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NCAA MEN'S 2ND & 3RD ROUNDS: NASHVILLEMarch 18, 2012Leonard HamiltonBernard JamesMichael SnaerNASHVILLE, TENNESSEE Cincinnati – 62 THE MODERATOR: We'll do this in reverse order. We'll go ahead with Coach Hamilton, get an opening statement from Coach Hamilton and then questions for Coach Hamilton. When the student athletes get here, we'll take questions for the student athletes. Coach. COACH HAMILTON: My comments on the game, we lost to a team tonight that had 13 steals. We turned the ball over 17 times that lead to 19 baskets. I thought -- we had in the scouting report they were tremendous, which we call a strip team. I thought they got a lot of deflections that lead to baskets. Most of the time we turn the ball over, it's dead ball situations where we don't give up baskets on turnovers. Unfortunately tonight, they did very good job of deflections, steals, causing us to cough up that lead to baskets. That was unfortunate regardless of what happened in the last two, three minutes. If we had we taken care of the ball a lot better, at least we would have given ourselves a chance. I thought that Cincinnati did a great job with their quickness and speed and their ability to get deflections and steals, and as I look back at the game, that probably was what did us in. Then, obviously, the guy hit a couple shots there at the end, and you normally look to what happens at the end of the game, but in reality, I like to have held their pressure, their half-court pressure. Their ability to strip and get deflections and steals, I would like to have held that a little better. I think that would have probably made the biggest difference. I can't say how proud I am of this team. We've accomplished an awful lot. Started the season off 9-6. We had a lot of moving parts. This team came closer and closer during that period. We had a little adversity. I thought we kind of grew up and developed that type of unity that it took for us to have one of the best seasons that we've had at Florida State in a long while. Unfortunately, it had to end like this, but I can't say enough about how proud I am of them, because I really feel that they gave me what they had. They gave our team what they had, and they represented Florida State and the Tallahassee community, themselves and their families in as fine a fashion as I've ever seen some young men represent a basketball team. I think we've changed this group of six seniors, they've helped change the culture of basketball in Tallahassee and Florida State. We have a great nucleus of youngsters that are coming back and some outstanding recruits, and I feel that we can continue to keep getting better and better. I'm anticipating that we'll have just as good a basketball team as we look toward next year. We're going to not allow this last game to identify who we are and what we've become. Hopefully we'll learn from the shortcomings of this game and prove over next year, maybe even go deeper into the NCAA Tournament. THE MODERATOR: Florida State student athletes are here. We'll take questions for the Florida State student athletes only. Please just raise your hand. We'll get a microphone to you. Q. Bernard, you guys have done so well all year of closing out games. Kind of just talk about those last two minutes, and that was so atypical of the way you guys played down the stretch this year. BERNARD JAMES: We made some mistakes down the stretch. It wasn't even really those last couple minutes that killed us. Everybody knows that the most, but it was really the first half. We just played like crap and had a bunch -- I think we had like 11 turnovers in the first half and we just couldn't really finish our plays. Even the shots that we got, you know, they kind of stop falling towards the end of the half. I think we held them to 20-something percent in the first half. So if our offense was clicking a little better, we would have had a nice little lead. Coming down the stretch, we did make some mistakes, but the effort was there and the intensity was there, too. Just didn't go our way tonight. Q. Mike, do you feel like you were tripped by Yancy Gates on that shot when it was 54-50 late in the game? MICHAEL SNAER: I'm not exactly sure what shot you're talking. about. Was it a three or what was it? Q. It was a jump shot by Cashmere right. MICHAEL SNAER: It was wet on the floor and I slipped. I wasn't tripped, though. THE MODERATOR: Other questions for student athletes? Q. I'm just curious for Michael or Bernard. You guys obviously played some good teams and some physical teams this season. Cincinnati, that was obviously a very physical game tonight. How did they compare and what challenges did their physicality present? BERNARD JAMES: As physical as it was, I mean, it got to the point where, I mean, I think the refs had to not call a lot of things, just how physical the game was and, you know, I don't think we handled that too well. Me, in particular, I shot a much lower percentage than I normally shoot, especially point blank jump hooks and layups. So, we just didn't really handle the physicalness today very well where we typically do. MICHAEL SNAER: We've faced pretty physical teams in the past, and I just don't think that -- the type of physical that we faced today was just a little bit different and some guys didn't know how to really handle it, you know, and they got away with something, with some strips. You know, we just weren't concentrating and protecting the ball the way we should have, and we knew they were a strip team, but I don't think anybody really put in their hearts -- if we would put in some of the things our coaches were saying, put into our hearts, we would have been able to avoid a lot of things that they were doing because there were no surprises. Everything that they came at us with, our coaches prepared us so well for. That's why it's really shocking to me, because we were really prepared for pretty much everything they were going to do. Our coaches did a great job today, and, I mean, it was a tough one. Tough to go out like that. They're a great team. I hope they can go all the way. Q. Michael, in a game like that, that's that close, a steal and a thunder dunk like that, what does it do to players on the court? How does that affect you guys? MICHAEL SNAER: We try not to let it. We've been through situations like that where guys make big plays and the crowd gets into it. We try not to let it affect us too much, but it gives their team a big lift, you know, and gives them a little bit of momentum going into the next defensive play, probably the next offensive play, and if they score again, it just keeps going. And that's tough, especially when we're not -- some of the shots that we normally hit aren't falling, you know. It's tough when they gain momentum and you can't seem to really hit some of the shots that you usually hit. I know myself in particular, I started off the game, I felt pretty good, and then late in the game couldn't really shoot the ball as well as I wanted to, and it's been a tough weekend. We've had guys that stepped up in the past. This is just one of those games where it didn't really come out our way. THE MODERATOR: We have time for a few more. Q. Michael, was that one of the most physical games you guys have played in this year, the most physical? MICHAEL SNAER: For me, I've faced teams a lot this year who tried to pressure me and stop me from getting the ball or, you know, really try to hold onto me when I'm trying to drive or really trying to foul me when I'm facing up in triple threat. I didn't feel like I was rattled. I didn't feel they were too physical. A few time they tried to deny me getting the ball and I just got into them, got more physical than they were, and when I got the ball, they really stopped trying to deny me the ball. I would just say the physicality. That comes with playing a lot of minutes and just knowing or putting into your hearts it's going to be a physical team and watching a lot of film. I pretty much knew what was coming, so it didn't really affect me too much. THE MODERATOR: Any others? Q. Frustrating? Disappointing? Can you just describe some of the emotions you're feeling at this moment with the season, you know, first ACC title in the tournament ever and all the success, to have it come to an end this early? BERNARD JAMES: I mean, it is frustrating, you know, especially this being my last college game. I felt like we could have played better. Just one of those nights. Things didn't really go our way. We got clean looks at shots. We got the ball in the paint, got point blank shots that didn't fall. So, I mean we've had a great season, you know, we've won the ACC championship for the first time in our school history. We're definitely proud of what we accomplished, but we definitely didn't expect to it end this early in the NCAA Tournament and, you know, on a loss like that. I mean, I'm proud of my team, though. We fought, we fought all the way. We made mistakes, but we stayed together the whole time and we fought. So I am proud about that, and so I guess it's a little bit bittersweet. THE MODERATOR: Thank you, guys. Good luck to you. We'll now take questions for Coach Hamilton. Q. Coach, can you just talk -- how tough and close this game was, not being able to get any breath. You had the 5-point lead there late in the -- about 5:20 left in the first half and couldn't quite build on at that at that point. COACH HAMILTON: We knew that this was going to be a tough game for us, a real quick, dribble/drive team, athletic team, being a team that shoots the ball well from the 3. I thought we did a pretty good job defending it from the 3 with the exception of the one player and he hit some crucial shots. I wasn't overly disappointed in how we defended their 3 and they were average 7.1 -- they lead the Big East in 3-point shooting, 3-point field goals made. I didn't particularly feel that the game was as physical from a contact standpoint. Maybe it might have appeared from where you guys were. One thing they did that we had not been accustomed to dealing with was the number of times that they were able to tie the ball up. After one of our players would get the ball, they would have the uncanny ability to come by and deflect it, tie it up or steal it, basically after we had possession of the ball. That was a little different than what we faced. As a matter of fact, I'm not real sure that I've ever faced a team that literally got that many takeaways in one game like they did. Now, like Bernard, I think Michael said, we had in our scouting report and we showed films of how effective they have been doing this all year. We haven't had anybody in our league that uncanny. A couple times they stole the ball to us as we were taking the ball out of bounds. We had the ball in our hands under their basket on rebounds. They deflected and scored baskets in those type of situations. That's an interesting that I think they have. I think they obviously spent a lot of time working on it, and I thought it made a huge difference in the game, our game, and if they had been that consistent with that type of defensive skill, then I could understand how they've moved along and been as successful as they have been. But, the game of basketball is such that that's why this tournament is, in my opinion, is the greatest event going, because regardless of how talented you are, how well you play and how well prepared you are, you can go into a game and circumstances in that game can be created that you can come up short, even if, regardless of how well prepared, how talented you are, and I think that's what makes this such a unique and special tournament, and the team that has the ability to absorb the game preparation, a team that's mature enough to execute the things within themselves and be consistent with it, normally is the team that comes out top. That's why sometimes you always have a lot of surprises, and I don't think the word "upset" should be used in the NCAA Tournament at all. I just think that's why it's such a great tournament because anything can happen on any given night. Probably maybe things would be different if it was 5 out of 7, but it's not, it's one-and-done, and a team can make, two, three plays in a close game and pull it out, and I think you see that happening all over the country. And you have to give Cincinnati credit because I thought they did the little things that gave them the edge, that gave them the opportunity to win this game. THE MODERATOR: Any other questions for, coach? All right. Thank you, Coach. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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