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ATLANTIC 10 CONFERENCE MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIPMarch 15, 2019Bob McKillopJon Axel GudmundssonKellan GradyWashington, D.C. Davidson 70, Saint Joseph's 60 COACH BOB McKILLOP: We know how good a team Saint Joe's is and how incredibly well-coached they are. We played two very difficult, challenging games during the season and they added Lamarr Kimble, who was not there in those two games. We realized the challenge that was in front of us, and I was absolutely thrilled with the way our guys fought from the opening tap. Never got down when they were down 9-2 early, and it looked like we got knocked on our heels, but we never played on our heels throughout the entire game. That's a tremendous credit to this particular group of guys who have worked very hard to get to this point in the season. Q. Just sort of talk about that rough start, shooting-wise, for the team, and how you guys persevered through that. KELLAN GRADY: Yeah, we couldn't throw it in the ocean for the first 20 minutes of that game, but you know, the reason why we stayed confident was because we were getting good looks, and we were also getting downhill and getting good shots at the rim. We had the confidence at halftime to know that they were going to start dropping in the second half, and we just stuck to our principles and we moved the ball; and when we executed, we ended up getting good looks and they eventually fell. You know, just credit to our resiliency. Q. Can you talk about that sequence towards the end of the game, the end one -- following that up with the slam. What was going through your mind when you started to take over during a key part of the game? COACH BOB McKILLOP: Shock. When he dunked? Shock. (Laughter). JON AXEL GUDMUNDSSON: I had not been playing well up to that point. I had been rushing some shots and taking shots early off the shot clock, and at that part of the game, it was just -- it was just letting the game come to me. And I saw they switched on a ball screen and put, I think it was 21 on me, and I knew -- I had an awareness of him on him. I just took it to the rim and it went in. Q. I remember when you were playing over at Church Farm for a year with Mark Turner. You knew Fresh, Lamarr Kimble, and Charley Brown and Chris Clover pretty well. Did you have a specific plan going into tonight against the three of them? JON AXEL GUDMUNDSSON: I mean, they are all great players, and like Coach said earlier, we played them twice in the season and without Lamarr Kimble, and we knew coming in it would be a really tough game, especially when they add Lamarr Kimble to the squad. I mean, it's hard to come with a set game plan. Just do your best to stop these players and I thought we did a decent job today. Q. How much does the confidence of last year's tournament run help you guys, and also with VCU being out as the No. 1 seed, does that give you more motivation, as well? KELLAN GRADY: I think last year's run, we have a veteran group of guys this year, so you know, we know what it takes, and I think we're prepared to play three games in three days and really buckle down and just show some toughness and resiliency, because that's what it takes to win an Atlantic 10 Championship. Q. Gentleman, I, of course, remember especially you, Kellan, when you were playing for the great John Carroll at Northfield Mount Hermon. What's it like transitioning from a guy like you, and for you to play like a guy like Mark and to play for someone like Coach Bob McKillop? KELLAN GRADY: I was blessed to be very well coached in high school, and I think that prepared me for college and I've been blessed to play under Coach McKillop and he's done an awesome job with me and the rest of our team so I'm very fortunate. JON AXEL GUDMUNDSSON: Yeah, being coached by Mark Turner was amazing. Just unfortunately it didn't work as well as I would want it to. But he was a great coach. It's a great school out there. Then to transition to Coach, it's just a different level. He's one of the best coaches in the nation, and he shows it every year. Q. It seemed that in different parts of the game, you liked going download and feeding the big men. Was it a result of the outside shots not falling or feeding the hot hand? COACH BOB McKILLOP: We're really an inside-out team all year long, and many times our outside shot is a result of it going inside first. I thought Luka and KiShawn and Dushone (ph) were tremendous catchers inside and when they catch, they deflate the defense and it gives us spacing, and it allowed, you know, not just the scores from Luka, but some drives, some slashes to the basket to Kellan and it even allowed that offensive rebound for Carter, which was such a big part of the game when he got that offensive rebound. It's a typical process for Davidson to play inside-out. Q. Looked like Jon took a fall there. How will he be tomorrow? COACH BOB McKILLOP: Jon is one tough hombre. I have had very few guys who are as tough as he is. I think we're very lucky that this team has a lot of very tough guys. So Jon sets a standard for toughness that as a coach, you really applaud and you celebrate. Q. You talked about toughness. Kellan struggled in the first half a lot. What is it about Kellan, in particular, that gives you the confidence that he's going to get it going eventually? COACH BOB McKILLOP: Well, we called a number of plays for him; that gives him confidence that we do that. And he has a capacity to make threes at the most vital time of the game. As you saw, he made those two big threes in the second half. In fact, you know, we made three three-pointers the whole game, and Kellan made two of them in almost a back-to-back sequence, or close to it, in the second half. He's very tough-minded, and give his parents credit for that. Give John Carroll tremendous credit for that, and we're lucky that he's wearing a Davidson uniform. Q. You mentioned, like you said, a game of toughness, and you called a time-out, I think you were down by about four with about maybe seven or six minutes left to go -- two, I'm sorry. What changed after you called that time-out? COACH BOB McKILLOP: We regrouped and realized, and Kellan made the comment in the huddle, "We're only down one basket." We've done a lot of talking in the last week, and we've done a lot of growing up in the last month. We played Saint Joe's a month ago, and they shot ten -- made ten threes in the first half, and they had us back pedalling. We went up to Philadelphia and played La Salle and put us on our heels and made us back pedal. I think the growth of this team has been, it's fighting in the center ring going forward, not fighting in the center ring going backward. It's a sign of maturation. It's a sign of getting better. It's a sign of these kids doing such a great job preparing and practicing, and they give me great peace knowing what they have done practice-wise and preparation-wise. I'm at peace. Q. Off the beaten track, but not for you, Swarthmore just got to the Division III Final. What do you make of your man doing that? COACH BOB McKILLOP: He's had a magnificent career at Swarthmore, though it's only short of, I think four years. For anyone to go into an institution of academic rigor and excellence like Swarthmore is, and turn it into a Final Four team, is one of the most extraordinary coaching performances I've witnessed at any level, high school, Division I, Division II, Division III. We're so proud of Landry Kosmalski. I think he's playing tonight. Q. They won the semis tonight. COACH BOB McKILLOP: They won the semis? That's absolutely sensational. Who did they beat? By what score? Great. Very, very proud of them. Thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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