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MOUNTAIN WEST MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIPMarch 6, 2020Leon RiceAlex HobbsAbu KigabLas Vegas, Nevada San Diego State - 81, Boise State -68 THE MODERATOR: We'll start with an opening statement from coach and then take questions for the student-athletes. LEON RICE: I loved the way we came out in that first half. We were playing great basketball. But, you know, I knew they would counter punch and I knew, they have done it all year long. And, man, they got it going and that lead went away in just a second. But we knew we weren't going to win that game in the first half. So but you got to credit San Diego State, great defensive team and when they're making shots like that, they can beat anybody. Anybody in the country. THE MODERATOR: Take questions for the student-athletes. Q. If you guys could just talk about the start. Getting up 16 on them and really kind of having your way there for awhile and just what was that like and then just, I guess, on the counter side of that, how quickly, as coach said, that the lead went away and they started taking over? ABU KIGAB: It's a 40-minute game. We knew we weren't going to beat them in the first 20 minutes. They're a very good team. They are ranked 5th in the nation for a reason. So we knew we had to come and play 40 minutes really hard, rebound, defend, hit shots. And give credit to them. They were hitting shots too, playing good defense, and it's basketball, at the end of the day. You win some and you lose some. Q. Along those same lines, how -- I will ask you Alex, how aware were you that San Diego State's been doing this? This is their fifth straight game where teams have pretty much torched them in the first half and they've come back. Were you aware of that? Did you kind of know that their run was coming? ALEX HOBBS: Yeah, I mean, you can kind of be aware of that, but it just comes down to what coach is always telling us, we want to make sure we throw the first punch and not take that first hit coming out. So it was same old, same old with that. We wanted to come out and make sure that we asserted ourselves. And I think we did a good job of that, but then like everybody said, they kind of came back pretty quickly with some threes and whatnot. Q. The 15 threes was the most you've given up in your 10 years here in a game. What did you guys think of your defense and were some of those just crazy shots, because you guys did control Wetzel on the inside pretty well. ALEX HOBBS: Yeah, talked about protecting the paint. Coming into this tournament, that was going to be huge for us. So some of those were part of the game plan necessarily, not wanting to give them layups, and we'll give up a through threes here and there. But some of them, too, were lapses as well where things that we shouldn't have given up and then some of them were just tough shots that they made. Q. Alex, what do you think the difference was in the second half? ALEX HOBBS: I would just say little lapses here and there. I think in the first half they were kind of making their run. And I feel like besides like one of the shackled threes, the threes they were kind of getting were kind of on our terms. We wanted to be in in certain situations and then they made the right play and hit the three off of that. And I think in the second half is where you could see kind of a few of our more lapses where we gave up threes where we shouldn't have. Q. I'm sure before the game if we said you were tied at halftime you would have taken that in a heartbeat probably. But to be up 16 with five minutes left how much did that late run right before halftime where you guys worked so hard to build that lead and then it didn't really have much to show for it at halftime, how much did that hurt going into the second half? ABU KIGAB: I mean, it's basketball. It's a game of runs. We went on a run, they went on a run, and at the end of the day it's going to happen. They're a very good team. We're a very good team. Every team's going to go on a run. And like I said, it's just a game of runs and whoever makes the most runs wins, and they did today. Q. Alex, this may have been your last basketball game for Boise State. How do you feel walking away from your career and enjoying your time at Boise State? ALEX HOBBS: Yeah, you know, in the locker room I think me and the guys, we kind of, we were sitting there kind of thinking and reflecting a little bit, but I think it kind of came together and we're still hoping for that NIT chance to keep playing. But yeah, like you said, if this is last time that I get to put on a Bronco uniform, it's, it's been an honor from the second I stepped on campus. And everything I learned from Coach Rice, all the staff, and just all the memories and all the things we learned. And I don't think too many teams could bounce back this year the way we did from last year and so that's definitely something we can hang our hats on and be proud of and know that whether we are leaving this program and it's our last game or not, we left our mark and we left it in a good spot going forward. Q. That was my question, but if you both could touch on season as a whole, 20 wins after you lost 20 last year and do what you did, and how badly do you want to keep playing and keep this team together moving forward at the NIT? ABU KIGAB: I think we showed a lot of relentlessness going from last year losing 20 games and this year winning 20 games. Not many teams in the country can do that. We flipped the switch and very proud of my guys. We came in every single day working hard in practice in the weight room. We knew what we wanted from the start of the season and all the guys were in on it, talked about it every single day, and we knew at the end of the day, it was going to be tough. Nothing's easy in this world. If it was easy, everyone would do it. But I'm very proud of my guys and what we accomplished and one hell of a season. More to go. THE MODERATOR: We'll dismiss the student-athletes and take questions for coach. Q. What did you see on the 15 threes? Was it a combination of defense or were they just hot? And it seemed like on some of those there wasn't much you could do. LEON RICE: It sure did. There was a couple in transition where we didn't get and they're really good at that. And there was a couple, there was one in the zone and then there was some that were pretty well contested, I thought. But they, that stretch where we had the good offense and we were scoring and doing that, a big part of that was because they were missing threes and we were able to run and kind of get us in transition a little bit. So in that aspect it was going good. But when the team's that good, it really is pick your poison. It's not you can shut down one thing and then the other thing they can't do. I thought we did a good job Yanni and we handled the ball screens pretty good and then they just went boom, boom, boom. And it's not a surprise. I mean, like I said, I've watched them a lot. I know how good they are and I know how explosive they are and I know how clutch they have been in those situations. They don't get fazed by the score. And in this day and age up 15, 16 point first half lead has got almost a fool's gold situation where, I'll take that in the second half, but in the first half teams score so fast and they're so good defensively too that I thought they did a, they ratcheted that up a little bit more, and they got, we went, we struggled from, for a long time offensively there. Q. In regards to post-season play, how deserving is this team? LEON RICE: Well, you know, I think if Utah State and San Diego State are going to the NCAA tournament then we're next in line. We advanced the farthest. We were right there in that group that's being considered. And I think right now as of this morning our NET was the best of all of them. So I think we're the one from the Mountain West, if those two go to the NCAA, which they're both deserving of and they both should. So, but I don't get to choose. But I, you know, I hope we get that opportunity because I got a lot of guys in that locker room that don't want to take off the uniform yet. And it feels like we're getting better, you know. I mean, I think I got a group that's still improving. Q. Could you expand on what you said about it being fool's gold? What's it like as a coach when you're up 16 and you start feeling pretty good and, but you know what they just did in the last five games, you've seen them all year. Is it just you know it's coming or is there any kind of helpless feeling? LEON RICE: You got to be able to counter punch and you got to be able to keep playing good. And we were playing great in those minutes, early, and then they gave us a good shot and then we got to be able to keep counter punching. And I really thought they ratcheted up their defense a little bit and we weren't -- you got to be able to make some of those shots that we missed because in the end you don't get that many good looks, so when you have a good one, you got to make them. And I think there was about three or four possessions I can think right off the top of my head that seemed like we had a good open three, a couple from the corner, and players, they got to hit those in those situations for us to have a chance there in the end. Q. To be in this round for the first time in like five years and win the game yesterday and I know you're hoping you're still playing but this isn't the end. But your one of six teams that lost 20 last year and won 20 this year. And last year you said sat up here and said I think everybody enjoyed beating up on us. We'll be back. And maybe you're not back as far as you want to be this year, but how do you feel about how you did this year? LEON RICE: Well, you've got to get take that first step of getting really, really good again and we're on our way. And that is, that's quite a testament to the seniors that I had. They've got a lot of character. They went through a tough one last year. And there's just so many close games they lost and they responded. We played a tough schedule. They had a lot of great moments, a lot of great wins that -- right off the top of my head we had just a lot of special things happen with this group. And the biggest thing is they were so fun to coach, so fun to, I get excited to see them every day, win or lose, and that's what you want as a coach. You want character guys that will pick each other up, they will play for the right reasons and work hard and represent us the right way and battle. I want our team to play hard and play with passion and they certainly did that all year long. And we weren't perfect a lot of times, and we had good games, bad games, just like any team, but in the end they always responded. And I think the example was what you said, like last week they got their hats handed to them by UNLV and they responded and came back down here and played great. So that's kind of who they are as guys. You know, when a senior class, that's why I want to keep playing with them. I don't want to -- I mean, they're great guys, just fun to be around, like I said. And when I say fun it's because the kind of people they are. They work hard and they let you coach them and they want to get better. You get guys that are seniors that want to get better, that's pretty special. And they did. They kept getting better all throughout the year. And I mean, the distance that Rod came in these two years, and then even Justinian, he just got more and more consistent as we went on and Hobbs was, he's just, like he showed tonight, the scorer that can get it going. And Smooth is one, Big Smooth is one of the most unselfish guys and then Marcus is just a pit bull. He was banged up tonight. His ankle was hurt but he wanted to be out there and help these guys and anything he could do. So that's the kind of guys that I got to go coach every day and that makes my job pretty special and I'm pretty humbled to be able to do that. And so really proud of these guys. Obviously, I wanted to keep playing, these guys want to keep playing, and they didn't want it to end that way, but you faced a really, really good team tonight and I think that's pretty evident and I'm excited to watch them in the NCAA tournament. I think they can go a long, long ways. THE MODERATOR: Okay. Thank you for your time, coach. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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