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ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE MEN'S TOURNAMENTMarch 14, 2013Erick GreenJames JohnsonGREENSBORO, NORTH CAROLINA North Carolina State: 80 THE MODERATOR: We welcome Virginia Tech. COACH JOHNSON: Tough game tonight for us. We came out‑‑ I thought we came out ready to play. First half, six‑point game at the half. We weren't able to do much or get much goin' in the second half, but they did a good job of going inside, C.J. Leslie and Richard Howell. I thought the first game we had 20 offensive rebounds, they did a good job of keeping us off the glass and limiting our second chance opportunities tonight. Gotta give them a lot of credit. They played well. We didn't play well, we played well in spots but not enough. Q. Tough shooting day, Erick and you had the turn overs in the first half, what about their defense made it tough for you and were you playing hurt today? ERICK GREEN: No, I wasn't playing hurt, I'm not going to use that excuse. They did a great job, and defense, and first half caught me off guard, I saw a lot of double teams, staying with me off the pick‑and‑rolls, you got to give credit to NC State, they played well and we just didn't put forty minutes together. Q. Coach, you had the whole year to kind of self‑evaluate. Can you talk about the season for you personally? COACH JOHNSON: No, I can't self‑evaluate right now, we just lost a ballgame. I was concerned about the team during the season, the team, the next day, the next practice, I wasn't going to self‑evaluate during the season. We will take time, get with the staff, talk about our program, about the team, who we have coming back, what we need to change to get better, but we were trying to practice and play it game by game and trying to get better. Q.  Erick, did they do as good as anybody trying to keep you out of the lane? ERICK GREEN: Everybody was in the gaps, when I penetrated they were right there, even in transition I was seeing two or three players back there waiting for me. But I knew that going in, that they were going to key on me and I should have tried to make plays but the ball wasn't falling for me and it happens, nights like that. Q. The dunk at the end of the game did you discuss that with the coach? Did that bother you? COACH JOHNSON: No, I didn't discuss that with Coach Mark Gottfried. If that's the way he wants his guys to play‑‑ I've never concentrated on coaching the other guy's team, I concentrate on getting my guys to play the best basketball they can and if that's the way he wants his team to play I got no problem with that. Q. Erick, after the season you had, what were your expectations for today and were you disappointed with the way you played? ERICK GREEN: My expectations were to come in here and make a run at it, I didn't come in here and think about losing the first game and going home, I'm a winner. Like I said in the first half‑‑ in the whole game out in transition their bigs ran, they killed us on the glass and my expectation every game is to win, I don't look at it the‑‑ I don't care who we play, I don't expect to lose to anyone. Q. Late in the first half you had that 1‑point lead and then they made a run on you and you had some turnovers in that run, can you talk about how their defense got them going? COACH JOHNSON: We turned the basketball over during that stretch and we weren't attacking as much as we needed to be and we were loose with the basketball and that led to their transition baskets and that's one of the things we talked about, not letting them get out in transition. They're a high octane team on offense and part of it is getting out in transition and we wanted to not turn the ball over and we thought if we could have them play against our set defense all night that we would be fine. The turnovers led to transition baskets. Q. Erick, what will you take away from all this? What will you remember this season? ERICK GREEN: I know it was a losing season, but I've learned a lot. I learned how much hard work pays off, I had a great group of guys to be with, a great coach, I wouldn't want to end my career with anybody but this guy who has been with me since junior year in high school and it doesn't get any better than that. Sucks it has to end and I'm going to miss college basketball, miss being in college, hanging out with Coach and laughing and joking with these guys and there is a lot of memories I'm going to have, I'm going to miss playing in the Coliseum in front of the Hokie fans, I'm going to miss that a lot. Q. Erick, most of the guys who have been ACC player of the year were, All‑American then ACC Player of the Year and then onto the NBA. More guys are in your shoes, where Coach was criticized for bringing you on and "wasting a scholarship." How do you look at that? ERICK GREEN: College is a fresh start, all of that All‑American stuff doesn't really matter. Honestly everybody is good when you come into college. My message to everybody is to work hard. I mean, no one ever thought I would be where I'm at, today, and, man, it can take you a long way. Hard work and dedication, this guy right here beside me, it can take a long way. And definitely focus on school and ball, man, and I think ‑‑ like I say, doesn't matter all the hype you get, it's all about hard work and dedication. Q.Coach, the game didn't reflect his entire season and the guys in the locker room were saying they wanted him to go out on a high note. Were you disappointed it didn't go to plan? How do you feel about the way it went down today for Erick? COACH JOHNSON: He has had a great year but going into the game‑‑ we're disappointed we lost today, the entire team, the entire coaching staff we put too much hard work in. We worked too hard to go out like this, but we just didn't play well tonight and N.C. State played well but as far as not having Erick go out on top, we wanted to win the game and Erick is a winner. He's a winner and he wanted to go out along with the rest of those guys. We didn't come in here to have Erick play great and go home and we didn't come in here to have Erick not play great and go home. We came here to win and try to survive and win no matter how we had to do it, that was the plan. Q. You talked about wanting to do a good job in the paint on Richard Howell, seemed like he was doing whatever he wanted to do. Can you talk about the problems he posed and how tough it was to defend him? COACH JOHNSON: He started the first possession going inside on us and that's been a blueprint the last few games, teams trying to go inside and they know how much range means to this team and they know how well C.J. Barksdale has been playing so going inside whether it's to pick up a foul on those guys or trying get a basket. Howell he has been a load for everybody all year and he was a great player tonight and he gave up the ball and when we forced him out he hit the jump shot, he did it all tonight, we had no answer for him tonight. Q. Coach, Erick said you have been with him since he was a junior in high school, how do you summarize his story as one of the greatest players in Virginia Tech history? COACH JOHNSON: Summarize‑‑ first of all, he's a much better kid than he is a basketball player. Having had a chance to coach him as the head coach and assistant coach for three of these seasons, that's what I'm most proud of, the type of young man he is. That carried over to our team this year and the guys looked up to him. With the rocky season we had, those guys could have folded, Erick could have folded and he didn't and we didn't. I think the guys looked to him to see how he was going to be and they looked to me to see how I was going to be and Erick hung in there with the team and with me and that says a lot about him. The hard work he put in, he's always played with a chip on his shoulder. He won two state championships, and he comes into college and no one thinks he should be a player in the ACC and he worked his tail off‑‑ it means so much to Erick and I remember his freshman year and looking at him on the bench and he didn't play as much as he wanted to play and didn't play as well as he wanted to play and I remember seeing tears in his eyes. That means that it means something to the young man. He didn't put his head down he kept working on his game and kept working on his game and achieved Second Team All‑League player and that wasn't good enough, he continued to work hard and the work he put in in the off‑season and in the summer and then all year long. The young man is going to graduate in May, on time, in May, and I know that's important to Erick and that's important to his family. For me to have an opportunity as a first‑year head coach to coach a young man like this, a well‑rounded kid a, a great student who is going to graduate on time in Mayand player of the year in the toughest conference in the country, I can't say anything else about him. It's been an amazing year for him and there is no one more deserving than him. Q. Coach, you've just lost, but thinking about next year defensively how much did you want to change the look of this program? You talked about wanting to extend the floor and press, is that the direction you're trying to do? COACH JOHNSON: It's tough to talk about that right now and coming off a loss. But there are going to be some changes. We will have a deeper bench, some recruits coming in, we will have a deeper bench so the program will be evaluated, offensively and defensively and haven't had a chance to do that yet. There are certain things that we want to change and we definitely need to get better at everything. Q. Erick, can you talk about that moment when you're getting sub'd for the very last time when it hits you, this is it, your college career is over? Talk about going to the bench and getting hugs and cheers. ERICK GREEN: It was emotional, it's come to an end. I'm going to miss Coach Johnson and this team and Hokie Nation and tears came to my eyes and it's coming to an end and they told me four years would fly by and I didn't believe it. It really did fly by. It hurt, walking off with a loss because like he said I'm a winner and I've always been a winner and I was looking forward to holding the trophy up and ending my college career as ACC Championships, but I got the hugs from my teammates and walked off with Coach, it sucked, man, because I didn't want my college career to end like this. Q. Coach, kind of lost in the discussion today, it was a terrific game that Jarell Eddie had today and talk about that. COACH JOHNSON: I think Jarell, he made shots today. This is a game that he didn't play a lot of minutes the last time we played him and all year long he has been up and down, but he came out today ready to play and he had some shots in the first half and into the second half, so definitely encouraging for Jarell Eddie and for the team. THE MODERATOR: Thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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