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BIG TEN CONFERENCE MEN'S TOURNAMENTMarch 14, 2013Bill CarmodyReggie HearnAlex MarcotullioCHICAGO, ILLINOIS Iowa – 73 THE MODERATOR: We'll go ahead and get started with an opening statement from coach. BILL CARMODY: We got off to a bad start and turned the ball over probably in the first five minutes about four or five times there. Maybe in the last six, seven minutes of the first half. For the rest of the game, we didn't turn the ball over too much. We had nine turnovers for the game. But getting in a hole like we did, it felt like we were trying to claw back for most of the game. But we did a pretty nice job of going in ‑‑ we tried to play man and 1‑3‑1 a little bit and then we sort of found what we thought was a pretty good defense, that 2‑3 zone. We knew they would get the ball in the high post a little bit, but we just thought that guys were in a little different position there and it seemed to be pretty effective for us. Even though they got a few. They got seven or eight there. And I don't know if we had one more turnover, like in a fast break situation. And then I think Eric May and Marble just started making 13 or something like that. And we weren't able to get back in it. I thought we defended actually pretty decently. But, you know, that rebounding as far as our defense at the end of it, we just didn't get as many rebounds. We went small. We took Kale out and it seemed like the physical nature of the game was a little rough for them initially. And then we were in this hole. So I think that's a pretty good team and they played pretty well for most of the year. I have these two guys next to me who are seniors and I just told them in the locker room they will never have any regrets, either one of them, or any of the other guys too. Because they will never say, well, I wish I had done this or practiced harder or dribbled to my left better or shot better or worked at it more, because they both did. And they're both guys who have class and they carry themselves with dignity. THE MODERATOR: Questions of the student‑athletes. Q. For either of you, what do you feel like was, were the problems in the slow start when you got down 15‑2. REGGIE HEARN: I think at the beginning we weren't executing our offense very well. We had some guys out of position, we weren't communicating well about what the play was and our offense was kind of stagnant and I felt at times when we're not going on offense it affects our defense. And we obviously weren't playing defense well initially and we just got in a big hole. Q. Reggie, talk about your rebounding. You lead the team again for the second straight game. Talk about what's changed for you since Jared left. Do you feel you have more pressure to kind of pick up some loose rebounds? REGGIE HEARN: I wouldn't say it's pressure. But I realize it's something I have to do. Sometimes I feel like, aside from Olah or Mike Turner, I'm like the second biggest guy in there, so I just have to rebound if we want to win. And our rebounding margin was still minus 17, so I didn't do near well enough in that department. Q. Alex, after you guys used your final timeout what was said in the huddle that brought you guys out with more energy? ALEX MARCOTULLIO: We knew we had to give it our all. We had one last run in us, maybe a couple. We just said to each other, are we going to leave it all out here or are we going to give up? And it seemed like we came together for a few minutes there and we brought it back to seven, like coach said. And a couple missteps here and there and then they increased the lead. So that was kind of deflating. But I'm proud of the way we fought. Just a few things that we needed to clear up and we didn't take care of really early. Q. Alex, the way this program is going you guys are building up and things are really starting to look brighter. How difficult was it to endure the way everything went down? ALEX MARCOTULLIO: It was really difficult, especially for the senior class. But that's basketball. You're going to have to deal with injuries and it's really tough for us being our last year and having all these little fluke things happen to us. But it's no excuse. We just went out there and practiced hard every day, played hard, and just tried to come out with victories and play as hard as we could for each other, the coaching staff and the university. Q. Alex, talk about how Coach Carmody was able to handle all the speculation about his future and did it influence his coaching? ALEX MARCOTULLIO: I said this over the last couple weeks, with all the speculation, I think he's done a terrific job with the cards that have been dealt. He's put us in a situation to win and the rest of the coaching staff have done a great job with the scouting reports. And we're the players out on the court and we have to make plays. And, yeah, they put us in the right spots and we just haven't been able to execute as well as we should have. Q. Reggie, how tough is it for you guys to know there was that, you know, people talking about your coach like that. Talking about changing this program. Just to play with that over you. REGGIE HEARN: Yeah, it was tough. I didn't know there was that much speculation going on until I got asked by a reporter maybe a week ago or before practice one time. I wasn't really aware of it. And I think that Coach Carmody and the coaching staff has done a great job of not really letting it affect the way they coach. Like I said, I wasn't aware of it, I don't know about the other guys, but I didn't even know until a weak ago and they kept coaching as normal and it was fine. THE MODERATOR: Thank you very much. You can return to the locker room. Take questions for coach. Q. Talk about what the week's been and kind of the emotions tonight and what it was like in the locker room after the game and the uncertainty from your situation, does that add to the emotion at all in the locker room afterwards? BILL CARMODY: I tried to keep it very short. I really just mentioned a few things to the younger guys about what they have to work on; and then really just talked about the seniors, the three seniors and what they meant to the program. How they have worked and how they have carried themselves. So, like Reggie said, we didn't really talk too much about the whole situation. And if guys knew something, fine. And if they didn't‑‑ of course, Reggie was probably studying, so he didn't read your articles. Q. Where's this program now compared to when you got here? BILL CARMODY: Well the talent level is measurably better. I thought it was going along pretty nicely and then just this year it's sort of, when a couple players went down it changed everything, basically playing with all guards and freshmen. So it got harder for our guys. Alex said that the coaching staff has put them in positions and they have to execute, but they executed to their abilities. I think that it wasn't that they didn't execute or didn't run the game plan or anything like that. They shouldn't take anything from it, because it was just real hard, the situation, arguably a couple of your very good players going down. Q. With you having to start so many of the underclassmen, how is that going to help them in coming years, despite the adversity? BILL CARMODY: I hope it helps. Guys get better and sometimes they don't. I would like to say that we're playing all these young guys so they're going to get better and we have to take our lumps now. But sometimes they get better and sometimes they don't. And for the most part we have had a pretty good success rate with guys developing, but you never are sure. I certainly think Olah has improved in the last month. You can see it. But there's no definite measure. Q. Talk about Dave, he had an off shooting night. He's been shooting a little bit worse from the field in the later part of the season. Do you think he's a little bit too tired or do you think it's just one of those slumps? BILL CARMODY: People said that last year that he was getting tired and that really affected him. Maybe that's true. But I don't think that was necessarily true this year. I think that he was affected by guys being injured and stuff, because he's sort of a facilitator and trying to help other guys. And when you throw it to a guy who isn't as productive as ‑‑ if you can throw it to Drew, he's going to make it about 40 percent of the time from outside. And someone else might not. So then he has to do some things that maybe are uncharacteristic, where he has to stretch his limits a little bit. Q. Are you surprised that they're talking about your future given the injuries and the academic suspension this year and all the different things that have contributed to where you guys finished that were out of your control? BILL CARMODY: Well, it's just the way it is. Jim Philips and I will discuss this the next couple days and we'll go from there. We evaluate each year, so, I mean, it's no different than any other year as far as how we go about our business. Q. You kind of just answered this. Do you have a meeting scheduled yet with Jim finalized or is it something that you're going to be doing going forward? BILL CARMODY: We'll get together soon. Q. Talk about your desire to be back, especially given that next year's roster will be promising. Talk about that, as something that you really want to be back. BILL CARMODY: I don't think that this is the time for that. I'd just as soon have a discussion with Jim and then we'll go from there. Q. How would you evaluate ‑‑ it's been such a, I don't want to say up‑and‑down, tenure at Northwestern, because you've done some great things. But how would you evaluate your time here so far? BILL CARMODY: Everyone's goal is to get in the NCAA tournament. So we haven't been able to accomplish that. But in a hundred years we haven't been able to accomplish that. And there's not that much different now about what Northwestern offers than it was when Kevin O'Neil was here and Birdsong and Bill Foster and all those. So everyone knows, people have talked about it, it's sort of like an arms race. So the gap might be widening that way. But I feel like we have done a pretty good job of bringing in some pretty good players and getting better. So, in that regard, the goal of the staff and the players all along has been to get to the tournament and I think the administration knows that we have to sort of move ahead. A big step is being made with the Lakefront facility and the money coming in is fantastic. Down the road it's going to help us. Q. Football's obviously gotten a big uptick and I'm sure the fund raising‑‑ BILL CARMODY: In what? Q. In wins and attention and I'm sure in money. BILL CARMODY: Well, you know, football and basketball are apples and oranges. We have been in the post‑season, the NIT, all that kind of stuff. And football raises. Football‑‑ money comes in from football. People said 85 percent is football and basketball is like 15 percent. And our administration knows that and they're going to do something about that. And it's just a question of you have to pick something first. And I think we'll benefit from some of the things that are in this Lakefront facility, academically and the training facilities and then we have to move on to the future. THE MODERATOR: Thank you, coach. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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