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SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE MEN'S TOURNAMENTMarch 13, 2008Dave BlissDennis FeltonSundiata GainesATLANTA, GEORGIA THE MODERATOR: We're going to start and ask coach Felton if he'll give just some overall thoughts of the game and then we'll go to Dave and Sundiata and get some Q & A with them. COACH FELTON: Well, it was an extremely hard-fought game. I thought both teams really, really went after the win. I was pleased with how we came out aggressive and maintained our aggressiveness for the vast majority of the game. And then it was really gratifying to see so many of our players step up and make a tough, hard-earned plays in a timely manner from beginning to end. But Ole Miss, they would not go away, they would not make anything easy for us. Every time we thought we had it, they found a way to make another play. The two fouls on three-pointers was -- obviously made it really, really tough on us, but I was proud of the way our team kept our heads up and kept going after the victory until they got it. Q. Dave, can you just walk us through that last shot and what option were you on that play, [] and when did you realize it was coming to you and the shot itself? DAVE BLISS: Yeah, the play was actually designed to get the ball into Yata and hit him with a quick back screen coming up the court. But two of their guys ended up going to Yata and Corey was wide open on the other side and just brought the ball, and I kind of spaced off a little bit and made a great pass to me and I hit the shot. Q. Dave, this is more about your next opponent, but facing Kentucky again for the third time this year, a little bit has been made about some run-ins with Ramel Bradley on the court, to the point where he even said he didn't think you liked him. Could you just talk about that for a minute, and do you like him? DAVE BLISS: I could care less what he thinks. I'm just out there playing. I've got no personal issues with anybody. I mean, if you guys want to make a big deal out of that, that's your choice. I mean, I'm not going to say anything more about that. Q. I think you were 11 of 11 from the free-throw line in the second half. When is the last time that happened, and how nice does that feel? SUNDIATA GAINES: It's probably a long time since that happened. But I was watching Bob Knight, ESPN, and he said the main thing for teams winning and guys making plays is concentration. That's something I tried to do today. I concentrated at the line. I knew that every free throw was crucial, and I didn't want it to be my last. I wanted to go out there and make every free throw. Q. Y'all had some problems finishing games this season and just last week you had the seven-point lead against them and it went away, and then tonight you had a 13-point lead and then you had a five-point lead with less than a minute left and they kept coming back. Did the doubt ever enter y'all's mind? SUNDIATA GAINES: Definitely. There was no doubt in our minds. We knew that they were going to play hard. They're playing for their postseason, as well. We knew they weren't going to let down. The game is full of runs. For our team to actually finish up the game, which we haven't done in a long time, I think that's real special going into our next game. But when you be persistent and keep attacking and just doing it all around, a team effort, things work out for you, and it worked out for us tonight. THE MODERATOR: Fellows, you can return to the locker room. Thank you. We'll continue on with questions for Coach Felton. Q. Could you describe the play, the inbounds play that created such a strong, unobstructed path to the free-throw line for Butler? COACH FELTON: I think it was David that told you, it was a play -- actually what Corey did, it was designed to get the ball in to Sundiata's hands to make that sort of play. But they double-teamed him. We ran an out-of-bounds play where we threw it out of bounds to Billy, and Billy was -- I mean, Yata, who was the original inbounder, we were hoping that that would create space for him to step back in and get it on the move and push it back up to make that kind of play. The play wasn't designed for any particular kind of person to shoot, it was just designed for Sundiata to shoot and players run with him and for Sundiata to make the play, to get us a shot. They took Sundiata away. In doing so, that left Corey not only open to catch it but open with space. And I don't know if he heard me, but I just screamed at him to push it when he got it. I don't think he heard me. I think he just had good presence of mind to push the ball up the floor. And obviously we used all of the five and a half seconds we had, and David made a terrific shot. For a second I thought David was going to get a lay-up out of it, but he kind of stopped short on the catch and ended up having to make a little bank shot. We wanted the similar thing the last time when we had it with 7.1 seconds, and we did get it to Sundiata, but he was just a little bit more conservative in terms of how aggressively he pushed it up the floor than we wanted him to be. Q. Could you talk about playing Kentucky tomorrow night and do you prepare any differently, if at all, because Patrick Patterson is not going to be in the lineup? COACH FELTON: Well, I have an assistant coach who is in charge of that scout, and I haven't looked at them yet. I haven't -- I've gotten to know them just only through some dialogue with my assistant, and I know that I'll get familiar with them tonight. I know some things that will be extremely important is guarding those two senior guards. I know that they're just playing -- they're playing off the charts in order to -- in order for Kentucky to continue to be successful the way they've been since Patrick has been out with the injury. And I know that Stevenson, with the increased opportunity and the increased responsibility, has stepped up and played very well. I don't think that they're doing that much differently other than that I understand they're using the ball screen more in order to give those two guards some more opportunities to create and keep the ball in their hands. The good thing is, Ole Miss is almost an exclusively a ball-screen team, and we worked all week to get better against the ball screen than we were last Saturday, and we defended it extremely well tonight. And that was a big reason for running. It won't be that far -- it won't be a departure from what we had to guard much tonight if they are ball screening more. Q. Strictly from a basketball standpoint, just watching that game and the free throws that Ole Miss hit, Yata hitting 11 of 11, everything that went into that, how good a game was that and how gratifying was it to come out at the end? COACH FELTON: I thought the game was played at a very, very high level. I thought both teams played -- I thought both teams played extremely well. Neither team made plays to lose the game as much as they did to win the game, and you know, it was tough to deal with those two three-point shot fouls. And I think our players really, really had to suck it up to manage through those particular types of plays to still come back and win. I mean, I feel really, really fortunate that we were able to make that last shot and not have to play another overtime because we don't have nearly the depth to turn to that Mississippi has, and we had several of our top guys with four fouls, including Sundiata and I think Terrance. But I thought the game was played at an extremely high level. Just glancing at what went on with all the games in the first round, I thought our game with Mississippi was probably played at the highest level of any of the games. Q. What kind of impact do you think a win like this will have not only on your critics but on athletic director Evans regarding your future? COACH FELTON: Well, you know, I didn't know I had any critics. They just haven't surfaced as far as I'm concerned (laughing). How could I possibly sit here and do Damon Evans' thinking for him? I would tell you that's a question best suited for Damon. Q. So many teams in this tournament are kind of playing for their postseason lives. There's so much more on the line. Do you think that Kentucky is already in, and do you think that you'll have more to play for than they will tomorrow night? COACH FELTON: Well, personally I think Kentucky should be in the tournament right now. I mean, there's no doubt in my mind I think that they've earned their way to the tournament with an at-large bid. But I don't think there's -- they can't feel that way for a second, and I'm certain that they don't. I'm certain that they feel very, very desperate to get another win and another win to get there. But personally if I were making the selections, definitely they've earned their way in and they deserve to be in, but of course my opinion doesn't count and Kentucky's doesn't, either. I think they're going to be desperate to win just like this Mississippi team was. THE MODERATOR: Thank you. End of FastScripts |
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