2000-01 MBK vs. Maryland - Quotes
12/2/2000 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
U-M Head Coach Brian Ellerbe
On the game ... "I'm not going to make a lot of excuses. Gary's (Williams) team came out with their back against the wall and they played very hard and really wanted to execute. They are a mature and experienced basketball team and they took it to us in a lot of different areas. We didn't make a lot of good plays offensively and gave them a lot of easy opportunities. We're not going to let this loss demoralize us. Emotion and enthusiasm can change a lot of ills. I'm not going to panic over the loss because we lost to a team that could be playing in late March."
On Michigan's defense ... "We did not have defensive intensity. We didn't have the intensity to come back offensively and that's what we're trying to work on now, trying to figure out why we didn't put forth that same defensive effort."
On Maryland's defense ... "I think older teams have a chance to be good defensive teams. It takes a younger team like us time. The other part is the strength factor. It's hard to be able to sustain defensive pressures throughout the whole game. One of the things that we have to do is continue to play some zone."
On Lonny Baxter and the rest of the Maryland team ... "Lonny Baxter's a good player. They lost to some good teams. They have a lot of good players."
On LaVell Blanchard ... "LaVell will struggle until he learns how to utilize his teammates. He is the guy with the bullseye on his back."
U-M Freshman Guard Bernard Robinson Jr.
On Coach Ellerbe's comments at the half ... "He basically asked us, 'What do we want to do as a team' He questions the team to see where they are."
On the team ... "I think everyone has to come together. We don't perform the way we should on the court. Leon (Jones) called a meeting for everyone to come together. Everybody had to open up. We know this is a team effort. There's no finger pointing. It's important to come away from this tournament with one victory."
On his homecoming ... "I wanted to win. To come home and lose is an embarrassment."
Maryland Head Coach Gary Williams
On the game ... "Our players did a great job coming back. We got back about 3:30 Thursday morning from Wisconsin, and we had a practice that afternoon. That gave us two days to get ready for this tournament. They were men -- they did what they had to do to get ready."
On Steve Blake ... "I don't think there's many point guards who get their team into their offense any better."
On Juan Dixon ... "What Juan does is he gives us a defensive player that's a threat to steal the basketball, plus on offense, people have to worry about him. It allows us to get the ball inside."
On his team's effort ... "I was really pleased with our effort today. We were consistently tough defensively and we knew where the ball should go offensively, and Steve (Blake) and Juan (Dixon) had a lot to do with that. But that's how we can play, and now we just have to get where that's a pretty consistent thing when we come out to play."
Maryland Junior Guard Juan Dixon
On the game ... "We had a tough schedule early. We played against some tough teams. We just wanted to come in and be focused and play 40 minutes each game. We had a tough road trip and we had to get one under our belt today."
Maryland Point Guard Steve Blake
On the game ... "It's great to get this win, and get us on a roll. We knew we were good enough to win those three games that we lost. It just took a little more work, a little more effort to get it going -- and we got it going today."
