BIG EAST CONFERENCE MEN'S TOURNAMENT

March 6, 1998

Fran Fraschilla

COACH FRASCHILLA: It was a great, I think, great college basketball game. It is indicative, I think, you know, as a fan, of one of the great Big East tournaments. I think this tournament has been unbelievable. Tonight was another indication, a great game. I am very proud of our team for hanging tough and coming back and making some big plays. Syracuse made one more big play than we did. It is kind of a turnaround from a week ago, we made one more big play than they did. Tonight you have got to give them credit. They are a fine basketball team and they are going to be a great representative of the league, hopefully NCAA tournament.

COACH FRASCHILLA: You know what, we have the best officials in the country. I had -- I can't tell, I just watched the replay. I can't tell whether he traveled or not. It was really too close. And, you know, we got great officials, they saw it as no travel, and I will take their word for it. That is a moot point right now.

COACH FRASCHILLA: I am not sure, because he was back in the game at the end, so it couldn't have been too serious.

COACH FRASCHILLA: Yeah, he does. That is Tyrone. He has a lot of heart. And it wasn't serious enough to keep him out of the game.

COACH FRASCHILLA: Ronnie is not a freshman anymore. This is the time of year that he wants to step up and show everybody what he is capable of doing. He made some big plays. I thought he made some great defensive plays. He really did. I mean, I thought his defense is really outstanding. He comes out of nowhere. He is going to be a good player.

COACH FRASCHILLA: I think the one thing, I think it is safe to say our seniors have gone out of Big East play. They have become, I think, a mirrored image of my personality and the kind of personality we are trying to impart on this program. I think it is safe to say that they give everything they have. They have worked very hard. And, you know, I am very, very proud of them. I am really proud of them. This is a tough night for us, but I think they have showed a lot of heart and character through four years, and, you know, I think they can hold their head high and put themselves up there with the Mullins and, the Sealys and George Johnsons and all the great players of St. John's. I am very proud of them. They have gone out of here with their heads high.

COACH FRASCHILLA: I don't think so. I can't predict the future, but I don't see anyway -- I mean, we can get beat next week very easily, but we have just come off playing Syracuse, UConn, Boston College, 3 ranked teams and a good Boston College team. If anything, we are a better basketball team now than we were ten days ago. I feel great about that. We have to get some rest and wait for Sunday night. That is still going to be another one of those firsts in this season. We will enjoy Sunday night. If things go right, I think we have got a chance maybe to do something in the tournament. This is a good basketball team and we played a good basketball team tonight. I think we proved that.

COACH FRASCHILLA: That's indicative of our season. First five minutes of the second half, and the way he played the second half, indicative of our season. We have got some guys -- we have got good players, definitely good players, but what we do have is we have heart. And we have a blue collar mentality. I thought our kids -- I thought the second half was really indicative of how the season went if you look at it. Getting down early and fighting our way back and making something out of nothing. In that respect I was very proud of them.

COACH FRASCHILLA: I never worry about that because we scored 91 last night. So I never really worry about it. Our team is -- we are not great, but we are good at playing different speeds, but I think what we did do is do a better job in the second half of attacking the zone. Jimmy made some of adjustments from last week to this week. He took some things away. We had to look for other things. I thought in the second half we got some of those other things. But, you know, again, this is a game that came down to one play and you have -- who hit the shot Blackwell.

COACH FRASCHILLA: I mean, you have got to give him credit, he made a big shot.

COACH FRASCHILLA: I think so. You can't -- I mean, yeah, I absolutely think so. You have got the chance to experience, you know, the whole pressure of a tournament, one and done, the experience of the crowd, NCAA crowds aren't this ravid, so, this is a good experience for us. Again this is a season of firsts. We are one of three Big East teams playing tonight. When we started the second game 3 top seeds were left. I feel really good. This team was 13 out of 16 conference games down the stretch. I think it was 13. Maybe 14. But, we ended up 14 and 6 in the conference, the league was much better than people thought. If you don't think Boston College, Georgetown, Villanova, some of those teams could be at top of some of leagues in this part of country then you don't know basketball because we don't have a bad time in the city as evidenced by the way this tournament has been going on to go 14 and 16 this year, with a conference that is third and fourth in the RPI. I am awfully proud of St. John's basketball because we had one hell of a run the last eight weeks. Thank you.