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ATLANTIC 10 CONFERENCE MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIPMarch 13, 2019Jeff NeubauerAntwon PortleyNick HonorWashington, D.C. Fordham 52, Richmond 50. COACH JEFF NEUBAUER: Our team's effort this afternoon was really, really good. Just like it's been all year. This group has really competed. Unfortunately we ended up, you know, we've been in a lot of close games. We won several of them but this one's going to hurt. Really proud of our group. These guys sitting next to me really battled their tails off. Our defense was really effective. We got the game to play out the way we wanted it to at the defensive end, and we had a chance. Q. Antwon, for you, three of four from three, those last shots, big shots and then you go to the line in a situation. What's going on in your head knowing how important those free throws are? ANTWON PORTLEY: You know the game is on the line and just try to stay focus. Focus more on your form than just the scoreboard and stuff like that. So I went to the line and when I was taking my shots, I was just focusing on my form. Just glad that my last couple threes fell in from good looks, wide-open shots from my teammates. Q. Nick, All-Rookie selection yesterday. Do you have thoughts on what that means for you personally? NICK HONOR: I just give all my credit to God. Yeah, He's just blessing me every day. Just thankful for that. To be honest with you, the Ws are way more than All-Rookie team, so much rather have got the W. Q. Both of you guys struggled as a team this season. Jeff, you can answer this, as well. How do you look at a season like this when individually you guys both made big strides as players but in the end, to fall short. NICK HONOR: I would just say the season was -- for two words, is like growing pains. We basically have a new team and just trying to get more wins. Definitely a learning curve and I definitely believe we can be a tournament team next year, so we'll just have to keep working, keep doing what we do. Q. Shooting 25 percent in the first half and 44 percent in the second half. What was the adjustment that saw that kind of offensive success? COACH JEFF NEUBAUER: We were much more aggressive on the ball screens, so we had more of a blast mentality. In the second half, we were probing too much, and it didn't create any ignition for us. So just the fact that we were much more aggressive driving the ball off of ball screens created better opportunities. Jackson, to answer your question, you know, the way I look at the season is that our guys really competed, and I mean exactly what I said earlier. We were in a ton of close games, and so I think the growing pains answer from Nick is a really good one and this team will benefit from all the experience that we had this year. Q. Onyi got in foul trouble early and picked up his fifth foul with 57 seconds remaining. What do you make of him today? COACH JEFF NEUBAUER: Yeah, Onyi had a really good afternoon. I know he didn't score the ball very much but he was a presence around the basket and you look at the fact that Richmond only scored 52 points; a lot of it had to do with the fact that Onyi and Chuba were athletic presence -- presences, around the hoop. Really proud of Onyi. He had some great moments earlier in the year and then he kind of plateaued. Today was a good afternoon for him. Q. When you make your teams effort on Golden and Gilyard, the two guys you highlight when you come into this game and both had tough nights from the field and then how tough is it to stop, in addition to Golden, Cayo, who really had a good game and they are playing off each other, how difficult is it to stop them both? COACH JEFF NEUBAUER: So this is the best that we've guard ready Richmond in four years. We beat them last year, and our defense last year in Rose Hill Gym was really good, but this is the best. We did make a decision that we were going to put Cayo in scoring situation, and he scored 15 points, and he is a terrific player. He's going to be even better. But as a coaching staff, this is how we wanted the game to play out at that end of the court. We just didn't score enough buckets at the offensive end. Q. And how much did it hurt you, once Onyi fouled out of the game, you had the two shot blockers, one to help on the weak side, when you crowded Golden, and you didn't have that once Eyisi fouled out. COACH JEFF NEUBAUER: Yeah, so I don't remember -- obviously I remember the final possession. You know, maybe having Onyi in there helps. Having Onyi and Chuba. But, you know, for us to get as many minutes as we did out of Onyi today, for Chris Downing to step in and give us four really good minutes, I'm really proud of our center position. Q. Just tell us about what it's like to be here as the local team to represent New York and to be able to play at a conference like the Atlantic 10? COACH JEFF NEUBAUER: This is a great venue, and that's regardless of where your team is from. To play in Barclays is really cool. I think for our freshmen who came in here today for the first time and they were wide-eyed. They were in awe. It's a great venue to have our tournament. We're very lucky to be here in New York, and I'm very lucky to coach in New York, so thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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