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AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIPMarch 11, 2016Ed ConroyCameron ReynoldsLouis DabneyOrlando, Florida Tulane - 72, Houston - 69 THE MODERATOR: We'll start with an opening statement from coach and then take questions for the student-athletes. ED CONROY: Well, first off, Houston handled us pretty good during the season. We never could find an answer defending them. I think that the second half of our last game against them, they shot 65 or 70 percent. We had played pretty well. We just could not stop them. Credit our guys. I think this win started about a month ago. We always concentrated on defense, but they started to really take the message in. We played them on February 17th, and it was after that game when they really started coming to practice with a focus. Which, we're a young team and sometimes it takes a little while. But I think these last five halves, we have defended very well, and we have played smart basketball. And I give these guys right here all the credit in the world. There are a million distractions being thrown at us, going back to the summer with some guys leaving and some injuries. But these guys are the most resilient bunch, most fun group to coach, and I love them and you saw their fight tonight. THE MODERATOR: Questions? Q. Talk about the shot at the end, just a look you got with the play with the call and just what came together on that last shot. CAMERON REYNOLDS: Malik just drove the gap, and my man helped off, and we practice that every day before the games. We do post perimeter. Just slide over whenever he drives the middle, my man helped, so he couldn't get to me and knocked the shot down. Q. Can you talk about obviously -- kind of maybe started last night, you get one win and in the beginning Houston kind of started obviously a little bit slow, and just kind of gives you that momentum a little bit of encouragement that you guys think you can pull it off again today? LOUIS DABNEY: First off, I just want to give glory to God. Without him, we couldn't even have come this far. I just give all the credit to my coach and the coaching staff and just the way we prepared. People don't know all the stuff we do behind the scenes, and we just have a great coach, a great coaching staff. And we had a great game plan, and as you can see, we have a lot of fighters on this team and that helps us out. Q. You guys looked like a very motivated group especially in the second half. Were you driven, were you motivated by the fact that this could be your coach's last game if you don't win? CAMERON REYNOLDS: We just came out here to play. We weren't worried about anything outside. We have been preparing for this win, for these wins, for the past couple months, and we just came out there to fight, every time is a fight. If you get knocked down, we got to get back up. THE MODERATOR: Thank you, gentlemen. Take questions for coach. Q. This is awkward on our end as well. There's a report that came out start of the second half that you wouldn't be back. ED CONROY: I know I had two guys behind the bench put their phone up and tell me "Hey, Coach you're gone." So that was fun when you're trying to come back from an eight-point deficit. But you know what? I talked to our guys about it before the game and what we have been saying all along, we are the madness. We can be a part of that and this is a -- nobody loves college basketball more than me. This is a new story for March Madness, right. I got axed because we're down 8 at the half. But I talked to the players about it before the game and I don't mind you asking. They have been through a lot, and a few weeks ago there was some comments made about people didn't like our program. And then that was right before a key basketball game. Then two days before we come here, they said that I was fired. Today it came out that I was leaving them. It's almost like somebody's putting something out there every 24 hours to try to distract this group. And as you can see, that's going to be a tougher job than they think. Because they're pretty focused about what they're doing. And the thing I would say is, anybody putting those things out doesn't care about these kids. It's about them, and this is their time. March is a really special month to me, and everybody that ever grew up wanting to play college basketball, and this is Louis Dabney's last March and Cameron only has a couple more. So to do anything that would distract or take away until this thing is done, I think is really not thinking about the students and the student-athletes. It's a shame. But it gave our guys a chance through adversity to step up and show people what they're made of, and I love them for it. Q. You have not been told anything specifically about your future, have you? ED CONROY: I have not. It makes for good pregame speeches though. (Laughter.) Q. How does that make you feel though just day-to-day, hour-to-hour, knowing that not only are these reports out there, but just you're coaching for your life, I guess? ED CONROY: I really do believe this: It's a blessing. My family has absolutely loved New Orleans. We love Tulane. It's been great. It's a blessing to have a platform to coach and be around guys like this every day. So I never take one of those days for granted, and I know they can always be taken away from you. So I just wake up and these guys will tell you, we just go to work every day. That's what we do in our program. We love what we do. But we'll do it wherever we're welcome. THE MODERATOR: All right. Thank you, coach. ED CONROY: Thank you guys. See what the story is tomorrow. (Laughter.) FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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