don’t feel sorry for yourself, just find a way to win. Lately the past two to three weeks we really shot the ball well and have been really tough to beat. But tonight we didn’t shoot the ball well and it wasn’t anything we haven’t seen this year, we just buckled down on every possession and pulled it out.
Q: How they kept their composure being down?
Sarah Taylor: Like coach said, we have been in situations like this before and it’s just about buckling down and getting that rebound or getting that tip. Just even tipping the ball knowing that your teammates are going to be there to pick you up and get the ball; just having faith in each other and faith in our coaching staff and believing, knowing that we will get through the game victorious because we have been in situations like this before.
Q: How much does last year’s run impact this year?
Wilkes: We got Ashley and Tara and Sarah Blackburn… and Sarah played a good bit last year and had the experience… after that it drops off the edge of the table. So were okay with three or four players out there but after that we have about after that we have a whole bunch of kids that don’t know what in the world is going on so we have had to have two or three players on the team try to carry them because they are so young. I think the more value is for those kids to go through what they went through this past weekend then go through tonight. Our freshmen were bouncing off the walls, shooting air balls, missing assignments, forgetting plays. Last year we had five seniors and were 10 deep and never missed a beat, and that’s obviously a lot different this year so I think it’s more what’s going to carry from this year to next. I will say though, the veterans that were there last year, they have been able to point the way.
Q: What are your thoughts about playing NSU again?
Wilkes: Well we didn’t realize we would have to win two conference tournaments to get to the sweet-16 and in the NCAA’s infamous wisdom they were able to lock us together and have us play three times in two weeks, so you’re going to have to really dig deep. We had to dig deep last week to beat them and we had to make up our minds and play just great and we did, and so we have to do it again. If it wasn’t Nova, then it would be someone else, but I would much rather play Nova as late as possible and I would of loved to play a team from a different league. It would have been such a great experience, it would have been really neat. So now we have the conversation about which league is better again.
The first tournament game is usually the hardest, people are nervous, etc. We’re going to have to take the air out of the ball and slow Nova down and make them play slower if possible, we just have to gut it out and I think our freshman will play better tomorrow.
Taylor: The keys to playing well for me I always say as long as we stay focused, limit our frustrations, minimize our mistakes and maximize on made baskets, made plays, made rebounds, just getting on the floor and getting after it, that’s how you become victorious at the end. If you don’t do those things, then it’s not even a game. You have to hunker down and play good defense, and defense creates offense.
