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EA SPORTS MAUI INVITATIONALNovember 26, 2014Rapheal DavisVince EdwardsA.J. HammonsMatt PainterLAHAINA, HAWAII Purdue – 87 THE MODERATOR: We welcome Coach Painter, Rapheal Davis, Vince Edwards and A.J. Hammons to the media room. Coach, some opening thoughts on today's win? COACH PAINTER: This obviously was a huge win for us. We have all the respect in the world for BYU. Just a great program and what Coach Rose has been able to do with those guys. Just a tough guard. It's really difficult guarding what BYU does offensively and then trying to slow them down in transition well. Obviously they scored in the 80s, so I don't know how much we slowed them down. But I thought our guys were able to hang in there and win the game. We had some really good performances across the board. These guys were great. Very rarely do you play in a game where the ball gets loose in their key moments and you get none of them, and you win the game. BYU on about four or five different possessions in the second half and in overtime got some loose balls and converted them into baskets. They got that rebound with 22 seconds to go in regulation, and we were very fortunate Tyler Haws, because he got a little separation, missed that shot and kind of got out of rhythm, it looked like from my angle. But we were able to hang in there and grind it. Then obviously make some plays at the end. Q. A.J., tell me what happened going down the floor on that last play and what you saw when you were taking that shot? A.J. HAMMONS: I just pretty much just Coach just saw the play for me to get in the post. Only thought I had in my mind was pretty much just to get the shot up. So I was dribbling, and I thought he was going to double, so I spent. So he went for the fake. So hopefully I thought the up and under was going to fall. So I knew I had my teammate to rebound for me. So either way we were going to try to get a tip back or something like that. Q. A.J., did it feel good out of your hand? A.J. HAMMONS: Yeah, it did. It felt good. It felt really good. Even though you'd never know that because it hit the back of the rim. But I'm just glad it fell, and we got the win. Q. Ray, what did you guys do defensively? BYU came in one of the best shooting teams in the country, and you held them 7 for 21? RAPHEAL DAVIS: We watched a lot of film last night. We went through a walk through, and we knew they could shoot the ball. We knew they had a guy with a 90% for 3 yesterday. Knowing a team like that that can shoot the ball so well, we just had to stick to our defensive principals and have an all-around team effort. Q. Vince, it seemed you had a pretty good match‑up with your skill set and some of their size. Were you able to exploit that with some of the offensive success you were able to have? VINCE EDWARDS: Yeah, most definitely. Coach Painter said when you get on the floor, guys, you have to be able to make plays for us. Fortunately, my teammates found me and I was able to drive and get off the shots. We were playing great team ball. We just got the W, and I'm thankful for that. Q. Vince, what did Rapheal mean to you guys the last two days coming out and setting tone on defense, and the way he was able to get to the basket so often hitting free throws and that sort of thing? VINCE EDWARDS: Rapheal's been a flat‑out leader. We didn't have a good game the first game, and Ray took it upon himself because he knew he was going to be the one to step out as being one of the older guys to get us back on track. Ray did a tremendous job. He played with intensity and defense, and he played hard every possession. He's diving on the floor and did everything he could to help us win. That's what we're going to need out of a guy like Rapheal. That's the leadership we need on this team. Q. Vince or Rapheal, I don't know who had Haws on that last play, but whoever, was it one of you guys? I'm not sure? VINCE EDWARDS: I think it was Octeus. Q. So Vince, how sure were you the ball was going to him? VINCE EDWARDS: I was praying that it wasn't going to him. In my mind I was like, no. I'm not giving it any chance. And the basketball Gods were on our side, and we were fortunate enough that Tyler Haws, a great player, he just came up short. So we were very thankful for that. We knew once we went into overtime, we had to have it. We had to get the win. It fell short, we came out strong and executed in the end. Got a bucket and we won. Q. For whoever wants to answer, that's fine with us, if it's fine with them. What did you guys learn about you are why selves these past three days? RAPHEAL DAVIS: I learned that all the work we put in this summer didn't go to waste. Everybody says they had a good summer and they worked really hard. But the way we fought at the end and the way we came together like that and the way our bench was jumping up and down, screaming helping us out and showing us different things, I think we came together. Everything we put in this summer, it showed toward the end. THE MODERATOR: Thanks, Rapheal. Vince, do you want to make any comments on that question? VINCE EDWARDS: Yeah, we really did come together this summer and put a lot of hard work in. We have to give credit to the coaches. They did a great job. They're in the offices every night on scouting reports. They get us ready. We know everything that's coming because our coaches do a tremendous job of scouting. Then we all come together, and the hard work pays off. Q. Rapheal, how sure were you guys that that ball was going to Haws at the end of regulation? RAPHEAL DAVIS: I knew a hundred percent it was. I don't think the other players wanted it. I mean, you could tell it was just spread out. He got the ball out to the other side, and Jon got him out of rhythm. He made him shoot. Contested it. He fell down at the end, but he tried to contest it, so that's all we can ask for. Q. Ray, Kendall is known for his jump shooting. He's out there playing with a sideways finger and makes two big defensive plays for you. What's that say about him? RAPHEAL DAVIS: To say Kendall Stephens isn't making defensive plays in senseless. It's huge for us. I know that block was huge. He got a tip at the end of the game and then ended up with it still. Knowing his finger was messed up, he fought through the pain, and he came out big for us. He fought through it. That was big time for us. THE MODERATOR: Questions for Coach Painter. Q. What do you think the freshman class coming in, high‑level game, raucous environment, and they had like 43 of 87 points today? COACH PAINTER: Well, I think all these guys have come in with a good attitude and good work ethic. It's different in college basketball now. You step on campus in June and everybody wants to play immediately. These guys have come on with a good attitude and worked hard and they're good listeners. What he says, he means that. Vince Edwards is a good player and knows what's going on. He grew up in a household with a brother who played in the Big Ten. A dad who is an all‑time leading scorer at Wright State. So he understands basketball. So coming in at this moment and playing big. Yesterday Isaac Haws was 0 for 5 from the line, and he goes to a local high school. I take him over there, and shoot 300 free throws. Going 4 for 6 isn't the greatest thing in the row from the free‑throw line. But when you're struggling like that and both of our bigs are in foul trouble. It was huge. P.J. Thompson and Dakota Mathias both did a good job contributing. When we were reeling, Dakota Mathias made a big jumpshot, and P.J. Thompson just settles us down and plays a big role. We had a lot of impact from those guys. Then Jon Octeus was a blessing in October for us, to get a guy that can have that kind of experience and being able to defend, he's done a good job morphing into a point guard. Q. What can this mean for your team now? COACH PAINTER: I think it's very similar to what we did eight years ago. I talked about that at the onset. When we lost the first game, and we have to look at this as a challenge, and we've got to be able to bounce back and win these next two games. Very similar to what we did. Our second game where we won handily eight years ago, and then we had a nail biter versus Oklahoma, which had a pretty good team. Now we're able to beat, in my opinion, a really good BYU team. Hopefully we can use it going into the Big Ten, ACC challenge as motivation. We have a tough opponent in N.C. State who has a very talented group, so we're going to have our hands full. So hopefully we can just think about that next game and take this game‑‑ anytime you can get into close games or overtime games and pull it out, it's great for your confidence. Q. The last offensive possession for you, A.J. said you had called that play. Was that before the free throws or as you guys were coming up the floor you had called something? COACH PAINTER: We had talked about it before we had done that. A lot of times with so many things back and forth, we were in a position where they were going to play the foul game, then all of a sudden we're out of that spot. So we're just running. And Vince, you know, it's a hard lesson to learn if you lose that game. But you catch the ball when they're playing a foul game and you try to turn the corner to go score. In that situation, you catch the ball and look at your basket and jump stop and be strong and take those fouls. Especially for a guy that's played so well. Let him foul you and let him knock down the two free throws. You're still in a tough position because you're up three, and now do you foul, do you not foul, especially against these guys. But I'd rather be in that position than the one we were, even though we pulled it out. Q. You smiled when Rapheal said that about Kendall. Nice to say him and defensive stop in the same sentence. How important is that to see him step up and make those plays because that's been a deficiency? COACH PAINTER: Just to play 32 minutes against good people and not foul, that's an accomplishment. Last year when he was in the game he was a shooter for us. But when we played good people, they put him on alert, and he normally got fouls. Now he's done a good job of using his size, using his wingspan, keeping the ball in front of him. He came up with two huge plays on the defensive end. Q. The way Vince was able to win the match‑up game for you, it's kind of what you saw in him all along, I would imagine? COACH PAINTER: No question. I think one thing is you get spoiled when you have a great player. Robbie Hummel was a great player for us, and we'll be striving to sign somebody like him the rest of our careers. But he was a guy as a four, if you're going to run motion and spread it out and have a huge post, if you can pass and shoot it and handle the basketball and break him down off the dribble a little bit, he's not the fastest guy in the world, but he's got a good first step and understands angles. But, no, we recruited him as a stretch four. Sometimes 6'6", 6'7" guys don't like to hear that in recruiting. But he embraced it. He liked it. It's really worked out for us immediately. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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