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ATLANTIC 10 CONFERENCE MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIPMarch 9, 2017John GianniniJordan PricePittsburgh, Pennsylvania DAVIDSON 82, LaSalle 71. DR. JOHN GIANNINI: T was a game of two halves. In the first half, we didn't always do what I had planned on defensively. And even when we did, they made some extremely difficult shots from deep. In the second half, I thought our defense, especially in the last 15 minutes was exactly what I want, and at a very high level. We communicated much better. And our defense gave us a chance to win the game. Our kids played really, really hard. I'm disappointed that we weren't better as a whole in terms of our season. But you know, we'll refresh ourselves here in the next couple weeks and get started with a lot of veterans and some young guys that I think are going to give us a lot of energy and that I am going to play. So it will be a fresh start for us, but right now, we're disappointed with a hard fought loss, and our guys really gave us a chance and gave a great effort, and especially did a good job defensively down the stretch. I thought when we cut it to three, and Demetrius Henry got a foul helping out on a ball screen, I thought that was a momentum killer for us. But you know, at that point, I felt really good, and we fought all the way till the end. But I'm proud of our effort and I'm proud of Jordan, as always. He's a great person and really proud of him. But you know, we'll lick our wounds and move forward. Q. In the first half, can you point to some yourself and the team at large, you guys were really hitting from the three and having success. What do you attribute what you were able to hit so well and so often the three in the first half? JORDAN PRICE: We were just running our offense, getting each other open, basically we got a cross, just dribble at our teammate and drive and man helps, pass it to them. We were getting open shots and good looks and just knocked them down today. Q. Jordan, just take me through a little bit, you guys are down 19 and you came back and were right there and had a chance. What was it, Coach said about the defense, but what was it with you guys that allowed you to make that run? JORDAN PRICE: Everybody just pretty much locked in. We didn't want to go home. So pretty much just locked in and tried to get stops. Q. What made the combination of Aldridge and Gibbs so difficult to guard today for you guys? JORDAN PRICE: I mean, they are always. It's not just today. They are always a difficult combination. Q. The first half, can you point to some things that you just felt -- I mean, you know what Davidson is and what they do, and obviously you guys hit seven of ten threes, and you're down 15. What was a little bit out of sync at both ends, do you feel like? JORDAN PRICE: Pretty much we were all losing our man sometimes. You've got like a crazy offense from everybody running around everywhere, and sometimes we got lost. We practice it, but within the game today, we just -- in the first half. But in the second half, we locked in. Q. Obvious question, sort of a, what-does-it-feel-like question. I guess I'm asking you to state the obvious. You're walking off the court for the last time. What was going through your head? JORDAN PRICE: It hasn't really hit me yet. I'm just trying to get back with my teammates and just get back to the school and finish these last few months. Q. You spoke a little about Jordan, but can you reflect a little bit more on what that guy did for you for the past three years? DR. JOHN GIANNINI: I think, again, at this time, I think about them far more as people than I do as players. So we went 17 and 15, 17 his first year, 15 his next year, and -- a thousand times, was my fault. But I would say is through the ups and downs he's been consistent. When you go through tough times, you want to go through them with people that aren't going to change and are going to be positive and that's what Jordan, as well as Cian, has done for us. I just appreciate them as people and their consistency throughout some ups and downs. Q. In some ways, is this game kind of like your season? DR. JOHN GIANNINI: Yeah. Q. At times, you were very, very good, and at times not as good. DR. JOHN GIANNINI: Kind of in reverse order, though. In the first half, I can't even put into words, and words don't do justice, how well I thought prepared we were for their offense. We've played them before and we had three days to prepare, and we just didn't talk. We didn't do what we practiced. They are wonderful kids with great attitudes. I just can't figure out why it's so sometimes. But in the second half, they did exactly what we wanted. I mean, we didn't miss a switch, and Aldridge got us down low in a couple mismatches. But we held them down and held them to 38 percent from the field. If we could have done that in the first half, I think it could have been a very different game. And why we didn't, I really don't have any idea. I don't question our guys' attitude or their motivation. It's just it's really hard for me to understand. And on top of that, as I said, they made some really difficult shots and shots from deep. They executed well, as always. But I think in the second half, we show we can guard them, and the first time we played them, we showed that we could guard them. For some reason, we just didn't do a great job of it in the first half. And again, maybe we would have been down by a little bit, but when you throw their unbelievable shooting on top of it, we were really in a hole at that point. Q. You talked about Aldridge and mismatches. What does he do to maximize that? Because you look at him, and physically, it's like, okay, he's 6-8 and he can kind of bounce out and play inside. But what does he do? DR. JOHN GIANNINI: So what they do offensively is, one of the best continuity offenses in the country. I mean, no one does it better than them. But it's more simple than you would think, and he just knows what to do when he has a smaller guy on him. He just knows what to do when he has a bigger guy on him. He's done it for three years and they don't do anything different. I mean, they do that, and he has a wonderful feel of what he can take advantage of. And they have great role definition. You know, they know that Gibbs and Aldridge are going to score, and they are always looking for those guys and those other guys are going to pass and make open threes. They have the makings of a really good team, some terrific scorers, some guys who are very good players in their own right, but know what their role is and of course, they are wonderfully coached. They have a lot of things going for them. Q. The first half, and the season, obviously the team never stopped going hard. Could you see them press a little bit and the gears working through their brains when things weren't going their way? DR. JOHN GIANNINI: I don't understand the question. Q. I guess it's sort of a psychological question where -- DR. JOHN GIANNINI: We definitely lost confidence after the VCU game and after losing a few games without Pookie. Our confidence level really never got back to where it was in the middle of January. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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