|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
PAC-12 MEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENTMarch 10, 2017Cuonzo MartinGrant MullinsIvan RabbLas Vegas, Nevada Oregon - 73, Cal - 65 THE MODERATOR: Coach, what do you know about Jabari Bird? COACH MARTIN: He's at the hospital, that's all I know as of right now. Waiting to see the doctor. That's what I just got. So I'm not sure after that. Q. Coach, obviously tough losing Jabari that early in the game. What can you say about your guys' effort without him? COACH MARTIN: I thought they did a great job competing, but that's what we're supposed to do. That's part of our program, so that part should be understood. But it's a big loss, especially on the offensive side of the ball, that level of production. So you have guys playing multiple minutes and more minutes than they normally play against a team of that caliber. It's not an easy thing to do, but I thought our guys did a great job battling and competing. Q. Coach, a lot of people always say the interchangeable parts and the versatility. But when that team goes forward like last year on one-day prep, what makes them so difficult to prep for if you haven't seen them? COACH MARTIN: I'm not sure what makes them difficult to prep. We thought we did a good job prepping against them, we just lost the game. I thought it went down to the wire. I don't know if there's anything difficult about prepping, we just lost a game against a team in our league. Q. A team that might not play them like you do twice a year -- COACH MARTIN: I think the thing, if you haven't seen them, is Boucher, because if you watch him on film, you think he's a big guy and he blocks shots, so those two things come to your mind, and you think he's around the rim. But he's really a guy that plays on the perimeter. So now all of a sudden, if you've got a traditional big defending him, most bigs run to the rim. He runs to the wing or to the corner. If he's making shots, that's a tough thing to go against. Q. Ivan or Grant, when did you guys know that Jabari was out and probably not coming back? IVAN RABB: Well, I saw him on the ground, I didn't know what was going on. We didn't really have time to really think about it. Guys stepped up and they played hard, and it is what it is. Q. Grant, can you just give us your emotions when your senior, your fellow senior leader goes out like that in this huge game with so much on the line? GRANT MULLINS: Yeah, it's tough. It's tough to see a guy go down like that. I've actually had problems with head injuries before, so I definitely know what he's feeling and know what he's going through. So I just hope he's doing well and he makes a speedy recovery. Q. Cuonzo, this is the second year in a row that you've had a major postseason game and had to play it without key performers. Are you feeling a little bit jinxed by that? COACH MARTIN: Not at all, not at all. It's part of the game. Not at all. You have 13 scholarships, NCAA allows you 13 scholarships. My job is to have 13 guys ready to play. So we have enough, we just came up short. Not at all, it's part of the game. Q. Ivan, how hard was it to maneuver in the paint against that length and size at the half? IVAN RABB: Really, it was like an every-game thing. I've been dealing with that pretty much all year. So I've tried to do the best I could to take care of the ball and try to get the easiest shot possible. But Oregon does a good job well enough trying to block shots, so I just had to continue to play and fight through it. Q. Grant, 23 points, you shoot 7-for-8, 5-for-5 from three. At what point did you feel like you were in the zone? What's it like when you're stroking it like that? GRANT MULLINS: I kind of go into the same game -- I mean every game with the same mentality. I think just that game they were follow falling, but once you see a few go in, it obviously helps your confidence. But I think a lot of my shots were off broken plays, and Charlie and those guys were just able to find me. Q. Cuonzo, most of the media people, the bracketology types have said you needed to win this game to get into the NCAA Tournament. What do you look for going forward now after tonight? COACH MARTIN: Nothing, really. I think we're an NCAA Tournament team. Now it's for them to decide. But after that, nothing really. For me, I really don't care what they say. I'm not going to assume what they say. For me, it's a whole season, so it's a body of work. If that's not good enough, that's not good enough. I didn't go into this game thinking we had to win to get into the NCAA Tournament. We went into this game so we could win the Pac-12 Tournament. That was our goal. Q. Ivan, 4-for-12 from the floor. I'm sure you would have liked to do a little better. What were they doing defensively to kind of slow you down? IVAN RABB: Double teaming me. That's pretty much it. I missed a few easy ones too, but just doubling, so I kind of had to force a few shots, but that's part of the game. Q. Jabari held Dorsey pretty much in check. I think he was 5-of-18 the previous two games that you had played against him without Jabari on the court. How much more difficult was it to contain Tyler Dorsey? COACH MARTIN: Well, he's a good player. He's a good player. They have good players around him, so you give up something against those guys. And that's what talented teams -- they have multiple guys that can make plays. We don't go into the game saying there's one guy we have to stop. They have good players. They have guys that can make shots. They can score at the rim. They stretch you out with the three-point shooting. But other guys defending them well. But it was his night tonight. He played well. Q. What are your thoughts on the 13 minutes that Dillon Brooks was out? You guys seemed to have an opportunity there, but instead while their lead got up to as much as 13, it still went up from 5 to 7 at the end of that stretch? COACH MARTIN: Again, that's a sign of a good team. I guess the same people that say whether or not we're on the bubble or not, that's the same people that say they could win the National Championship. So I would imagine that means they're a pretty good team and they can play five, six, seven, eight guys. So it's just part of it. They're a good team. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
About ASAP Sports •
FastScripts Archive •
Recent Interviews •
Captioning •
Upcoming Events •
Contact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links |
|
ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297
|