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NCAA MEN'S 1ST & 2ND ROUNDS REGIONALS: MIAMIMarch 20, 2009Benson AkpanJosh AlexanderDanny KasparMatt KingsleyMIAMI, FLORIDA Syracuse 59 COACH DANNY KASPAR: I just want to congratulate Syracuse on their win. They're playing some very good basketball in the last month, three weeks to a month. They played very well and deserve a lot of the credit for what happened out there today. Jonny Flynn is something special, and he was knocking us up pretty good in there with his penetration, and I thought that caused us fits the first half, his ability to get in the lane or pick-and-roll, as I said, a very good job. But I also feel that, and I think you guys are going to agree with me, that we didn't play up to our capabilities. I think there was a bad case of the shakes with some of us, and even when that settled down, we just couldn't get it going. I'm very proud of this team. They've overcome some injuries to some key people throughout the year, and they really played well down the stretch within our league, and I'm not going to let today's loss take away from that. Q. Josh, I think you missed your first four or five, and none of you guys really could get anything going those first ten minutes. What were the emotions going through your body at that point? Was it disappointment? Was it anger, frustration, all of the above? What were those first ten minutes like? JOSH ALEXANDER: Kind of frustrating. I know we can't make every shot, but I mean, I missed some easy lay-ups, jump shots. They was giving us the jump shot and we just had to stand there and hit them in the first couple minutes of the game, and we just couldn't hit. That's how we got off to such a slow start. Q. Was it the shakes like Coach said? JOSH ALEXANDER: Maybe a little bit, but not as much as you would think of. We just had to hit some shots and we didn't. Q. Matt, just maybe a comment on just how big those guys are. They dominated early and really a lot of dunks. They had their way inside pretty much the whole game. MATT KINGSLEY: They're a large group of guys, and it's just a pretty big transition from most of the big men in the Southland Conference to some of the biggest guys in the Big East. Q. Benson, you stepped up when Matt was on the bench, 12 points, career high. Where did that come from? How were you able to do that? BENSON AKPAN: I just went out there and played like we do every day on game days. Q. Saved your best for last? BENSON AKPAN: We played well. Q. Matt, Syracuse left the Big East Tournament talking about winning it all. There's probably a few people out there that think they're capable. After seeing them up close now for 40 minutes, what kind of appreciation do you have for them and how far do you think they can go in this thing? MATT KINGSLEY: I think they can go pretty far. They may go pretty far, and I think they're a good team. I was expecting them to be a good team, and they're exactly what I expected. LARRY WAHL: We'll open it up for questions from Coach Kaspar. Q. Danny, how do you not let today take away from 24 wins and getting here and all those good things that happened to you for the first time this year? COACH DANNY KASPAR: You know, we talked about that before the game. We've talked a lot about understanding that the biggest opponent we're going to face is within our own locker room. It's ourselves. We talked about that during the preseason, during the season, and in talking about the teams we played, both the non-conference and conference. I think whatever you're talking about, the enemy within is the worst enemy. Let's face it, Josh, I don't think Josh really had the shakes, he just wasn't hitting anything. He's had games like this. He went through a slump midway through conference that was the worst I've ever seen. And Matt seemed intimidated by those big kids. That's why I thought I've got to go with Benson, and I thought Benson was playing very well. You know, you talk to the team after the game and you just tell them you're proud of them, that you love them and you care for them, and thank you, and that's what was said. That is a high character group of young men in that locker room. The last thing I wanted them to know as we complete this season was I was very proud of them and they have nothing to be ashamed of, that they've done a lot of great things for Stephen F. Austin men's basketball program and Stephen F. Austin State University, and they did it with hard work, a lot of talent, hard work and some great character. Q. Could you talk about the problems that the two big kids, Jackson and Onuaku, presented for you guys? COACH DANNY KASPAR: Well, they did, and really we talked about how they like to block shots, and you've got to shot fake and go up. Nick Shaw got two shots early in the game which are really not a shot fake but turning around and seeing a 6'9" 240-pounder or a 6'9" 270-pounder. We lost our poise as far as what to do once we got the ball inside. The message that was given to our players is if you shot fake, they'll go up. It's got to be quick because they're coming in. They'll strip you if you're not. If you shot fake, go up into them, get to the foul line. As you can see we shot 10 free throws, so we didn't do that. As of those 10 free throws, I believe bigs got eight. So that's been a little bit of a problem for us all year long. We have not gotten to the free-throw line like we should. And you know, where I might look in the mirror and say if I had to do it again I might go to that 1-3-1 zone earlier. We were so successful with our man defense all year, I didn't want to send a message to our kids that I'm going to give up on it early. But the 1-3-1 did bother them. I don't think they prepared any for it, and perhaps we should have gone to it a little sooner. LARRY WAHL: Thank you very much. End of FastScripts |
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