BIG EAST CONFERENCE MEN'S TOURNAMENT

March 4, 1999

Mario Bland

Leonard Hamilton

Johnny Helmsley

Tim James

LEONARD HAMILTON: I thought Georgetown did an outstanding job in the first half of pressuring us. Kind of got us out of our offense. They made us -- the ball pressure made us put the ball on the floor and probably tried to create too much, and that's what a good defensive team will do. I thought the second half, we executed our offense a lot better and rebounded a lot better and got a few more assists as a result of executing our halfcourt offense. Did a much better job of defending them, and with the long boards -- and we were very fortunate to come away with a victory. It appears that -- we told our kids before the game that every team you play will step it up and play with this type of aggressiveness. And obviously, Georgetown did not prove me wrong. But we were very fortunate to come away with a victory tonight and we'll go back and look at and evaluate for tomorrow. Any questions?

LEONARD HAMILTON: Obviously, Tim hasn't been feeling too well and he hit two fouls, and I just thought, as long as the game is close, if I could play and keep the game close in the first half without having to expend a whole lot of energy, I thought I would be better off because I wouldn't be real sure if we could get out of there. So once he got a second foul, I thought our bench came in, and gave us a lot of energy, Wimbley, Kevin Houston gave us a big lift, and I think that really kind of kept Georgetown at bay until we were able to regroup at halftime, and I thought it made a big difference in the game.

TIM JAMES: It feels good to be able to excel in this tournament. We usually come up here and almost like one-and-done. But this year, it's a different situation. Even though it was Georgetown, it could have been anybody. We just try and go out there and play very hard and play every game to the best of our ability.

LEONARD HAMILTON: Well, it's obvious that we were doing a lot of standing around the first half and because they were over-playing, we were putting the ball on the floor and driving too much, and we started executing our offense a little better. We didn't really make any adjustments. We just did the second half what we were supposed to have been doing the first half.

MARIO BLAND: Georgetown has a reputation for playing very physical basketball and we knew we were going to have to not let them push us around if we intend to win this game. The first half we were standing around a lot with our knees locked, and the second half we just bent our knees and tried to not do that and get the rebound. I don't want to take anything away from Georgetown. They are a very good basketball team, and physical play, that's how they make their living. If you don't play physical and match with them and play all over the court, I mean, they are going to beat you.

JOHNNY HELMSLEY: I thought at the halftime we wanted to get the ball inside more to Tim and Mario, and when you do that, teams focus on Tim and Mario a lot. So that opened a lot of opportunities for me. My teammates have done a great job all season of getting me the ball in all those situations and I just --

LEONARD HAMILTON: They have beaten us for the most part because they have been better than us in the past. Our kids have always played hard. We have done better than we did tonight, but I think we're a lot better basketball team and we expected to win the game. They expected to win the game, and I think tonight we got some breaks there toward the end and rebounded a little better and hit some shots and came away with a victory.

TIM JAMES: Winning always makes you feel a little better. If it was a loss, I would probably be feeling a lot worse, but I'm just trying to get over this cold or whatever, sinus, whatever I have, and just get ready for tomorrow.

LEONARD HAMILTON: I wish you wouldn't ask me that question. Obviously, I have no idea whose going to win the game, but all I know is that --

LEONARD HAMILTON: Obviously, we've been very fortunate to be successful against St. John's. They are an outstanding team. We just got some breaks in each game and we are very fortunate to come away with a victory. They have the whole package. They are quick. They can defend you. They can shoot; take you off the dribble. And Rutgers creates a lot of problems for us. But I think any time you play in the Big East, you can expect a hard game. That's just the way it is. It's going to be a great game tonight. You saw a great game today with Seton Hall and Connecticut. It doesn't make any difference whether you're a first place team or a last place team. If you're not prepared, you get your hat handed to you, and that's the way we look at both of these teams tomorrow. We know they are very good basketball teams and anything is capable of happening. We're just going to go out and do the best we can, regardless of who we play.

TIM JAMES: We grew up together and played a lot of ball in Baltimore together. This is what you live for. I mean, when you can play against a guy that you grew up with in a big game and, you know, it's just -- it's a competitive atmosphere out there. I just grabbed his hand. These are big free throws, and you've got to knock them down, and fortunate for us, he missed them and those types of situations that -- that the best players. You know they come out of on the winning end, and I mean Kevin is a great player and he's only a freshman. He's going to be a great player at Georgetown. I just -- it's just those situations that you love when you can play with a guy that you grew up within that type of game.

MARIO BLAND: I think anyone you ask that question will give you the same answer. Closing the basketball game is probably the most important part of basketball. We have a 3, 4-point lead with two minutes left and the game. The thing you want to do is protect the lead. At the same time, I mean if you are up by three points, you don't want to give the game away, make any stupid passes, take bad shots, but at the same time you have to play aggressive play, not to lose, and play to win.

MARIO BLAND: For the most part, I think we wore them down. I think we wore each other down. Both teams were just manning and pushing and shoving and grabbing and holding for 40 minutes. The last four minutes of the game was just whoever wants the game the most. We knew that Georgetown has a representation of putting us out of the Big East tournament. We didn't want that to happen this year. We really didn't want to leave New York.