BIG EAST CONFERENCE MEN'S TOURNAMENT

March 10, 2004

Craig Esherick

COACH CRAIG ESHERICK: I was proud of how our guys played today. I thought we came out and played like we were trying to win and we could win. I think a couple things happened that prevented us from winning the game. The first thing was I thought Watson hit those 10 free throws at the end of the ball game, so we basically had no chance of cutting the lead at the end of the ball game. I thought that BC did a real good job of being patient in their offense even though we did do a pretty good job of keeping the ball out of Smith's hands. I thought they were very patient, they found the open man. There were a couple times when we played great defense and they got the offensive rebound. It really was a breakdown on our part, and also Boston College, I thought, made some great hustle plays. I think that in the first half we didn't shoot the ball particularly well. In the second half, we got our offense going. I thought Matt Causey came in and really gave us something in the second half and in the first half. I was really happy to see him play the way he's capable of playing. I think that I'm going to have to say something about our three seniors. I'm sorry that all three of them are gone. Omari, Courtland and Gerald have been three guys that I've been extremely proud of as a Georgetown graduate. All three of those kids were a pleasure to coach, and I'm proud to say that I coached all three of them. Ten years from now, I'll be proud to say that they played at Georgetown and went to Georgetown. Any questions?

COACH CRAIG ESHERICK: It was by design, because I was stupid enough to think that we may be around here for a while. I wanted to make certain that I didn't wear anybody out to bbe able to play a second game. Also, I played Sead. I would have played him last couple of games, but he hurt his ankle about three practices -- three games ago, and I wasn't able to use him the last two games. I was planning on using him to rest Brandon because I was giving Brandon too many minutes about the last ten games of the season. Matt had been playing better over the course about the last ten games. I rotated Matt, Ashanti, Gerald and DJ (phonetic). That's probably why you think that I usedd my bench a little bit more. Omari had been playing spot duty. I had to play Sead and Amadou in the second half because of Courtland's injury. Courtland ended up getting an X-ray. They basically said he couldn't play the rest of the game after he got hurt.

COACH CRAIG ESHERICK: He sprained his ankle, yes. It was not a break. The X-ray was not conclusive. But, obviously, doesn't matter now.

COACH CRAIG ESHERICK: Well, I think, number one, help is on the way - stay tuned. Stay tuned. Number two, I think that I'm disappointed, I think the players are disappointed. I think that when I look back on the season, the one thing I am going to think is that our guys did the best they possibly could. I think in a lot of games, we were overmatched, and I think some of that was probably recruiting more so than anything that we could have done in relation to the particular game. I'm thinking, specifically, about the Duke game and the Connecticut game. I am going to make the assumption that that will be taken care of when we get the new guys in uniform next year. I think that the group of guys that we had, played extremely hard and practiced hard. Again, I'm proud of the job that they did. I'm not happy with the fact that we were 13-15, or whatever we were, I'm not happy with the losing streak. I think it's something we have to improve on and I think it's something we will improve on. I think the streak we just ended was a pretty remarkable streak. You're talking about 30 years in a row being invited to postseason, and that's a pretty incredible streak that I don't think our school got credit for; I don't think I got any credit for. I think that it's something that I'm extremely proud of, as somebody that's been involved in the program for so long. I was a player, I was a grad assistant, I was an assistant coach, I'm the head coach, I'm a law grad, I'm a graduate of the business school with a degree in finance. I certainly was very proud of the streak that we had. If I'm not mistaken, it was the longest continuous postseason streak in the country. So I think that we certainly had an awful lot to be proud of; I think we have an awful lot to be proud of now. I think that in our profession, okay, we are not permitted to have bad years, and I don't know why. I don't know why. I think every profession but the coaching profession is not permitted to have a bad year. I certainly resent the heck out of it as a coach. But I'm not going to sit up here and say we had a great year; we didn't. We didn't. Again, I'm proud of the effort that the guys put in. I'm proud of the effort of our assistant coaches - and stay tuned. Stay tuned.

COACH CRAIG ESHERICK: (Laughing). This is Ken Wright from the Washington Times, if you don't know who this is. Ken, he played extremely well. But one thing I've never done - I never did it as an assistant coach, and I've never done it as a head coach - I never promised anybody that they were going to start. I have no idea. I thought Matt played extremely well. As I said early on in the year, he had a knee surgery in July, and so I think just at the end of the year, I think he was getting healthy. Matt has to get stronger, but a lot of our players have to get stronger. I think one of the things that I probably was disappointed with during the course of the season is I thought we got pushed around a little bit too much. I thought we got pushed around by teams in our leagues and I thought we got pushed around by teams outside our league, and that's not going to happen next year. That's not going to happen. I think we're going to be much bigger next year than we were this year, assuming everybody is healthy - assuming I'm healthy, and I plan on being healthy. And I'm not going to say, "Please don't ask me any questions about the referee, about the call at the end." I am doing everything I possibly can, John, to control myself.

COACH CRAIG ESHERICK: Everything I possibly can to control myself. I am not going to say one word, not one word about that call that was made.