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BIG TEN CONFERENCE MEN'S TOURNAMENTMarch 12, 2010Bill CarmodyDrew CrawfordMichael ThompsonINDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA Purdue – 69 COACH CARMODY: We got off to a good start, four-point lead at half, and I looked up almost midway through the second half, we had 34 points, 34-30, and we had 38. In that first ten minutes really was the difference because credit their defense, we just weren't able to score. We fought back -- actually did we get to one or two? We got to one with whatever it was, a minute and some seconds to go and had a chance. So the guys hung in there. But they made a play at the end, Kramer made a play at the end, and that was it. I mean, I thought our guys played hard. We turned the ball over a lot, which was disappointing. They forced a lot of turnovers, and usually we do too, but we didn't tonight. I don't know how many they had, but it didn't seem like we really put the pressure on them. And you know, their two guys sort of dominated. We had a hard time stopping Moore when we played a matchup, and Johnson, in our 1-3-1 zone. That's about it. Like I said, I thought we played hard. We had a plan, and just weren't able to get it done. Q. Obviously a win today could have greatly enhanced your NCAA chances. With where you guys are at now, do you feel like you guys should get in the NCAA Tournament, or how do you feel about that? DREW CRAWFORD: I mean, that's not really for us to decide. We just -- we're just going out here working hard every day, working hard in practice and playing our hardest in the game and just giving it everything we've got, and so what we do on the court -- we do what we can on the court, but it's not for us to decide who's getting in and who's not. So we just give it all we have, and that's all we can do. Q. Can you talk about just like the style of this game, very bruising, a lot of fouls called, a lot of free throws? Juice, have you fouled out of other games this year? MICHAEL THOMPSON: I don't think I've fouled out any other games except for today. But today's game was a physical game. There were a lot of fouls called. It was just a tough game. I think we did a good job of slowing them down and limiting them on their transition points. We just didn't get enough defensive stops, and we just didn't get the shots and shot selection that we usually get. DREW CRAWFORD: Yeah, like Michael said, it was a real physical game, and defensive stops hurt us, and also our defensive rebounding a little bit, I think they had 17 offensive rebounds, and that led to a lot of second chance points. It kind of hurts us a little bit when we're in foul trouble. Q. Juice, I guess you're kind of used to, at least the last couple years, this being the end of the season. You still have a pretty good chance of playing at least another game. Can you talk about that feeling that maybe the season isn't over after this loss today? MICHAEL THOMPSON: It was a disappointing loss for us, but knowing that we have a great chance to make it to a postseason tournament, that's a good feeling. Still, this is going to be in the back of our minds. We have a long ride home now. We have to work hard and continue to get better and just make the best of what we can and try to win the next tournament that we're in. Q. For either player, E'Twaun Moore did tie career high but he only shot 6-of-16. Without Hummel, I'm sure you knew he was going to be a big part of their offense. Talk about E'Twaun Moore, and did you guys feel like you did defend him pretty well? He had 17 free throw attempts, but how do you think you defended him? DREW CRAWFORD: I mean, he kind of killed us in the first half. They were running a play where he was just getting out to the corner and just kind of isolating, and he hurt us a lot in the first half. And then getting to the line a lot, as well. I think we could have defended him much better as a team, a little more help defense. And then also, when he was missing, we've got to be able to get those rebounds, as well. So that's something we struggled with a little bit. Q. Drew, can you talk about, you played much better today. Were you feeling better? Was it something psychologically you went in there with? And Juice, just talk about the technical that JaJuan got. DREW CRAWFORD: Yeah, my back has been hurting me a little bit for the past couple weeks or so, but that's just something I've got to really try to mentally block out. Tonight I was able to do that. I think I was able to do it last night, too. My back was feeling good last night, as well. So that's just something I have to be able to move on from and not let it worry me and just come and play with energy because I think that's what I need to bring to this team is energy. MICHAEL THOMPSON: Me and JaJuan Johnson were just playing physical down there in the low post when we were playing our 1-3-1. The ref caught him talking to me, and he got the technical foul. THE MODERATOR: Questions for Coach Carmody? Q. Do you feel good about your NIT chances? COACH CARMODY: I'll say what Drew said, I thought he handled it pretty well. You play and you see what happens. It's changed the last couple years the NCAA has taken it over, but I would think we have a pretty good shot, yeah. Q. Kind of the same question as Juice, just this not being -- probably not being the end of the season for you guys, a little bit different feeling for you and just your thoughts on that. COACH CARMODY: I'll say what Juice said. You know, it's a long bus ride home, and it's a tough -- it would have just been so nice to get this win tonight. So that's hard. We weren't that far away from it. You know, so if you do get a chance to play in the NIT, I think it's really good to get to play basketball, and that's what these guys do. But it's hard to think about that right now. Q. Are you surprised Marcotullio took that off-balanced three, I guess it was? COACH CARMODY: Yeah, we had a play for him coming out of there, and I think Mike was gone by then. We got a little screen from our center there, and usually it's open to shoot, but he bounced it once. He's got to get better at that, because yeah, last night he took a couple baseline drives and sort of jumped into guys and hoping that the refs would bail him out, and that's not the way it works. I thought we were going to get a good shot out of it. It looked like it was going to cover. But they recovered in time. Q. Did you expect them to try and make it a very physical game coming in when you were preparing? Did you expect that physical a game and that many fouls? COACH CARMODY: Well, that's how they play. They pick you up all over the place, and that's how they play. That's their style at Purdue. It probably has been -- when Coach Keady was here, too, I coached against him for a few years, and it's rough and tumble out there, and you have to be able to execute when you get knocked around a little bit. But it was not unexpected. End of FastScripts |
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