|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
PURDUE UNIVERSITY BASKETBALL MEDIA CONFERENCEJanuary 16, 2018Carsen EdwardsP.J. ThompsonVince EdwardsWest Lafayette, Indiana Purdue - 78, Wisconsin - 50 Q. P.J., throughout this winning streak, maybe with the exception of the IUPUI game, but really throughout this winning streak you guys have really got off to good starts every night. Did something change as far as how you guys were preparing for games, anything you guys were saying before games or refocusing before games? P.J. THOMPSON: No, we know what we have to do to get ready to play a game. I think our focus has been a little sharper since the Bahamas. But other than that we've been doing the same thing we've been doing all year to prepare for games. We just had a little sharper focus and we know what's on the line this year, so we want to make it the best we can. Q. Vince, as a team collectively (indiscernible) 3-point range and then (indiscernible) 14. Is that part of the plan going into it? VINCE EDWARDS: We were just going to take what they were giving. When you have a guy like Isaac Haas down low, who's such a load to handle you've kind of gotta pick and choose. If you [inaudible]. In space getting great shots so kind of just playing what the defense gives us. Q. Carsen, just why so much success pressuring their guards, jumping passing lanes, stuff like that tonight? CARSEN EDWARDS: Why so much success? Q. How come you had so much success against their guards and jumping passing lanes? CARSEN EDWARDS: We just kind of -- we understood what Ethan Happ was going to do -- get in the lane and probably look. If we bring a whole bunch of players at him, double team him things like that, we understood he was going to try to look out, kick it out to shooters. We all tried to stay ready. Jump the pass to the open player. That's kind of what happened. Q. This just seemed like one of the best team defensive efforts of this season. Can one of you talk about why you guys had such good success on the defensive end? P.J. THOMPSON: Our defense has been really improved throughout the whole season. We've been -- that's been a focus and an emphasis of ours throughout the season. And I think we're continuing to improve each and every game. And if we can defend like that, I don't know of a lot of teams that can beat us. And the way we moved the ball offensively and such a load to handle with so many different weapons, makes for us to have a really good team. But we've been really focused on that end. Q. Vince, what is it about this team as the wins continue to pile up and people kind of focus on you all, you're all able to play and be so successful each week? VINCE EDWARDS: Our coaches do a good job of keeping us grounded and coming into practice every day with a focus to get things done and don't let losing be the reason why you're competitive and sharp and on edge. Let winning be enough. Let success take its course but also be able to handle success and keep playing. And Coach Painter does a tremendous job of that. Q. Vince, Happ's final line looked pretty good, but the way you guys were able to defend him in the first half make everything difficult for him, why did that matter tonight? VINCE EDWARDS: It's huge. He's a part of everything they do, leading them in every single statistical category. Leads in rebound, points and assists. When it comes to things like that, we just try to make it as tough on him as possible. Run different looks at him. Double him at times and just force him into some tough shots. 16 shots with 15 points, I think we'll live with that with seven turnovers. Outside of that, he's a great player. Q. Carsen, could you describe what's it like out on the court when you've got a start like tonight where just offensively and defensively everything is clicking so well? What's kind of happening as a competitor out there when the whole team is sort of across the board clicking like that? CARSEN EDWARDS: It's definitely a good feeling, you know what I'm saying? Seeing the game go, of course, the way you want it to go, seeing your shots go in. Seeing your teammates make good plays and we get stops, things like that. And you also have the crowd behind you. Other than that, it's a good feeling. Just try to continue to do that, continue to get stops. Hoping our defense turns to offense and continues to play like that. Q. Vince, you mentioned taking what the defense gave you. Did they specifically do anything to take Isaac away, and did that create those good looks early? VINCE EDWARDS: Of course. We watched a lot of film from last year's game to see what they do. And they try to start Happ off of Isaac for, one, to keep him out of foul trouble. Two, for him to be able to help. But their guys, defensively, they're really active back there. So it's kind of hard to make post feeds and stuff when you're trying to post feed into Isaac. It's tough in that sense. We were just trying to screen, screen our own man, move the ball. If we can get it to another, that's great, but we had to be ready to shoot them. Q. (Inaudible)? CARSEN EDWARDS: It was their game plan. It kind of varied. We knew if we figured out Brad Davison, was doing a really good job in the first half being low man, we kind of figured it out as the game went on. As the game kept going, they were trying to play off, playing to (indiscernible) passing lanes and really tried to jump passes. So we were trying to take care of the ball and be sharp and (indiscernible) when you can shoot 63 percent from three it helps. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
About ASAP Sports •
FastScripts Archive •
Recent Interviews •
Captioning •
Upcoming Events •
Contact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links |
|
ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297
|