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ATLANTIC 10 CONFERENCE MEN'S TOURNAMENTMarch 14, 2013Langston GallowayHalil KanacevicPhil MartelliBROOKLYN, NEW YORK ST. JOSEPHÂ’S – 58 COACH MARTELLI: The players deserve a lot of credit here. They worked their tails off on Tuesday and Wednesday to be ready. They said all the appropriate things to each other during time‑outs in the last segment. Being down eight, I guess it was a 12‑0 run, I thought our halfcourt defense was really well done by our team. And yet we were still left wanting. I mean, there's more, but the biggest thing we talked about before the game was we had to get a walk‑‑ we haven't had a walk all year. We've looked not scared, not intimidated, but in that area of like confused. We've talked to them about it. And then I asked them to do one thing: To empty their tanks so when they put their head on the pillow tonight, they can say, I gave it everything that I had, and if we are not good enough, we are not good enough. But by an act of God, the ball doesn't go in. I do think that everybody should know this. I left a ticket for the Pope, he's a Jesuit, there's three Jesuit schools, but I did leave a ticket for Pope Francis. I wish him well. Q. Langston, can you take us through the last play? LANGSTON GALLOWAY: Well, the play was just to come up from the bottom of the screen, try to come to the top of the key and try to make a play for the team and that's what I did. Tried to make a play and they called a foul. Q. When you started, seemed like you put your hand out almost, were you trying to get contact? LANGSTON GALLOWAY: I knew I could get to the basket and just trying to draw the foul. But they called a foul and that's why I went to the line. Q. What were your thoughts, game on the line, two shots? What were your thoughts at that time? LANGSTON GALLOWAY: Just take my time‑‑ you talking about the free throw? Just take my time and relax and shoot the free throw like I've been practicing all week. Q. You had a good view on the bench, but what was more excruciating, the first free throw or the in‑bounds pass that Xavier had? LANGSTON GALLOWAY: Definitely the in‑bounds pass(inaudible) he's a great shooter, I wasn't scared about that. When those plays have not gone our way‑‑ it's finally gone our way, which is great, so that definitely was one of the things where I was a little timid on when the ball went up in the air. Q. Langston, not much time to celebrate, you have to turn the page and focus on VCU tomorrow. Just wondering your thoughts on the rematch. LANGSTON GALLOWAY: It was definitely going to be big for us. We left 14 seconds out there, so we have something to prove. We just have to take 40 minutes with the ball tomorrow. Q. In your experience, have you ever seen an in‑bounds pass off the backboard possibly rebounding by the other team possibly for a winning basket? COACH MARTELLI: Yeah, you're in my age bracket, I saw one time where a team threw a sideline out‑of‑bounds‑‑ okay. This goes way back, this is N.C. State‑Maryland in '73 or '74. They did an in‑bounds play off the backboard, had David Thompson catch it and it worked because of David Thompson. But I have seen the ball go off the backboard. You don't think the kid was throwing it off the backboard, do you? I don't know. I'm not trying to be smart. I have seen the ball go off the backboard. Q. Did you think that was‑‑ COACH MARTELLI: I don't know. I really don't know. I don't really know. Q. Halil, when you were down eight, things were not looking so good, and then like Phil was talking about, emptying your tank, it seemed like at that point you in particular‑‑ I don't know whether you're playing harder or what, but can you talk about that and scoring seven points? HALIL KANACEVIC: I'm not sure how much we were down at the half, they came out in the half against us at home and then we made a comeback at home. I mean, I scored but Ron made two great passes to me. I got a good swing, I'm not sure who it was on the wing for a 3‑point shot. I was in the post at the right time‑‑ I took a shot that was there. I was confident in myself and I made it. To go what Coach said, it's a big coincidence, he left a ticket for the Pope but I got a pass for my local‑‑ and (Inaudible)? Q. Could you just talk about like what it feels like to keep this thing going? You've had some tough games; have you ever experienced a game like this? LANGSTON GALLOWAY: We definitely don't want the season to end, so hey, bring on tomorrow, that's all I can say. Q. Seems like in the first half there were no prolonged runs by either team. What changed in the second half? COACH MARTELLI: I thought the defense on both teams, they had a number of deflected balls and they were able to run out. We had stops and we were able to play at a more brisk pace, and I thought that that was the difference in the two halves really. You're absolutely right. I didn't think that there would be runs in this game. I thought this was going to be a possession game. And at halftime I brought up a couple of possessions that we gave away. In the second half, I was more concerned about‑‑ you know, they deflected three balls in a row right in front of our bench; two of them led to breakaways. But we stayed with it. We had a big basket down eight, got Halil on an inside play, and everybody caught their breath. I think Langston hit a three in that little run; because, we're fragile, we're very, very fragile. Q. How do you get ready for VCU with just under 24 hours to prepare for them? You had a terrific game in Richmond, if you can speak on the last game and how you prepare for them for tomorrow? COACH MARTELLI: Well, to prepare for them, we are going down to Times Square and we are going to have them run around and try not to get hit by a car. (Laughter) I don't know any other way to put it to you. You know, like that's what it's going to be like. It's going to be like crossing the street in Times Square, and we just have to hope that we don't get hit by a car. The game at VCU, there were a number of things that jump out to me. One was their unbelievable fan support. I assume it will be the same here tomorrow night. The pressure was more intense than I saw on tape, and we had some fortunate bounces in that game. We banked in the three; we took a couple shots late. But my biggest takeaway from the last game is we couldn't guard them. We couldn't keep anybody in front of us. We did a much better job tonight. We've done a pretty good job all year long. I think our defense has been somewhat undervalued. And we have to really, really avoid the knockout punch. Their style, their swagger, is that they are going to come for our throat right now, and as soon as we get back to the hotel and they have eaten and they go back to their rooms, this one's over, and we do the best we can to prepare. You know, we are going to recall the situation that we had in the Barclays earlier this year, Notre Dame in overtime, same kind of gut‑wrenching game and next night we didn't have anything and we lost to Florida State. So we came to win one game to get another game, and now we are going to try to win another game tomorrow night. Q. Given the outside expectations set by people in the program, have you said that this is a chance to wipe the slate clean and go forward? COACH MARTELLI: I think that's cheap coach talk. You know, we are all 0‑0. But I got a very interesting text‑‑ e‑mail, very, very late last Saturday night. And the e‑mail said: Current circumstance does not determine your future. It only determines your starting point. That's a little bit of a paraphrase. But basically, where we are, is only the starting point. So we went in Sunday night, we looked at the film from the last game, the last Xavier game, and we went forward. So you know, the expectations and my own expectations, their own expectations, we didn't meet those over 29 games, but we had a chance tonight to play a game, and we're fortunate enough to win. So our current circumstance did not determine our future results. Q. Can you talk about Halil in the second half, and the difficulty of when to put him in with four fouls? COACH MARTELLI: Fortunately he fouls a lot so we have had a lot of opportunity. But I relied on the assistant coaches a lot to talk about offense, defense. And it's a little tricky, because Halil reads everything that is said about him. He was 0‑for‑5 in the first half on basically layups. So, yeah, he allows us to run offense. But to be honest with you, he would expect himself to be better than 3‑for‑10 and I would expect him to be better than 3‑for‑10, particularly with the ball where he got it. But he gave us a force in and around the basket, particularly defensive rebounding, and he has a really good idea of‑‑ he's very knowledgeable. He's got the highest basketball IQ on the team, so that‑‑ six assists, seven rebounds, 11 points, banged in a couple of those layups, and then you're really talking about a good game. Q. I know your season is not over or anything, but after what these guys have been through this year, how good do you feel for them or how do you feel for them after that kind of win? COACH MARTELLI: It's their win. And I mean this, it's their win. As you well know, I believe this: I believe that the wins go to the players. I think the losses go to the coaches. These guys, you know, they worked hard‑‑ yeah, but understand, they didn't work as hard on Saturday. So they own that, too. So I'm happy for them. I'm happy that they are going to get an opportunity to play on a Friday night in a great building against a nationally‑ranked team. I'm happy for them but I'm not satisfied. We are not done. Thank you very much. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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