2016 Gotham Classic
Game Score
Stockton Arena | Stockton, Calif.
Sat., Dec. 10, 2016
Postgame Quotes
Rider Head Coach Kevin Baggett
Opening statement
“I thought it was a really good game: Pacific never went away. Damon and his team
did a good job fighting when I thought there were times we would pull away and
stay away. Give our guys credit, as the game went on and Pacific started to hit some
big shots late we rallied together we made some big free throws down the stretch.,
especially Stevie Jordan’s two big threes.”
On his defense
“Our guys are getting better defensively. They know we hang our hat on the
defensive end. 65 is that number we look for: tonight it was 66. They shot the three
well late in the second half there but we know that defense travels. I thought down
the stretch we got the stops where we needed them. Kind of broke down a little bit
but we finally were able to get ourselves back together and get the stops.”
Rider forward Khalil Thomas
On his double-double effort
“Like coach said, I thought at the beginning of the game we came out hot. Pacific
brought their team back and we did a good job rallying together and staying
composed instead of folding, we just kept going.”
Pacific Head Coach Damon Stoudamire
Opening statement
“I don’t want to take away from how Rider played, they played a good game. In the
first ten minutes of each half they really jumped on us. We didn’t have energy but
I’m not big on excuses. We can’t make excuses: it’s on the schedule, we’ve got to go
play the game.”
On the shooting performance
“It’s a tough game: what we need to take from this game is shot selection. We’ve got
to have better shot selection. I don’t ever take guys out for missing a shot, when I
played I hated that. I take you out for missing defensive assignments. There were
times we took some questionable shots and that haunted us a bit. Hopefully we can
learn from that and move forward. I’ve never been around a group that collectively
has shot this poorly. I’ve never seen guys in slumps the way we are, it’s weird to me.
Somehow, someway we’ve got to correct it because if we knock down a couple more
shots we win. That basket is small for us right now and it’s getting smaller.”
On Wallace’s return
“Having TJ out there is always going to help, he’s our leader. We trust him as a staff,
I think the guys trust him. He didn’t have the best of games but I’m good with that.
We’ve lived and died with TJ since the season started and I’m not going to go away
from him because of one bad shooting game. It was great to have him back and I
know he’ll be better the next go.”
Pacific guard T.J. Wallace
On his first game back in action
“I’m just out of rhythm right now. I can still play a lot harder. I don’t think I played
hard enough tonight. There are no secrets to the game of basketball: if you play
hard, even if you lack skill, you’ll get rewarded, and I’m just out of rhythm tonight
but I can still play harder.”
On closing in on 1000 points
“A thousand points is going to come but quite frankly I don’t care about that, I want
to win some games. I want to leave Pacific being known as a winner and with me
being a leader on this team I need to do a better job of holding myself and the guys
accountable.”