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BIG TEN CONFERENCE MEN'S TOURNAMENTMarch 12, 2010John BeileinManny HarrisZack NovakDeshawn SimsINDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA Ohio State – 69 THE MODERATOR: We'll start with an opening comment from Coach Beilein. Coach? COACH BEILEIN: Great basketball game with just a very unfortunate ending for Michigan. Great shot by Evan Turner. That's all I'll say right now, and I'll save anything else for later on. Q. For any of the three of you, can you describe what those last few seconds were like starting with after Manny hit the shot? Did your emotions go from one swing to another? MANNY HARRIS: It definitely hurt. We were excited, but at the same time we knew anything could happen. They had two seconds, a lot of time to shoot and score, and that's what Evan Turner did; he made the big shot. But it definitely hurt. Q. From an intensity level, was this about the biggest game you guys have played today? Right from the start it seemed like there was much more intensity than the court. ZACK NOVAK: I don't know, we just really wanted to win this game, and I mean, we obviously felt like we had a pretty good shot to do that. I mean, they got ahead and we just kept fighting back and fighting back, and this is one we really wanted, and it's disappointing. Q. Talk a little bit about the resolve you guys showed getting down by 13 points and coming back and every time they opened up a lead you were able to match them? DESHAWN SIMS: We were just fighting. The game was intense from the beginning, and we had the mindset that we did not want to stop playing today, and we showed that for 40 minutes of the game. Unfortunately our tournament ended short, but we definitely didn't want to stop playing today. All 16 guys on our team. Q. Manny, would you say those shots that you hit near the end of regulation -- near the end of the game were the biggest ones of your career? MANNY HARRIS: I can't really say that, but I mean, we just tried to, as a team, do the best we can. Coach drew up good plays, and we were able to -- well, I was able to finish, and the other guys, too. It was so -- it was just unlucky that we weren't able to come out with the win. Q. To any of the guys, when you're in the time-out huddle before Ohio State's last shot, were you talking about making sure Turner did not touch the ball, and if so, why is it he was able to get the ball as easily as he did? ZACK NOVAK: In the huddle, we actually -- we never talked about denying the ball, especially back there. I mean, you've got two seconds. We just wanted to stay with them, stay in front of him, make sure he had to take a contested shot and make sure they didn't get any threes off. He hit a heck of a shot. Q. DeShawn and Manny, you guys have obviously played together for a long time. Can you talk about playing your final game together and what it's been like for the two of you? DESHAWN SIMS: We don't know if it's our final game yet, but it's definitely been a great adventure. Me and Manny have known each other for a long time and we complement each other's games. The Michigan program has helped us a lot, and to become stars somewhat. But it's been great playing with Manny and playing with all the guys that I've come across since I've been at Michigan. MANNY HARRIS: Same thing, it's been real fun playing with DeShawn. Like he said, we knew each other for a long time and it's been a real good three years playing with him. Unfortunately, it didn't end like we wanted it to end, but it's been fun. Q. For Zack, you and Stu, a good start, a couple Indiana guys and Stu just from right up north of Indianapolis. Your thoughts on the beginning of the ballgame. I think you guys had the first seven out of the first 12 points. And talk about the play of Stu in the second half. ZACK NOVAK: DeShawn came out really strong, I thought. Harris hit a lot of really tough shots and got us going in the right direction. When we got down a little bit, Stu and Manny just pretty much put us on their backs. Stu hit five threes. I think most of them were in the second half, not all of them. That's kind of what he does, he takes and hits big shots. I don't know, it's just disappointing. Q. Coach, take the laymen through those last couple seconds. We've seen so many passes being lobbed toward that high area at the other end. Your strategy kind of went against that. COACH BEILEIN: As I answered the gentleman's question over here before, I don't think Evan Turner is going to hit a half-court shot better than anybody else is going to hit a half-court shot. We wanted to limit that type of opportunity. So we matched it up in a zone that whatever area people want to was going to be a one dribble. Either one or two guys was going to be in front of him. Stu, I actually was worried about Stu fouling him, because Stu went right through his hands, and he actually shot it through Stu's hands a little bit. So whether we were man or whether we were zone, I don't think it made a difference. If you try and put two guys on Evan or you try to deny him by throwing over the top, then he even can get closer. So it's six of one, half dozen of the other; a half-court shot is a half-court shot. If it was in quarter-court, there's a whole different defense you're going to play. But when you've got to make a half-court shot, it's a lot different. Q. You've talked about this season being difficult at times. If that is the end of this season, is that as difficult an ending as you can ever remember? COACH BEILEIN: That's a great catch phrase, microcosm of the season. That's a little bit of the frustration that we have this year. Some things that you can't always control happen to you. It's certainly indicative of some things that happened. Q. Can you talk about Manny's play, especially that last shot he made? COACH BEILEIN: I think over the last two days of the tournament, he's been outstanding. He's really -- he's made shots. He's got to work like crazy on his in between game, and he's really made some big shots today and let the game -- he got good numbers. He let the game come to him a whole lot more than forcing the game. So I'm really proud of the way he played, and defensively I think it's two of his better defensive games, as well, which is really big for a guy who has aspirations of playing at another level. You have to be able to guard as a guard on the perimeter. Q. Was there a point when you saw this team come back as hard as they did, and you saw DeShawn and Manny and Stu play as well as they did, was there a part of you saying, where was this in the regular season when it really could have helped you guys? COACH BEILEIN: Yeah, I wouldn't want to point any fingers at anybody. But collectively as a team, you see Stu hit the five threes, and yeah, there's a lot of times that -- there's just -- we have one or two guys have a good game and the third guy just didn't have an average game, had just a very poor game. Having that third and fourth scorer is very, very important. We've never been able to establish that now, either because of youth, or who knows. Who knows why people can't make open shots sometimes, but we haven't been able to do that. The good news, it was at least nice to see it in the tournament to know that we do have some of those bullets in our gun. Q. Can you take us through the review process? Can they or did they review when the clock started when Evan Turner touched the ball? COACH BEILEIN: I tried to be a part of that, and they wouldn't let me be a part of that. I was in my coaching box. It's a whole 'nother issue for another day. But I heard the buzzer go off when the ball was in the air, so I assumed everything was good, and the game is actually -- after all these years it's not the first time I've heard that buzzer and saw that ball go in, and son of a gun, it looked in from the get-go, as well. So it's unfortunate, but I don't think there was going to be any replay or anything that was going to make a difference. I haven't looked at it, but I usually trust that those officials are paid a lot of money and they're going to make the right call. THE MODERATOR: Thanks, Coach. End of FastScripts |
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