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NCAA MEN'S 2ND & 3RD ROUNDS: TULSAMarch 18, 2011Patrick ChambersJohn HollandD.J. IrvingTULSA, OKLAHOMA Kansas – 72 THE MODERATOR: Coach, an opening statement and then questions for the student-athletes. COACH CHAMBERS: I'm proud of our team. I'm proud of our guys. There's a lot of distractions that come with being in the NCAA Tournament, and I thought we did a really good job this week of keeping it in our family, keeping it in our locker room, keeping it in our meetings. We didn't let the whole 16 versus 1. It wasn't anything like that. These guys really came out and showed that. They showed that we're going to go out and play BU basketball for 40 minutes, and if that's good enough, that's great. If not, that's okay too. Kansas is terrific. They're a well-balanced team, and they can hurt you in many different ways, and that's what happened on that little run. They started getting going and started hitting threes and then things started to open up. But I'm proud of these guys. They really battled and played hard. Q. Can you just talk about the emotions of the whole night from the first half and keeping them on the ropes and even just the last 20 seconds when you came out for your last game? JOHN HOLLAND: It was a real great experience. What can I say? I mean, I'll never forget it, just the whole game, just being out there playing. Kansas is a great team. I know we played as hard as we could. I'm okay. We played as hard as we could. We left it all out on the floor, so I'm okay. Q. Can you talk about KU's defense? First half they used a lot of different guys on you, and in the second half it was pretty much Morningstar, the difference between the two halves for you? JOHN HOLLAND: Really, I mean, I don't know. I may have gotten a little tired. Maybe forced a couple of shots, but they're really a great team. What can I say? It was a tough game. It was a tough game. Q. You guys in the second half started off I think you missed 13 of your first 16, but you were still in the game and just down 6 there. First of all, what was happening? Did you feel like you were getting good shot that's just didn't go in? And when they went on that run, how did it get away from you? D.J. IRVING: We had a lot of good shots in the first couple of minutes of the second half. They just weren't falling and they just went on a run. That's what they do. That's why they're Kansas. I mean, we tried to fight back and get on our own run, but it didn't happen the way we wanted it. Q. When you were struggling to knock down that shot to get yourself going in the second half and you air balled that three, did you just say to yourself maybe it's not going to happen? Or did you say to yourself just keep fighting, keep shooting? JOHN HOLLAND: No, you always have to remain confident, stay in the moment. You don't think about the end result, you just stay in the moment. Of course you've got to keep shooting and keep playing. Q. Can you just describe what the feeling was amongst the team when you went into the half just trailing by 4? Clearly you were in this game and had your shot. JOHN HOLLAND: It was good, but we knew it was a 40-minute basketball game. It's not 20 minutes, so we were prepared. We had to try to come out in the second half and do the same things that we'd been doing, and it just didn't work out. D.J. IRVING: We knew we could compete with Kansas before the game even started, so we weren't satisfied when we went into halftime. We were just ready to go back out and play a little harder than we did in the first half so we could come out with a good end result. Q. You mentioned what this experience meant to you, but what do both of you take away from it getting to experience this? JOHN HOLLAND: Basically just a lifetime of memories. There is nothing like the NCAA Tournament, and this was one of the best experiences of my life, basketball life anyway. It's great. D.J. IRVING: Of course we weren't satisfied just to make the NCAA Tournament. We wanted to get a win. But it was a nice experience for everybody, and I hope we work hard in the off-season so we can come back to this point next year. Q. I know it's kind of tough to do, but can you sum up John and what he's meant to this program and tonight especially? COACH CHAMBERS: I just said he left a legacy that he's going to be remembered forever, what he did for this program over the last four years. It wasn't just points, it wasn't all the rebounds, you know. He carried us. He carried us. We had a young group with a lot of newcomers. And when you ask a guy to get 20 points and be a leader in the locker room, and come in with a business-like approach in film and walk through, he did that. He did that. I'm really proud of him. It's going to be really tough to -- a kid like that is going to be really tough to replace because it's more than just points. It's more than just basketball. It's his all-around character. Q. Can you share with us what you said to him when you pulled him out of the game and hugged him there one last time? COACH CHAMBERS: Just said thank you. You know, I loved him very much and thank you. Thanks for taking us on this incredible, incredible journey. Q. You're out there, ten minutes to go, it's a 6-point game and you guys hit the three. You hadn't been making many shots up until then. What was your thought at that point? What was it like? Did you need to get it over the top, or were you worried they were due for their big run? COACH CHAMBERS: No, I knew it was coming. There was no doubt. I watched a lot of film, and I'd watched Coach Self for many, many years. That's what they do. They score in bunches. I knew it was coming. I knew we had to knock one down or try to put it inside. They're so big and strong and very physical. So it was tough for our inside players today. So we had to try to make some jump shots and we finally hit that one. But we couldn't sustain it. That's how good they are. That's how they hurt you in different ways. Q. Could you talk a little about D.J., freshman point guard and the way he controlled things and kept you guys under control? COACH CHAMBERS: He's a special kid, a special kid. He's a freshman out there on the biggest stage of his life. He really stepped up. He really managed the game well. When to push it, when not to push it. When to get in the paint, when to kick out. I know he had a couple of turnovers, but his floor game I thought was terrific for a freshman. And his leadership and his future is really bright here at BU. Q. I noticed when John was responding to the question about how he was, you kind of smiled a little bit when he says I'm okay. Do you truly believe he's okay? COACH CHAMBERS: Senior, you know, that was your last game. Human nature might say differently. Human nature might say he's sad. That was it. That's the last time he's going to put that red and white jersey on that says Boston, because he's played the most minutes in the history of the program. He's done a lot for this program, so you can only imagine I'm sure he's feeling pretty down. Q. When you said you didn't want the 16 versus 1 to distract your team. Can you amplify a little bit what exactly that means? COACH CHAMBERS: I just said I didn't think we were a 16 seed. I thought we were better than that. I thought we had a pretty good RPI. For whatever reason the -- the NCAA has a very tough job. I'm not knocking them at all. I'm happy to be in it, but I told our guys I believe we're a good basketball team. Don't worry about the seeding. Kansas is the next game on our schedule. Let's just try to get better this week, and I thought that's what we tried to do. I didn't do any slay the dragon, David and Goliath. I didn't do any pump videos of Bucknell beating Kansas or Northern Iowa beating Kansas, or Morehead State beating Louisville. I didn't do any of that. I felt like we came in and truly believed in the game plan. We truly believed in one another, and we tried to compete, and I thought we competed for 40 minutes. That's how good Kansas is. They wear you down. Q. The reason you guys lost the game, is it only attributed to the run that they got in the second half or fatigue? Explain kind of more of that. COACH CHAMBERS: That's what I mean by wear you down. They're so big and strong and physical, and they can hurt you in so many ways, that I think they wore us down about the 8, 7:00 minute mark, and you noticed our shots were short or long. They weren't in-and-outs anymore. And we didn't have those legs, other than D.J., to get by anybody and get to the basket. That's what Kansas does to you. They wear you down with their toughness and playing physical. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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