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NCAA MEN'S 2ND & 3RD ROUNDS: CHICAGO

March 20, 2011

Carleton Scott

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS

Florida State Â– 71
Notre Dame - 57

GREG GREENWELL: From Notre Dame we have head coach Mike Brey and student-athletes Tim Abromaitis and Carleton Scott. We'll open with an opening statement from Coach Brey and then take questions from the student-athletes.
COACH BREY: Well, Florida State flat out beat us. The combination of their defense in the first half and their seven three-point shots put us on our heels.
I thought, if we had to give up anything, we'd give up some jump shots. But they made them, and then we're digging out of a hole.
I thought we had some great looks at times that we didn't make that we need to make over the top of size like that because you're not going to get stuff around the bucket. And we're kind of numb because we invested so much. It just comes to such a screeching halt.
And that's a good thing because this group was in with both feet for a long time, but, again, Florida State deserved it and really outplayed us, especially the first 20 minutes.

Q. Tim, this sort of night has happened the last two NCAA Tournaments, '08, last year, where you guys are on a roll, come in, and the shooting just stops. Can you put your finger on why that's happened, or are there just a ton of different reasons why that's happened?
TIM ABROMAITIS: Obviously, you're going to have your nights where you can't hit any shots. It seemed like the first 30 minutes of the game we couldn't make anything. We normally make those shots, and, obviously, Florida State's defense had a lot to do with it. And their length and athleticism made them able to close out on guys quick.
I would say they definitely affected shots, but I would say part of it is it's just one of those nights where shots don't go down.

Q. Carleton, Tim, for either of you. But foul trouble, Scott's back presumably acting up -- how much did that kind of force you in a different game plan before you could get the first one going?
CARLETON SCOTT: Getting in foul trouble early definitely can take the aggression out of the game. I couldn't be as aggressive as I wanted to on the defensive end, trying to protect the fouls and trying to still help out on the team. It was really difficult for me to do.

Q. Tim, how did that kind of affect you a little bit?
TIM ABROMAITIS: Obviously, it affects everybody when some guys are out with foul trouble, and Scott can't play to his full capacity, whatever the situation was. I don't know, I think obviously it didn't help us get into a rhythm. I don't really know.

Q. Carleton, can you put into context -- I know it's almost impossible here so soon -- but just the season you guys had and the push you guys made and then the twin disappointments in New York and the NCAAs. How do those things mesh in your mind?
CARLETON SCOTT: Right now it's difficult to put into words. We had a great year. Of course, we want to still be playing, but we've got a great group of guys. It's family. You know, it was great coming in every day, just with your brothers and fighting every game. It just hurts to see it cut short.
GREG GREENWELL: Thank you, guys. Go ahead and take questions for Coach Brey.

Q. Mike, same question for those guys, but just the Scott Martin. If you could kind of shed some light on it.
COACH BREY: It's unfortunate. He had a little bit of a disk problem earlier in the year, and that's what I thought it was. But it was a hip pointer that we treated -- and I guess, yeah, it does affect because he was playing really well for us. But you get to this point of the season, and it's survival of the fittest.
Quite frankly, I'm walking off the court, and somebody said something about Scott Martin, and I said, hey, we've had it pretty good this year. We've been very lucky with lack of injuries. Carleton Scott for a little bit, guys that have played a lot of minutes.
But I would give more credit to the length of Florida State. The offensive end of the floor seemed small, and you couldn't get stuff around the bucket. You know, it was hard to feed Ty Nash. They do a great job of keeping fresh bodies.
So you're going to have to make some more jump shots over the top. You know, we couldn't.

Q. You've had bad halves before but probably not the injury combined with the foul trouble. Did you ever feel like you ever got a rhythm?
COACH BREY: No. It was -- you were managing the crisis, you know, from the time Scott Martin went out. And, again, I give our kids a lot of credit because we don't press much and we kind of put that in at one of the time-outs, and we did a really good job of that. We competed, and we made it interesting there a little bit, but it's a big hole to come out of.
And they made timely plays for us. Again, their seven threes in the first half, the jump shots they made, I thought we could get away with giving up a little bit of that. And then in the second half, you're worried about them making jump shots, and they bang away on you in the post with those big guys, and then you're in foul trouble, and you're really caught.

Q. Mike, their defense obviously was not going to be a surprise to you, but were you surprised at how good they were offensively, particularly from three-point range?
COACH BREY: I was. You know, they've -- I don't know if they've made 7 1/2 before. They've only made double-digit threes a bunch. And that's something we try to concentrate on with teams that really shoot it. Akron, for example, like taking away the arc and making them more two-point shooters.
I really thought we could help in the post more on their big guys and come down, and we started to gain that way, and darn if they didn't knock a couple down. We went zone one direction to change the rhythm, and Kitchen hits one. Then you're worried about zone.
They made them. They stepped up and made them. They went into the post and kind of grinded us when they had a couple possession lead, and, man, it just feels like it's a deep hole to get out of.

Q. Kind of what I asked Tim, I mean, you've had three different teams -- '08, last year, this year -- but three different opponents in the losses. It's kind of been just a real failure to get the offense going. Is it the guys' approach -- is it just a coincidence that the script kind of looks the same?
COACH BREY: I don't know. That's a good question. I haven't thought about that. Certainly maybe that's something to think about on the bus ride back to South Bend.
You know, we're a skilled group, and we're a shot-making group that has to do that. Not all threes. You know, we don't use the three-point shot as much as people think, but we have to get into some offensive rhythm, and we really never could do it.
I think sometimes then you feel the weight of the world on you, and you know, it's the last game. I think overall this year we played pretty darn loose and attacked, but it was tough at times in the first half when they made some shots and we couldn't get into a rhythm.

Q. How do the last three games color what was a very promising and a very memorable season? How does it change it?
COACH BREY: Which three are you talking? The Big East tournament?

Q. Right, and Akron.
COACH BREY: I think for us right now, we talked about the Florida State game and how numb we are. I mean, we're all really, you know, leveled physically and emotionally because we invested so much. It's hard for me to frame the season right now.
I was very disappointed leaving New York that we couldn't get to Saturday night, and I'm as disappointed we couldn't advance to San Antonio. You know, I think it will take a week or two to kind of frame it.
I am very proud -- I said to this group, I'm very, very proud of what they gave us, and those three seniors. But I didn't want to have a banquet in there tonight. It's good to be numb because the guys returning, I want them to just remember how much we invested and that you're devastated when it ends. That's being in with both feet.
GREG GREENWELL: Thank you, Coach.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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