Virginia Head Coach Tony Bennett Quotes
Syracuse Men’s Basketball
Syracuse vs. Virginia
November 6, 2019
Carrier Dome, Syracuse, N.Y.
Virginia Head Coach Tony Bennett
Casey Morsell spent a lot of time guarding Elijah Hughes tonight. As a freshman could you tell right away that he was going to be a big part of the team?
“We challenged him. I think he was well prepared from his high school and AAU days. He can spread out and guard the ball. He is physical and he understands that about himself – that’s his identity. Hopefully he’ll get more comfortable offensively. He had his hands full and that’s the challenge we put before him and I thought he did a good job.
“Then when Braxton (Key) was on him (Elijah Hughes), I thought Braxton did a good job. Two strong physical guys (Braxton + Casey). Tonight Casey was a good defender on the ball. He is continuing to get better at and is working on his anticipation off the ball.”
How would you assess Jay Huff’s game?
“Jay had real good practices leading up to tonight’s game. I think the length of Jay was huge for us – 12 rebounds. His finishing was great tonight. He did a good job here last year. He’s long behind the zone and he did some nice things and I think Mamadi (Diakite) did a good job when we put him in the high post.”
How good do you think this team can be defensively?
“Not sure, but I know we have to be good defensively. That will be very significant for us to see how good we can be. But I think our team understands that defense will be a very important aspect of it. There’s the size and there’s the physicality and I think there’s the willingness. It starts with willingness because if there is no willingness then you are wasting your time. There’s willingness shown by the coaching staff and there is a willingness by the young men to do it. It’s one game but we worked hard. Syracuse may have not been at their best, they missed some shots and I get all of that. We sometimes have to ask ‘who are we?’ and we’re still trying to figure that out but I think we will definitely be a defensive team.”
Syracuse vs. Virginia
November 6, 2019
Carrier Dome, Syracuse, N.Y.
Virginia Head Coach Tony Bennett
Casey Morsell spent a lot of time guarding Elijah Hughes tonight. As a freshman could you tell right away that he was going to be a big part of the team?
“We challenged him. I think he was well prepared from his high school and AAU days. He can spread out and guard the ball. He is physical and he understands that about himself – that’s his identity. Hopefully he’ll get more comfortable offensively. He had his hands full and that’s the challenge we put before him and I thought he did a good job.
“Then when Braxton (Key) was on him (Elijah Hughes), I thought Braxton did a good job. Two strong physical guys (Braxton + Casey). Tonight Casey was a good defender on the ball. He is continuing to get better at and is working on his anticipation off the ball.”
How would you assess Jay Huff’s game?
“Jay had real good practices leading up to tonight’s game. I think the length of Jay was huge for us – 12 rebounds. His finishing was great tonight. He did a good job here last year. He’s long behind the zone and he did some nice things and I think Mamadi (Diakite) did a good job when we put him in the high post.”
How good do you think this team can be defensively?
“Not sure, but I know we have to be good defensively. That will be very significant for us to see how good we can be. But I think our team understands that defense will be a very important aspect of it. There’s the size and there’s the physicality and I think there’s the willingness. It starts with willingness because if there is no willingness then you are wasting your time. There’s willingness shown by the coaching staff and there is a willingness by the young men to do it. It’s one game but we worked hard. Syracuse may have not been at their best, they missed some shots and I get all of that. We sometimes have to ask ‘who are we?’ and we’re still trying to figure that out but I think we will definitely be a defensive team.”
