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SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENTMarch 9, 2019Gary BlairCiera JohnsonShambria WashingtonNashville, Tennessee Arkansas-58, Texas A&M-51 THE MODERATOR: We are joined by Texas A&M. We will start with an opening statement from coach. GARY BLAIR: First let's give Arkansas the credit, after they went through the first quarter, cut the lead down at the end of the first quarter, basically they won or played even with us every quarter after that. It has nothing to do with being tired or what. I thought they out-toughed us. They made the threes down the stretch. They got the offensive rebounds on long rebounds and on hustle plays. Those are things that a championship team has to do to win or it will cause you to lose. That's what happened to us. We had 21 turnovers tonight against the zone, and we had 26 last night. That's all on us. Ciera was getting double-teamed and sometimes triple- teamed. She has to make the pass or she's got to be able to finish. The same defense is going to be run tomorrow against McGowan. That's what everybody has to do. They were doing it because she played such a perfect game inside that they couldn't stop her. Offensively she was pretty good. Defensively she was pretty good. She'll work on her passing skills just like I'll work on my coaching skills, and Sham will work on her leadership skills. That's something all of us have to do. We take this as a team. There's not one officiating call that hurt us. It was on us and how well Arkansas executed down the stretch. We said the stars are going to want the ball at the end. They ran a play for Dungee that was wide open. The same pop play that everybody in the league runs. Lack of communication, that's what stars want. We had done a great job on her the whole night. She only had 17 compared to what she's been shooting. I thought we did a great job defensively. They shot 33%, 35% from the three. That's their game. What we didn't do was execute our halfcourt offense from about the middle of the second quarter on. It was hit, miss, hit, miss. You can't win a game that way. Arkansas deserves to be in the NCAA tournament. Heck with somebody's computer, okay? If a team is playing that good at the end of the year, reward them. Heck with the 6-10 finish. They were in every ballgame. They deserve to be in the NCAA tournament, and I hope it. We deserve to still be a No. 4 seed, okay? Our body of work, and when we're healthy a week from now, we'll be the same old Texas A&M that has earned the No. 4 seed. I hope all these experts out there and committee members will realize how good of a basketball team we are. We got beat by the hottest team in the SEC, not the best team, but the hottest team. Sometimes that's all you have to be is hot during tournament time, and you move on. Questions for my players. Q. Ciera, coach talked a little bit about the offensive breakdown, not being able to execute from about mid second quarter on. What contributed to that? CIERA JOHNSON: Well, I turned the ball over a lot in the second half. That contributed to most of it. Can't score if you turn it over. A lot of them were live-ball turnovers, giving them the opportunity to run down and shoot wide open threes. A lot of that is on me not being able to pass out of a double or triple team. GARY BLAIR: At the same time she held their two-five players to one point, one point, both of their two-five players. Defensively she did an excellent job. Q. Shambria, coach mentioned Arkansas is the hot team of this tournament, is that something the team addressed going into the game? SHAMBRIA WASHINGTON: When we played them last Sunday, we did a good job of executing on offense, knowing defensively what we needed to do. Tonight we started off pretty hard. The execution comes from me, as well. I'm the point guard, I'm supposed to run the ballclub. When I see my post players in trouble, I have to demand the ball, just kind of keep us poised. Arkansas is playing very good basketball right now. I just don't think we were tough enough, like coach touched on earlier. That comes from all of us, but especially me. I'm supposed to set the tempo. When we get back, I'm going to work on that. I think we can move forward. THE MODERATOR: Anything else you wanted to address with your players, coach? GARY BLAIR: Appreciate the tournament, excellent-run tournament. Good crowd. Hopefully everybody will stay over, the crowd, for the Arkansas-Mississippi State game tomorrow. It will be a good basketball game. THE MODERATOR: Questions for Coach Blair. Q. Any other things you can add to what Mike Neighbors has been able to do in such a short time at Arkansas? GARY BLAIR: Best hire I think I ever made when I got him from high school where he was making $72,000, and I hired him for $14,000. That was a tremendous hire that I had. Mike and I have been friends for a long time. He's one of the innovative guys in coaching. From his blog that he did, he gives back to the game. There's so few coaches that do that because sometimes the eye on their forehead or the emphasis on winning becomes paramount and they're not able to do it. Mike speaks all over the country. He does everything for the game. That's his strength. Arkansas better realize what they have in him. He's a special coach. He's going to do a special job for them. I'm just proud to say that Mike was part of my tree. The other part of my tree is who he's going to have to play tomorrow. So good luck, Mike. Good luck, Vic. All right, I appreciate you all. THE MODERATOR: Thank you, Coach Blair. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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