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ATLANTIC 10 CONFERENCE MEN'S TOURNAMENTMarch 14, 2013Josh BensonKevin DillardArchie MillerBROOKLYN, NEW YORK BUTLER – 73 COACH MILLER: To open it up No.1, I would like to give these two guys sitting to the right of me, a great deal of credit. I have a lot of admiration for the guys that have been here for my two years because none of them signed up for me. It's kind of one of those things where when you walk into a situation, you really never know what you're going to get. You know, from the start, it's been all the way until today, these two guys right here have really, No.1, they have embraced what we have tried to do, and they have dealt with a lot of change. I think they have done really a very, very good job with it. Not only are they both really good players and have bright futures; they are good guys and I would like to thank them. Secondly, give Butler a great deal of credit. Tournament tough, that's just kind of the word you have to use when you deal with those guys. The game is never over when you play them. And they are so well coached and they execute so well; you almost feel like on every possession they are able to pick you apart. For a good portion of the game, felt like our game plan was really locked in, and then right around probably like six‑minute mark, I thought they did a really good job capitalizing, not only on offense, but capitalized off a couple turnovers that we had to change the momentum of the game. Give them credit, they are not only going to have a chance to win this tournament, but don't be surprised if they don't have a chance to win the big tournament. Q. Looked like you got hammered on the inside rebounding, did it get away from you? JOSH BENSON: You know, we just at times, we had mental lapses, some little minor breakdowns on defense, playing against a tough team like Butler, they are a very systematic team and they are very well coached. You know, they capitalized like Coach said. But I think we fought hard. You know, minus our mistakes, and a couple turnovers, but I think guys fought hard and we just came up short. Q. Josh, you went on a little spurt there for four or six points, what was the last two minutes for you, facing a team like Butler‑‑ to go out the way Josh Benson would like to go out.  JOSH BENSON: Like you said, it was do‑or‑die.  I've been coached well and I try to do anything to help my teammates out in any way possible; and if it's scoring the ball or rebounding or diving on the floor, I'm going to do that. Got in a good rhythm, my teammates, they found me, and team just moved the ball well and unfortunately 18 points, you know, the end of the day we didn't get the win. Q. Kevin, there was a point where Butler called the time‑out‑‑ did that do anything to get you out of your rhythm and make the flow? KEVIN DILLARD: No, I thought it was a good time‑out. I still felt like I was still able to have a good rhythm, but you know, that's when they came out and they hit three 3‑pointers and that kind of changed the rhythm of the game. I think their ability to hit from behind the arch is what changed the momentum of the game. Q. You had two points at halftime and then you had 13, I think, in the second half; maybe what was the difference for you in the two halves? KEVIN DILLARD: They did a good job of keeping‑‑ behind me, but the second half I just wanted to be a little more aggressive and try to get in the lane and penetrate for others and for myself.  But the points are good, but I would of rather take the win. Q. Talk about trying to guard Rotnei Clarke, he gets open, just the difficulty. KEVIN DILLARD: Rotnei, he's a good three‑point shooter, and they do a good job of screening for him. He does a good job of using screens. For the most part, we just tried to be there on the catch, put our hands up and make him make tough shots, but to his credit, he was able to do that today. Q. Like Archie said, you didn't sign up for him, and you had to go through a lot of change. What is some of the change you've gone through the last couple of years? KEVIN DILLARD: The only change we got to adjust to is the terminology and the way the game is played, the offensive and defensive part of it. But I wouldn't trade the chance for anything. I felt like when he came, he gave us the opportunity to get better and he got us better over the two years that we spent with him. Coached us well and coached the team well and he put us in position to win every game. We just came up short tonight. Q. Played well for today's outcome‑‑ inaudible. COACH MILLER: No, I thought both Butler and Dayton played extremely hard. I thought both teams were prepared from the first game to the second game. I don't think the officiating had anything to do with the game really. Q. You're up three early the second half and then they go three, three, three; did that really turn it? COACH MILLER: That's two majors runs in the game that hurt us. In the first half, if you remember, I think they got about three in a row from behind the line in the first half, which gave them control. And then once we had control, they took it right back from us with three more 3s. So those 3s were really, really hard to come by. The game was basically decided behind the 3‑point line today, and you know, I thought we did a nice job on Kellen Dunham. Rotnei is just one of those rare guys that sometimes you can even be there and it really doesn't matter. It's unconscious in terms of how many times he misses it. Almost like watching a guy like J.J. Redick in college, that's the type of guy he is. It's irrelevant whether you're there or whether he's missing. You know, he hit some big ones. I thought their front court players, we tried to play it by the numbers, but they have got three big 3s from their center spot. And it's kind of the way the ball's bounced for us, so to speak, this season; in terms of when you're relying on percentages and numbers and game planning and who is going to beat you. I thought their five‑man did a really nice job. At the end of the day, their two senior players got the job done today when they needed it most. When we needed some stops, when we had some control, they went right inside. Then when you start talking about the three‑point line a little bit, it has hard for us to overcome, even shooting the percentages we were able to shoot against good team. Q. Behind the three‑point line, only four attempts, two times at the end‑‑ since you dominated the paint so well, was the three something that you were not really worrying about from a coaching standpoint? COACH MILLER: I have talked to our team all year about the three‑point ‑‑ this team is all about efficiency. And that's why our team has improved from the beginning of the season all the way until the end, in particular, on offense. You know, our team doesn't need to shoot a lot of threes. We need to shoot open threes and when they are open they know those are good shots. But the mere fact we only took four 3s in the game, No.1, you can tell Butler's game plan. They don't leave good shooters at the end of the day. They played the numbers a little bit in making guys beat you. But we were able to get the ball point‑blank as many times as we tried, whether we posted it, whether we drove it and whether we had the ability to rebound it. I wish our free three throw percentage was better, but if you look at our percentages over the course of the season, there's a reason the field goal percentage and the efficiency and what we have been able to accomplish with a pretty new team; and in some cases, three freshmen on the floor at one time, we have been able to do that. But the three‑point line, that wasn't going to be a determining factor winning or losing for us offensively. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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