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BIG EAST CONFERENCE MEN'S TOURNAMENTMarch 9, 2011James BeattyMike CoburnMike RiceNEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK St. John's: 65 COACH RICE: Again, loved the toughness of the team, whether they're down 10, halftime, made a turnover, bad shot, they just kept fighting. They kept playing and credit to the seniors and a credit to again how they developed through the season and it's such a different team and I'm proud of these guys. Again, circumstances, it is what it is. Can't control what happened, you can't control how you respond. I tell it to them every day and these guys responded like men and I'm very proud of them. Q. Mike, whether it was Sean Evans stepping out of bounds or what appeared to be a foul on Gil at the half-court, do you feel that the officials took this game away from you guys or at least took the decision? COACH RICE: No, was there a mistake made? I saw it on YouTube. There was a mistake. They will admit it. I made several mistakes, my players made several mistakes, I'm sure that my staff who thinks they're always right made several mistakes. We have the greatest officials in America. Q. Mike, about the Mike Coburn drive to the basket, how did you see that play unfolding? COACH RICE: That's different I thought -- no, I'm kidding. It's a judgment call. The block on Gil, Mike's incredible swaray to the hoop, the end where I thought that was the play and we had a -- I didn't love the execution of what we ran, I saw the difference but, again, I'm not a very good referee. Q. Coach, clearly a ball went out-of-bounds with 1.7 seconds to go why was there no review? COACH RICE: I have not heard any response from the Big East or the officials, for 3 of them to -- again, it was a mistake. It's got to be a mistake I watched it on YouTube. It's something three great officials, I've had 'em all throughout the year, impeccable reputation, it's unfortunate, my heart -- believe me, there is going to be blood coming through my tongue right now but it's what it is, we're going to control how we respond. Q. Mike, talk about the baseball pass by Robert Lumpkins as opposed to having one of your guards drive to the basket? COACH RICE: I love my two guards but that's not our strength. That's just not our strength. Again, it's one of our set plays we work on every time. 4.3 seconds I like to throw it long just like I didn't like the foul yesterday, you have to go with what you believe in. That's not our strength going by people. If you watch us time and time again we're not the brightest team. We do well with our team offense, creating off the bounce is not our specialty, you can pick and judge but I'm okay with what happened. Q. Coach, talk about the optimism for next year with the effort of your players and with you -- COACH RICE: Again, these three have built such a mentality, helped me build such a mentality by buying into -- not stopping, the toughness that you have to do to win in the Big East and we've developed that. The class coming in has to understand that this is our formula. This is how hard you work. This is the level of demand that we have and if you want to be successful this is what it takes and these three seniors have done it all for us. Q. Mike, did you think it ironic yesterday you were talking about how if you foul on the 3 you could end up losing the game and they do it to you guys and you get the ball back under the basket and down by 1? COACH RICE: No, I didn't say ironic after that right there, but after a couple of cold ones I might say, see, I told you so. It's just basketball. When you don't stop playing, when you completely make a good play for one another, good things happened. I loved the out-of-bounds play. I loved the execution of if, exactly what I told Mike in Providence, if the same thing happens you're going to get another opportunity I disagree on some of it but those are three good officials, so I have to believe that they made the right call. Q. I appreciate your believing in them but I was wondering if you had any reaction with them when you confronted them at half-court? COACH RICE: No, because I was a lunatic to be honest with you and I lost some self-control, I admit it, and I thought he got -- again, it was a judgment call. Had I known it was 1.2, I might have literally held on, done a Van Gundy and held one of their legs on the court. It is what it is, judgment, and I'm sure they're going to admit it's a mistake because it's on YouTube now. Q. Mike, when you reflect back on the season was there a moment where you felt like this group could be in a day like they were today when you didn't think maybe they could when you started practice? COACH RICE: Was there a game, guys (turns to players) where we started clicking, toughness? No, not really. It was a process through time and putting them through chaos, J. Mitch said it perfect yesterday, we're comfortable with Coach Rice and his level of demand and his antics or the pressure of the Big East or employing up against a top-20 team every single night. They became comfortable with that and embraced it and I'm proud of them for that. Q. Mike, where did you get access to the YouTube so quickly and what did you see, the stepping out-of-bounds or the foul or -- COACH RICE: Again, the judgment calls I have to believe that they are right. I watched him step out on our SID's iPad or iPhone. Yeah, it's, again, it was 1.7 -- whatever it was, he literally took three steps and -- it was a mistake. I'm not going to -- the game should have been one more play, does that mean we're going to win? Certainly not. It was a mistake and that's what happens in basketball. I made a ton of mistakes in the last 48 hours in my life. Q. Guys, what kind of a way was this to end your careers with the effort you had, J.B.? JAMES BEATTY: I can't hang my head. Coming into the season nobody has taken anything from us. This is not by any means, you know, saying that how do you say it, more victories, but I'm proud of my teammates, the way we were outmatched, the controversy we faced coming into the coaching switch and with the players transferring, everybody stayed together no matter -- all the situations we've been through from day one. Coach came in from the first day we met him, he said this is how we are going to do it, this is the formula we are going to run, and I would never trade this opportunity to play with this exact team, this same exact coaching staff because, you know, we fought hard and if we lay down and just gave them the game, then I would be very upset but now I can't be mad because of how the game ended and how hard my teammates fought with me. MIKE COBURN: For me, like Coach was saying, calls are going to be made but we can't really hang our heads on that. We got to just -- for me it's disappointing. I'm a senior, been here four years and to lose your last game and I really wanted to see us continue on, that's the only thing I really wanted to keep winning and it's tough but you can't hang your head on that. There were plenty of opportunities throughout the game that we could have controlled and maybe we could have done something better and had a better outcome. Q. Is that out-of-bounds play is that reviewable at the end? COACH RICE: You probably could review it if calmer heads prevailed. Sure, you could probably say, again, they were -- the referees were out of there quick and in a title-contested ballgame like they usually are so it's just one of those things. Q. Coach, how did you like your first year as a head coach in the Big East? COACH RICE: If you don't embrace going up against the legends, Hall-of-Famers, great players and coaches in this league it's the absolute best. I love the direction where our guys are going, where the program is going and we're going to get back at it probably in a week and a half start our individuals for the spring. Q. Coach, before you reflect on the end of the season is this definitively your last game of the season? If you get invited to another tournament? COACH RICE: Yes, we have a losing error we're not going anywhere, you're not going anywhere with a losing record. THE MODERATOR: Thank you, Rutgers. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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