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NCAA MEN'S 3RD & 4TH ROUND REGIONALS: NEW JERSEYMarch 23, 2007Tim FloydGabe PruittLodrick StewartNick YoungEAST RUTHERFORD, NEW JERSEY THE MODERATOR: Coach Floyd will make an opening statement, then we'll take questions. COACH TIM FLOYD: Well, North Carolina played exceedingly well in the second half for about a 15-minute stretch. We are very proud of our basketball team. I think that they took advantage of us on the glass in the second half. They just did a tremendous job of offensive rebounding. We couldn't seem to get in front of them. We weren't getting -- I thought our defense was terrific all night. Our guys guarded their actions. We never really got hurt out of their offense, just got hurt on the boards. They kept coming at us with Ginyard and Green and Wright in the second half. Lawson, I think, had five rebounds in the second half. At our offensive end, we were reliant so much in transition because of stops, because of defensive boards in the first half, that we were able to run out, and they had a hard time locating us in transition. That stopped because we were taking the ball out of the net in the second half. We just never had many opportunities to get it off the glass, stop, and bring it to the other end. Really proud of our basketball team. Really proud of these young men. All three of these guys were guys that I inherited that first year from Henry Bibby. They've been terrific. We have been a team that has been free of distractions. They love each other. They have played extremely hard. They prepare hard. Real proud of where they've come. Turn it over to these guys. THE MODERATOR: Questions for the USC student-athletes. Q. For any of the players, was fatigue a factor in the second half because of their depth? GABE PRUITT: No, not at all. I just thought we just didn't rebound like we did in the first half. I don't think fatigue set in. We just didn't have the same fire. We didn't come out with the same fire we had in the first half, and I think rebounding was a big part of that. NICK YOUNG: They just outrebounded us in the second half. Came out with more fire, you know. It wasn't no fatigue. We was all competing. You know, we just came up short tonight. Q. I think it was a 22-2 run for them overall, maybe 18-0 at one point. What is it like to be out there during that? You're trying to do a bunch of different things, nothing seems to be working at that point. They were just coming at you in waves. What is it like in that? LODRICK STEWART: You just have to keep playing through it 'cause we were going for the same goal, North Carolina was going for the same goal, to get the win. I mean, they're a great team. I think we just let up a little bit on the defensive end, not getting back in transition. They got a lot of layups, well, a couple of layups. They just outrebounded us. I think that was the key, the run, to the success of their win. Q. For any of the players, I guess Lodrick first because you're leaving, if you can put into perspective what this season has meant for this program as a whole and where this program is big-picture going into the future after winning 25 games this year? LODRICK STEWART: I think as long as Tim Floyd is the coach, it's going to be a national powerhouse, one of the elite teams in the country. It's going to keep getting better. Gonna be great talent coming in next year and the years to come. I'm very happy. It's been fun for me. It's been a roller coaster but after Coach Floyd came, turned it around for me. He helped me out on the court and off the court, so I give all my praise to him. NICK YOUNG: Just the environment, you know, starting to change around USC. Everybody is more happy. We got a great coaching staff. Got a great athletic director, like Mike Garret. Great team. This year has been great all around, you know. We just are enjoying the moment. We just came up unfortunate tonight, you know, but we still got to keep our heads up and look forward to the future. There's a great recruiting class coming in. We just have to have fun. Q. When you look back on this game years from now, Gabe, how will you remember it? GABE PRUITT: I was happy to make it this far, you know. A lot of people didn't expect us to come here. I thought we fought pretty well. We had a couple of unfortunate plays. But, you know, I'm pretty happy with our basketball team because we showed a lot of character and we proved a lot of people wrong. I can't, you know, do anything but be happy because, you know, we have had a lot of great accomplishments this year. We've been through a lot; I've been through a lot. You know, I didn't have to be here today but, you know, I made it this far so I'm pretty happy. Q. Can you talk about what it was like to go through the emotions of that run they had. You guys were up by ten. Seemed like in an instant they came right at you with wave after wave. LODRICK STEWART: I mean, it's fun to be in games like that. This is what college basketball is all about, the NCAA tournament. It's a game of runs. It happens to every team. I mean, we made big runs in the first half. They knocked down some shots and we had some letups. I give my credit to them. I'm happy for all of us - coaching staff, the USC family. They've just been behind us. We had a lot of success this year. We just got to be happy and just enjoy this time. NICK YOUNG: There's nothing you could really do, you know. Had a great team, you know. They was knocking down shots. We wasn't, you know. We were making turnovers and missing. They went on a good run, they were rebounding. Just played great down the stretch. That's what you should expect from a No. 1 team coming in. Q. Was there a difference offensively between the first half and the second half? You guys shot 50% in the first half. The shots stopped falling in the second half. GABE PRUITT: We didn't change, you know, too much. I think just the fact that first half we got inside, and then, you know, with Taj in foul trouble we couldn't really go to that. Then shots wasn't falling that fell in the first half. We didn't change too much. Only major difference was going inside. We didn't do that in the second half. THE MODERATOR: Thank you very much, guys. Right now we'll take any questions for head coach Tim Floyd. Q. During that run when they started to get those offensive rebounds, at any point do you try to go away from trying to push the ball through the guards? Do you second-guess that at all? COACH TIM FLOYD: No, I really don't. You know, it started happening a little earlier than that. We had a plan that obviously was to try to limit Ty Lawson in the open floor. We thought he was a real key in the game. I thought Gabe did a terrific job on him. We felt like Hansbrough was a real key and their ability to get to the foul-line. We felt like quick doubles to him would limit his ability to just turn that shoulder and bowl through you and draw a foul. Daniel Hackett was a real key to that. He's a guy whose motor runs for us. He had six rebounds against Texas. He had seven rebounds against Arkansas. He's a guy who can rebound. Taj going out was a real factor. Just going big isn't necessarily a rebounding factor. Ginyard, Green were six five guys coming back to the boards. Wright, Serbly a taller player, was coming back to the glass. We don't necessarily rebound better, just with length with our club. You know, I thought that Taj going out, with his fourth foul, as early as it happened at the 12-minute mark, was an important part of this game. I thought he played just extremely well throughout this game both defensively, containment of Lawson in transition, and rebounding that ball. I thought he played very well. I thought Gabe played well on Lawson, as well. Q. Coach, if I may, what goes through your mind with a 16-point lead and 18 minutes left? What thought process do you have as their momentum starts to build and that lead starts to shrink? COACH TIM FLOYD: We had four opportunities to talk to them about what was happening with the time-outs and stopping it. We could not get stops. That was our problem. You can't stop a run unless you stop. I thought we defended their coverage. They shot 38%. You factor in the offensive rebound baskets, take those away, and that percentage is 30, 29, 31%. We simply could not rebound the ball to stop, and couldn't win a horse game coming to the other end to make our shots because now we were taking the ball out of the net, versus our defensive boards, our runouts, our layups in transition, our conversion. We had them on their heels. This was a rebounding game. This is what it came down to. Q. Just take us through the technical at the end there, what your vision of that foul call was. COACH TIM FLOYD: Just disappointed. Wanted to keep playing. Wanted to keep playing. Disappointed with Taj's situation, he was fouling out of the game, you know. But, you know, technical is a part of a game. It just happened. It just happened. I can't comment on the call, as you know, or his fourth foul. I can't comment on that either. So you sit there and you exercise frustration from time to time, which I did. Q. Coach, what did you tell your players in the locker room after the game? COACH TIM FLOYD: I told them how proud I was of them. I told them that they created an identity for themselves that they enjoyed as a result of playing with each other, and that there was a true love for each other, and that they set a school record for wins and that's something they can always hold on to. We have the majority of these kids back next year, and we told them we're going to give them a week off, that we want them to come back and be eager to come back and train and improve and try to go beyond this game a year from now. Just been real proud of them in every area, you know. They had the highest GPA, one of the highest GPAs of any team sport in the first semester. These kids have been terrific. I think they're enjoying what's happening right now, and we look forward to making things better next year. That was the message. Q. What is it about North Carolina, is it their length, their depth? What's your view of why they are able to do something like that? COACH TIM FLOYD: Well, they were special on the offensive board tonight. Special athletes coming back to that glass. Ginyard and Green don't get enough credit. Those two came back and rebounded it tonight. Brandan Wright was obvious because he had both armpits above the rim. But those two other two kids contributed in a big way coming back to that glass. Lawson was unselfish but made plays for others tonight. But, you know, Roy does a terrific job, and they've got a system that they've had in place for many, many years, that is a belief system not only for him but also for his athletes. End of FastScripts |
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