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BIG EAST CONFERENCE MEN'S TOURNAMENTMarch 8, 2007Jeff GreenRoy HibbertJohn Thompson IIINEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK JOHN THOMPSON: Whew. That's my opening statement. Q. It seems like the ninth-rated seed -- you have a big bulls-eye on your back; is this part of the deal -- inaudible. JOHN THOMPSON: To describe the opportunity to play in the BIG EAST tournament, and even to utter it as a needless obligation, someone needs to reach over and smack you. (Laughter) I mean, this is a -- Q. The upside versus the downside. JOHN THOMPSON: First things first. You know, you talk about, what seed were they, ninth seed? It doesn't matter. This league is so good, the players, the coaches, the programs, and that's going to be applicable going over to the following tournament. You're playing against a very good team that's very well coached. I think a lot of people in the media and a lot of fans start looking at rankings and determine -- or ratings and seedings is the word I'm looking for -- and say, well, this team should win. It doesn't matter. We have had three really good games against them this year. Our teams are evenly-matched. We ended up as a 1 and they ended up as a 9. That's going to be true all day today and tomorrow. The teams are going to be very good. We had to get rid of -- we came out early and scored so easily. You know, we scored so easily and then we settled in and then they picked it up. I think it got to a point where we got too tentative. We got too tentative and started looking at the clock and trying to get the game over instead of playing. And all of the sudden, they are too good, they are too good to do that and we need to stay more in attack mode. Q. Did the Syracuse game last year here flash back in your mind? JOHN THOMPSON: I wish I could lie to you and say no, but, yes, it did. Yes, it did. I'm glad our guys held on. Glad we held on. Glad that didn't happen. Q. How hard is it to shut it down emotionally when you get up so big? JOHN THOMPSON: I don't know whether I would say "shut it down" but it was coming to easily. It was coming too easily. We just had to refocus. I think this group knows and understands and enjoys playing on this stage. And so you know, we just refocused. And that's a good team. It's not like you're playing against a team where you can just show up and win. We jumped up. We had a very good run to start. You know, they make a run, they come back and at the start of the second half, we got a couple of good looks and the ball didn't go in and we bang some shots and they get some momentum. You're not going to just run away from anyone. Teams are just too good, too well coached. Q. How stressful did it get in the last several minute and are you surprised it got to that point after the start? JOHN THOMPSON: I wasn't thinking about the finish. We were just thinking about the next possession. Every game is stressful and every minute of every game is stressful for me. You know, but at the end of the day, our guys made plays. Our guys made plays and we held on. That's what good players do and what good teams do. Q. What were you telling your team at the beginning of the second half when things started to slow a little bit, what were you telling your team? JOHN THOMPSON: Just keep doing what we're doing, keep moving hard, keep cutting hard, keep talking to each other. I didn't feel like tactically, you know, maybe with the exception of a few things in the press offs, but tactically it wasn't there but I thought we started to get stagnant. It was almost more so, they were not playing well at the beginning and then they started to play normal basketball, if that makes sense. I don't know whether that came out right. So they started to do the things and have success at the things that they have all year. Q. Defensively did you guys do something different this first half, as opposed to games past? JOHN THOMPSON: I think we -- no. Did we? JEFF GREEN: No, I don't think so. JOHN THOMPSON: I think we were fortunate, they missed a few shots. I think our energy level was pretty good. What we did differently, we did a very good job of rebounding early in the game and when they did give misses, limiting them to one shot. But it wasn't a huge, you know, adjustment change tactically. I think we were just a little better at it and they were a little off to start. Q. Roy, you had difficulty getting touches in the first two meetings against Villanova, what was the difference today? ROY HIBBERT: Just posting up strong and making sure we run our offense. If you can get the ball down to me down low, we've got other things and other shots. Q. Roy, you really felt comfortable down there, two big free throws towards the end when they cut it to about 10 points and then also the emphatic slam at the end; talk about the emotions of this game and how important it was to be the No. 1 seed? ROY HIBBERT: Before the Game 1 of our season we said we owe them one, they beat us on our home court. We had to come out strong and aggressive and all of our shots were falling in the first half and we had to make sure we kept rebounding and running our offense and keep communicating on defense. Q. With all the damage that Sumpter and Sheridan have done, how important was it to control them? JOHN THOMPSON: You can't control them. They put them in too many -- well, Scottie only had 11 points. They are too good, they are too aggressive, they are too talented and their teammates understand that and do a good job of helping them. And so you know, we don't go into it saying, "hey, we're going to control these two." I think they are too good. In many ways you want to hope that the other guys don't go off or step outside the box they are used to being in because those two are two talented offensive players, and you can't really stop them. Q. For Jeff, in the second half, could you tell that maybe you were getting tentative and how do you snap off that as players? JEFF GREEN: We just have to keep running our offense, keep being precise with what we had to do on offense and not allow them to get second shots. We did a pretty good job of that, not letting them get second-chance points and just keep giving Roy touches down low, we just had to keep doing that. Q. How much better are you guys offensively and defensively doing the things you set out to do this season than you were a month ago? JOHN THOMPSON: A month ago, I'm not sure. We're light years better than we were at the beginning of the season, light years, and you can probably say the same thing about Villanova; you can probably say the same thing about most teams that are here in this tournament. But you know, we started off the year, and we had a long way to go. As the year has progressed, I said to these guys and to you guys that wanted to listen, we wanted to be the most improved team by the end of the year and everything else should take care of itself. That's how we've gone about our business; let's get better, let's improve, let's see what areas -- I've said that from week one and tomorrow I'm going to say that. We've just focused on trying to get better. We have a group that needed to learn how to play with each other at both ends of the floor, and we have improved in that area, and they are extremely -- these two guys and the rest of the guys back in the locker room are willing, willing and supportive of each other. End of FastScripts |
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