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MOUNTAIN WEST CONFERENCE MEN'S TOURNAMENTMarch 11, 2015David CarterD.J. FennerA.J. WestLAS VEGAS, NEVADA UNLV – 67 THE MODERATOR: We're joined by Nevada. Coach, some comments on today's game. COACH CARTER: I thought the Rebels played very well for 40 minutes. We turned the ball over 14 times in the second half. They scored 14 points. Got down, dug ourselves a hole. The second half I thought we crawled back in it. They made some big threes to extend it to 13, 16. We never could get it back. But I thought our guys competed and fought very hard. THE MODERATOR: We'll take questions for the student‑athletes. Q. Seemed like turnovers killed you guys tonight. Talk about why the turnovers popped up in this game specifically. A.J. WEST: Just they got in a good position. We weren't careful with the ball. Just turning the ball over at a higher rate. D.J. FENNER: I think we just rushed it. We weren't strong with the ball at all and it showed, turnovers. They took advantage of our turnovers. That was the biggest key for them. They scored off our turnovers. We just weren't strong with the ball. Q. Seems like you've been emotional, red in the eyes. Talk about the emotions as the season ends. D.J. FENNER: I'm an emotional guy. I use that to motivate me actually. But right now it's tough. It's one of the toughest days this year, especially as tough as our season was, I feel like we were going to end it the right way. I really don't feel like we gave it our all today. Q. You had some opportunities around the basket. Was it a microcosm of the season, you couldn't get those opportunities to fall? A.J. WEST: Definitely. Personally I didn't do the best job at finishing. It rubbed off onto my teammates. We just couldn't get it done today. THE MODERATOR: We'll dismiss the student‑athletes at this time. Thank you. We'll continue with questions for Coach Carter. Q. Talk about the turnovers. That was obviously the key to the game. Did you not give yourself a chance in this game? COACH CARTER: Yeah, I thought we were careless with the ball, trying too hard to get to the basket. We were driving one against two. We were kind of out of character a little bit. I thought the guys were trying to win the game instead of letting the game come to them. Q. It seemed like they were passing up some midrange jumpers to drive into traffic. COACH CARTER: Again, I think trying to take over a game instead of taking what they give you. We had a lot of open midrange shots. We drove in there against two trees and two good shot‑blockers. Those guys are very long. They changed a lot of shots. We didn't finish inside as well. You take the turnovers, not finishing inside, that combination you can't really win. Q. You got within three points. Did you just run out of energy there? COACH CARTER: I think that was the turnovers. I thought we were right there at three or four or five, two possessions. Was hoping to stay there. I think we came down, turned the ball over three or four straight times. They hit two threes. They were up by seven, hit two threes to go to 13. I thought that was probably the breaker right there. Q. Did you feel this was a microcosm of the season? COACH CARTER: You know, it's been since November. We had a lot of shots inside the paint, guys are anxious to get the shot off. You got to complete plays. That's been one of our Achilles heels this year, not finishing inside. Q. Your general thoughts on the season. Not the year you wanted. COACH CARTER: Like I told the guys after the game, it's about growing up. It's about what you do in the off‑season to prepare, to get better. I've had a team like this before in 2010/11. You're very young, you're not as experienced. The following year, those guys are going to get better. Sometimes you learn from losing. It's not always you have to win to know how to win. But sometimes when you lose, the way you lost close games, missed free throws, turnovers, those kids will grow up and you won't make those same mistakes next year because you've already been through it. Q. You played tonight with zero seniors dressed. What is the lesson you hope everybody takes back as they return next year, basically your entire team? COACH CARTER: Individually they have to get better. Everyone is different. You got to work on your deficiencies. That's how the team gets better. Everyone has to be on the same page. We talked about that. The season wasn't what anyone really expected. You got to stay together, come back strong. Q. Chris Wood took over in the second half. Seemed like that power forward slot was pretty lopsided. Talk about the way he took over the game in the second half. COACH CARTER: He's so long. I thought he did a great job in the high post against our zone. The first game and second game I thought he was more on the perimeter. This game he stepped up and went inside, made some tough plays. I think he was the difference, especially when we went to our zone, making big plays against us. Q. At times this year we saw Coleman and Criswell and Cooper get hot and start hitting threes. It wasn't consistent throughout the year. How important is it for you to get a catch‑and‑shoot guy? COACH CARTER: It's very important. The key word is 'consistency'. I think those guys were a little more consistent last year. You talk about Tyron Criswell who is a newcomer. Eric is a freshman. Sometimes the speed of the game, physicality. Marqueze last year was more of a role player. I think that will come with experience. As far as bringing someone in, obviously we can add some pieces to help us next year. Q. When did you find out that Perez wouldn't be able to play today? How did that affect the game plan? COACH CARTER: He was sick on Tuesday. It was pretty serious. He didn't get to practice yesterday. I knew Tuesday that he was not going to play. How did it affect us? More depth with the guards. Had to play those guys a lot of minutes. Perez does a lot of things, not necessarily scoring, but defensively he takes care of the ball. We did miss him in that regard. Q. Talking about next year, Perez and Stivrins, the only two not back. You'll have Cooper, Criswell. How do you expect this team to make a jump? COACH CARTER: The jump is going to come in the springtime. The kids have to get in the weight room, they have to work on their game. Like I say, everyone is different. When you add newcomers like Tyron and Eric, the physicality, I think the game is going to slow down for them. History has it, if you return your four or five guys, they will be better next year, and I think they will be better. Q. Did it surprise you the disparity in the turnovers? They scored 21 points off of turnovers. You didn't have any off of their turnovers. Did that surprise you? COACH CARTER: Yeah, I thought we had a couple layups, fast breaks in the first half, we didn't complete. If you don't get any easy ones... I thought their defense was pretty good in the halfcourt, especially when they had the two big guys in. It did surprise me. Q. Does it surprise you also the inability to finish down low? How do you improve to be able to get some of those shots to go in? COACH CARTER: It's been going all year really. I think, again, it's about the individual working hard. When it comes to offense, I've said this all year, sometimes as the head coach you really feel helpless because when you're inside, you miss the layup, you're at the free‑throw line, you miss the free throw. It's not like you can do it. It's not like defense where you can rotate a guy to take a charge. You can teach defense, sometimes you can't teach offense. Unfortunately for us we missed a lot of easy baskets. How you correct it is more about the individual getting better and learning how to finish around the rim. THE MODERATOR: Thank you very much, coach. COACH CARTER: Thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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