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NCAA MEN'S 1ST & 2ND ROUNDS REGIONALS: RALEIGHMarch 22, 2008Patrick Ewing, Jr.John Thompson IIIJonathan WallaceRALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA Q. What you saw of Stephen Curry, how different is he from other shooters? JONATHAN WALLACE: He's very active, he knows how to set himself up to get opportunities to get open shots, so it's just a matter of us trying to be physical and trying to stay with him. They are going to set a million screens for him, so just a matter of trying to chase him off screens. Q. Who is he similar to? JONATHAN WALLACE: You look at the kid from West Virginia, Alex, and Scott Reynolds, guys we faced, good shooters who are in constant motion just through the offensive possession. Q. Did you guys get to -- did you have any idea what he was doing in yesterday's game as he was doing it or when did you find out how well he played? PATRICK EWING, JR.: Well, we knew because we were out there watching the game. So we noticed what he was doing, and there's been a lot of type about him in the media and the way he scores the ball, and he's a very good scorer. So we had our eye on him throughout the game, just to see how good he really was. You know, he's definitely as good as they say. Q. Coach McKillop said you guys were a proud defensive team and you're so good at it because you bought into it; is this a special challenge for you, the attention that he's getting and knowing he's going to go out there and try to drop as many of you as he can? JONATHAN WALLACE: It's going to be a challenge on him and another challenge, second-round game of the tournament. We have to play and be very focused and attentive to him and not only just Curry, but you look at Richards on the perimeter, other guys that can really knock down shots. So it's a team defensive game and a matter of everybody stays aware of where everybody is on the floor. Q. You've been up and down on the road this year and this is going to be effectively a road game. Can you just address what it's going to be like to have this place probably going nuts? PATRICK EWING, JR.: It's going to be fun. We've lost four road games, but that doesn't take -- we won other ones, right? So we are used to road games. We are expecting a hostile environment, but we like it and we are planning on having fun and trying to go out there and get a win. Q. Is there anything different for Curry? Are you guys just going to do the same things you've done all year that have been successful or are you talking about maybe tweaking some things for his skill set? PATRICK EWING, JR.: I think we are going to do the same things. Just because one player is as good as a lot of other players we face, we're not going to change anything about us or the things we do. So we are not going to change anything we do for one player. And they are a good team other than Curry. They have other great players. Their point guards are leading in assists around the country and one of their big men has about 13 double-doubles on the year. So they are not a one-dimensional team even though a lot of people try to make it seem that way but they are definitely very talented. Q. Roy stuck around for his senior year. Can you talk about, statistically he looks about the same, numbers-wise, but what did the year do for him? COACH THOMPSON: You know, it's really, in many ways, it's sad, but it's interesting to hear people comment on the fact, question the factor just make note of the fact that Roy coming back and immediately started talking about, pick up his stat sheets and start talking about statistics. He had his senior year in college. He's going to get his degree in a couple of weeks. He had a great time with his friends. And I think that that is important. That was an experience that he wanted to have. Now, you couple that with the fact that he's a year older; you couple that with the fact that he's gone through, from a basketball perspective, the first time in his life where he's had the mark on his back; where he's been the focal point of the scouting report. You know he's gone through the first time in his life where he's been double and triple-teamed just about every possession that he gets the ball, and just his overall development and skill and understanding and growth as a player has been tremendous. And I think most people that analyze and break down his game see that. Now, you can't pick up a stat sheet and look at last year and look at this year and make that just a sum total of what his year was. But both his experiences on the floor and off the floor, and getting his degree and spending his senior year at Georgetown was something that he wanted to do and was important to him. I think and I know that he made the right decision, and it's more than just stat sheets. It's more than just, as soon as you have the opportunity to move on, moving on. It's knowing yourself, knowing what you want out of life and knowing the unique growth and time to grow and improvement. Q. You've got 16 minutes out of Chris Wright yesterday, is that about his ceiling, and what does he add to your lineup now that he's somewhat healthy? COACH THOMPSON: I don't, I don't know what his ceiling is. He missed the entire BIG EAST season and when he went down, we did not anticipate having him back at all this year. So just before the BIG EAST tournament, he was cleared to play, and we're feeling our way through that. I'm not sure that he as a ceiling. But besides the obvious addition of depth that he gives us, you know, not having him this year, was a big blow for our team. It's not something that we cried about or even talked about, but not having him around this year changed the dynamics of how we played and changed dynamics of a lot of what we did. You're not going to all of a sudden here in the tournament reinvent the wheel of what was successful for you this year. But having Chris back adds to our team greatly. Q. You talked a little bit about this yesterday, but just talk about the process of defending Stephen Curry, and I know you guys are a wonderful defensive team; how do you think that matchup is going to go, and does it worry you at all? COACH THOMPSON: You got any suggestions? Because no one has guarded him yet. Does it worry me? Yes. He's a terrific player. And as I touched on yesterday, I mean, obviously he's special. He's a special player and he's the focal point of everything that they do. But they have a great team. I mean, you look at Jason Richards and he sets the table for everyone. He makes life a lot easier for Curry and the open looks that everyone else gets, and all of a sudden if you have three, four, five guys focusing on Curry, everyone they put on the court can make a shot. And they are a veteran team. They are a poised team. So I'm not sure. We are going to obviously -- much like everyone else, and you watch tape after tape last night and this morning, people are paying attention to him and they are dotting their I's and crossing their T's and the kid makes contested shots with guys draped all over him and he doesn't need any time to get off and most importantly, his teammates do a terrific job in the screening and the passing. We just hope he misses, and haven't seen too many games where he's missed yesterday, so we'll see. Q. You guys last played Davidson three years ago, first road win for you and first win for a lot of these guys on the team; can you talk about what that meant for you and this program? COACH THOMPSON: I've said many times and those that have been following me have heard me say that that is one of the biggest wins since I've been at Georgetown, by far. It was our first year, and we had a group -- you know, to go down there and play that team, that team they had -- they had Winters, they had Grant, they had McKillop's son, they had seniors that as they are now, they are a terrific team, and they were a poised team. And for us to go down there on the road and win that game down there, was huge for this program. It was a huge win for this program. And just in terms of the group that we have getting the understanding and the belief in what we were doing, because we knew how good that program was, how good that team was. And so I've said it many times, prior to this week, prior to yesterday, I've said many, many times, that that was one of the biggest wins, and still is; that's one of the biggest wins of my career at Georgetown. Q. Talking about defending Curry, since you talk about it might be really impossible to completely shut him down no matter what you do; is it a matter of doing what you've been doing all year -- do you emphasize that or do you emphasize him? COACH THOMPSON: I don't necessarily articulate it like that but we are going to do what we've been doing all year, as is every team that's still playing. As I said with Chris, you're not going to reinvent the wheel at this time of year. We have certain principles and certain fundamentals we try to stick to and we'll do that now. You have to pay special attention to him and how they get him the ball, but we are not going to come in and try to come up with the special Davidson Curry defense. And hopefully, you know, the way we have been doing things -- you know, he's averaging 25, 26 points a game, and so no one has stopped him all year. No one has stopped them all year from scoring points. You have to focus on doing what you do, or you can lose sight of many other things that are important during the course, during the flow of tomorrow's game. Q. I know you're looked in on your side of the bracket and Davidson, but have you had a chance to talk with Roy Williams? You guys, Georgetown, UNC seem to be following each other all over the NCAA Tournament the last two years. COACH THOMPSON: It's every year, we're in the same bracket with them feels like, even when I was at Princeton. Other than passing Coach in the hall, no, we haven't really had a chance to talk. He's much like I am; he's focused on what he's doing. Q. Is it coincidence at this point? COACH THOMPSON: I'm starting not to think so, I don't know. (Laughter). Q. Davidson has a small front line, and that's something you've faced a lot this year in terms of that -- COACH THOMPSON: They are not that small. Q. Compared to what you have, I assume. But when you have a 7-2 guy, can you talk about some of the problem that is presents and also the advantages, as well, when there's a discrepancy up front? COACH THOMPSON: I don't think their front line is small. Obviously there are not too many people playing basketball as big as Roy but relative to college basketball teams, they are not all as big as Roy. But their front line is extremely active. So pros, cons, they are good players and I can't stress that enough and their focal point is Curry, but you look at their team, they have good players all over the floor. Their front line is very aggressive and they do a very good job of guarding the post and making interior passes difficult and they do a terrific job of running down rebounds, and like I said, Jason gets them the ball where they can make shots. They are not, I would not say big, they are a small front line, but they are veterans; they know what they are doing. Q. When you saw you got sent to Raleigh, you knew, of course, you couldn't have the home court, but you probably at least thought you were going to have neutral site, but tomorrow is going to be pretty against you out there. Do you look forward to that or do you wish it wasn't that way? COACH THOMPSON: In a perfect world, we're playing in the Verizon Center, that couldn't happen. We'll show up. It is what it is. There's so many other things -- we were sitting here, we could talk all day about Davidson's strengths and I have to spend so much time focusing on that to worry about the crowd. With any Conference, you don't get to this particular Conference, and you particularly don't go through our Conference without having played in hostile environments. And tomorrow, playing Davidson here in North Carolina, I'm pretty sure our fans will be drowned out, but we're used to it. Q. Much is made of Curry making 40 points yesterday, but you mentioned Richards, I thought he kept them afloat in the first half yesterday, what do you think of his game and what he does best? COACH THOMPSON: He's great. It's fun to watch him play. It's fun to watch him play just because of how he controls the game, how he manages the game, he has the ball in his hands the whole time. He doesn't make a bad decision. He doesn't make a bad decision, and he does a terrific job of not just, okay, let's figure out how to get Curry the ball; but reading situations and knowing else is hope. And so, you know, you look at those two, but you look in many ways, like I said, Jason runs the show for them, runs the ship. He keeps everything going. He's a terrific basketball player. He doesn't make mistakes. End of FastScripts |
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