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BIG EAST CONFERENCE MEN'S TOURNAMENTMarch 6, 2012Cleveland MelvinMoses MorganOliver PurnellNEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK CONNECTICUT – 81 COACH PURNELL: I thought Jeremy Lamb was awfully good in the game from start to finish. He really kept us at bay in the first half. They got enough balance with some of their inside guys scoring, mainly Drummond did a nice job in there of giving them some balance, but it was really too much Lamb. We rebounded the ball decently in the first half and we couldn't keep them off the offensive boards in the second half. They got just enough in transition. They got a lead. I really admired our guys' fighting spirit to get back into the game the second half, but you've got to give Connecticut credit and particularly Lamb who played extremely well. And Boatright really played well, too, and they got their big guys involved. Again, I admire our guys' fighting spirit, and I'm really disappointed it's over, but we lost to a better team today. Q. As you look back on the season, what did you see from your team? COACH PURNELL: Well, I thought we got better as the year went along. We had a resilient team. I thought we had an awful lot of things occur starting back in the summer from injuries to losing guys to Moses' episode with a concussion and some other things‑‑ he missed four or five games in the heart of the season, and we lost some close games that we were right there with a chance to win. You know, I think an average team or some average character guys could have and would have maybe folded it up. These guys continued to come back and work and play hard, and I thought obviously our closing game of the regular season was our best, which was nice to see, and nice to have the seniors go out that way. And we can build on that. We've got most of those core guys back, and we've got at least three new guys coming in next year, athletic guys that we like, so we can continue to build on that. But I think J.K. and Krys helped us build a foundation. I think any good program, any good anything has to have a solid foundation, and we're indebted to those guys for being a part of that. I think we're seeing a cultural shift in terms of guys really working and staying together, and I think any time you have a work ethic and you stay together with good chemistry and you add talent and ability, then you can't help but move forward, so that's what I see moving forward. Q. When you get your guys in, a couple years to indoctrinate them into your system, would you expect that third year would be a leap year in a way? COACH PURNELL: I expect we'll be a lot better. That's always been my approach is every year you get better. I think with leadership from these guys, I think them getting better themselves, and with talent and athleticism, we expect to be better. Q. Coach Calhoun was very complimentary on you and your staff as far as DePaul not being an easy stop for conference opponents. How has the community around DePaul University embraced the new team going forward? COACH PURNELL: Yeah, we're treated great, and our fans are great all year long. We average 8,000 or 9,000 fans all year long and they were solid and they were there all year long, and our students were great and very supportive. I think I understand where we are, but more importantly I understand how hard these guys are working. That's one thing that keeps our momentum going within our community, on our campus. It's easy to see that these guys are working extremely hard and they're competitive and they're right there, so we've had nothing but solid support, and for that, we appreciate that. Q. Moses, what will you take into next year? CLEVELAND MELVIN: Just got to work on maintaining our focus and just keep grinding and working hard on the court, staying positive when we're playing in a game, just coming out playing with that energy and playing for the whole 40 minutes. MOSES MORGAN: I feel me personally, I have to work on leadership and bringing the new guys in and just getting them to where we're at and then just building from there as a team. Q. Moses, do you feel you guys are close and why do you feel you guys are close? MOSES MORGAN: Yes, I feel that we're close, just the fact that we work hard every day, and even though we lose, we don't hang our heads. We just go out and play hard, and today we wanted to just leave it all out there knowing that this could be our last game. But just the fact that we work hard every day no matter what, no matter who we're playing or what the circumstances, we just go out and play hard. Q. How do you feel you guys have progressed from last year to this year? MOSES MORGAN: I feel that we've progressed a lot, and our coach kind of touched on it a little bit, just our chemistry as a team. This is probably one of the best groups that I've been with, even when I was in high school. I love all the guys, and we just know each other very well. Q. (No microphone.) COACH PURNELL: Oh, I think it'll help. I think it's a process of building your team or building your program is getting two or three good recruiting classes and growing them up with positive experiences. We would have liked to have a few more of those this year like senior night and conference wins, but there are a lot of positive experiences along the way, and then we've got another group coming in, and we need to have a lot more positive experiences next year. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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