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NIT SEASON TIP-OFFNovember 28, 2014Phil Greene, IVD'Angelo HarrisonSteve LavinNEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK ST. JOHNÂ’S – 66 Q. D'Angelo, what did you see on that last play, what were your thoughts on that? D'ANGELO HARRISON: My job was to play. Whistle didn't go my way. It was a great play in the game and, you know, just got to move on. Q. A lot of people consider Gonzaga a possible Final Four team. You don't have Obekpa, such a big player; do you leave at all optimistic considering how close you are? PHIL GREENE: We're a team, we don't like moral victories. We felt like we should have won the game. We fought, we played hard. It just didn't go our way. Q. How happy are you with the way you guys played against a team of that calibre with NBA prospects on its roster? D'ANGELO HARRISON: We're proud that we fought back, how we competed in the second half. But we shouldn't have dig ourselves in that big a hole. Basically on the defensive end‑‑ front penetration and getting big stops at the right time. So we just got to come out and not dig ourselves a hole. Q. We've seen you upset after some games, Providence last year at the BIG EAST. Is this the most upset that you've been after a game? PHIL GREENE: I'm just mad that we lost. We went small and the bigs didn't hurt us in the end. We thought they was going to hurt us and that's not the case. I think Wesley got two lay‑ups and that was two big plays of the game. So you credit them but we know that and we know we have to get better at that. So we'll get back to work. Q. Can you just describe the difficulty without Obekpa in there? You're matching up with Sabonis half the time, a guy who is like six or seven inches taller than you. How tough was that to play defense with that situation? D'ANGELO HARRISON: We've gone small before. Like I said, it wasn't the bigs that was hurting us towards the end, and we had a slow half in the first half. So we picked it up in the second half. Credit them. They found ways to win the game, and we didn't get stops when we needed to. The ball didn't bounce our way at the end but we know that. We know what we need to do. It's not like it's a mystery. We know what happened and we'll get better. Q. After you make the three‑point shot with a minute left, you're within three points. What are you envisioning happening during that final minute? PHIL GREENE: We come back, come down, get a big stop, execute on offensive end and get a bucket. Q. Given that you did get the stop and they didn't score on the other end, did that next possession not go the way that you wanted? Was Jordan going to the basket not what you were looking for? PHIL GREENE: Yeah that's what we were looking for, Jordan, he come to the elbow and ripped. It just didn't go our way when he went to the rim. But that was the right play and the right move. Q. Seemed like in the first three quarters of the game you were shooting a lot of jumpers are and taking a lot of threes and when you made that big run, you started attacking them, shooting over their bigs. Was it something that you guys talked about that you had to stop shooting jumpers? What was the change in philosophy? PHIL GREENE: Yeah, we did talk about it. Coach emphasized, that we attack the paint and attack the rim just like they were. So we wanted to get out in transition and get stops, go to the basket and draw some fouls so we could get in the bonus. Q. Did you do that earlier on today? PHIL GREENE: Not really‑‑ just being more aggressive and attacking gaps and punching, trying to get to the rim more. Q. Tough loss but how proud are you of your guys and how they competed out there against a Top‑10 team? COACH LAVIN: I know we did some good things, and so I was pleased with their fight back, their opportunistic smaller group that allowed us to come from 15 down at the 10:27 mark, and we had two chances to tie it or cut it to one either from the foul line or convert with a two‑point field goal. So I think that was the positive, coming from 15 down, ten minutes and change with a degree of foul trouble that we had going against a Top‑10 team in the country. But we expect to win, and so the disappointment is that we didn't finish it off and ultimately win a championship here tonight. So there's some good things but clearly some areas still need to be shored up that we need to improve upon and namely the dribble penetration, being able to level off dribble penetration, what we call north/south dribble penetration; and that ultimately cost us down the stretch. Coming into this game, they are plus 16 on the boards. One of the better rebounding teams in America and we were even with them on the boards, and they have been pounding people on the season on the glass. And so with Obekpa in foul trouble, done in foul trouble and with us playing with a smaller unit to be even on the board with them is what allowed us to stay within distance and have a chance to win the game there late. But we still have to work on being able to level off dribble penetration, contain the dribble, and late, that kind of reared its ugly head again and cost us. Q. You are at a major height disadvantage at the end. You have a couple guys on your roster who are tall and who could play. Is there a sense that either Joey or Sabonis, both of them could be a factor later on? COACH LAVIN: Yeah, two things. One is we have to play defense without fouling. So we want to pressure the basketball, but with purpose, what we call purposeful pressure, because we can't afford to get into foul trouble. You know, there are some options that we have in terms of our big kids. Right now, because of the experience and the skill and the quickness, I like our smaller unit. An example is sometimes size is not as important, if you have players that are quick and can anticipate and can rebound through their hustle and their foot speed and I thought our team was able to do that tonight. But Gonzaga is a good team, they have a lot of size and lumber down low, and we did our best to offset or neutralize that. Gave ourselves a chance to win but just didn't get over the hump so to speak. Q. In the last minute of a one‑possession game, you had two possessions. One ended with Jordan going to the rack and getting a shot blocked, and the other was D on the charge. How did you feel about what you guys were getting on those possessions? Were they the plays you wanted? COACH LAVIN: Yeah, well, the drive by Rysheed, if he gathers and high jumps the play over the top of the rim, it could have been an n‑one situation. But he long jumped, he kind of finished on the baseline out‑of‑bounds, which allowed them to make a play on it. So I think the teaching point there is we got what we wanted. For his time, that's one of our better go‑to maneuvers because he puts a lot of pressure on people, attacking feet and able to get to the rim. But he needs to gather, get coiled and flexed, and then elevate over the top where either you're getting fouled; because they have to take your arm, basically take your arm off if they are going to get to the ball if you're playing over the top of the rim. And then D'Angelo, have to watch the film to see what happened there in terms of the call. But that would have been nice to get two free throws and be able to set our defense and then maybe have a different outcome tonight. But with big picture, to me, defensively, the way we fought back from 15‑down, offensively, we were very opportunistic. We were in a good rhythm. They cut loose; we were aggressive. But defensively, we gave up too many layups, both from the wing into the elbow penetration and then from the top of the floor right to the rim. So that's going to be a thing we have to address and improve upon. Q. The defense over the last few games is very much improved. What steps have you taken in order to improve your defense? COACH LAVIN: You know, tonight, I wasn't pleased with our defensive effort. They are the first team I think to shoot 50 percent against us. We did hold them 30 points below their average or 20 points below their average, I don't know what their average‑‑ 96‑‑ maybe we held them 23 points below their average. I think we're at a point where you just‑‑ like most coaches, you want to continue to get better, and you lose a game like this and there's going to be a number of areas when we watch the game film that we can learn from. And then you have to go back through the drill wash to shore up those particular aspects of play, because basketball is a game of habits. And so we have to get better at moving our feet, levelling off that dribble penetration, not reaching or lunging or opening the gate, so to speak, and allowing their guards to squirrel or exam per in for those baskets. Granted, with Obekpa out, the leading shot‑blocker in the country, it puts us as a real disadvantage, and that's why it's critical we don't foul. We would go to some zone some, but when you're down 15, it's tough to go to a zone. We tried to speed them up to get back into the game, and it was effective to where we could shave six points off in each of those time‑outs. That was the goal. We were down 15, and we said now, there's no 15‑point play but if we can shave six to eight points but the next time‑out, another six to eight points in the next time‑out, now it's going to be a one‑possession game in the final minutes in our home court and we give ourselves a chance to win. We got close, but we didn't get the shutouts and stops defensively down the stretch, and then we didn't convert on a couple of the opportunities at the rim. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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