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NIT POSTSEASONMarch 30, 2010Larry DrewRoy WilliamsTyler ZellerNEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK COACH ROY WILLIAMS: One of the players said in the locker room, sometimes it helps to win ugly, and we did win ugly today. I was extremely proud of my team when we were down four late in the game and we came back and tied it up and had a chance to win it at the end. I was extremely proud when they went ahead and we made a couple of baskets, Z (Tyler Zeller) made a couple of free throws to put us back in the game. We didn't execute very well at all our last two possessions. We got a turnover and not a very good shot at all. And I feel badly, Jim Baron is one of the good guys, I mean, he really is, and something should have probably been called there at the end. I don't know what it was going to be. I don't know if our guy tripped over somebody else, but it looked weird and I feel badly that the game ended like that but we should not have been in that situation where we were that close to fouling a guy, also, because there was only going to be four or five seconds left and you don't foul a guy 60 feet from the basket. We have had tough luck this year with guys being banged up and being out of games and miracles happening against us, so we needed a win tonight and we got what we needed. Q. From your opinion, what happened there at the end? COACH ROY WILLIAMS: You talking about offense or after the shot? Q. In overtime. LARRY DREW: Well, we had the lead the whole overtime. You know, I think that guys were playing a little cautiously, but the last couple of possessions, like Coach said, we didn't execute very well and you hate to end the game like that in such an ugly way but sometimes that's how it is in the game of basketball. COACH ROY WILLIAMS: What do you think happened after you missed the shot; is that what you're asking? The last one, as the shot clock was winding down. LARRY DREW: The one I missed and he tripped? Oh, I caught the ball and I wasn't very aware of the shot clock situation, which I should have been. I saw it was like three seconds on the shot clock, and I kind of jumped in the middle like I did the possession or two before that and I hit the shot. I kind of just threw it up there and it was ugly, either way. COACH ROY WILLIAMS: Let's try one more time. What happened after you missed the shot. He wants to know, did you go over there and hit the guy with a tomahawk or what? (Laughter). LARRY DREW: Oh, no, I got back on defense. He asked me if I hit the guy -- I didn't touch him. (Laughter). COACH ROY WILLIAMS: Sometimes you have to coach point guards in the press conference. (Laughing). Q. You're starting to get used to this, having the ball in your hands the last few seconds, in this tournament, a couple of times tonight. LARRY DREW: Yeah, you know, I feel those are the kind of situations I was bred for and one of the reasons why I came here. I feel like I have the confidence to make the plays down in the stretch that we need to make. I'm glad to have the ball in my hands in those situations. COACH ROY WILLIAMS: We ran a set play for Larry to shoot the 3-point shot from the corner when we were down four and it was one of my ways much trying to show confidence in him. We executed well and the ball just didn't go in the basket. Q. Can you talk about your play in overtime? You played well. TYLER ZELLER: I had not played very well the whole game and tried to come out and help my team out in any way possible. Just ended up being able to make a few plays, and it helped us win the game. Q. Can you talk about the work you did on the glass all night long? Was that something that you had an advantage from the start? COACH ROY WILLIAMS: Yes, one of the three things I put up on the board was to get the ball inside by pass or dribble, because we had a size advantage and we should do a good job in there. We didn't do a very good job of getting low enough, getting low post position. We were getting out eight or ten feet and giving an example in the first half. We had ten more offensive rebounds than they did, but they had two more points after their offensive rebounds, because we kept missing very close shots. So we talked about trying to finish some of those plays in the second half and get more opportunities and stay close on the boards. John Henson misses the dunk, but we end up chasing the ball down. And we got another loose ball there at the end of the game. They seemed to have gotten almost all of the 50/50 balls, even Marcus gets a rebound and turns around and dribbles it off the other guy's foot, and it goes to the floor and Larry reaches for it, and I forget which player from Rhode Island it was, dove for the basketball and they ended up getting it and it was their ball and they got a time-out. It was at a key point in the game and we cannot allow people to out-hustle us. But yes, we did have an advantage because we were bigger but we didn't explore it as much as I would have liked. Q. Talk about how he shrugged that off, something he might not have done his sophomore or freshman -- COACH ROY WILLIAMS: I jumped all of them at halftime, I jumped him a little bit about his free throws because he had not been shooting his free throws, and he was over there having negative thoughts, and I told him, make the "daggum" free throws. He made two in a row at the end that were big for us. He did rebound the basketball well. Looking down, we had three guys in double figures in rebounds. I know it was an overtime game but we got a lot of opportunities to rebound because we missed a lot of shots. One way to get a lot of offensive rebounds is to keep missing the "daggum" shot. Q. What changes for Larry, he seems like a different player? COACH ROY WILLIAMS: You guys have your own opinion; I didn't think he made any plays hardly at all down the stretch tonight, and he has made plays. He threw it away, missed the layup down the lane. It's not the kind of performance we would like to have but he has gotten better and better and better. I told him, the score is tied, and he pulls up and shoots a jumpshot? That's dumber than dirt. Take the "daggum" ball to the basket. I don't think we'll ever see Larry Drew make that mistake again. Q. Can you talk about the fight you've seen on your team in this tournament? COACH ROY WILLIAMS: Very much so, I think the biggest difference is we've competed harder. Deon dove on the floor and got a possession in the first half, Larry didn't dive on the ball when they did. John chased down a loose ball. They had the basketball out of bounds and John deflected a pass. Those simple little things like that are really big for you, especially in a one-point game. Q. You mentioned Larry's confidence, he's obviously gained confidence at the end of a game, whether he makes mistakes or not; what about your confidence in him? COACH ROY WILLIAMS: Well, I'm either dumb or confident, because I kept putting it in his hands. When it was a 4-point lead their way, we got a set way for Larry to shoot a three-point shot. I do things like that to give kids confidence but also I think they are going to make one. He didn't today but he will learn from that mistake at the end of regulation, because again, the score is tied; attack, don't pull up and shoot a 25-foot jumpshot. I can do that. Q. Does an NIT win put a different face on this season for you and for the kids or not really? COACH ROY WILLIAMS: You know, I have a great appreciation of this tournament. I have a great appreciation of the tradition, the history of the NIT. If you win this tournament, you have to feel good about it. Now, is that your goal at the start of the season? Let's be honest. That's not our goal at the start of the season, but we put ourselves here. And so it would be a very positive thing for us because we put ourselves in this position because we didn't play as well as we needed to play. But then we accepted that and we tried to do the best we possibly could in this game. So from that viewpoint, it would be a positive spin on it but it would not be our dream and our goal. We enjoyed playing the last Monday night last year, and, you know, we played the last Thursday night this year. Playing the last Monday night is better, there's no question about that. But I do believe that if you're playing and if they keep playing until there's only one team standing, it's very important to be that one team standing. End of FastScripts |
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