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SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE MEN'S TOURNAMENTMarch 9, 2012Anthony GrantJaMychal GreenTrevor RelefordNEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA Florida – 66 CLAUDE FELTON: We're joined by head Coach Anthony Grant and student‑athletes JaMychal Green and Trevor Releford. We'll start with an opening statement by Coach Grant and then take questions for the student‑athletes. COACH GRANT: Got to start off by giving Florida credit. A great game by them. Really made the plays that they needed to make to be able to win the game. But at the same time that we're disappointed that we can't continue toward the quest for a SEC championship. Very proud of the effort that our guys gave today. I thought we had great fight in us. You look at it, probably the difference in the game was the 3‑point line. Florida was able to make 10 threes. We knew coming into the game that that would be key. But they had some guys that stepped up, made some contested ones, very difficult from a defensive standpoint to be able to contain them. We had our opportunities, like I told these guys, in the locker room, that's all as a coach that you can ask for. This guy to my left has been such a huge part of any success that we have had here, and he's had more than his share of game‑winning plays for us. And like I told him, there's no one I would rather have on the line to tie the game than him. And he certainly was huge tonight. I thought everybody tonight, they got on the floor for us, they really impacted the game. So we're going to have our heads up, look forward to whatever comes next for us as a basketball team. And as a coach, I feel like this tournament allowed us to get better. CLAUDE FELTON: Take questions for the student‑athletes. Q. Can you both talk about, you know Florida's going to shoot threes, but just how hard it is to stop them from doing that, they still shot 30 threes. TREVOR RELEFORD: Florida did a good job attacking the paint and just finding open guys and making the extra pass, and that's what their team do. Erv, he got going and started looking for his teammates and opened things up. They just played to their identity. Q. Talk about both your second half, you had a huge second half. And then right at the end, just talk about your emotions coming off the free throw line and off the floor. JaMYCHAL GREEN: Come the second half, I knew I had to step my game up. My teammates did a great job of finding me. I think we just did a great job of just passing the ball and playing as a team. Coming down to the free throw line, I knew I had to step up and make it, but unfortunately it rimmed out. Q. The last time you played Florida, they had a 16‑0 run to start the second half. Can you talk about going into the second half, how important you knew that it was to get a good start in the second half. TREVOR RELEFORD: Coach kept preaching to us like they're going to try to come at me and have the first hit, and we just had to respond. And we had to make the first punch in and that's what we tried to do. CLAUDE FELTON: All right, we'll excuse the student‑athletes and take questions for coach. Q. Obviously, you got a good look there at the end to tie the game. As the ball's in the air, I was right behind it, looked like it was dead on. Can you just talk about what you were thinking. COACH GRANT: I thought we got a good look. And I agree, I thought it had a chance to go in, but unfortunately, it didn't go in our favor. Q. There was a sequence there where the game's tight and there's a foul on Boynton, he gets the three free throws, turnover at the other end. All of a sudden it's a six‑point game. Can you talk about a that sequence. It really seemed to play a key part. COACH GRANT: I think those plays are huge. Obviously Florida's such a good 3‑point shooting team that you want to contest their shots. And unfortunately we fouled them I think on consecutive possessions where they were able to extend the lead. I think it went from maybe one‑point lead for us or a tight game to a six‑point deficit. But that's part of the game. We had our opportunities there late. Again, like I said, proud of our guys for their fight. Their stick‑to‑it‑ness and we had opportunities. Give Florida credit, they made the plays they had to make. Q. Have you had any thoughts on the NCAA tournament and where you guys stand? COACH GRANT: We'll find out in a couple days. Obviously, we feel good about what we have been able to accomplish over the course of the season, the thing that you know about that tournament is it's an invitational tournament, so we have to wait and see what happens. But I think our guys have had a good year. We were obviously looking forward to extending our stay here, unfortunately that didn't happen. So now we'll regroup and see what the next step for us is. Q. For this program having not been to the NCAA tournament since 2006, how important will it be to see Alabama's name there on Sunday? COACH GRANT: Well, I'm not going assume anything. But obviously, that's a goal that we have as a team. We want to compete in the NCAA tournament, and we're hopeful that we have that opportunity. So if that situation arises, then certainly it would be a step in the right direction for us. But at the end of the day the goal is to win. I think it would be a step in the right direction. We're hopeful that what we have accomplished so far in the season makes us worthy of that. And if it is, then we're looking forward to the opportunity to compete. CLAUDE FELTON: All right. Thank you very much. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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