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NCAA MEN'S REGIONALS SEMIFINALS & FINALS: DETROITMarch 28, 2008Scottie ReynoldsJay WrightDETROIT, MICHIGAN THE MODERATOR: Coach, we'd like to have you address the crowd with some brief statements, then questions will go to the student-athletes. COACH WRIGHT: Well, we played a great team. We all, we really respect the Kansas team. I have great respect for Bill. I just saw him out there and told him he's got a lot of big-time players that play the game the right way. They play for Kansas. They don't play for the name on the back of their jersey. It was very evident tonight. What we feared was not being able to score. We were going to need to make threes against them. We needed Scottie and Dante to score. They just did a great job defensively. They really did. We give them a lot of credit. We wished them luck. THE MODERATOR: Questions for the student-athletes. Q. Scottie, can you talk about what type of year it's been, kind of up and down, integrating these freshmen into the Villanova program. SCOTTIE REYNOLDS: You know, it's been tough. But I think as a collective group, you know, we came together these last, you know, few weeks. You know, we started out 13-1. We went on a little five-game skid. But we stuck together. Dante and the upperclassmen pushed us and took ownership of this team. They got us playing great basketball at the end of the year, put us in a great position. Q. Scottie, can you talk in general about the Kansas defense. You had a bad shooting night. That happens. How much effect did they have on it? SCOTTIE REYNOLDS: Well, Robinson and Sherron and Mario, the whole team actually did a really good job. On ball screens, they was double-teaming, trying to get the ball out of my hands. A lot of times if I were to drive it, you know, they were bringing a big or a guard to get the ball out of my hands. And sometimes I was just forcing the issue a little bit too much, you know, trying to get into the lane, trying to find a teammate. A couple times I forced it. A couple times I was playing with the ball too much. They're quick guys, so, you know, you can't play with the ball. You have to make one move and get into the lane. You know, they did a great job of just forcing me, you know, around the perimeter. Q. On the flipside of that, just how difficult was it to defend them with the amount of weapons, five guys on the floor at all time who can score? SCOTTIE REYNOLDS: You know, they came out, I think they had seven threes in the first half. A lot of it was, you know, transition and ball reversal, skip passes. I think Russell had like -- Robinson had like three threes in the first. Chalmers had two. I think Rush had maybe two. You know, with them, they have great inside and outside scoring. You can't just limit, you know, one or two guys on the inside, one or two guys on the perimeter. You know, you have to concentrate on everybody. I know a couple times you would go out, you know, try to play the perimeter, and they would throw up a lob. You know, they did a great job of seeing our breakdowns. THE MODERATOR: Thank you, guys. We'll continue with questions for Coach Wright. Q. You were talking leading up to the game, you mentioned falling behind early at one point. They came out and made 10 of their first 12. Was that a worst-case scenario? COACH WRIGHT: It was. You know, a couple of the lobs they had, their twos, but the threes hurt us early. Russell Robinson hitting those threes early hurt. Rush hit one deep at the end, early, he hit one really deep, came across the lane, banked one in. When a team that good is making those kind of shots, it's going to be tough. I didn't think we were that bad defensively in the first half, I really didn't. You know, those seven threes, even the one at the end of the half, you know, Case comes in, takes one shot, drills a three. Scottie was right there. They're just a good team. They're playing very well right now. They're playing with great confidence. Everyone's filling their role. You know, you're not going to beat a team like that when they're making shots and you're not. We got some great looks in the first half. We had some layups, some threes. Didn't make 'em. You got to have everything work for you. As I said before this game, we had to play our best game. We didn't tonight. I was a little disappointed in our effort, but you've got to give Kansas credit for that. Q. If your best friend in coaching called you tonight or tomorrow and asked you, How do I beat Kansas, what would you tell him? COACH WRIGHT: I would first say, Obviously, I don't have that answer after what you just saw. I think our game plan was good. I just think we weren't able to execute it for two reasons: because they didn't allow us to and I didn't think we really played with enough toughness. But you've got to play great team defense. You can't make mistakes defensively. You just got to play solid because they're going to make some shots. And offensively, when you get your looks, it's simple: you got to make your shots. We were three of seventeen for three. We had a lot of good looks. You got to be solid. Our turnovers in the first half led to dunks and threes for them. It's really a team game. They're so good, you've got to play your best game against 'em. You can't take one guy away or two guys away. Q. When you kind of look at Kansas, they're the polar opposite of you guys in terms of they don't use freshmen, they're battle-tested in terms of every player top to bottom has been there. Three tournament games under the belt. For a young team like yours, what does this mean in the big picture? COACH WRIGHT: This is going to help us. We're going to learn a lot from this game. We're going to put this away and refer to it next year. You make a good point. Kansas is older guys. When they got the open shots, they made 'em. They took care of the basketball. You know, they had 18 turnovers. But a lot of them were making the right pass at the right time. We got a deflection or something. But they really, really were solid. Everyone plays their role. Our guys try. It's just when you're young, you're not as clear about your role. I think it's impressive, when I say those guys play for the name on the front of their jersey, our guys do, too. They just aren't as good at it yet. They're going to learn a lot from this game. THE MODERATOR: Thank you, coach. COACH WRIGHT: Thank you, guys. End of FastScripts |
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