2000-01 MBK vs. Bowling Green - Quotes
12/13/2000 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
U-M Head Coach Brian Ellerbe
On the game ... "I was really happy with the effort from our guys tonight. Bowling Green is a solid basketball team. (Bowling Green coach) Dan (Dakich) is doing a pretty good job for them. I thought the guys played pretty well. We defended really well the first three minutes of the second half, which we've been trying to harp on playing better in the second half. We're pretty happy about that. We really missed Gavin (Groninger) in the rotation, but we had a lot of guys step up, give us some minutes here and there, and it paid off for us."
On coming back with a win after the Duke loss ... "It says a lot. These kids know that not a lot of people are supporting them right now. So they decided 'Hey, we've got to stick together.' We've got to earn the respect and admiration of outside influences of people. Our team is young, and they're learning on the job. I thought Avery (Queen) played good tonight; he did some good things for us. He made some big shots, especially in the first half when our post guys were having trouble getting the basketball, and he came in and made three straight baskets and kind of kept us going in the first half."
On Josh Asselin's play ... "Josh had been eager to do something. He's been eager to get something going, and we made a conscious effort to stick the ball in the post and he delivered probably 60 percent of the time. He had some chippies that he should have finished, but as long as he's turning and going to the rack, you kind of like that."
Sophomore Forward LaVell Blanchard
On attacking on offense ... "I knew Bowling Green was a good team and I wanted to jump on them early. That's what Duke did to us last week and we wanted to do the same thing back to them (Bowling Green)."
On shutting down Bowling Green's comeback ... "Coach [Ellerbe] just told us to calm down and relax and just play as hard as we could. He gave us a few plays and we executed them well. I got lucky and hit a shot, and then Bernard (Robinson) or somebody hit another great shot. Q (Avery Queen) hit one at the [shot-clock] buzzer, and that really kind of broke their back."
Senior Forward Josh Asselin
On earning a starting spot tonight ... "Everyone's working hard in practice to earn the starts. Tonight I just wanted to come out and play hard. I come out every game, but tonight I had a couple shots fall, maybe got a little confidence, and took it from there."
On exploiting Bowling Green's lack of size ... "Tonight, we wanted to be aggressive. It wasn't necessarily exploiting them. Our guards played exceptional tonight. I think it was more or less move the ball, make the extra pass, and I think we really worked hard on that the last couple of days."
Bowling Green Head Coach Dan Dakich
On the game overall ... "Michigan has a proud basketball history and tradition. When you have the scheduling they've had, there's going to be some pride coming back. As soon as they started (Josh) Asselin, they were pretty much challenging their senior to step up and play. Obviously, he did a very good job of that."
On the reasons for Bowling Green shooting 32 percent from the field ... "I thought it was Michigan's interior defense, particularly in the second half. I thought we got decent looks, but I also thought we took a number of bad shots. When you take bad shots, on the road in particular, you're going to get beat. I give Michigan's defense credit. We've been about a 50-something percent team for a good year and a half, and they held us pretty well."
On the talent of the Michigan basketball team ... "I said this before the game -- I think this is going to be a very, very good basketball team if not at the end of this year, then next year. (LaVell) Blanchard is not only a good player, but what is he a 4.0 [grade point average] kid. (Bernard) Robinson (Jr.), if you were to draw up a basketball player, you'd draw him up to look like Robinson. The big kid (Josh Moore) with the size they have is going to keep them in every situation. And (Maurice) Searight is a really active kid."
