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BIG TEN CONFERENCE MEN'S TOURNAMENTMarch 12, 2015Andre HollinsDeAndre MathieuRichard PitinoMaurice WalkerCHICAGO, ILLINOIS Ohio State – 79 COACH PITINO: Well, certainly proud of how hard these guys fought. To be down 13 with nine and a half to go, had a couple of opportunities to cut it to one or two, shows the type of heart that we have on this team, and a lot of that is attributed to the seniors. So I'm proud of them. They set a school record for wins last year with 25, won an NIT. Mo and Andre certainly went to an NCAA Tournament, and DeAndre, what he's been able to do in the last couple years to get to where he had to get to, he should be proud, too. Disappointed that the NCAA Tournament‑‑ we knew it would be tough, but disappointed certainly we can't go back to that. Hoping we get invited to NIT so we can keep playing, but we'll see. We lost to a very good team. That's a very talented team and a well‑coached team, so you've got to give them credit, as well. Q. DeAndre, we were talking in the locker room about the season. Did you guys expect coming in that you would be going to the NCAA Tournament? DEANDRE MATHIEU: Yeah, we definitely came in with the mindset of making a run. Winning five games in five days and getting chosen to play in the NCAA Tournament. Q. For any of the players, can you talk about where you were down. Coach was talking about making up that ground and giving yourselves a shot right to the end of the game there? ANDRE HOLLINS: You know, Dre made some great moves to the basket, got an and‑one. I think that's when the momentum changed a lot. Mo also got an and‑one that really shifted the momentum. You know, we were right there. Russell is a great player. He hit a big‑time shot. I mean, and we still clawed back. The only thing I can say is I'm just proud of being a part of this team and the way that we fought tonight. MAURICE WALKER: Like Andre said, we all made plays down the stretch, and we just needed stops defensively, and they hit big shots. Got to give them credit because they are a good team. Q. Andre, you had that late missed three‑pointer, I think, with 30‑something seconds left and then fouled Loving after that, and it looked like you were beating yourself up a little bit on the way to the other end. What was going through your head? ANDRE HOLLINS: I was upset that I kind of lost the ball. I didn't have a clean grip, and that's what I was upset about. I should have just sidestepped or did something else. Q. Mo, can you just talk about coming into the tournament in these last few games, if any of the seniors, if you guys sat the younger guys down at all and tried to tell them about what is going to be expected of them moving forward? MAURICE WALKER: All season ‑‑ it's been a process all season. The younger guys have really grown. Practice every day, they're always willing to learn, they're always working hard. I know personally Bakary, I really sit down with him and I talk to him often about things on and off the court or during the course of the game. I try to give him little pointers and things that he can do that I see out there. All the young guys have really grown, and they all have very bright futures. Q. DeAndre, for you in particular, the way that Nate has kind of led of team at the point guard spot toward the end of the season here, what have you seen from him to make you think that he can kind of take the next step next year? DEANDRE MATHIEU: Nate brought it every day in practice. He works hard. He knows the game. I thought he was mature beyond his years the first day I seen him. If he just continues to work, continues to think basketball and learn the game, he's going to be a really, really good player for the next three years. Q. Coach, did you get a sense down the stretch there when you were making your comeback, that the seniors kind of took it upon themselves because this might be their last game? COACH PITINO: I thought from DeAndre, certainly he was playing at a tremendous speed. It was tough with Mo, the foul trouble really hurt us just because offensively we couldn't get a lot going when he was in foul trouble. But DeAndre, I could certainly see it just from an offensive standpoint. Q. You were obviously forced to sort of piece together some different lineups with Mo on the bench. In the first half you did play Bakary and Gas together a lot, but you guys were able to tread water. What do you think that says about‑‑ COACH PITINO: Yeah, you know, about the future? You know, I thought we did kind of tread water, but I think something we're really going to miss next year is a true low post presence with Mo. I don't know what he shot on the year from the field. I'm sure it was very good. When he got it, it was pretty good. Obviously Bakary, he's going to need to figure that out. What I like about Bakary, he's a huge target. But he's got to just continue to get better. We're going to miss Mo offensively because a lot of what we did was kind of inside‑out. But I did think those guys did a good job holding serve in the first half. I thought in the second half we started playing zone, we just were not rebounding the ball, so we had to get out of it. Q. Obviously you're not the one who makes this decision, but do you think that you guys are an NIT team, and if you did not get an NIT nod, would you take any lesser tournament? COACH PITINO: No, I don't think we would take a CBI or CIT. I hope we're an NIT team. I want to keep playing with these guys, keep coaching them.  We enjoyed it last year. I get it, you're kind of labeled in sports today. If you don't make it to the NCAA Tournament, you're labeled a failure. I mean, I understand that. I don't look at it like that with these guys. We enjoyed the NIT. We got a lot out of it, so I'd like to keep playing. Almost 95, 99 percent sure I wouldn't take a CIT or a CBI bid. Q. I know it's a ways off, but the way Nate played in the point guard role this year, going into next year you're going to have some options with a couple of recruits. Do you see him possibly being able to move over and maybe have a role like Andre did next year at the 2? COACH PITINO: Yeah, I think he'll play both. I think we've got to figure that out a little bit, but he's definitely going to have to play both. I kind of see him doing it, just because Kevin Dorsey can't play the 2. Jarvis may be able to play the 2 a little bit, but Nate will definitely play the 1 and the 2, so that's definitely something we'll look at. That's a ways away, but that's definitely something we'd look at. Q. Since this is the end of the season, what do you want to see from Nate developing in the off‑season? COACH PITINO: Probably consistency from the foul line. I don't get why he's not a great free‑throw shooter. And from the perimeter. He shoots it different off the dribble than he does off the catch. That's something he needs to get more consistent with. But I think as a freshman he had a tremendous year. He was arguably one of the best freshmen in our conference. His big thing has got to be he can't be like‑‑ the target will be on his back. He needs to get better this off‑season. He can't fall into that sophomore slump, which a lot of people do fall into. He can't do that. Q. We talked about you guys treading water without Mo a little bit in the first half, but how much do you think that foul trouble really did hurt you tonight? COACH PITINO: A lot, a lot. Yeah, just from an offensive standpoint. I thought we were getting stops because of the zone, but we weren't getting scores. I thought if Mo was in the game, we probably would have had a lead. We were getting stops, just they were choking down the driving lanes and just our guys weren't real confident throwing it to BK, so I just thought it cost us from building a lead because we were getting stops in that zone and turning them over and doing some good things. Q. The way that Joey has shot the last two games coming into this one make you think that maybe he has another level he can hit next season? COACH PITINO: Yeah, I mean, I think he's always been a pretty good shooter. He's playing with great confidence. My biggest thing with him is become an awesome leader because he's got the respect of everybody in the program, but now become a vocal leader. Sometimes younger guys wait their turn a little bit when you've got as many seniors as we had. They sit back and they wait. And I think he'll take that role over really good next year. He improved greatly. He's a guy who came from Drake, wasn't even all‑conference, and to think of how good he was towards the end of this year, I'm excited about him. Q. Looking back at the season, do you have any major regrets or things that you would have done differently? COACH PITINO: Not really. Not really. I mean, any time you lose a bunch of close games you're always trying to figure out what you can do differently. No, not really. I mean, I think our guys, what I thought we all did a pretty good job of with them, when you lose so many close games in kind of today's world, everybody piles on everybody. They're just looking to point fingers. That's natural. It's not any one place. And I thought our guys did a really good job of staying positive, staying together, you know, and more than anything, keep on working. I'm sure there's things we all could have done differently, but I don't know that it does a whole lot of good to look back on that. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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