|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
PACIFIC-12 CONFERENCE MEN'S TOURNAMENTMarch 12, 2015Jabari BirdCuonzo MartinTyrone WallaceLAS VEGAS, NEVADA Arizona – 73 THE MODERATOR: Coach, we'll start with an opening statement. COACH MARTIN: Competitive game. We battled. They battled. They played well. Thought we did a good job especially in the first half transition defense. Thought we did a good job containing McConnell. I thought he's the key to what they do offensively. They made plays. We didn't get to the free‑throw line in the second half. And credit their defense. Just came up short. THE MODERATOR: Questions? Q. Cuonzo, you talked yesterday about wanting your team to compete. There were a couple of incidents on the floor today. What's your view and feeling about David getting into it and Dwight got into it with I think it was with Tarczewski‑‑ COACH MARTIN: That's basketball. You compete, you play hard, you battle. You don't play dirty. You don't do anything malicious. Just battling. I think both teams did the same thing. It's part of the game. I expect it every night. Q. I'd like to ask both the players what they felt, how they felt things were going, especially in the first half. You made the game very competitive. What was the difference between that and your previous two meetings with Arizona? TYRONE WALLACE: I think we were battling, like Coach said. When shots went up, we were trying to find bodies and we were doing a good job keeping them off the offensive glass. And on the offensive end we did a good job of being patient, finding the next guy, and we were able to get some shots down. The second half, not as many shots went down. They played good. JABARI BIRD: Same thing like Tyrone said. We went out there, competed, played hard.  We didn't give up like we did the last game. We weren't just going to let them come out in this game and step all over us, played with a lot of energy on both ends of the court. We kept it close for a little bit, but they made a run and we just didn't answer back. Q. Cuonzo, they often talk about how the first few minutes of the second half are critical. What allowed them to get out on the break so well and really create some space? COACH MARTIN: I think the critical situation was turnovers on our part. They went down and scored baskets. I think it went from, I'm not sure, 3 or 4 to all of a sudden 10. I think it was more of us breaking down offensively, not executing what we were trying to do as opposed to what they were doing. Q. Cuonzo, a couple times on switching on ball screens you ended up with‑‑ I know once Ashley ended up being guarded by Jordan in the post. Was that something that you were looking to do during this game? COACH MARTIN: Yes. Q. And what's the alternative to having a guard being posted up by Ashley down on the‑‑ COACH MARTIN: You game plan, you go over your scouting report. And for us, if you defend them as a guard, you switch and you front the post. In that case, with Jordan Mathews, he didn't front the post.  As you look at the percentage, Ashley, he place on the perim, he's not really a low post guy like that. We'll take those percentages every day of the week. Q. Cuonzo, yesterday Kravish and Mathews had great shooting games. Today they weren't able to do that. Was that just them being off or was that mostly what Arizona's been able to do defensively? COACH MARTIN: I think you have to give all the credit to defense. When the shots were falling they did the same thing, made shots, made plays to get shots. And you have to give credit to the defense for making it tough on them. Q. What expectation do you have for playing beyond here? COACH MARTIN: We'll see. We'll see. We'll see. Q. David Kravish only took one shot from the post in the second half. How much more difficult does that make it on the guys on the perimeter in the mid‑range when Kravish can't do anything in the post? COACH MARTIN: That's tough when you don't establish a post present. I thought we did that in the first half. I think he was 1 for 7 in the first half. But we'll go down to the post, I think we don't get the ball in the post it's hard to get to the free‑throw line to get post production. You slow the offense down, get spacing. They double the post. You can find your shooters. But you have to get production around the rim to be successful against a good team. Q. Coach, I know your concern is with your own team at this point and what's coming next. But I'm just wondering how you would assess Arizona's chances for a national championship this year. COACH MARTIN: I think they have just as good a chance as anybody. They have the parts. They have the interior player. I think we have low post bigs that are big, physical, plus these guys have been around the block. They've been together. It's not like you try to put together a whole new team. Those guys have been together. They understand. They felt like they came up short last year and they have the parts to do it. You have a good point guard. You have wing guys, and guys that can make shots. You have low post production. I see their chances are as good as anybody else's. Q. Tyrone, what did they do so well in the second half that allowed them to pull away? Only a six‑point lead at the break. TYRONE WALLACE: Like Coach said earlier, I think we turned the ball over in the second half. They were able to get out of the break to push the lead up to 12. And from there we were playing a lot of the perimeter game. We weren't really getting anything to the basket. Didn't get to the free‑throw line. So, I mean, it was tough to score. And then coming down the other end, we just had a few miscues, coming off screens and hit a few open jumpers. So, yeah. THE MODERATOR: Thank you. 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
|