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NCAA MEN'S 1ST & 2ND ROUNDS: BUFFALO

March 19, 2010

Chris Singleton

BUFFALO, NEW YORK

Gonzaga - 67
Florida State - 60

THE MODERATOR: We are joined by Florida State Head Coach Leonard Hamilton and Deividas Dulkys, Ryan Reid and Chris Singleton from my left to right. We'll start with an opening statement by Coach Hamilton.
LEONARD HAMILTON: I thought that in the first half, Gonzaga showed a tremendous amount of poise and a very high level of concentration when they had open looks and had shots in the lane. I thought they really did a very good job of finishing their plays. I thought we had equal, as good a looks, especially in the inside and on the perimeter. But I thought we were a little anxious and a little bit of our inexperience I thought showed.
But I thought the second half that we calmed down, executed a lot better. The looks that we had in the second half I thought we knocked them down, we finished our plays inside. And we came up a little short there towards the end. Had some clutch free-throws that we just couldn't finish off, and a couple of easy baskets. But we fought back, and hopefully that will be something for us to build on as we move into next season.
THE MODERATOR: Thank you, Coach. We'll take questions for our student athletes at this time from Florida State.

Q. Deividas, when you made that bank shot, I think there was about a little over two minutes left, what was going through your mind? You almost erased a 16-point deficit. At that point, did you know that the things were going the way they were? What were you guys thinking?
DEIVIDAS DULKYS: I really thought we had a chance. We hit a lot of tough shots in the second half and we missed a lot of them -- a lot of open looks in the first half. Some of them had to fall. I'll take it. I banked it in. I'll take it.

Q. Chris, would you talk about the difference in the first half and second half, and how the first half they were pretty effective on the inside, second half you guys shut that off and y'all were more active then.
CHRIS SINGLETON: I think the first half their five man, he got good post position. I think the guards were just feeding him. He was just turning around and making tough shots. He would just finish and get "and ones." Something a five man should do. Second half, we adjusted at halftime. And we came back out and made sure he didn't -- wasn't as big a factor in the second half. And that was a big part of our semi-comeback.

Q. In the first half, it seemed like the way they approached the offense kind of took you guys out of your comfort zone on defense. Maybe some fouls you guys weren't used to seeing called in the ACC and maybe just some things that kind of took you out of what you were used to. Did you notice that or things just not going the right way? For any of you guys.
RYAN REID: I think just it's in the game. Our coach always tells us that it's going to be some calls -- all calls, we just can't listen to the refs. We have to play through it. At the same time there was some tough calls. We were questioning it. At the same time we had to play and keep fighting.

Q. Chris, Coach Hamilton talked about using this as something to build on, the way you guys played in the second half. Can you even make sense of that right now, with the disappointment of the loss?
CHRIS SINGLETON: You can tell just by the energy we had in the second half. We played Florida State basketball in the second half. Our defense turned up. They weren't getting as easy looks as they were. I mean, they had a couple of prayer shots that they made in the course of the game that made them -- that stopped our run a little bit. It was just that -- I mean, we're headed there. We just missed out on this one.

Q. Chris and Ryan, can you talk about the difference on the boards? They really pounded inside and they did have that success. But they still, for the game, outrebounded you guys, which I don't think happens a whole lot. And it was obviously a very physical game. What were they doing to have that edge there?
RYAN REID: I think they're just going hard. Every time a shot goes up, a guard would come in and try to rebound and get tips out. The big guy, if he couldn't get it, he would try to tip it out to someone. They were just going hard for the rebounds. And at the same time it was there too, everybody was battling down there and they ended up winning the rebound battle.
THE MODERATOR: Gentlemen, thanks for your time. Great season. Questions for Coach Hamilton we'll take at this time.

Q. I know it's disappointing now, but you talked about building a foundation and you talked about building. When you look back at this year, can you be satisfied?
LEONARD HAMILTON: I think every team at the start of the beginning of the year you want to win a national title. Anything short of that you shouldn't be satisfied, obviously. But we made a tremendous amount of progress.
We lost three seniors and I'm not really sure -- many people thought we were picked to finish seventh or eighth in the ACC. We finished third. I think we are moving up. Last year we finished fourth. I think we picked the levels. I do believe we're moving our program forward from where we started, but when I speak of a foundation, Ryan is the only senior. We have a walk-on in A.J.
We have basically the entire team returning with a pretty solid recruiting class. I think a lot of the lessons we've learned this year, the guys will pass on to incoming players. A lot of the shortcomings that we have had this year have been obvious. So we still have a ways to go in terms of some areas of skill development.
But I think basically most coaches will tell you there's a big jump between most kids from their sophomore and their junior years. And I feel that our guys have made progress from last year to this year. Basically, we are a freshman, sophomore team. I think the foundation has been laid the last couple of years. And I think that they'll work hard and improve in their skills. And I also think that the lessons they've gained from the last couple of years they'll pass on to the incoming players. And I think that's the way you build a solid program.

Q. Would you tell why you thought you had so much trouble on the boards first half, and then secondly, how you felt -- what got the offense going in the second half?
LEONARD HAMILTON: In the first half, they outrebounded us by six. Now, that maybe in your eyes that was a dominating fact.

Q. They talked about it a lot. They talked about how important it was.
LEONARD HAMILTON: I thought -- 7'4, 7 foot, 6-11, 6-8.
They're a pretty good team. I thought you had to give them credit. They did a pretty good job. I don't think they dominated us on the boards. We have 11 offensive rebounds. They had six. But I think in the first half I just didn't feel -- I thought we were anxious. We had I don't know how many shots in the lane point blank that we just came away where we just didn't finish the plays off. I thought we had some open looks in the first half that just didn't fall.
That would discourage you sometimes when you haven't been in this situation enough. I thought that we could have -- we could have maybe been a little more patient on the offensive end. But seems as though those shots were coming to us were open, and we took them, and probably could have been a little more patient and moved the ball, maybe made the extra pass like we did the second half and probably wouldn't have dug such a hole for ourselves.
I thought the second half we executed a lot better, we moved the ball, made the extra pass, and we pretty much got the shots that we had hoped that we were going to get in the first half. Maybe a little bit more high percentage-type shots we got than the ones we took in the first half.

Q. Coach, you've got such a good defense. That first half, did it surprise you at all the way that Gonzaga was able to run their offense and hit their shots and build such a big lead?
LEONARD HAMILTON: Well, I think that as I looked at the shots that they got, they made some nice moves. They earned those shots. They moved the ball, they make a couple of tough shots. I thought that they posted up a couple of times. They had some very good retreat dribble-type shots. And I thought they made a couple of -- some tough shots. I was disappointed that we had maybe better shots than what they had. We didn't make ours.
So had we shot anywhere close to being a decent percentage the first half, maybe it would have given us a little more of an opportunity. But when you look back at the open looks that we had that just didn't go down, for a young inexperienced team, sometimes that saps your emotions a little bit. I thought we adjusted mentally and emotionally at halftime. We just wanted to win the four-minute segments. We won just about all the four-minute segments until the last several minutes. And then when we faltered at the free-throw line. We have not -- we've gone from leading the nation in free-throw shooting to shooting 60% tonight.
So I'm sure that we'll be a much better free-throw shooting team next year. I think all the little things that, areas of our game that we've -- why were not quite as efficient this year, I'm sure we'll work on during the spring and become a lot better. I'm still positive. I must say that it was a little bit of a concern that they had the open looks in the first half, they knocked it down. They worked for their shots, and we came down and had a couple of early looks that just didn't fall.
THE MODERATOR: Anything else for Coach Hamilton?
LEONARD HAMILTON: I think in the end you have to give them a lot of credit. I thought they did a very good job with the game plan. Early in the first half, I thought they pounded the ball inside. We got some guys in foul trouble.
Xavier had a virus and we -- he just didn't -- he wasn't quite up to par. We couldn't get him in. Ryan was not playing as well as he's capable of playing. But I like the fact that our guys adjusted in the second half. And hopefully that will be what we pick up next year and finish the rest of the season.

Q. What's your perception of Gonzaga, the way the program has grown? If you look at from the time you were an assistant to now --
LEONARD HAMILTON: I think somebody had the foresight and the vision years ago to seize a unique and special opportunity. They challenged themselves by playing a national schedule. A lot of "mid-major schools" that are non-BCS schools, that's the cliche that we use, are not quite as ambitious. So consequently, they were able to attract quality players who maybe were a little bit under the radar with potential because all kids don't like going to well-established programs. They found kids that found their program somewhat appealing, the opportunity to go and build and be different, or make a difference. And I thought they found enough of those youngsters that like those types of scenarios. They were competitive and wanted to be a part of making the difference.
As the years evolved, those guys improved, they got two or three players that were big-time players that attracted more players. And all of a sudden now you have them being just as successful as a lot of the "PAC-10" or other schools in that area. And they've carved a little niche for themselves where they're a good academic school. Not a real large school. Where it's a little more intimate, smaller classrooms, that appeal to certain youngsters. And now they have -- they're one of the more elite programs in the country. You have to put them with -- you speak of them in the same breath as you do the upper echelon programs. They have a little cult following. People respect them. And I look at their out of conference schedule this year, the likes of Michigan, Illinois, Cincinnati, Wake Forest, Colorado State -- I'm sorry, Michigan State, Duke. And they came out of that 7-3, in that little mini-conference.
Well, they play -- they have their own conference to play, but their non-conference schedule was tougher than a lot of teams playing in their conference at the highest level. So you have to give them a lot of credit.
To be very honest with you, I would like to see more schools take that approach. It's exciting to watch. I think the kids are confident. And now I told my players they are kind of like gunslingers. I've been watching some of the old cowboy movies when the tough guy would come in town and stand on the street and take on all comers. That's kind of what they've done. They have gun, will travel. They are a team that has a tremendous amount of courage. They will take their show on the road. A lot of BCS schools won't do that. So I'm impressed with them. I told our players that, you know, we have moved -- we've elevated our status. And you can use programs like that as an example. They have just worked hard, and they've gotten the most out of their talent, and they ought to be commended for that.
THE MODERATOR: Thanks, Coach. Great stuff.

End of FastScripts

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