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AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIPMarch 15, 2019Kelvin SampsonGalen Robinson, Jr.Corey Davis, Jr.Memphis, Tennessee Houston - 84, UConn, 45 COACH KELVIN SAMPSON: I thought our defense was solid. You know, we watched the first half yesterday. Our coaching staff went to work and just watched a lot of film. We have only played Connecticut once during the regular season. That was in Hartford. When you do that, you have a feel for the personnel. You know, you're playing a team yesterday that made 13 threes, and they got X amount in transition. I thought our kids really paid attention to details. Very scouting report-specific. Thought we were -- especially Corey and Galen, I thought they were very cerebral in how we wanted to guard their guards. And then our depth, I thought we wore them down. We wanted to come out in the second half and be ultra, ultra aggressive in everything, whether it was defense, rebounding. And when we did get the boards, wanted to push it, play in transition. We went for threes, obviously. I thought Corey and Armoni got good looks and our offensive rebounding, I thought was solid. So, you know, a good win, move on to the next one. Q. How important was it for your team to maintain its focus and intensity going into this tournament, knowing what is still to come, that this tournament is just as important to you guys for what you want to build this year? COACH KELVIN SAMPSON: I think that goes back to our culture and the things that we emphasize. I think that's an overused, misunderstood word. It seems like in the last ten years, everybody talks about culture. But, you know, culture's the way you do everything in your program. I thought our kids tonight played -- whether it is getting on the floor after loose balls, being enthusiastic for each other's success, just played as a team. And I don't differentiate what tournament or what game. Whether we're playing Alabama A&M or Oregon, LSU, St. Louis, whoever we play, my approach is the same. It is nice to know that we're going to be a pretty good seed in the tournament but we've earned that. Our next game is tomorrow against UCF or Memphis. We're going to try to win that game. Whether we are good enough or not, we'll see, but we're going to do our best to try and win it. Q. What was the key to limiting them to just hitting 3 three-point shots over the entire game? COACH KELVIN SAMPSON: Everything evolves around three actions. They usually get their pick-and-rolls -- their shots out of pick-and-rolls. If you squeeze in tight from the weak side and take away the roller, Jalen especially does a good job of skipping it to the open man on the weak side. What we really worked on was -- we call it back pressure. Once we get him dictated and headed in the right direction with our big, I thought Jalen did a great job of being active with his hands, and he forced a ball with a little air under it or a hump, if you will, and that allowed us to get there and make them drivers versus shooters. These two guys are seniors. This is our 32nd game. Our game -- how we guard pick-and-rolls vary from game to game, but we don't have a million ways to do it. We look at the team strength and it says we're going to guard this team this way. But Jalen Adams makes it a little bit different, because you can't go underneath ball screens on him. You have to chase him and get your big up to the line of scrimmage. I thought the key to defending their shooters was five people guarding the ball screen. I thought all five guys did their jobs. Q. Coach, what does Galen give you as a floor leader which sometimes goes overlooked in setting up the offense? COACH KELVIN SAMPSON: One of the things that Galen has learned to do over his career is play to his strength. Everybody has a strength, something they're good at and something they're not. If you let what you don't do good get in the way of what you do do good, then you've gotten away from your reference point. We all have a reference point. What was the name of that movie that Will Smith -- that guy couldn't dance, he was trying to show him how to dance -- you know what I'm talking about? Remember that? That is who we are, that is who Galen is. That's that guy that stays right here. Don't be doing all that crazy stuff. He is right here. He's learned to be a solid point guard, and he's really good at being solid. And there's a lot of guys in the NBA that are the same way, they're solid. That's a huge gift for our team. We need solid. Dejon comes in there and he's all over the place sometime. But Galen gives us stability and that is important for our team. That is why our first team tonight was so good defensively, because our point of attack. Q. Can you talk about what it means to you personally to be playing at such a high level in your last conference tournament? GALEN ROBINSON, JR: It means everything because if I'm at a high level, that means we are usually playing pretty good. I want to give my team the best chance to survive an event, so my main focus is on just playing my heart out, just playing as hard as I can and just taking whatever comes with it. Q. Corey, how would you describe your guys' mentality knowing what is still at stake, what you want to accomplish this year, and how important it is to finish the tournament the right way as well? COREY DAVIS, JR: If I had to find a way to describe, it would be "desperate". I mean, we have to have a sense of desperation. This is us playing to our culture. We treat every team the same and we play our hearts out. That goes a long way to us winning. Q. Galen, you jumped on them early. How important was it to set the tone coming right out of the gate. GALEN ROBINSON, JR: It was extremely important to me because Jalen Adams is a tough match-up. He's the head of their snake. And I knew that I would have my hands full with him. But I knew if I outcompeted him, outworked him, I knew I could get my team a chance. If you give guys like us a chance, that's all we need. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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