VIDEO/Transcript: Ron Sanchez Talks Virginia's Win Over American

Matt Newton | 6 Hours Ago

Virginia Athletic

Virginia concluded non-conference play with a 63-58 victory over American on Sunday afternoon at John Paul Jones Arena. Watch the video below courtesy of Virginia Sports TV on YouTube to see the full postgame press conference with UVA interim head coach Ron Sanchez and follow along with the transcript below the video to read everything Sanchez said after the game.

On how Virginia handled adversity in the second half:

RON SANCHEZ: I think they decided to come together down the stretch. I think we executed certain things well. We screened well. I think Isaac was a little more aggressive, hunting shots in crucial times. Taine Murray hit a big-time three in the corner. But as a whole, I think that at the three minute mark, we we could have just kind of packed it in, and they decided to stick together and battle. And, you know, came out with the win.

On Isaac McKneely's activity on offense and how teams are defending him:

RON SANCHEZ: Well, when you are the leading scorer on a team, obviously you get the best defender on the opposing team. And when you're as good of a three point shooter as Isaac is, teams have decided to make them beat them a different way. Our challenge to Isaac is to be a guy that can put the ball on the floor and get to the free throw line and do things that are a little different, that he hasn't maybe done in the past, but still want him to hunt his three point shots. I think that Jacob did a fantastic job today of screening after a post feed, and got him a wide open three. So it's not only Isaac, but it's the team. We have to understand who Isaac is, and then we have to work together to make sure that we get him room and rhythm shots whenever possible.

On the performance of Elijah Saunders:

RON SANCHEZ: Elijah's shown the ability to kind of be a three level scorer. I think today you saw him play in front of the rim, hit a pull up, we've seen him shoot the three ball. He also can make free throws. It's a luxury when one of your power forwards is the guy that you can get the ball to at the end of the game and have him try to seal the game for you. I think he did a fantastic job down the stretch. So, you know for him, it's just continuing to develop that confidence and to want to play that role. And you know for us as a staff, it's to continue to make sure that we put him in spots to be successful.

On defending American's leading scorer Matt Rogers:

RON SANCHEZ: I think our defense was actually solid again today. It's the one area that I'm more encouraged by than than anything else. I think we, they hit a couple of shots down the stretch, but I think overall, I think we defended the three point line decently. I know they missed a couple, but I think we're starting to really understand what we need to do in the pack and getting to shooters, and taking away driving lines, etc, so that areas is working, you know? I mean he [Matt Rogers] is a good player. You know, he's the Patriot League preseason Player of the Year for a reason. Obviously, he can shoot the three. He's got great hands and good feel, good passer. So we knew that he was going to have to be double teamed at times.

On his evaluation of Virginia's team defensive performance:

RON SANCHEZ: Yeah, I mean, for us, it's are we contesting every shot? And I think today we contested a decent amount. I mean, we gave up a couple. We had a couple of miscommunications, and that's just more youth and inexperience than anything else. You know, we were throwing Jacob [Cofie] and Ish [Sharma] at times out there to do a job against a pretty experienced team. And the ball is moving, and they have to be in two places at once, and they'll just get better and better as we go. But we do have to continue to have tremendous effort. If we're not going to play like our hair is on fire defensively, it's just not going to work. And we can't coach effort. We can only coach execution as we go.

On how he feels about where the team is heading into ACC play:

RON SANCHEZ: I think we're trending in the right direction. I go back to our defense and also us trying to figure out some things. I know we wanted to try to play a little differently and do some things that were different. A couple of guys are really comfortable in some areas, and those guys are guys that are main contributors to this team right now. So we kind of have to meet them halfway, you know, trying to do some things different, but also giving them a taste of the old that has a lot of comfort for them. And you know, Isaac [McKneely] in particular, is one of those guys. We have to make sure that we use him appropriately. And he can't just stand in the corner. He has to get these bumps and screens to get open, and we have to continue to do that for him. The one thing about today is we had 17 assists on 23 made baskets. And that's how we want to play. The ball has to move. The ball has been sticking a little too much for us. So we get to that point where the ball is really moving, we got to put guys on the floor that can do that, and then we got to coach the guys that aren't doing that to do it better.

On his approach towards the break Virginia has before its next game:

RON SANCHEZ: Well, I gotta tell you, man, I haven't really thought much beyond today. We wanted to get to Christmas break. We wanted to get this game. We knew how that team could really shoot the ball, and it's going to be a challenge. We knew we had Memphis a couple of days ago, so now coaches will have a couple of assignments to attack during the break. When we get back, we'll have a little mini camp. We'll try to clean up some things that we learned from non-conference, and really hone in and narrow things down, tighten some bolts and make sure that we're as sharp as we can be, and knowing that some of our young guys just need a little more time.

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