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BIG EAST CONFERENCE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENTMarch 8, 2016Jim FlaneryMC McGroryChicago, Illinois St. John's - 50, Creighton - 37 JIM FLANERY: Well, congrats to St. John's. I thought their defense was terrific. It was a grind for four quarters for us to score, and on the flipside, it was 28-28 after three quarters, so we were right there. And I just kept saying, we're going to make a couple shots, we're going to make a couple shots, keep taking care of the ball and keep defensive rebounding, and we did those things. But they kind of pushed it out there, hit a big three, a couple put-backs, and in a game that low scoring, we were fighting uphill at that point. Credit goes to them. A fourth game in four days, championship games are usually ugly because there's obviously a familiarity and there's a fatigue factor. And neither team is real deep, at least neither team uses their bench as much as some of the teams in the league. So I thought -- the good news for us is we were getting shots, but again, they were contested a lot of times and they were under duress, and they just do a really good job of guarding. We never got into a back-to-back three situation or anything where we could kind of get a lift offensively. Credit to them. I mean, to come in here and beat DePaul last night in a game that they trailed by eight at the beginning of the fourth quarter, I think shows how well they're playing, and to turn around and guard us the way they did was impressive. And also I do want to say a big thank you to DePaul and the way this tournament was run. We haven't been around long enough in my three years to really see how well things have run and what an experience it is for our kids, but it was a great experience for our kids. I know that we had -- you guys are going to talk about the basketball part of it, but I think that the experience that our kids had this weekend -- obviously winning contributes heavily to that, but it was a great experience and one that they'll never forget. So thanks to DePaul and congrats to St. John's. Q. MC, this whole weekend, fourth quarters have kind of been the difference in St. John's three wins. Today was another example of that. What from your perspective were they able to do in the final 10 minutes to create some separation and pull away? MC McGRORY: I think they just made some big shots in the last quarter that kind of took the wind out of our sails, and we weren't able to get much going ourselves offensively, and they just kind of got some energy from that. Q. I know you never want to talk about next year because that means this year is coming to an end, but what value is there in the run that this team made towards the final week of the regular season and this weekend here in Chicago to get really close to the goals you really had in the beginning of the season? MC MCGRORY: Yeah, I mean, definitely. I think a lot of kids on our team saw the potential that they can play at, and hopefully going into this summer we use that and just continue to build off of that. Q. MC, just looking at this really incredible run, I know that you're coming off a loss, it's tough to look at it right now, but just why was this team so mentally tough throughout this entire ride? MC McGRORY: I don't know. I think we just -- I don't know, we were just having a lot of fun out there, and we wanted to win it for each other, and I think that says a lot about our team, and I think it goes a lot towards winning. Q. How much can a run like the one you just had do for the future of this program? MC MCGRORY: Yeah, I mean, obviously it does a lot for us who are on the team now, and I don't know, just seeing what we can do. But then also I think getting as far as we've gotten in the Big East Tournament, I think kind of gets the word about Creighton out there, too, and hopefully it will continue to build our program from there. Q. Flan, what value do you see in the growth this team has had in the last week of the season, this run here in Chicago, that you think they can take with them in the off-season, build on it? JIM FLANERY: Yeah, well, you know, I just talked to them about I think it's -- and sometimes I lose sight of this, too, so at their age, for them to lose sight of it, but I think in college basketball now, it's like we constantly -- from the time you start in November, you're talking about what's going to happen in March. And I think sometimes we lose sight of the process and the experience and just the opportunity to be around team. I think that's probably the biggest value that we derived from just the last few days. I do think what MC talked about is there's a joy that we played with that was a little bit different, and maybe because it's -- for me at least, it's harder to coach a young team because you're repetitive about so many things and you think they're being stubborn about simple things, and yet it's youth. So I think at some point there was a realization by them, probably before me, that we needed to put the joy back into it a little bit, and I think that we did that on a level that elevated our play. So it's a good lesson, you know, and it did take a while when -- because when you go into a season, you have an idea -- you take your upperclassmen and you have an idea what it's going to look like. And then when you take somebody out of it who's a three-time all-conference player, now your world is a little bit different. Your goals maybe are a little bit different, but just the way you play, and people are looking around like, okay, now what. I think that was a big part, and it took us a long time to kind of figure that out. You know, at the end of the day, I do think that they -- maybe we lost enough games that we relaxed and played and just put less pressure on ourselves. And I think that's a good tool to learn going forward into the, hopefully, the NIT and then into the postseason. Q. I know you've had a chance to talk about MC this weekend based on her performance, but today when you were watching her and she's clearly not 100 percent, she's kind of just going on guts out there, what did you see out of her today that I guess maybe you didn't know before or just something that just reassured you that she's a player who's always going to give you what she's got? JIM FLANERY: Yeah, well, she was -- I saw a lot of fatigue in a lot of our players, and the same of St. John's. I think you can look at the shooting percentage, it was very -- both teams know each other well and the defense is good, but I think you've got to still say that shooting percentage had something to do with fatigue. She's come a long way as a leader, and as I said yesterday, when you lead as well as she leads, you know that every day you have to be the toughest player out there, and I think that's what she's figured out, and I think that's why she's so respected in our locker room and why she's kind of become kind of the heartbeat of our team this year after Marissa got hurt. Yeah, she's a tough kid. She's really fun to coach. Once in a while we -- she's pretty analytical, so once in a while she'll ask me a question that I can't really figure out if it's to divert attention to me criticizing her (laughter). But at the end of the day, you love having kids like that who really fight the way she does. Q. Talk about Marissa, the loss of a player of her caliber. What about her being on the sidelines? Does she use any motivation to fuel any of the players on this run the last couple weeks? JIM FLANERY: Yeah, I thought she did a good job. It's tough when you're out that long because I think when she first got hurt, I thought she was really engaged, and okay, I've got to transition, I've got to help Jade out, I've got to help MC out, I've got to help the guards out in terms of some things that I see, but also just lifting them up in practice, and I thought she did a really good job. Then as the season went a little bit further along, then her voice maybe wasn't as strong because she hadn't played for three weeks, four weeks, six weeks. And MC's voice grew and some other voices grew, and then I think maybe her voice diminished, but I thought really the last couple weeks she -- whether it's consciously or not, I thought she was -- I don't want to say better because I don't know that it was her fault that maybe her voice diminished. I think that was maybe just part of -- when you're out a long time, that's just kind of inevitable. But I thought she was really more engaged and more willing to offer support and advice. I heard that a lot this weekend from her. Q. Marissa coming back next year, how huge would that be coupled with MC's development and some other players? JIM FLANERY: Yeah, we have a chance to be very good. I mean, we've got a lot back. My biggest thing is who's going to play because we've got a lot -- we're going to have a lot of guards, and so we may -- our style might be a little bit different just to -- we kind of played a shorter rotation, especially at the end of the year. But when you throw her in and some others and just take some of our younger players, and if they develop, I think we're going to be a deeper team, and I think we'll be very good. But the league is going to be really good, too. I'll tell you what, the league I thought was really good this year, and that's why I'm really proud of our team for being on the stage that we were on today, because I have a lot of respect for the league and how good it is and how competitive. I've said several times, we were a good basketball team, we just weren't quite good enough to win a lot of games in the league, and it wasn't -- the only two times we got blown out were by DePaul. Every other game we were in midway through the fourth quarter. So it's fun. The league is fun, and I think our team will be very good and very competitive, but I know that it'll be a challenge because of how good the league is. Q. Flan, obviously a tough situation to address, but what was the general message to the team in the locker room after the game today? JIM FLANERY: Yeah, just -- you know, it wasn't our finest hour in terms of just -- that wasn't probably the prettiest game to play or to watch, and it was probably frustrating for them because we couldn't -- neither team shot the ball well for 32 minutes. I thought we played the right way the whole time. I kept saying, we're rebounding, we're taking care of the ball, and typically I think we're a good enough offensive team and a good enough shooting team that we're eventually going to make some shots. But just that we're proud of them. We've come a ways. That they've been a fun team to coach, especially with our youth. I think it's -- you can also look at it like I wish some of the light bulbs would have clicked a little earlier because I think there were times where we didn't play at nearly this level, so I'll be reflective about that, things I can do differently the next time that happens. But you know, the thing I appreciate about these guys is they do like each other and they do what MC talked about. They do play for each other, and that's neat as a coach to see that. I think that they really value the experience, and that's what I told them. I said, this is -- you're hurting now, but what a great four days and what a great tournament experience that you'll take with you for the rest of your life, and I told them, you know, as much as this hurts right now, you don't get this opportunity when you get out of college and you stop playing. You don't get to feel that great when you win a game, and you don't get to feel that hurt. Your life is more like this, and athletics is like this. This isn't fun, but this is. But it still is a real pleasure to coach these guys, and I told them that. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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