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NIT POSTSEASONMarch 29, 2011Ken BoneReggie MooreKlay ThompsonNEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK WICHITA STATE – 75 COACH KEN BONE: Well, that didn't feel too good. That was a tough game to play in, to coach in, to be a part of, because we are so much better than we played. But that does not take anything away from Wichita State and the way they played. They were outstanding tonight, and they were by far the best team on the floor tonight. And they handled us quite well. It's been a long time since Washington State has not hit a 3-pointer in a game, and we depend on that 3-point shot quite a bit. And I think the fact that they did a great job defensively and took us out of our offense, it kind of snowballed into our defense at times, and we had a hard time guarding. And then the boards were just controlled by them all game long. Just, they had a great game. They deserve to be in the championship game Thursday night. We wish them the best of luck and unfortunately we did not end the season the way we are capable of playing. Q. Was it something they were doing to you tonight? KLAY THOMPSON: No, I just think I didn't play that good, starting with my defense. It was terrible, picking up three fouls in the first half, and just not watching rhythm after that. That's really stupid play on my part and it's tough ending the season that way. Q. What were they doing defensively that you had not seen, Reggie? REGGIE MOORE: Like Klay said, we just played a really bad game. We missed a lot of shots, kind of like what Coach said. We rarely, probably never, ever win a game without making a three. Q. Reggie, how did practicing go the last few days, practicing good, pregame feeling all right? REGGIE MOORE: Everything was the same. We have been practicing really good. Coaches always touch on it after practice, like, man, you guys have been practicing really well lately so. Everything has been normal. Q. Klay, can you even fathom what took place tonight? In your wildest dreams, could you even think that something like this could take place, especially here on a grand stage? KLAY THOMPSON: No, I thought we would play a lot better but that's life, you have to deal with it. You can't look back now. We played really bad. Just got to use it as motivation. Q. You have had some troubles in the first half before this year but came out after halftime and picked it up right away. Why weren't you able to do that; they came out and dominated you even more. KLAY THOMPSON: I'm not sure. I don't know how to answer that. You've got to give them credit. They played a really good game. Q. Have you given any type of thought about your future and does a game like this make you want to consider coming back; too early to tell? KLAY THOMPSON: I think it's just too early to tell. Just trying to enjoy the time that I have with my teammates. Q. How do you guys compare this to the Oregon game where you also shot pretty poorly? KLAY THOMPSON: It's even worse because it's on a bigger stage. It was for a tournament championship or a chance at one, and, yeah, it really hurts. It's not a good feeling. REGGIE MOORE: Yeah, same thing Klay said. This is a lot worse, I feel like. Especially, you know, really excited to play in Madison Square Garden, it's just disappointing that we had this type of performance. Q. You guys have played at STAPLES Center, in big places, and intense crowds, but you seemed intimidated by the setting tonight. Did that have anything to do with it? COACH KEN BONE: It might have. I can't really put my hands around it right now. We just were not very good. I think we depend on Klay so much that even though we didn't have it going early on before he got into foul trouble; although he had two fouls I think before we even scored a point. And then he got that third foul, and he just wasn't able to be, I don't think, as aggressive. He got his third, actually, on a charge in the first half when he was trying to be aggressive. And I just think it took a lot out of him, and when it takes a lot out of him, it takes a lot out of us. And that's not his fault. We just depend -- I depend -- on him probably too much because he's such a great player. Q. Inside, it wasn't even close. COACH KEN BONE: No, they are just bigger and stronger. They literally just manhandled us, sometimes on both ends of the court. They got the ball a couple of times, six, eight feet from the hoop and backed us down; wasn't a charge, they just backed us down right underneath the rim and went up and scored it. Q. Nothing to that extent this year; it's never happened that much this year. COACH KEN BONE: It's happened here and there. But not like it did tonight. Q. You missed the first six shots, you had two turnovers, Thompson had two fouls. You must have said to yourself, the wheels are coming off the wagon, but still, you look up at the scoreboard, it's only 7-0. Do you at that point think you just need to get into a flow and things will change? COACH KEN BONE: Yes, and I felt like we will get into a flow, and we always have. We have had some bad halves. We have had great halves, a great first half and a bad second. We have had bad firsts and great seconds. But I wasn't too concerned because I've seen our guys persevere so many times during the season that I believed it's just a matter of time before we hit a few shots; or, we get some stuff out of our defense. But it really never happened. You know, Wichita State, they were very good. They really were good. And we were not as good. Q. How amazing is it when you look at the box score, and seeing a team like you have had, and a program that traditionally since they put the arc in and lived by the 3-pointer, to look at that box score and see 0-for-10; is that too amazing for words that that took place? COACH KEN BONE: It surprises me. But I also think Wichita State does an outstanding job defensively. They are as good a team as I have seen getting through screens and a lot of our offensive stuff is predicated on screening. Again, the credit just goes to Wichita State and the way they guard people. Q. Did you think about switching to zone because they were killing you guys on the inside? COACH KEN BONE: Yeah, we did play zone. We played a number of possessions of zone. Q. Into the second half -- COACH KEN BONE: We were having a hard enough time rebounding but we were having an even more difficult time rebounding out of zone. So, it was like, shoot, pick your poison. One minute rolled into the next, and they just continued to show that they were the superior team tonight. Q. Nobody's handled you inside like Stutz did tonight. COACH KEN BONE: Yeah, he was really good. It helps how big and tall he is. DeAngelo is a very good defender but they ran some stuff to him to get it to him over the top, DeAngelo was in foul trouble; it was an easy decision for them to keep going to him. And he was very efficient. Q. Do you regret leaving Klay in while in foul trouble? COACH KEN BONE: No, we did not have much going on at the time and we needed his presence on the court. That's what we have done all year long. So we just felt -- he's been in that situation before. He unfortunately fouls a lot early in games. Almost every game, he has a foul within the first four minutes. Or I would say, at least two thirds of the game. And it's to his credit, he's trying to get out there and be aggressive and play aggressive. But we have been out there many times before with two or three or four fouls. But tonight he just wasn't as effective, and neither was our team. Q. At this point do you think -- you said recently that you were thinking 50/50 on Klay and DeAngelo entering the NBA Draft? COACH KEN BONE: Nothing has changed in that respect. It's just a matter of time and see what type of information they are able to gather. Q. In terms of the season, do you feel like this team just maybe had two personalities? COACH KEN BONE: You know, I think it's the same for most every team, whether it's Duke and how they looked this year and had a hard time against Arizona or St. John's and how phenomenal they were and Gonzaga got them. You can go on and on and on; it happens. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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