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NCAA MEN'S 1ST & 2ND ROUNDS REGIONALS: GREENSBOROMarch 19, 2009Brad GreenbergAmir JohnsonJoey Lynch-FlohrKenny ThomasGREENSBORO, NORTH CAROLINA North Carolina Tar Heels – 101 COACH GREENBERG: We had a great year. Just a fantastic season. We played a great, great team today. I think they played a pretty good game, and we couldn't score enough. They had a little easier time scoring on us. So it was just one of those games where they just were so strong around the basket. Scored a lot in the paint. Turned us over enough times to score in transition. Crashed the glass enough to score on second chance points. Just scored too many ways for us. We got the ball inside enough, our interior guys got shots that they make against most teams but we weren't able to put them down. Probably the length and athleticism of their front court had something to do with it certainly. Got a lot of shots up just didn't make many of them, and the game got out of hand. So, they're real good. I'm sure they'll keep playing for a while. At least I think they've got a good chance to keep playing for a while. But I'm really proud of our guys. We had a fantastic season. I just told them in the locker room, in no way do I want them to feel anything but proud of what they accomplished this year, and feel good about what they did. To walk as tall as they can possibly walk. Feel as good as they can possibly feel about themselves. And be proud of what they've done not only as a team, but also in helping the university get some exposure. Helping the big south get some exposure. Just doing great, great stuff on and off the court. THE MODERATOR: Questions for the student-athletes. Q. How difficult was it to get off shots inside, especially against Davis? I'm guessing he's quicker off his feet than you guys are accustomed to seeing? JOEY LYNCH-FLOHR: You know, when he's coming from the weak side, coming off whoever he's guarding, obviously you're not ready for that. I wouldn't say it's harder to get off shots. Maybe you're met with a more physical force than you're used to. But we just missed shots inside, myself included. Q. You guys have heard about and seen those guys on TV, I'm sure a lot during the year. What was it like, specifically going up against Hansbrough in person, and was there anything about his game that took you guys by surprise and surprised you in any way? KENNY THOMAS: Everything he did we expected. Man, he's an awesome player. I mean, he was definitely everything we expected. He knocked down his free throws. You know, he didn't stop. He works real hard. And he's a great player. JOEY LYNCH-FLOHR: He did what he always does. I'm sure he was above his average tonight. He did what he always does. We didn't want him to do that, and he did, so. Q. Could you just talk about what it's like with those guys when you're out there and you see how fast they can get up and down the court on you, and trying to stop that and get some kind of control of the pace of the game? KENNY THOMAS: Obviously, they're a great team. I know Ty Lawson adds to their speed, but they did a great job tonight pushing the ball. At times we had a tough time getting back in transition. I know they scored a lot of transition buckets. But they're definitely a fast team. They knock down their shots tonight. Q. I saw at the end of the game you kind of stood and clapped. Tell me what's going through your mind at that point? Were you able to kind of immediately look back on the season as a positive as on opposed to what the scoreboard said? AMIR JOHNSON: Definitely. We're the Big South champs, and in my eyes we're champs no matter what. We played a great team tonight. They're picked to win the NCAA Tournament. But our fans came down and supported us, and I'm happy for that. I'm a champ no matter what. We get rings, and I'm happy for the whole season we played. Ended like this, but we played North Carolina. It was fun. Why not play one of the best teams in the country. They played well, but I had fun out there, so. Q. Play watching you in the first half you did look like you were having the time of your life. You were smiling all the time. When you made shots you were smiling. When you missed a couple it looked like you were having a blast out there. Could you just elaborate about that? AMIR JOHNSON: When we went out there, Coach said play free and have fun. I just embraced the moment. Playing against North Carolina, you don't get that chance. A lot of people don't get that chance. And I just looked at it as a chance to showcase our skills. Hopefully come out with the upset. But it didn't happen like that. I was just happy to be out there with my team, and with my seniors out there. But we have a shot next year to come back and win the Big South again, and hopefully get into the NCAA Tournament again. I was just happy to be out there and have the bright lights on us. Q. I know it's obviously a tough loss out there, but can you just talk about ending your career on the biggest stage in college basketball and how cool that must have been for you? KENNY THOMAS: Yeah, man, it was awesome. I dropped a few tears. And it wasn't all because we took this and my career is over. But I had a great time, man. I haven't won a championship since my sophomore year in high school. So it was definitely an emotional ride for us all, I think. You know, to end it playing one of the good teams in the tournament and on the biggest stage in college basketball, it was awesome. And I know a lot of people don't get to experience what I've experienced. When I was out there, I just tried to seize the moment, man, just enjoy and relish it. Q. What are going to be your lasting memories of Coach Greenberg? I'm sure you'll probably stay in touch. But what difference did he make in your career here? KENNY THOMAS: Coach, he definitely changed the mentality as I've said time and time again. He's a great guy. He keeps your mind on the positives. I don't know how much we lost by today, but he only had positive things to say to us. He's an awesome guy, and one of the last moments I remember is this past one when we lost and he gave me a hug and said I had a great career. I know they're going to be great. And Coach Greenberg is a good coach and what not, so I wish them the best. THE MODERATOR: We'll continue with questions for Coach Greenberg. Q. Could you just now that you've seen Hansbrough in person, your thoughts about him? And also how tough it is to slow them down when they get on a roll running the way they did today? COACH GREENBERG: Well, I'd seen him before. You know, he's just a very persistent, aggressive player. I don't think he played so great today. Everyone's getting crazy about him. He's great, don't get me wrong, but he shot 5 for 16. So it's not like he had Bill Walton NCAA experience out here. He didn't need to do much more. Wayne Ellington was pretty good today. But as far as their speed, yeah, it's something. Those guys fly out on the wings. Whether it's Hansbrough or Davis or Thompson, they fly down the middle of the floor, too. So they're not only coming at you wide, but they're coming at you right down the middle of the floor, too. If you're trying to load up the middle of the floor to try to help out on the guy getting to the basket first, sometimes you leave the wings open. You know, they're just good. They're just real, real good. And what they do, they do well, and today they did it really well. Q. You're in it for 13, 14 minutes. It's within reason. What happened there at the end of the first half and in the beginning of the second? COACH GREENBERG: Well, I think their depth, I think wears a lot of teams down. We're not a real deep team, so I think it wore us down a little. I think fatigue set in. We made more turnovers in the first half than you can afford to make against them. You know, they scored transition baskets, they scored second chance baskets. A lot in the paint. And we didn't make enough shots. We had, I think, 14, 12 or 14 shots from our two inside players. Maybe 16 shots from our two inside players. Maybe that's what it was. 16 field goal attempts from Joey and Art combined. And I think we only made four. So, you know, you've got to score to try to slow them down a little bit, too. If you keep missing shots they're just going to come flying down the floor. We just didn't make enough shots, and we turned it over a little too much. When they missed shots, they got second shots, Danny Green got second shots. So we just didn't do that many things even close to well to, you know, stay in the game. It's that simple. What they did, they did really well. What we tried to do, we didn't do real well. So the game got out of hand. Q. How do you during those timeouts, how do you maintain a positive vibe among your players when, obviously, they know what the score is? COACH GREENBERG: I just spoke about the success we've had, and the importance of playing as hard as you can for every possession. Just encouraged them to just keep going. Just keep playing. You know, you've got 5 minutes or 10 minutes whatever the time was on the clock to play, in this atmosphere, in this event against a great team. You've got a chance to make plays and do things on the court that you want to do. You dream about being able to do. So keep going. Keep going. It was hard. I mean, our guys were disappointed, no doubt about it. They were down. They realized the game had gotten out of hand. We've only lost twice since January, so all of a sudden we're not only losing, but we're losing where it's not pretty. I just wanted them to soak it in. Out of respect for the seniors, Eric, and especially Kenny. Keep fighting. Play every second, every possession like it's important for the younger guys. Get some experience. See what it's like on this stage. Keep playing. If we're lucky enough to have a good season next year and get back, you know, learn from it. So I just didn't want these guys to, in any way, not feel good about themselves, despite what the scoreboard read. They've done too much this year to be proud of. They've helped the university grow in many, many ways. There's a spirit around our campus now that wasn't there six months ago. Part of it is because of what they've accomplished. So I want them to realize that it's a season of success, despite the fact that today was a day that was disappointing. I just wanted to make sure they heard that over and over and over. I don't know how many people will tell them that the way I'll tell them it. But this shouldn't diminish in any way had a what they've accomplished this year. Q. How many times did you say it? Every timeout? The same mantra there? COACH GREENBERG: I said it a lot (laughing). Unfortunately, I had a lot of time to say it, those timeouts were long. Q. Was today a learning experience for Art, and if so, what do you hope he learned? COACH GREENBERG: Well, every day is a learning experience for Art. You're talking about a guy that's only been playing for five years. I think Art is a very proud guy. I think he's disappointed that he didn't do well, but because he's so young as a player, he knows he's just scratching the surface. So I think he'll look at this as a great learning experience, and it will motivate him to work even harder. I think he saw what it's like to be trying to finish plays around the basket when there's a whole bunch of big athletic guys swarming him. He's seen what it's like in our conference when there's a bunch of little guys swarming him, but he hasn't seen it when there's a bunch of big guys swarming him. So that's good. That's good for him to understand that's the next step in his evolution as a player to be able to play with poise and gather himself and be a little quicker, and go up even stronger and be more productive. He played 30 minutes and he had 10-10. Joey played 28 minutes and had 12 and 11. Those two guys had double-doubles on a bad night on a game that got out of hand. But they're really good guys, and I'm proud of what they did this year. Q. In the past, ever since you won the Big South Tournament even before that Radford was appearing in lots of national newspapers. You were on the cover of the sports page of USA Today twice, you were in The Post a few times and a bunch of other things. Can you talk about not only what kind of good that does for the team but for the school as a whole? COACH GREENBERG: Well, it's obviously fun for the players on the team to read about themselves. You know, it's nice to get attention like that certainly on the bigger stage than The Tartan, no offense, Colin. But, yeah, it's great for the school. It's great that people are proud you're a student, you feel good about it. It's wonderful for alums. For people in the community. That's the one thing about sports. It can bring a lot of people together. In some small way we've been able to bring a lot of people together. It's terrific. So these guys have worked real hard to have this successful season, and to have it mean more than just them feeling good about what they accomplished on the court for them to recognize that it meant something to a lot of other people also. And even to the university as a whole. That's tremendous, that's tremendous. Q. As a well-read guy you're probably aware that the president has picked North Carolina to win this thing? COACH GREENBERG: I voted for him, too (smiling). Q. Do you agree with him? COACH GREENBERG: You know, I don't know. My background having been in player personnel and all that kind of stuff, I don't get to see all the teams and study them the way I would like to to be able to predict who should win a National Championship. I just don't see those other teams and study them the way maybe some of these guys, including the president, although I doubt he's -- I think he's going more with his gut than as if he's been studying these teams. They're very, very good. And they're even better with Lawson. So they have offensive fire power, they're disciplined, they're deep. They're obviously extremely, extremely well coached. They could outscore most teams on a night when they're making shots, they could outscore most teams. Someone's going to have to be a pretty good defensive team to be able to slow them down when they're at full strength. So I think they certainly deserve to be a number 1 seed, and they've got as good a chance, I guess, as anybody to pull it through. I'm rooting for them, you know. I'd prefer to say that, hey, we lost to the National Championship than we lost to someone who didn't make it quite that far. And Roy Williams is a wonderful, wonderful guy. He's a gentleman. You know, it's an honor for me to be coaching a game on on the same sideline as him. So I wish him well. I wish him the best, really do. End of FastScripts |
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