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ATLANTIC 10 CONFERENCE MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIPMarch 11, 2017Bob McKillopPeyton AldridgeJack GibbsPittsburgh, Pennsylvania RHODE ISLAND 84, Davidson 60 BOB McKILLOP: Congratulations to Dan Hurley and his Rhode Island team. They knocked us to the mat very early. They played a terrific basketball game. Even though we got knocked to the mat, our guys didn't stay down. We got knocked to the ropes. We didn't stay on the ropes. We kept coming back and kept fighting and fighting. And I will treasure a lot of memories from this particular year, and one of the most poignant will be the way this team kept fighting back no matter how much they have been hit and no matter how many times they got knocked down. It was an incredible honor to coach these two guys on my right. I wouldn't trade them for anybody in the country. Q. Coach Hurley talked about the game plan coming in for you specifically, trying to funnel you to the rim and take advantage of the fact that you would be playing your third game in three days. How did you feel physically and did you sense that that was what they were trying to do as far as their game plan for you? JACK GIBBS: It's the end of the season. Everybody has had their bumps and bruises, and the season takes it toll on you, but you can't make us excuses for that. They had a great game plan and like Coach said, they hit us early. We fought back, but they are a good team and wish them the best of luck tomorrow. Q. What about their team defense? Coach McKillop talked the other day about them and Dayton being among the best man-to-man teams around. What about just their collective effort defensively? PEYTON ALDRIDGE: I think they did a good job of forcing us to play outside the paint, just to force everything up above free throw line extended. They really tried to make things difficult for us to get into the flow of our offense, and I think that disrupted us a little bit. Q. Jack, I know the postseason, still you guys might have more games to play, but are you able at this point in time to kind of look back on your career, or is it more kind of short-term memory at this point? JACK GIBBS: The last four years here have been the best part of my life, and I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. The fans that came today, the fans back home, the school, just the community as a whole, is something that's real special, and you don't find it in a lot of places in this country. I mean, I'm proud of the decision I made to come here, and I know that I may not ever wear Davidson on my chest again, but it will be in my heart forever (tearing up). Q. As far as Jack's performance, it seemed like he kept trying to go against what they were doing, and the effort didn't really stop -- BOB McKILLOP: Sorry, I can't hear you. Q. Did you think Jack, if you kept trying to push against what they were doing and have success, but it wasn't really coming, did you think he was going to break through at any point as far as his individual performance? BOB McKILLOP: I don't understand what you're asking. Q. Given what they were doing to him defensively, I guess what did you think of how he did against what they were trying to do. BOB McKILLOP: Okay. I got it. It's something he's faced all year long, and clearly three games in three days, makes it even more difficult to respond with the kind of magnificent sense that has been such a part of his career. You know, we weren't even sure he was going to play in the tournament after the game on Saturday, last Saturday against Rhode Island. And he'll never make an excuse, but you walk outside the media room, and there's his mom in a wheelchair battling cancer. This guy's got a lot of his emotion drained from the success, but the adversity that he's faced health-wise, family-wise, throughout this season and last. For him to even respond to get out on the court and fight like he did, he played 36 minutes, had 17 points; that's a model of excellence right there. Q. Entering the tournament, why was it in doubt that he might not play? BOB McKILLOP: He has a meniscus problem in his knee that was exacerbated what happened on a couple of collisions and a couple of falls in the Rhode Island game on Saturday. Q. You had it down to ten the second half, and hit that wall for about nine minutes between the field goals, and they had the quick spurt; what did you see in that? BOB McKILLOP: It's remarkable when you look at the final score and you look at the way they just pummeled us; you're right on the money there. It was at ten, and when we needed that stop, when we needed that made basket, when we needed even that made foul shot, we didn't get it. There was one point where the ball just bounced out of our hands right into them, and they got the rebound and put it back in. That's pretty tough to overcome a double-digit deficit. And Rhode Island, a, shot the daylights out of it; and b, defended the heck out of us. As Payton and Jack alluded to, we tried to get deflation, we tried to get the ball penetrating the foul line, but we had a difficult time doing that. Q. Jack moved into third on the career list today. Where does he belong in your mind as far as Davidson basketball history? BOB McKILLOP: Well, there's no doubt he'll be a Hall of Famer and there's no doubt that his number will be hung at some point in the future. So he's going to go down in the history of Davidson as one of the greats, and that's pretty good company when you figure Steph Curry and Fred Hetzel and Derek Rucker and Dick Snyder and Brendan Winters are part of that greatness. Q. In a game like this where both teams' styles are so different, is it important, is it key to see whoever can impose their will on the other first? BOB McKILLOP: I think the imposition of will is a big factor in the outcome of games as it starts the game. I thought that was our advantage yesterday. I thought that Dayton replicates Rhode Island in many ways, and I thought going in, as I looked at those two teams, Dayton probably shot the ball better from three; Rhode Island probably protected the rim better. Today Rhode Island shot the ball from three, protected the rim, and as Dayton did to us yesterday, really got into us and pushed us away from the basket. So as we were able to impose our will a little bit yesterday, clearly Rhode Island imposed their will in the opening four minutes of the game. You know, I think when Kuran Iverson made the three, I think it caught us a little bit -- like he had not been shooting it that well, and he knocks that three and put us on our heels. Anytime a team makes threes, it puts you on your heels. Sometimes you hurry up to catch up, and the combination of their superb defense and our sense of urgency with trying to catch up was just lethal. Q. What's your sense now looking ahead, and obviously Selection Sunday dictates stuff, but as far as your postseason fate? BOB McKILLOP: What is who? Q. What is your sense of where you guys -- what you guys will do as far as postseason tournaments and whatnot, NIT or something. BOB McKILLOP: I see no chance for us in the NIT. Yeah, I don't think that we're a candidate for it. I don't think so. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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