Troy Graefe
Troy Graefe
best great step
Isiah Martinez had a great day, and if you're not your best you need someone to step up.
comebacks greatest kids
We told the kids this had to be one of the greatest comebacks in the 101-year-old program.
advantage coach game great guys obviously played talk teams thompson tradition
Coach Thompson comes to just about every game and those guys who played for him and Coach Baggot talk about how they used to just terrorize teams with their defense. Coach Hicks is here a lot and we talk a lot, and his teams obviously were great defensively. ... That tradition is an advantage we have.
best defensive focused game great guards job keeping overall regardless shot three tonight
He typically guards the other team's best guy, regardless of size, and he has for three years. What I thought he did a great job of tonight was keeping everyone focused on the defensive end. I told him I thought it was his best overall game as a Wildcat. He scored well, he shot well and was an outstanding leader.
both confidence fifth great lane last major passing players playing plays season starter steal
He plays with so much more confidence. Last season he essentially was our fifth starter and was out there to defend, and every now and then he'd get out in a passing lane and make a steal and make a play. But this year, he's one of the major players on the floor. He's playing with great confidence at both ends.
gives good great hard kid love player plays versatile
I love Joey. He plays so hard for us. He's pretty long and he's got pretty good feet, so he's versatile for us defensively. We can put him on a big kid or put him on a perimeter player and he just always gives a great effort.
bit defense easy fast gave offense playing regain
We just wanted to regain our composure. We kind of started playing a little too fast on offense and consequently we started pressing a little bit on defense and gave them so easy looks.
bit couple free gets hits rattled shots team throws tough
Even he got a little bit rattled and had a couple of turnovers that are uncharacteristic for him. But, he gets big rebounds, he hits big shots and hit those free throws down the stretch. He's just a tough competitor, and we're a lot better team when he's on the floor.
breaks courage guys hard particular played pleased starting throughout
I was particularly pleased with our two starting sophomore. They played with courage. We didn't get the breaks tonight, but I thought those guys played hard and courageously throughout the game, as did all of our kids, but in particular those two.
attention certainly chances defense focus good guys pay players seemed team winning
I thought it seemed like every team had one or two pretty good players that you had to focus your defense on. You certainly had to pay attention to those guys or your chances of winning were slim.
coached team won
I don't know that I've ever coached a team that has won in this gym.
against bought chance defend kids nice stops
If we don't defend we don't have a chance against anyone, and our kids have bought into that. We had some nice stops defensively down the stretch.
basketball boards good hard high impressed kids leader open school team time tough worked
You have to know where he is all the time when you play those guys. Because of that, other kids on their team get open looks. He's just a very, very good high school basketball player. I was very impressed with how hard he worked tonight. Not just the way he score, but he was tough on the boards and was a leader out there.
courage guys rebounds rest score
Those two guys are our leaders, and they do more than just score and get rebounds and get steals. They give courage to the rest of the guys with the way they play.