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BIG EAST CONFERENCE MEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENTMarch 9, 2016John Thompson IIIBradley HayesD'Vauntes Smith-RiveraNew York, New York Q. How much of a difference did it make having Bradley back in the lineup? Not just contest-wise but psychologically? JOHN THOMPSON III: It's a huge difference, and it goes above and beyond what shows up on this. Bradley gives his teammates confidence. You know, they feel safe when he's on the court. I said earlier it's kind of like he's Linus's blanket; they feel safer when he's out there. Glad to have him back. Very, very glad to have him back. Q. John, just to get that winning feeling back again after the losses, what does that do? JOHN THOMPSON III: Oh, man, it feels a lot better than losing. You go through the stretch that we've been through. It's hell. It's really, really hard. You know, but the guys -- it's I mean, you go through a stretch where we're not winning, but they fought. Every single game we fought. I keep saying, okay, it's going to turn around, it's going to turn around, it's going to turn around. Having the big fella back, being here in this city, being here in this building, this tournament, it feels good. It feels good. Q. Coach, was there a timeline of when Bradley was going to come back? Did you know yesterday? Today? Before practice? Anything along those lines? JOHN THOMPSON III: After this morning's shoot-around. Q. Was there anything that happened today? He didn't feel any pain? There was things he can do? JOHN THOMPSON III: He's fine. Am I right? Q. No. So after the shoot-around this morning, was there anything that you could see that he could do that you felt comfortable putting him back in the starting lineup? JOHN THOMPSON III: It was more so him getting comfortable with playing with the brace on, him getting comfortable with being out there. Our medical team is terrific. BRADLEY HAYES: Amazing. JOHN THOMPSON III: Amazing in his words. They cleared him. The human element still kicks in. The mental element as far as BJ is concerned. As soon as he realized he was okay and could go, that was it. Q. John, I know this has been up-and-down season and a tough last month. I'm curious, what about today's game other than Bradley being back shows what you guys look like at your full potential, at your full strength? JOHN THOMPSON III: I don't know. You tell me. You know, it's been a difficult year. There's been a lot of stuff that's thrown at us. Starting in the beginning of the year with Akoy and Paul. But as I said, answering the previous question, saying the guys never stopped fighting. They also never stopped believing, which is difficult when you're going through the stretch we went through. They understand if we get everyone out there, we play well, we can play with anyone. We've shown that. Q. Do you look at this week as kind of a chance to change the whole tenor of the season? You got one down and three to go? BRADLEY HAYES: I think that's our mentality. We knew coming up here that this is where we could make a name for ourselves, kind of. We didn't have the greatest season. It didn't turn out the way we wanted to. We know right now we can turn it around. We just take it one game at a time. Q. For either one of the players, can you describe what the next bump in the road looks like? Villanova is tough. You know them. How do you feel about playing them? D'VAUNTES SMITH-RIVERA: Excited. JOHN THOMPSON III: Next question (laughter). Go ahead. I'm sorry. I couldn't resist. BRADLEY HAYES: Same feeling. We're excited. They got the best of us first time. This time we're going to show them we're not going to lay down. We want it bad. Everybody on our team wants it really bad. I'm pretty sure they want it just as bad, too. I think we're going to push it a little bit harder and hopefully we come out successful. Q. What was your thought process going in and knowing you were playing for the first time in a while? And how did the hand feel taking contact? BRADLEY HAYES: It felt fine. My whole mindset was trying to be an energy boost for my teammates. I felt like mentally they were down because of the way the season ended with the last couple of games. I didn't have the mindset to come in and try to be an offensive factor or be a star player. I wanted to give everybody that mental boost to get them playing how I'm using to them playing. Q. This question is for D'Vauntes: This is your last full round, was this game as a must-win for you? D'VAUNTES SMITH-RIVERA: Yeah, I mean, every game from here on out is a must-win for everybody. Not just me because of my last year, but it's Brad's also. And for the other guys. You just don't want to reflect on mistakes and things we can control and say we could have, would have or should have. We can turn it around now. Q. Coach, can you just talk about the defensive effort of your guys tonight. JOHN THOMPSON III: Was it good? Q. Kept them below 40% on shooting, three-pointers. JOHN THOMPSON III: You know, it's -- as a coach, you go through the stretch that we're going through -- the stretch that we're going through, went through, I'll put it behind us, the stretch we went through, and like you're almost sitting there waiting, waiting for their run. It's going to happen. It's going to happen. It's going to happen. And they made runs. Without a doubt. They fought, they competed. Up until the very end. Dave's teams have always this year -- they play hard. They play hard. They play till the end, which they did again tonight. But I thought that when they did make a run, I think we were able to answer, which was good. We were able to -- their runs weren't sustained for as long as -- long enough to get them right back in it. You look and you come out the start of the second half, boom, boom, boom, we go from I think it was up 11 to all of a sudden you're up two, three, I forget exactly. Their year hasn't turned out like they would have liked it, but it's just the way Dave has them fighting, scrapping, they are playing hard. I guess this is a testament to him what the future holds for them. Q. D'Vauntes, what did Bradley's return do for you guys and the rest of your team knowing he was going to be out there on the court? D'VAUNTES SMITH-RIVERA: It was a mental boost. I mean, he made his presence felt for everybody else on the team. You know, for me, you know, I was excited to play with him again. He's the only classmate technically that I have in our group. And I'm just glad to have him back. Q. Coach, the both of the centers played about the same amount of time. Was that something that you planned to do going into the game or is it just how it sort of shook out today? JOHN THOMPSON III: I think it's just how it shook out. I think and I'm not exactly positive about this, but for most of the year when he's been healthy, that's pretty much how it's been. Some days more than others. I think it shook out -- I didn't go into it saying, I want Jessie and B.J. to split evenly. I didn't realize they were pretty even. THE MODERATOR: Georgetown, thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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