BIG EAST CONFERENCE MEN'S TOURNAMENT

March 5, 1998

John Thompson III

COACH THOMPSON: I think, you know, it goes without saying, we went to our (inaudible) the last second, and he put us up by one. They went to their goal 2 guy (inaudible) the last second, he made the basket to beat us. I thought that the kids played very hard. I think Rutgers deserves a lot of credit. We know that they shoot the ball probably as well as most people that we play. We try to stay in our zone and come out and matchup with them late in the game and they beat us to a lot of loose balls; that put them in a position to win. I think that they deserve a lot of credit. But, by the same token, I can't say enough about how I feel under the circumstances about how our kids have played particularly late in the year. So, if you got any questions, I will be glad to answer those questions.

JOHN THOMPSON: You know, I made a lifetime out of not responding to what some people say. So I don't know how to answer that. If I answered every question that some --

JOHN THOMPSON I haven't really thought about it, to tell you the truth. I was trying to play, you know, this tournament. I hadn't given any thought to it to tell you the truth.

JOHN THOMPSON: I mean, down the last three minutes of the game we were changing defenses, you can't dictate what the shots selection is going to be, you know, not unless you haven't played before. I was happy with it, yes.

JOHN THOMPSON: There was no breakdown at all. He penetrated. He is not the only one on that team that can shoot. You know, if you go and give a lot of help on that team, you know, they have got fairly good perimeter shooting team. He made a good play. He deserves credit. He made a good play. Shernard felt the same way.