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ATLANTIC 10 CONFERENCE MEN'S TOURNAMENTMarch 14, 2013Chris BraswellPierria HenryAlan MajorBROOKLYN, NEW YORK Charlotte – 68 THE MODERATOR: From Charlotte, Pierria Henry, Chris Braswell and Coach Major. Coach, an opening statement? COACH MAJOR: Well, we're very thankful for a hard‑fought victory. We told our guys, this is our third season, and, you know, you have your non‑conference play, and you have your conference play, which is a grind in itself. Now we are kind of in a conference tournament play, 0‑0. We kind of wipe the slate clean, and try to come back today. This is one of the hardest fought wins I've ever been a part of. I don't know about these two, between their high school careers, but this was an absolute war. You feel bad someone had to lose, but I'm just really proud of the way the guys stayed with it, just being down in the first half. We literally came out guns blazing. I didn't think they'd miss a shot all day the way they started the game. But we responded and cut it in in the second half in a decent fashion and responded down the stretch. Very proud of this team. Q. Pierria, can you talk about the free throws at the end? What did you see on the technical when the guy took down Willie? PIERRIA HENRY: Honestly, I didn't see what was going on. I was just trying to focus on my free throw. Then I see Willie go flying, and I just tried to be a great teammate and go pick him up. I let the refs handle the rest, and Coach Major called me‑‑ to shoot the whatever, you know, the rift raft that was going on, and just knock down the free throws. Q. Alan, how were you able to rough them up inside a little bit in the second half? You seemed to take much better advantage. COACH MAJOR: That's what we tried to do. That's going to be the focus all season. We stayed with that. We don't always have the success we like, but we have a good chance. And our guys did a pretty good chance on the offensive boards, getting some second chance opportunities as well. That is a big part of our game plan. This guy sitting next to me is a big part of that. So fortunately we were able to have some success going into that. Q. Pierria, how long did it feel like you were at the free‑throw line for? PIERRIA HENRY: 30 minutes. Q. Is that the craziest, the wildest, maybe the most unlikely ending to a basketball game considering what transpired in the final seconds? COACH MAJOR: Yeah, I would agree. You couldn't make that up if you want to make a movie out of that one. But, you know, we just talked to our guys about always making sure you keep your poise. I don't know. I didn't see the contact in terms of the free throw, blockout technical situations. So I don't know, right, wrong, that's not our place. That's why you have tremendous officials out there working. We talk to our guys about maintaining your poise and not getting rattled no matter what circumstance you face. This game through a lot of different circumstances at us, and fortunately our guys hung in there. Q. Chris, you had a pretty tough first half. No points, no rebounds, 7 minutes. It seemed like they were targeting you on defense. Second half you rebounded 12 points and five big offensive boards. What changed for you? CHRIS BRASWELL: Just my coach turned to me and told me to stay in the game, just move on. We need you. It's a team. I'm proud of everybody. It's just a good team win. So I stayed with that, and I did better in the second half. Q. Can you talk about the composure that you had at the line, and before everybody fouling out and not falling apart mentality? PIERRIA HENRY: Man, this team has been through so much this year. It's like the fight that we had, the chemistry, the family bond. It's amazing that no matter what we know that we're going to stick with each other through thick and thin. When one person falls, the next player is picking them up. We just keep on encouraging each other no matter who it is, what's going on. When I was at the free‑throw line and huddling up, my teammates told me, man, we're going to make this. We're going to win the game, and move on and take care of business for the next day. So I just thank God for giving me the opportunity. And I've got to thank my teammates for just believing in me. Q. Coach, is that a game that the way you won that can spark a team to get confidence going forward, given the unlikeliness at the end? COACH MAJOR: I hope so. Any time you win a game, an old coach told me one time, it was a great quote, he said, "You're a success at the moment you do a successful act. But once that act is over, you've got to do what you have to do to repeat that so you can be a success the next time you have that successful act." So this doesn't guarantee us anything. To answer your question, hope it starts the ball rolling a little bit. And it's a good win, and this is great and a good time in the year to have three in a row. But you're facing a top 15 team in the country tomorrow in Saint Louis, a top 10 defensive team. Coach Crews, the Head Coach of the Year award because it's very difficult to take over a situation that he did and losing a coach mid‑year and keep it steady the way he did all season, he deserves a ton of credit. But getting back to us, hopefully it creates some momentum that we can carry into tomorrow. Q. Did you get an explanation from the officials on what occurred in the second? COACH MAJOR: Yeah, best I could get is the ball coming off the rim, it was just an illegal contact. I think that's been one of the things they've tried to watch from a point of emphasis standpoint. I don't know exactly how it happened. I thought it was on the floor, but I'm not sure. That was the explanation that I got. Q. Coach, early in the game, Richmond went up 8‑2. Cedrick Lindsay went in for pretty much an uncontested lay‑up. You called a 30‑second timeout. You're usually pretty calm, but you lit into your team in that huddle. What was the most upsetting part about that to to you? What did you say to them in the huddle? COACH MAJOR: Just I felt like we were starting to be (Indiscernible). They're probably one of the best two guard combos in this league, and they can beat you inside and beat them at their place earlier in the year. I just wanted to attack the game a little bit. I felt like we were on our heels. (Indiscernible). We needed defensive traction, and we're at our best when we get defensive traction, two, three stops in a row, three stops out of four, four stops out of six possessions that type of thing. Q. Was that the case again in the second half? You fall, you get down by ten, and then you get a come back again? That is the second time in three games that you've come back from double digits in the second half. What brought you back? COACH MAJOR: Just putting the stops together. You know, I'd love to have a bottle of the same thing defensively and carry that for the rest of however many games we have left. But sometimes with our age, and I catch myself, I look out there and we've got some guys that the first time they've gone through this deal. It's a new experience for them. But maintaining the focus for the entire 40 minutes can be difficult. But that's where we come in as coaches, and try to help them. But you have to have that type of difference that we had against Saint Joseph's last Saturday tomorrow, because Saint Louis is a tremendous team. Q. What did you think the chances were of throwing this out at that point? COACH MAJOR: We as coaches have to stay in striking distance. What we tried to do is we tried to keep pressing and see if we could stir them up. It seemed unlikely at times when you're down three in that situation to come back. But I knew as a coach that you always want to let your team have the feeling that you can, no matter what, until that final buzzer goes off. Like I said, that is probably the thick I'm most proud of. But that had nothing to do with it. Our kids have learned to fight all year through various situations, and this was one of them. Q. What have you learned from the previous meeting with Richmond, and game‑plan‑wise, did you change anything for this match‑up? COACH MAJOR: Well, not really. I think the big thing out there is Brothers just got going early so well and went up to 39 points. Thankfully, we held them to 29 points less than that today. That was a big part of it, because he literally can beat us by himself up there, not that the other guys can't make plays. So for him today to go 2 for 9 and to try to get(Indiscernible) as opposed to having them beat you. Fortunately, he missed a few today, and we were able to pull this out. Q. Coach, the Barclays Center is a new center, just your thoughts on playing here in Brooklyn? COACH MAJOR: Yeah, it's great. Last night we took a walk down the streets and just try to take it in. It's just the history of the ball that's been played in this city and being in this situation for the first time. Hopefully we can finish on a high note, but it's been great. I think our kids enjoy it too. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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