|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
MOUNTAIN WEST CONFERENCE MEN'S TOURNAMENTMarch 9, 2011Francisco CruzFred LangleyAdam WaddellLAS VEGAS, NEVADA TCU – 70 THE MODERATOR: We're ready to begin with Wyoming. Coach, some general comments on today's game. COACH LANGLEY: First of all, my hat goes off to TCU. I think Jim did a great job of preparing them to play us, really, really good game plan. You know, they packed their defense in, forced us to shoot some perimeter shots. We had good looks. Unfortunately, they just didn't go down. I think Coach Christian's game plan has a lot to do with that. Hat goes off to their entire staff and team. THE MODERATOR: We'll open it up for questions for the student-athletes. Q. Did you expect them to pack it in on you, maybe having to knock some open shots, or did the defense surprise you a little bit? FRANCISCO CRUZ: Yeah, I think we weren't able to make some shots in the first half. I think that was the difference because, you get wide-open shots, but we just didn't make them. Q. Adam, despite the early shooting woes, you took the lead. What was the difference after that point? ADAM WADDELL: We didn't hit shots and I think we hit a little span of turning the ball over a little bit. But, hey, I take my hat off to everyone for battling back. Like Paco said, we missed a lot of shots that were open. You know, I think the fight that we showed in BYU kind of came out in the first half. We came out and fought back. Like I say, we turned the ball over a little bit in the second half. Q. Did they do anything to force those turnovers? Some came at critical times. Anything they did in particular? FRANCISCO CRUZ: Yeah, I think we turned the ball over a lot. In the end, I think they played harder than us, they played better than us this game. I think that was the difference. I mean, they made us turn the ball over. I think that we shouldn't turn the ball over that much in the second half. Q. How would you describe the season as a whole with all the changes you went through, just kind of looking back at it at this point? FRANCISCO CRUZ: I mean, to me it was hard. We had a lot of issues with the coaches changing and all that stuff. But I think that we became like a family. We just fight until the end. I'm proud we did that and we just didn't give up. But it was hard. ADAM WADDELL: I've been here since the beginning of everything. I think it was unfortunate what happened at the middle of the season. But I take my hat off to everything that Coach Langley and the coaching staff did. When Coach Langley came in, it was like a fresh start for us. I think everyone saw that. My hat's off to him for coming in and changing things right away. I thank him for giving me the opportunity and for believing in me (tearing up). Q. Adam, where does this team go from here? What kind of attitude will it take into the off-season? ADAM WADDELL: That's a ways away for us to think about that. But, you know, we're going to take it in stride. I know if Coach Langley isn't here, or any coach that comes in, you know, we're going to fight, we're going to battle. I mean, that's how it's always been. I don't think we're really thinking about that right now. THE MODERATOR: We'll dismiss the student-athletes at this time and continue with questions for Coach Langley. Q. Did they do anything in particular to force the turnovers or was it more you guys maybe pressing a little bit later on? Where do you think the issues came with the turnovers today? COACH LANGLEY: Yeah, I think that's the biggest thing. I think they got the lead on us in the second half. We panicked a little bit. We talked about that. We turned it over four out of five possessions at one point. You can't do that at this level. Really it was just a matter of them trying really hard to make a play. Instead of us playing together, it wasn't selfishness, we've all seen that in the past with different teams, the guys weren't being selfish, they were trying to make a play. With that defense, how they were packing it in, we were trying to force it inside sometimes, and it just wasn't there. Playing inside out. You know, different guys didn't really have a look at a three. They tried to dribble it. They dribbled into a turnover. It was just a rough stretch. We took the lead. I thought we were going to be okay. To their credit, they bounced back. Then we had that critical stretch with the turnovers. I think that was probably the biggest difference in the game. They had a couple run-outs on long threes instead of us having a safety back again, someone ran in there and tried to make a play, so they got a couple run-outs. Ugly game. But, you know, you kind of know they're going to be like that this time of year. This was one of those. If you're on the winning side, you'll take it. If you're on the losing side, you feel bad about it. Q. What was the mentality of the guys like there early on? Couldn't buy a basket. Didn't seem like they were hanging their heads at all. COACH LANGLEY: We've been through those moments. I don't think there was any panic in us as coaches. I don't think there was really any panic in them. We were playing different guys like we have been all along. Unfortunately, we had some bad misses. A couple guys had some bad misses. Then they came back and knocked down shots. They stuck with it. Like I said, I think it was 43-42 or 42-41, we took the lead. You could feel the energy. They felt pretty good about it. To TCU's credit, they reacted quickly. When they did that, I think we took a punch and it kind of stunned us. Q. In that sense, was it a matter of not panicking early, and maybe panic maybe midway through the second half? COACH LANGLEY: Yeah, that's what I think. I think we didn't panic early for the first probably three-quarters of the game. Then when they had that run, guys are looking at the clock. I want to say it was around the eight-minute mark or nine-minute mark. It was four out of five. I know it was four out of five because we talked about it. I think panic did set in a little bit at that time. Q. As you assess the season, ups and downs, you stepped in and did a great job under a lot of pressure, your feeling with most of the guys coming back, you only lose one senior, looks like everything is kind of bright. Hope they give you a shot full-time. COACH LANGLEY: Tom Burman has a job to do. I talked about it yesterday a bit little. Heath and I have been friends for 15 years. They didn't fire Heath to hire me. But Tom has been really respectful. He said some really, really good things to me along the way, which I appreciate. The fans have been great. Actually, our media has been more than fair to me as well, too. There's nothing I'd like more than to have the opportunity. But I understand the business. People have things they have to do. I really thank the fans and the players. Q. Did you have a message to the players after this game was over? How do you think they'll go into the off-season? COACH LANGLEY: You know, we talked about going into this game, that we could all kind of control our destiny. Nobody wanted it to be over with. Everyone wanted to keep fighting. Everyone really wanted to keep playing. I told them my hats go off to them. Not many players in basketball, not only in this season, but in basketball in general, go through a coaching change in the middle of the season. I said it really said a lot about their character and who they are as people. I thanked them and told them how much I respect them. All the coaches, as well. It's a good group of guys. We've got really good players sitting out. Leonard Washington was ranked 38th in the country. He's sitting out. You guys in Wyoming have seen him. You know he's probably our best player in the program. Des is a good player, good sophomore in this league. Amath is a good player. We have some pieces there. Adam is Wyoming tough. When you think Adam is limited, he just wills it and makes it happen. He represents the state well and has as much heart as anyone I've been around. I think the future is bright for whatever happens in this situation. I just told them I really want to make sure that we'll get through this. My phone will be on the whole time. We got to make sure we go back to class, got to do the right things. We got to continue to be good people. If this is the worst thing that happens to you in your life, then you probably have a pretty good life. THE MODERATOR: Thank you very much, coach. COACH LANGLEY: Thank you, guys. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
About ASAP Sports •
FastScripts Archive •
Recent Interviews •
Captioning •
Upcoming Events •
Contact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links |
|
ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297
|