Anthony Edwards: "We Have a Long Way to Go"

ATHENS - UGA’s Anthony Edwards’ comments after the Dawgs’ season-opening win over Western Carolina.

On when the Western Carolina defensive player backed off...
"I don't really remember what he did but, I just want to thank Sahvir, Christian Brown, and Ronny Howard for coming in and changing the tempo of the game in the second half. Sahvir's pace was incredible, coming in, full court, lay ups, all types of stuff. I love Sahvir."

On it being his first college game...
"Just a couple of the grand assistants going in late nights with me working on my shot, working on my form. Working on form shooting. Just my teammates finding me, trusting me, believing me, and believing in everything I can do."

On when in the game he started to feel more comfortable...
"Probably after my first turnover. After my first turnover, I was like alright you trippin'. You got to tighten up. I just got my confidence back. I just started playing ball. 

On his first turnover...
"Just letting my teammates down. Coach Crean preaches about no turnovers. We cannot have turnovers because that leads to more shots for the offense for the opposing team. I just had to get myself tonight."

On getting a standing ovation...
"Oh, that is a moment I will never forget. Just the crowd giving me standing ovation it brought joy to my heart. It will be something that will always stay with me."

On moments with the other guys on the team...
"All those guys are like me and Sahvir's big brother. Tyree Crump, Jordan Harris, Amanze Ngumezi, Tye Fagan, Donnell Gresham Jr. even though this is his first year, Rayshaun Hammonds. When they do anything that makes me feel like, oh he hooping. No matter what they do I will always be happy for them. I will always feel good for them and celebrate with them."

On his mindset going into the second half...
“That was my mindset coming out after the tip-off. But, the way they were guarding me they were giving me the shot so I was taking it. Then I was like—I am just going to put my head down and try to get stuff done. Then Sahvir came in."

On how he would grade his first performance...
"Honestly, I don't grade it. I grade my performance based on how my team plays. So I feel like my team played great. We got... what? A ‘B' a 'B-.' We have a long way to go. We are going to get in that gym tomorrow and just keep practicing."

On what they need to get better...
"We just need to realize that we are not young. People, the fans, the crowd, everybody else thinks we are young. But, we are really not young. We are old. We got one of the smarest point guard in the game... Sahvir. We got big dudes, we got shooters like Crump, Harris, Hammonds, so we just got to get better."

On when when he sees Sahvir Wheeler play...
"What goes through my head is, ‘Oh that boy is nice!' All I could do is jump with him at half court. Do our little handshakes and be happy as much as I can for him. People don't know how much people hate short people in the game and they try to give short people no respect but everyday I say y'all are going to have a problem guarding number 15, that boy is a problem—so him coming in not thinking that he is short, I think Sahvir thinks he's 6'4 the way he attacks the rim. Savir just having confidence in himself is what matters."