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NCAA MEN'S 1ST AND 2ND ROUNDS: TULSAMarch 22, 2019Ron HunterDevin MitchellD'Marcus SimondsTulsa, Oklahoma Houston - 84 Georgia State - 55 THE MODERATOR: We're going to ask Coach Hunter to open up on a statement on the game, then we'll go to questions for all three gentlemen from Georgia State. Ron, please. RON HUNTER: First I want to congratulate Houston. They played extremely, extremely well today. It's just like I told our guys, there's certain days not your day. Shots we made all year we didn't make today. Credit their defense for doing it. They were really, really good defensively. Again, we just -- we cut it to five in the first half. We just -- the shots -- our shots just wasn't going down like we were accustomed to them. Their transition was unbelievable. That was the difference of the game was their transition. And so I thought in the half court we were good, just their transition was good. That takes absolutely nothing away from what these guys accomplished. I'm so proud of these young men. Eight years ago I walked into a program that had eight, nine straight losing seasons. Now these guys have been to the tournament three out of five years. We talked about making this a national program. We think we are a national program. People know about our program. I can't tell you how proud I am with these young men. We are not sad, we're not mad or any of those type of things. We did not play well but that's due to Houston. I cannot tell you how proud I am of my basketball team and what these guys accomplished. THE MODERATOR: Questions. Q. The first half, getting off to such a bad start tonight or them getting off to such a good start, was that something that knocked you back in a way that you couldn't recover from? DEVIN MITCHELL: I think if anybody starts like that it will knock any team back a little bit. But you know, just, you know, I think we've been in situations like that before. So I mean, we weren't worried, but, you know, we knew we had to score the ball a lot better than we had been and get stops on defense. And it was just tough to be able to do that in the first half. We climbed back into it, we fought hard and made it a game by the end of the half. D'MARCUS SIMONDS: I mean yeah, Houston jumped out on us, 15 - 3, quick 12-point lead. So, I mean, I think with around three minutes left in the first half, we had cut it to 5. So it's not like we were playing bad ball in the beginning. Second half they took off and made a lot of shots. Corey Davis played amazing. They didn't even get their -- they get their. They didn't get their usual output from Armoni Brookes. They played great as a team and it showed at the end. Q. Ron said yesterday he would be really disappointed if you didn't win this game. Are you disappointed, this is for D'Marcus. D'MARCUS SIMONDS: Yeah, I'm pretty sick, but, you know, it's basketball. You win some, you lose some. At the end of the day, you got to grow from everything. So, yeah, you know, we had a really good team this season and I was happy to be a part of it more than anything. Winning or losing the game, it doesn't tell the whole story. We went through a lot this season. As a family, you know, this was big for us. And I mean we didn't come out victorious like we expected. We didn't play the way we thought we would, but, you know, I mean it still doesn't tell the whole story about us, you know. Q. D' Marcus, have you thought about your future, what you intend to be back at Georgia State next year as a junior? You've had a heck of a couple years here. D'MARCUS SIMONDS: You know, I'll wait to really talk about that. Chances are I probably won't be back at Georgia State, but everything will be released officially at a later date. Yeah, I mean this is probably my last game in a Georgia State uniform. And I just want to say that I love the guys, I love the team and the coach that I've been a part of the last three years. It's been the best three years of my life, even with all the sacrificing and the bad moments, the good moments. Yeah, I was a part of a real family and I really enjoyed it. THE MODERATOR: Anything else for the gentlemen from Georgia State? Q. Ron, are you disappointed? RON HUNTER: Yes, I am. I'm disappointed because again as their leader, I got to be the one to make sure that I have to believe that we can win. And so every time we go out and play -- you know, I first took the job here we had more victories. I don't believe -- yes, I'm disappointed. I'm disappointed in how we played. With that said, I'm really proud of these young men. We played a team that he was 30 - 3 today. I see why they're 30 - 3. They didn't just walk into that record. This is a really good basketball team. But anytime that I coach a game and my team loses, I am disappointed. I'm a competitor. I'm always going to be that way. The day that I stop being disappointed about a loss, I need to get out of this business. Q. Can you just comment on what D'Marcus said about possibly not coming back? RON HUNTER: I'm going to take possibly out. It's time. It's time for him for a lot of different reasons, for him and his family. It's the way the NBA is set right now. They don't draft seniors for the most part. He's got to go and try and make a living that way. I think that he's got a bright future. I really do. He's going to be making money for a long time playing basketball. But it's time, and I can say that and we've talked about that but it's time, you know, and so he's done everything that I've asked him to do from the day we recruited him. Absolutely everything. Two NCAA tournaments, first team. Everything. Coming back -- same thing I told RJ, I'm not quite sure what he can come back to do at Georgia State. Q. Coach, that being said plus the senior class, what these guys have accomplished, can it be back to back to back tournaments for you guys with what you have leaving? RON HUNTER: I'm going to say like I said, I'll be disappointed if we don't get three in a row, you know, so that's -- it's going to start from day one, man. That's the core of our program. I've got guys, my sophomores and freshmen, that's all they know about going to the NCAA Tournament. They don't know anything else. We're not going to change that, and we're going to always be the underdog and chip on our shoulder. Be right back here again next year. THE MODERATOR: Anything else for the gentlemen from Georgia State? Okay. Thank you. Good luck. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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