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MAUI JIM MAUI INVITATIONALNovember 21, 2018Travis SteeleElias HardenNaji MarshallQuentin GoodinLahaina, Maui, Hawaii Xavier - 83, Illinois - 74 MEGAN GODFREY: We'll start with an opening statement from coach. TRAVIS STEELE: I thought obviously Illinois is a really good team. Really proud of our guys staying with it for 40 minutes. I thought that was just the first time that we had stuck through a whole game for 40 minutes. And I thought we played the right way offensively. We had a couple long meetings over the last few days. And chemistry takes awhile to develop and I think our guys grew up a lot out here in Maui and that's why we want to play in this event. You want to play against great teams and some of the best teams in the country to help prepare you for our league in the Big East which is really one of the top premier leagues in the country and we got that. Obviously got that with today with Illinois. But I think we grew up quite a bit on the offensive end and the defensive end while we were out here. MEGAN GODFREY: Take questions for the players. Q. Quentin, how much did you feel like this team needed this win tonight? QUENTIN GOODIN: It always feels good to win. Helps with your confidence. I feel like we went out and played hard and we came out with the win, which we deserved. Q. For all the players, coach was talking about you having long meetings. What did you say to each other to try to get yourselves back on track? What are some of the things you tried to stress between all of you to try to get yourself focused? QUENTIN GOODIN: We watched a lot of film these past few days, watching our mistakes and learning from them. One of the biggest keys was just moving and sharing the ball. And I feel like we came out and we emphasize that today and that's what helped with the win. ELIAS HARDEN: It was a great feeling. But first I just want to thank my teammates for sure, just trusting in me. My coach as well. But it felt good to be out there. My freshman year didn't play as much, but just waiting on my opportunity and my time came today, so I'm just thankful for the opportunity today. Q. Quentin, what's the difference between the team that came to Maui for this event and the team that's leaving? QUENTIN GOODIN: The trust level. I feel like today we had a lot of trust in each other. I feel like we believed in each other and we communicated more this last game and you could see that on the court. And we were having fun today and I feel look over all that's what it was. Q. Naji, what did it mean for this team to have Elias and Keonte come in and contribute the way they did tonight? NAJI MARSHALL: It meant a lot. We're going to need those guys down the stretch and they just showed us today early in the season that at any given moment when it's their time they can come in and step up. Q. For any of the players, I felt like you guys really passed the ball well tonight, like all the way around, and it really made a difference in the way you guys looked offensively. Did you kind of feel that? Was that the plan coming in tonight? ELIAS HARDEN: Yeah. Yesterday like Quentin mentioned and Coach Steele, we had a meeting and the emphasis was just taking care of the ball. But also whether it's that next pass or landing on two to make that next person open, that was kind of the emphasis for us. So I felt like just these past few days it's been landing on two, just making that extra pass. Because lately we have been, I guess you could kind of say just out of control, but today I felt like we were under control as a team. So, yes. QUENTIN GOODIN: I was going to say -- actually he said it all. Never mind. (Laughter.) Q. Quentin, you got hung up on a screen there in the second half, looked like you hurt your shoulder. What happened there? QUENTIN GOODIN: He kind of just made -- I don't know if Reed called out the screen or not, but I didn't hear it and I just kind of ran into the dude. I just - my arm because it was just unexpected, but I'm fine. I'm good. I'm healthy, so I'm fine. Q. A question for you and for Naji. A lot of talk before this season with you guys playing new roles. Do you feel like tonight you were able to feel comfortable playing the roles that you will play the rest of the season? QUENTIN GOODIN: Absolutely. I give the credit to Coach Steele and the rest of the coaching staff, just showing our mistakes and where to learn from them. And I feel like we learned today and we didn't make those same mistakes as we did in the past. NAJI MARSHALL: What was the question again? Q. How do you feel in your new role? NAJI MARSHALL: Very comfortable. Basically we need to share the ball to be a good team. We stepped up big time this whole time in Maui on the defensive end, and really kind of worked on our stuff offensively and on the offensive end. So, yeah, I love the role, just sharing the ball, playing as hard as can I for my team. We'll take questions for coach. Q. Did you get any help in this scout from your brother? Did John say anything last night? TRAVIS STEELE: Honestly, I didn't even talk to him. He's busy. I think they're in their own tournament down in the Cayman Islands, so I did not speak with him about Illinois at all. Q. Same question I asked the guys. What did you think about the contributions of Elias and Keonte and how they helped you tonight? TRAVIS STEELE: Those guys were huge off the bench. I thought all of our bench guys were. Zach Hankins was tremendous as well. I think Keonte and Elias -- I always say this, playing time is earned in practice. That's where it always starts with us and always ends. And so those guys got significantly better over the course of where they were when we first started practice, whatever it was September 26th, 25th, whenever that was. They have gotten a lot better, and they have gotten more consistent in practice and they're going to get more time. And when you play three games in three days you have to have depth. And Keonte and Elias really stepped up, and that's they have been playing in practice as well, both on the defensive end and the offensive end and we need to continue to develop those guys. But I think the only way to really develop as a player, you need a chance. You got to be able to play. And those guys took advantage of their opportunity tonight, for sure. Q. What are you going to leave here having learned about this team, do you think? TRAVIS STEELE: I think obviously when you play in a good field, all the good programs that are out here and we took two losses to start the, to start the tournament here, we hit some adversity. And you always wonder how you're going to respond, how are guys going to act, are they going to start to become more fractured, which can happen to teams. I thought our team really came together. And it's nice kind of getting away from Xavier and Cincinnati because you start to learn a lot about your self. You spend a little bit more time even together, and I thought through film -- because I said it after the San Diego State game, I really feel like instead of just playing Illinois or you're playing San Diego State or you're playing against whoever you're playing, doesn't really matter. You're competing against your own self. We want to execute our system, share the ball, which I thought our guys did. I think we have gotten better within our defensive system. We're not perfect, but we have gotten better. And we're looking to obviously continue to improve. But we have taken a big step forward, I think, on both ends of the floor. Q. Third game in three days. Underwood came out and pressed you and ran players in and out of the lineup indiscriminately early. How proud are you of your team for handling all that stuff? TRAVIS STEELE: Yeah, Illinois's a tremendous, they're going to put tremendous amounts of pressure on you whether it's a press, their 1-3-1, how they play in the half court man-to-man defensive-wise. They turn you over and they try to wear you down. And I was really proud of our guys. I thought we grew up a little bit as far as like time and score even at the end. Like I thought like our guys did a better job of managing the clock. Wasn't perfect and we still got to continue to grow in those areas, but I was really proud of the way that our game went. I know we ended up with 17 turnovers, but again, that's what Illinois does. I thought we had several tremendous possessions, where I felt like we were really in control on the offensive end and didn't let their defense dictate it. Q. What about the overall floor game of Paul Scruggs? He's the energy guy. TRAVIS STEELE: He is. He's kind of our glue guy in a lot of ways. He's just a tough kid, he rebounds the ball, he'll defend, he makes hustle plays, big blocks, he'll take a charge, he'll fill the stat sheet with rebounds, assists, points, the whole deal. He's a tremendous player and he's got to the continue to grow moving forward. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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