Indiana University Athletics
Head Coach Mike Davis Butler Quotes
12/23/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 23, 2005
Indiana vs. Butler
December 23, 2005
Mike Davis Quotes
Opening Statement
MD: "This was a great opportunity tonight. My prayers go out to Coach (Tony) Dungy and his family. I know how tough it is to lose a kid. I've lost a kid and it's a tough experience to go through. As far as the game, I think we played with a lot of intensity the whole game. Butler is a tough team. They execute their offense every time down the court. This was a scary game for us. They can really shoot the basketball. We knew if we left them open, they could hurt us. Coach (Donnie) Marsh and the defense were outstanding today. Coach Marsh got this team playing the best they've ever played. I though this was a really big game. I knew it would be tough on us. I give them credit and our guys credit as well."
On the inside game:
MD: "We didn't want to take a lot of threes tonight. They did a good job of fighting Marco (Killingsworth) in the post. We didn't want to take any threes or quick shots. We knew it was going to be a halfcourt game because of the style they play. We turned the ball over a lot the first half and knew we had to protect it."
On sophomore forward Robert Vaden:
MD: "(Robert) Vaden is great. He was great tonight. He's a good player. He's so unselfish. Tonight is the first night I've seen him be aggressive the whole game."
On sophomores forward D.J. White and guard A.J. Ratliff's return:
MD: "They aren't going to be in rhythm all the time. D.J. (White) needs to get some more games under his belt. I might start him against Ball State (Dec. 31) and get him back in the rotation. It's going to take them a while to get them where they should be. We have enough guys on our team that we don't have to leave them out there. (Errek) Suhr brings a lot of energy to the game when we put him in. When we play Michigan, our big guys will have some game experience and, hopefully, will be ready to play together at the level they were at before the injuries."
On IU's defense:
MD: "We played with a lot intensity. There was a lack of communication at times. Our defense is playing with intensity. We are just playing better, way better than ever before. Coach Marsh is the best defensive coach in the country."
On the page of the game:
MD: "Our decision making was better tonight. We pushed them so fast. We took good shots. We wanted to beat them inside and we did. We aren't very good at taking care of the ball right now at that fast of a pace. Until we can take care of the ball at that fast of a pace, we are going to stick to the inside game."
