BIG EAST CONFERENCE MEN'S TOURNAMENT

March 11, 2004

Seth Greenberg

Bryant Matthews

COACH SETH GREENBERG: I thought we played extremely hard. Just at times, we were not as physically tough or as physically strong as them. I've got to give them credit. Jaron Brown was on my first team all-conference ballot, and he validated that today. He is just a winning player. He's got a toughness about him. He makes big plays. He comes up with loose balls. He really is a very, very impressive young player. I thought that Brown and Page both showed great maturity in the way they played. They made winning plays. They were solid. Obviously, very physical. I'm proud of our team. I think we've at least redefined what is acceptable in terms of competitive spirit. We're not close to where we want to be, but I think we at least have a better idea of what it takes to get there. I couldn't be prouder of this guy over here, to my left. I just told him I wouldn't trade him for any player in this league. You can have your Jaron Browns, you can have everyone else. I mean, this game was an injustice he didn't get a chance to play more tonight. He's a terrific young person who has given us every ounce of energy, every single day, not just when the lights go on. That really defines who he is. Questions?

COACH SETH GREENBERG: Well, we wanted to put pressure on the basketball and try to force them to catch it a little bit deeper. We did a good job defending in the half court except for that post isolations for their guards. We didn't do a very good job on that. We weren't as alert off the ball as we needed to be. They were able to isolate Brown, especially on the block. We didn't have very good vision. Taft is a very good player, but where we got hurt is Krauser's penetration and their ability to post-up. We didn't take as good care of the basketball as we should have in the first half. But, really, our half-court defense was pretty solid, I thought. It was more our inability to defend their physical guards in the low block.

COACH SETH GREENBERG: We misfired some. We didn't take care of the ball probably as well as we needed to at times. We shot a little bit quick, got a little bit impatient. Our bad offense, our inconsistent offense probably led to them getting some scoring opportunities. But we fought back in the game. We got back in the game. We just couldn't get that run to get over the hump. We couldn't get enough stops to put ourselves in position to win the game.

COACH SETH GREENBERG: I hope that we have an opportunity to play. I mean, I believe we deserve the opportunity to play. We got to this game in the third best conference in America. We won seven - if you include the tournament, eight games - in the third best conference or maybe the second best or the first best. I don't know how the barometer to rate conferences is. But I think that we represented ourselves well. We just lost to the 6th-ranked team in the country. I think that we played them basically right down to the very end. I guess we just got to stop fouling so much. We committed 31 fouls, and they only committed 16.

BRYANT MATTHEWS: I was just trying to make something happen, that's all.

COACH SETH GREENBERG: We don't practice that one. That wasn't put in the play book - transition, two-on-one, bounce it off the backboard. But if anyone can make that play, he can. And he did make it, because he made two free throws, right?

COACH SETH GREENBERG: Tim Higgins wanted to know if it was legal. I said, "You got to know that. You're supposed to know the rules."

BRYANT MATTHEWS: I was feeling better, finally getting over it. Just hard to walk away from it knowing that you don't know what the future holds for you, if you're gonna get to play another game. This is a big, big arena, a big place. It was hard because I wanted to play here.

BRYANT MATTHEWS: Must have did something. Turned the ball over. I don't know.

COACH SETH GREENBERG: We just tried to put more pressure on the basketball. We wanted to take better care of the ball. That turnover was very uncharacteristic of our team. We've averaged about 11 and a half a game. They put pretty good pressure on us in the first half and pushed us out a little bit. We didn't make good decisions. We turned it over some. Krauser, we wanted to try to get into him. He's very right-handed, though, coming off ball screens. He always comes back to his right hand. We didn't do a good enough job on him keeping him in front of us.

BRYANT MATTHEWS: All year I guarded the four man. They don't give me the benefit of the doubt, either way it goes. If it's a foul, it's a foul, they're gonna call it on me. I mean, it's just been all year trying to guard the four mans and three mans. I don't get the benefit of the doubt. I've just been in No Man's Land, just trying to guard people. Because if they think I'm holding, they're gonna call it. It's just hard. It could have been anybody - Okafor, anybody. It's gonna be hard. They're gonna give the other player -- they're gonna give him more calls than me.

COACH SETH GREENBERG: I think I covered it all yesterday . People have treated us well. I mean, it's a great conference, great venues, great coaches, great administration. I think there will be life after Virginia Tech for the BIG EAST. I don't think it's going to collapse. What do you think, John?

JOHN PAQUETTE: I hope.

BRYANT MATTHEWS: It would mean a lot. Just another day to play and just move on, keep going.