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NIT POSTSEASONMarch 30, 2010Murphy HollowayAndy KennedyTerrico WhiteNEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK Q. Your thoughts on the game, and then something I asked their coach and their players, just on Trevor's shot: What were your thoughts when he got that clean look, that pretty good look at the basket? MURPHY HOLLOWAY: I thought he would make it but he didn't, unfortunately. That's what happened. Q. What about the comeback, coming back from 11 and making it close at the end. MURPHY HOLLOWAY: Coming back is something we do all the time. Unfortunately we couldn't close the game out this time. Q. Murphy, you guys didn't seem to -- I know Chris had foul trouble in the first half, but looked like you got a lot cleaner looks in the second half. What was going on there? Looked like you were able to find him more. MURPHY HOLLOWAY: We did better on screening and he got open and made some shots and he missed some. Q. Did you feel the game shift momentum, especially when you started getting turnovers in the defensive ends? Did you think the game was swinging your way and you would be able to come back? TERRICO WHITE: Yeah, the game was swinging our way with defense and turnovers and stuff like that. We just didn't really make the plays to win. Q. How big of a turnaround did you think that technical was there; it was a four-point game when that happened? MURPHY HOLLOWAY: A technical always hurts you, but Reggie, he was trying to get a loose ball. That's all we take it as; not a technical. We wasn't down on him. We just kept playing. Q. Did it surprise you that it was called or anything like that? MURPHY HOLLOWAY: Not really. Q. This season as a whole, obviously you guys at the beginning of the season, you talked about making the NCAA Tournament. That didn't happen. And you made this run, and you came up short tonight. Just the season as a whole, I know it's still fresh, but your thoughts on it? MURPHY HOLLOWAY: The season, like you said, we wanted to make the tournament, and then we didn't. So we made a run in the NIT, with the teams that didn't make the tournament and stayed focused because we still wanted to play basketball. We came up short. It wasn't a great season, but also, it wasn't horrible. Just bounced back. Q. What are your thoughts on it, Terrico? TERRICO WHITE: Well, playing in the NIT, played well, didn't make it to the Big Dance, but we played in the NIT. Q. What will be your process on deciding your future now? TERRICO WHITE: I'm just going to sit down and talk with my family and coach and stuff. Q. How did you think Dayton compared athletically and talent-wise with the teams you played in the league? MURPHY HOLLOWAY: Only one team I can compare them: Compare them to Alabama, how they played, but they played hard. They won. Q. Did they surprise you guys at all as far as the athleticism or anything like that? MURPHY HOLLOWAY: Not really. They didn't surprise us. Q. What was your vantage point and your thoughts when Trevor got that look and how he -- COACH ANDY KENNEDY: We talked before, I have a lot of things going through my head. But a lot of people, I like to let the game flow. I thought maybe we could get something out of transition, try to set up a ball screen, which we'll do. And turned it back and actually got a ball reversal, which is something we didn't do as much as I would have hoped. But we got the ball turned and when we got it turned, Dayton is so aggressive on the closeout, one reason we were taking so many contested shots, we were trying to get our guys to dribble-drive because with that ball pressure, we were going to be more susceptible to dribble penetration, and Trevor caught it, wiped it, pretty clean look, it was a one-transition game, just came up short for him. And obviously we were behind the 8-ball a little bit and you have to find them and hope that you're fortunate that you can stay around. But you know, it's really -- we talked about when you get into league play and you get into postseason, it really comes down to making the layups and free throws. Now they are not layups by yourself, and free throws have a little pressure on you, but ultimately, you have to make some layups and free throws to advance in a tournament such as this. We had a layup that came up short, and then Murph (Murphy Holloway) gave us the one-for-two and puts you in a position where you're forced to foul. Q. After you got the four-point lead in the first half, it seemed like the guys got in foul trouble and it was just an uphill battle the whole way, even when you fell behind five points or so, did it seem that way? COACH ANDY KENNEDY: The big hit is Chris. With him out, he's our engine. He leads us in minutes with 34, 35 a game. When he picked up those two checks, he got one quick and then got a second one that we thought they had called on somebody else, and then he gets his second. So I ride with him a little bit, which is the danger zone, because he's guarding the other kid, London Warren, who is very, very, aggressive with a dribble and you're worried about him picking up the tick tack trying to guard penetration. We were able to hold it to a 4-point game at the half. And then he picked up his third real quick in the second, which I think got him very tentative which forced him to settle for jumpshots. Offensively we struggled with rhythm, which is a credit to Dayton, putting a lot of pressure on the ball. We didn't make plays, it's been our M.O. all season; it has never been a lack of effort or competitive drive. It's really just leaving a few plays on the floor, and tonight was another example of that. Q. What's your perspective on the technical? COACH ANDY KENNEDY: I think Reggie pushed him. They were going for a loose ball and they pushed and things, you hope that they would not do, just professional heat of the moment and good officiating crew. I trust their judgment. Q. They asked Murph about the season; your thoughts? COACH ANDY KENNEDY: Disappointed. Our goal was to get to the NCAA Tournament and we didn't meet our goal. As I say is my job we've talked about many times, as long as there are basketball games we are going to play. Proud that our guys bounced back, really worried about the first game in the NIT, knew we would be excited about the opportunity to play Memphis. And as you get closer to this, that is a great opportunity and experience. Most guys on the team have never been to New York, and obviously never played in the Garden. We have been in here twice and we haven't played well. We haven't shot the ball good. Brian and I were talking, Brian Gregory and I were talking that it was ironic that we opened the season, early in the season, with them, in Puerto Rico and I knew he had a very good basketball team. He's a great coach and he's done a great job with the program. I am very familiar with Dayton. I knew how athletic and competitive they were. I thought we were prepared for what they were going to show us. Because if you look at it, both teams played real hard and it wasn't the most as aesthetically pleasing game I've ever been a part of, a lot of missed shots, and great effort, though. They just went a couple more plays, and it's unfortunate, but it's really a microcosm of our season. We are sitting there with 24 wins, and there's nothing to be ashamed of there. I would hope that the guys that we have returned can grow from the experience that they have got this year and we can move forward. Q. Can you at least compare it to the first time you were here, down 24 at the half in 2008 and the comeback? COACH ANDY KENNEDY: Well, this game obviously was much more close. It was much closer. It was back and forth, one possession or two possessions there. I think they got us down at 11, and then Chris hit the back-to-back 3s to turn it right back. I think turned that thing back to a one possession game, and I think it stayed that way down the stretch, and it comes down to making big plays. We cut it to one, if memory serves, Rob Lowery No. 3 rose up and hit a big three at the top of the key, a challenge shot, and we came down and missed one, and it was back and forth and for that, I'm proud. There's some frustration that comes with being a coach, and constantly revisiting some of the same mistakes, which has been a defining moment of this group. Q. What did you think of shot selection for these guys when you all got it down to three? COACH ANDY KENNEDY: Our shot selection makes me awfully nervous sometimes, I'll be the first to admit that. I talked about it, we lead the SEC in fewest turnovers and the reason we do is because we shoot it quick. So I'd rather play that way. I don't want to turn it over. I like to get shots up, and really as I look at the stats sheet, our two leading scorers, Chris Warren and Terrico White, took the majority of the shots, they had the cleanest looks; probably the most timeliest shots at times, probably not, but there's an ebb and flow you have to allow to happen. My frustration is when things get tough and you want to throw it close, it's hard for us to do it right now. I think Buckner can develop into that, our forward, Henry is a face-up guy, not strong enough physically to do it. Murph is a slasher, really not comfortable with his back to the basket. We have to continue to develop Reg. We have to recruit where we can get a guy that we can throw it close so we are not living and dying on the perimeter. But it's really the makeup of this group, and as I look at our leading scorers, they led us in shots and that's who we are. Q. Is Cox that throw-it-close guy next year? COACH ANDY KENNEDY: As we're sitting, we'll see if he's in the SEC. Q. You have only the one senior, how much change do you expect off this roster? COACH ANDY KENNEDY: We'll see. There's going to be some conversations at the end of the year. This is a long journey, and I'm going to reflect on what we are doing as a staff. We are going to reflect on our personnel, because at the end of the day, it's my job to put out a team that is competitive, has a chance to compete for a SEC Championship and that's a very high standard but that is our standard. We are trying to compete for an SEC Championship so we are certainly going to evaluate our personnel and do everything we can to put the that product on the floor. Q. Chris Johnson, what do you think of his play? COACH ANDY KENNEDY: You know what, I read I think in the bio that he was voted the most-improved player -- is that correct? He's a tremendous player. He's a hard matchup, he's longer than you think. He's a very good catch and shoot guy and if you let him get to that left hand, he's a handful and unfortunately we allowed him to get to that left hand too much tonight. Like I told Brian, they play extremely hard, they play selfless and they have a lot of interchangeable parts. I think they have a terrific team. End of FastScripts |
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