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NCAA MEN'S 2ND & 3RD ROUNDS: PORTLANDMarch 18, 2015Joshua SmithD'Vauntes Smith-RiveraJohn Thompson IIIJabril TrawickPORTLAND, OREGON THE MODERATOR: We're joined by Georgetown student-athletes. At this time the floor it open for questions. Q. Josh, you're from this part of the country. What does it mean to you to be back here, playing the last tournament of your career where you grew up? JOSHUA SMITH: When I found out we were being stationed in Portland, the first person to call me was my mom. It's an honor. It's a blessing to be able to be two hours away from Seattle. I'm going to have 40-plus people here tomorrow, so it's a good thing. Q. Jabril, there's been a lot of talk in the last four or five days about the streak you have been on losing to teams with double-digit seeds in the tournament. Given the complexion of teams changes every year, is it fair to connect that history to the current team you guys have here? JABRIL TRAWICK: I just think that we all know what's at stake. We're a Division I basketball players. We're all playing for something. We don't feed into it that much. We're just happy that we're here. We're just ready to play tomorrow. That's about it. Q. Jabril, what do you remember about the aftermath of the game you played in the tournament after you lost to Florida Gulf Coast? What was that like for you? What was it like getting over that loss? JABRIL TRAWICK: I mean, it wasn't something that I enjoyed. But, I mean, I was just happy that I had another year to come play. I think we worked hard enough to get in this spot to make it back to the Big Dance. We're just ready to play tomorrow. That's about it about that. Q. Eastern Washington's defense doesn't really have the greatest statistics in the world. We don't play in a strong conference. What is your impression of that defense and how do you think you might take advantage of it? JABRIL TRAWICK: I think we're just going to come out and play Georgetown basketball. Doesn't matter what team we're playing, we're going to come out and do what we need to do to win. Share the game and have each other's back, so... Q. The level of play in the Big East Conference compared to the Big Sky, how does that prepare you for this tournament? JOSHUA SMITH: We know that if we come and play the right, you know, basketball that Coach Thompson wants us to play, our conference was pretty daunting this year. I mean, everybody makes it. Doesn't matter what conference you're from. There's 68 teams here, about to be 64. We know they're a good team. But we know if we go out and do what we should be able to do, we should win. Q. They've been the darling of some of the bracketologists in the country. Does that put a chip on your shoulder that you're one of the teams that might get knocked off, according to some so-called experts? D'VAUNTES SMITH-RIVERA: I mean, everybody's playing with a chip on their shoulder at this point. I mean, everybody's 0-0. We just want to come out, you know, and try to impose our will on them, you know, try to dominate the game. Q. D'Vauntes, I'm sure you noticed on film they like to play fast, get up and down. Do you like that style, the chance to play in that kind of game, or do you feel you'll have to impose your own pace to beat them? D'VAUNTES SMITH-RIVERA: I mean, with the team that we have, we can play, you know, up and down. We just like to control the tempo of the game offensively and defensively. I think with the range that we have, the versatility that we have on our team, it will be much easier for us to adjust. They'll also have to adjust to us with the players that we have and the style of play that we like to play. Q. Josh, when you were selecting a college out of high school, was it important for you to get away and make your own person of yourself away from home? JOSHUA SMITH: I mean, it was ironic just because in the recruiting process, I didn't want to be too far from home. I never envisioned myself being halfway across the country. I'm at Georgetown now, so it kind of defeats the purpose. Right now I'm at a great university with a lot of great teammates and it's kind of helped me grow up a little bit. THE MODERATOR: Gentlemen, thank you very much. Good luck. Coach, any opening statements, then we'll open the floor to questions. COACH THOMPSON: No opening statement. We're excited to be here and our guys are ready to play. Q. There's been a lot of talk this week about your recent history in the tournament. How do you view that? Is that irrelevant? Do you think you have to sort of consider it in some way? What do you make of that discussion, the high seed? COACH THOMPSON: The facts are the facts. That being said, this is a different team than we have here now. This is a different year. So we're ready for this group to play. Q. For much of Josh's career prior to him ending up at Georgetown, he had a lot of people concerned about his weight, extrapolating thing about his game. Has his weight been a concern for you at Georgetown and how have you dealt with that? COACH THOMPSON: I think Josh's weight has possibly and always will be a concern. One approach we took when he got here was let's not talk about a number. He'd been so conditioned, I need to get to this weight, I need to get to this number. From day one what we said is, I don't care what the number is, it's how are you moving on the court. For me that number may be X. For you that number may be X plus four. For him it may be X minus ten. As long as you can guard, get up and down the court, defend pick'n rolls, let's work on that and extend the time that you can be on the court. When he first got there, probably a minute two, let's extend that. Just because of his size, the weight is possibly and always will be the topic of the conversation or at the forefront of most discussions regarding Josh. With us the number was not important, it was the performance on the court. Q. How important do you think pace will be tomorrow? Do you mind playing at their pace? Is it important to impose your own pace on the game? COACH THOMPSON: What is their pace? Q. Fast. COACH THOMPSON: Okay (smiling). I think we can play any style. I think we've shown that throughout the year. Pace I don't necessarily think is the issue. They're just a terrific offensive team. It's easy to talk about Harvey because he's the number one scorer in the country. Even when you take him out of the equation, they still can put five guys on the court that can really hurt you. From our perspective, defensively our communication is going to have to be, our effort is going to have to be good because it's not just him, it's the other four guys on the court with him also. Q. Harvey has talked about how he studies Curry. Do you see any similarities? COACH THOMPSON: No doubt. No doubt. Just their ability to put the ball in the basket. That supreme, ultimate confidence that you need. He shoots from anywhere, from any angle, different position, different ways, different kinds of shots, and they go in, and they go in. That's the same confidence, not just confidence, a lot of guys have confidence, but they produce the results. Steph had confidence and produced results. Q. Eastern Washington's defense statistically isn't very impressive, they don't play in a strong conference. How do you plan to attack them? COACH THOMPSON: I think their defense is pretty good. At this time of year, to address the second part of your question, conferences don't matter. Seeds don't matter. Once you get to this tournament, you have 68 teams, and every one is a very good team. It's just about matchups. Every team is playing very well right now. They just won their conference tournament or they're playing very well right now. They come from a league, a conference that has multi-bids. Right now is not the time to start looking at what conference they're from. The opponent that you're playing is very, very good. Their defense has been good enough to get them to this point. There are a whole lot of people at home that aren't playing and they still are. Q. Any reaction to Eastern's coach guaranteeing a win in the game? COACH THOMPSON: Yeah, I heard about that. We're going to show up and we're going to play tomorrow. We'll see on the court. Q. Might you make your players aware of that comment, too? COACH THOMPSON: They actually made me aware of it. They heard before I did. THE MODERATOR: Coach, thank you very much. COACH THOMPSON: Thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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