Northwestern University Athletics
Quotes From NU-Liberty Men's Basketball
12/17/2001 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 17, 2001
EVANSTON, Ill. -
COACHES QUOTES
Northwestern 66, Liberty 49
December 17, 2001
Liberty Head Coach Mel Hankinson
On his team's performance...
"We have nine freshmen and sophomores on the team. I probably didn't have to tell you that after the first half. We're a team under construction.
"Tonight, I thought something unusual happened. We outrebounded them. But I'm sure they'll fix that."
On Coach Carmody...
"I think Northwestern hired the right man. When you look at Northwestern and its design, his system will give Northwestern a chance in the Big Ten. So I'm a fan of Northwestern because of Coach Carmody.
"I've been in the Big Ten (Iowa), and for years, the Big Ten has been a big, athletic conference. When you have the academic standards that Northwestern has, and when you're limited in your talent pool, then you need a style that will (allow) you to be in every game. He's shown he can do that at Princeton in the (NCAA) tournament."
On how not to game-plan against Coach Carmody's system...
"You can not pressure them. If you pressure them, that may be the backdoor kiss of death."
Northwestern Head Coach Bill Carmody
On his team's performance...
"I'm very happy. Ten days ago I was very happy after Kansas State, seven days later I was not very happy, but we've gotten over that little funk. We had lively legs, the guys were moving out there. We took care of the ball, we only had four or five turnovers at the half. The last ten minutes kind of spoiled it, there were a lot of turnovers."
On the style of the game...
"[Liberty] plays a similar game, so instead of going back and forth between offenses we were able to go man to man."
On Jason Burke's performance...
"He has been playing well all year. The other night he had a career high in rebounds, tonight he had a career high in points. The only thing we tell him is to be more aggressive."
On Drew Long's performance...
"I thought Drew did a very good job. It's obvious what he brings to the game-he's a long-range shooter."
On a pair of touch fouls called on Jitim Young early in the game...
"I've seen him steal the ball from big guys twenty times under the basket and go for layups before they notice, so you can't tell him not to do it. His shooting has improved and if he continues to improve, he will be tough to defend man to man."
On the upcoming road games...
"We're going to be playing away from home now, and we have to take care of the basketball. You can't beat yourself."
