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BIG EAST CONFERENCE MEN'S TOURNAMENTMarch 14, 2013Otto Porter, Jr.D'Vauntes Smith-RiveraMarkel StarksJohn Thompson IIINEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK GEORGETOWN - 62 COACH THOMPSON: Questions? Q. It seemed like the team turned up the defense in the second half. Was that what got you the win? COACH THOMPSON: Without a doubt. They have very, very good players, and the first half, you know, we were letting them get open shots. Cashmere got hot right there. We gave them open looks. In the second half, I think we were much more attentive. I think they only made one three in the second half. And then our guys did a decent job. If not a very good job actually, once we stopped the threes, guarding the penetration. Q. John, your team's defense on Kilpatrick was pretty good. 3 for 12. Was that the game plan going in? COACH THOMPSON: With them, I don't think you can necessarily say let's focus on one person because, if you focus on Kilpatrick, Parker can hurt you. If you focus on Parker, Cashmere can hurt you. So Jabril was on him most of the night, and I thought Jabril did a pretty good job of not getting stuck on screens and chasing him, as they ran him off all those screens, and ran him off all those on balls, and just trying to get him to take tough shots, which Kilpatrick can take and make, but I think today, unfortunately, they came out. But I think overall we tried to stick with him. Q. John, they came back from a 16‑point deficit and take the lead. How do you think‑‑ do you worry about your team at that point, or are these guys‑‑ have they shown you enough that you think they're going to get through that little patch and get back? COACH THOMPSON: The thing where I don't think‑‑ yes, you were. If you're up 16 and all of a sudden you come out. I want to say the first three, four possessions of the second half, we looked extremely flat. But then we turned it up at the defense. We started getting stops, which then helped our offense. For the most part, this group doesn't get rattled. They went to‑‑ they went to a matchup, which threw us off. It took us a few possessions, too many possessions, actually, to kind of get settled into what we wanted to do. And then once‑‑ in the end, just trying to make plays, and our guys started to make more plays. Q. Otto and Coach. Otto, I'm curious how your role has shifted on this team since you guys lost Whittington? Coach, I'm curious if you can talk a little bit about what he's meant to this team the past two months. COACH THOMPSON: I don't know that his role has shifted. I think that one thing that's important, everyone likes to point towards when we lost Greg. But I think this team would have progressed anyway. I think we have just gotten better every week. I think that would have happened whether Greg's here or not. Like I said many times, you look at what we've done since he got hurt, and we're a better team with Greg Whittington on the court as opposed to being home. But we've gotten better. Otto, obviously, has played very well during this stretch here. He's done a very good job. On nights like tonight, where they were just keen on him, of helping his teammates get shots. These two guys immediately to my right and left have done an outstanding job of helping him and helping everyone else get the ball where they need it. Q. Moses Ayegba exceeded his minutes in the first half. How good was his game? COACH THOMPSON: I think he exceeded. The first part of the year, Moses wasn't playing‑‑ the second part of the year he has played that much. His average minutes per game are somewhat skewed. You go back and look at the last 10, 11, 12 games, it's probably consistent. I'm looking at the minutes right now, 18, that's probably pretty consistent with where he's been playing probably the last 10, 15 games or so. He gives us a presence. He definitely gives us a presence. He does an outstanding job at the defensive end. Q. How much of an impact do you think that changing defense is having? You played zone. You played man. You pressed. COACH THOMPSON: I mean, I like to sit here and say it's a great strategy, really worked, but they're good players. They figure it out. We wanted to keep them off balance in that, once they fall into their rhythm, it's hard to stop them. I think we had to keep switching it up so they couldn't fall in. That's one of the things that probably happened in the first half. Probably stayed in the zone a little bit too long, and they fell into a rhythm. Q. John, along the lines of what you were talking about with Kilpatrick, everyone has been talking a lot about Otto for obvious reasons. What about the luxury of having D'Vauntes and Markel and Jabril? Do they bring you help, in this kind of game especially? COACH THOMPSON: No, it's key. I said to you, I said before, Otto's getting a lot of attention, and he should. He's an outstanding player, one of the, if not the best player in the country, in my opinion. But we have a very good team. I've said over and over again, during the same stretch when Otto is playing well, Markel and Nate have been very, very good, have been very, very good. And those three have to play well for us to win. Then you have D'Vauntes, who can come in and give us a boost. You have Jabril, who gives us a boost. So we have good players. We have a good team. I think they've done an outstanding job at both ends of the court of being unselfish. Most of the time, people talk about being selfish, you talk about offensively, but I think on the defensive end they've done a good job, helping for each other, covering for each other, not just focusing on my man, but realizing I have to help my teammate, which is why we've been able to win a few games. Q. I think a lot of people would love to see Georgetown‑Syracuse tomorrow night. Could you just talk about the significance of that, if that were to happen. Also, if Pitt wins, you'd get a rematch in a game you guys lost. COACH THOMPSON: We're going to go sit out there and watch, and whoever wins, the head coach is going to be really nervous about playing against them, and we're going to prepare for it. I don't necessarily have a preference. They're both very good teams. Obviously, they're both very well‑coached teams. It will be just as much theater but different dynamic, depending on which one we play. Q. Coach, coming back to you saying that your team doesn't get rattled, this is another group, another really good group with no seniors. What did you see from them in terms of Cincinnati coming back and being able to turn the page and get right back to work? COACH THOMPSON: I think, one‑‑ and this goes back to the latter part of the previous question‑‑ they believe in each other. They believe in me. They believe in what we're doing. So I think we knew what we had to do. We knew why they got back in the game. So it was just a question of settling down and getting back to our game plan, to what we wanted to do. Q. For Markel and D'Vauntes. Can you guys just talk‑‑ with all the attention towards Otto of late, has that opened more opportunities for you guys in games? D'VAUNTES SMITH‑RIVERA: I mean, it definitely has. A lot of teams are starting to key in on more, and I think more of the strategy for them is to try to stop him and kind of worry less about the other guys on our team. Guys like Nate, Markel, myself, we're starting to get going. You saw Jabril come in earlier today, and he was knocking down shots also. So it definitely helps. MARKEL STARKS: But we're all on the scouting report. But, sure, like I said, we all‑‑ the attention Otto is getting is well‑deserved, but at the same time, knowing that going into games that he's going to have that attention, we have to step up. It's not‑‑ we don't just say, hey, it's just Otto. No, we play as a team. We play as a unit. We're going to continue to do that, and we will continue to get better. Q. Coach, you talked a little bit about defensive selflessness. Is this your best defensive team, and is that a primary reason why? If so, what else plays a part in making this your best? COACH THOMPSON: I think I probably want to wait until the season is over before I make that statement. It's up there. It's up there. When you asked that question, my immediate thought was back to the '07 team. We had Roy (Hibbert) sitting in the back. We don't have a Roy sitting in the back right now. And so I'm not sure. Hopefully, we'll be playing for a few more weeks here, and at the end of the year, we'll make that assessment. Q. For D'Vauntes, how has your confidence grown as your involvement has grown and you've become a contributor on the court? D'VAUNTES SMITH‑RIVERA: I mean, I never really lost any confidence in my game. It's just understanding what my role is on the team and understanding the concept of our offense. Once I started to get comfortable with it, I think everything started to roll from there. Q. For any of the players, do you see Syracuse and Pitt in the bracket possibly in the semifinals. What's your opinion on that intensity that the game could bring tomorrow night? OTTO PORTER: Syracuse, I mean, it will be a great game. I'm pretty sure they will want a rematch against us. I mean, it will be a terrific game to play against them. Q. And as far as Pitt, obviously, you're in for a rematch, but it's not at your place, it's here at the Garden. What do you think about that? OTTO PORTER: Another tough game between two great teams. We'll see. JOHN PAQUETTE: Georgetown, thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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