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SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE MEN'S TOURNAMENTMarch 13, 2010Jermaine BealKevin StallingsBrad TinsleyNASHVILLE, TENNESSEE Mississippi State – 62 THE MODERATOR: We're ready to begin with Vanderbilt. We'll ask Coach Stallings for general thoughts on the game and take your questions for the two student-athletes. Coach, would you begin. COACH STALLINGS: We just got outplayed today, especially in close to the basket. They were much better than us. I thought our defense was good enough to win the game, but offensively we were never able to find a rhythm. We couldn't get any baskets, couldn't get to the foul line. We've got to figure out what it was we were doing earlier in the season where we were averaging 31 free throws a game, and now we can only average about 15. But we didn't do a good job. Really, just there wasn't anything about our game today that was like we wanted it to be or like we needed it to be. That's disappointing. You've got to give credit to Mississippi State, they forced the action and made us play that way for the majority of the game. THE MODERATOR: We'll take questions for the student-athletes. Q. Jermaine, you guys did get close there down the stretch. Did you feel like you were all the way back into it or just kind of right on the edge there? JERMAINE BEAL: I thought we was all the way back in the game, but at the end of the game, Mississippi State made some shots, and we came down and missed some shots and some free throws. So Mississippi State pulled away from us. Q. For both players, how difficult was it to get in toward the rim and finish today? JERMAINE BEAL: Well, we know they have Varnado, he's like the best shot blocker in the country. So against him, the main thing is just to go at him. But he averages like five blocks a game. So we knew he was going to block some shots. BRAD TINSLEY: I mean, yeah, he is a good shot blocker inside, but I thought we did a pretty solid job getting inside and getting to the rim. But we just couldn't finish it. Then when we did, we just couldn't finish our free throws. THE MODERATOR: We'll excuse you. We'll continue on with questions for Coach Stallings. Q. Kevin, you've been a good come from behind team all year. Specifically, what kind of things didn't happen today that have happened on occasion this season? COACH STALLINGS: I made some mistakes and screwed up at the end. I won't get into specifically what they were, but I made some mistakes, and it cost our team. Q. Coach, when Jermaine was out of the game for a while coming down the stretch, was he hurt or tired, or what was happening there? COACH STALLINGS: No, I had subbed for him to give him a rest, and we started playing better. We just started playing better. I thought Brad gave us some energy, and putting Jeff on Bost was an improvement for us. Brad made a couple shots and pitched the ball ahead, and we got a dunk by Jeff, and we had some momentum going there. So it wasn't anything other than we'd just gotten a head of stride and were playing a little bit better. Q. Coach, after you guys got in the game before, you had a string of several turnovers and misses. If you could comment on the last three minutes of the game. COACH STALLINGS: We had the wrong guys doing the wrong games. Guys weren't really playing to their strengths, and that's my fault. It's my fault that I've got guys that will get themselves in the wrong position and in a position where they're not ordinarily successful. So you're right. We made some turnovers. We took some bad shots. We got some balls blocked. I take responsibility for that because that could have been avoided if I had done a better job. Q. You had Festus going early. Did you feel like this was kind of his day? And why couldn't he sustain that, I guess, throughout the game? COACH STALLINGS: Well, you know, Festus is not used to being the offensive thrust, and our players aren't used to him being the offensive thrust. I'm not sure why he couldn't sustain it. Q. Kevin, having the wrong guys doing the wrong things, is that what you meant when you said you screwed up, you took acceptance for that? COACH STALLINGS: Yes. Again, without being specific, because I just had the wrong guys in the wrong spots. Q. Coach, that was a pretty low-scoring game for you guys. Is it anything you were doing or what Mississippi State was doing on defense? COACH STALLINGS: I think Mississippi State's defense was really good. Again, we were not able to get points where we normally get points from. And so they were able to take away some of our strengths. That's kind of the game. If we can do what they do better than you do what you do, then they're going to win. They did that today. Q. Kevin, you guys missed seven free throws in the second half. Talk about how momentum killing that was. COACH STALLINGS: That was very atypical for us, first of all, and very uncharacteristic and very disappointing because we were behind and we needed those -- you know, we needed those points. And they were missed by all good free-throw shooters. It wasn't like we had bad free-throw shooters in there missing those. Those were all missed by very good free-throw shooters. And that was a big reason why we lost and why we wouldn't get back to where we needed it to be. And that is very disappointing. Q. Kevin, talk about the job Stewart did most of the game on J.J. and how much he took him away. COACH STALLINGS: Stewart's an excellent defender, and we knew it was going to be difficult for John. It was going to be tough for him to get open. Stewart's a senior, he understands dealing with screens. He understands how to use his body. So he's just an excellent defender, and that's obvious when you watch them play on film. He's a very, very good defensive player and very underrated. Jarvis gets all the credit for their defensive prowess, and Barry Stewart's an excellent perimeter defender. THE MODERATOR: Thank you. End of FastScripts |
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