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NIT POSTSEASON: FIRST ROUNDMarch 20, 2013Greg LansingIOWA CITY, IOWA IOWA – 68 COACH LANSING: Well we knew coming in here we were playing a very good basketball team. It's an NCAA‑calibre basketball team. Should have been in the tournament. Very well coached. Play the right way. Tough. Tremendous in transition and on the offensive boards. And we just didn't take care of those things. We were still hanging in there the first half and then the second half we got all out of whack. We thought we were going to make a pick‑up game and try and beat them and just turned it over and turned it over. The start of the second half is what cost us the game, there's no question. Told our guys, if we want to be the type of team that's going to contend for Missouri Valley Championship, this is the type of place you have to come win, the type of team you have to beat. I commend the hackies. I've watched them all year, they have gotten better all year. Again I think they are as well coached as anybody we've played, and they didn't play that well tonight, otherwise it would have been a lot worse there in the second half. But they are the type of team that can win this thing, and with everybody coming back other than May, they have a very bright future. Q.  Can you talk about the start of the second half? COACH LANSING: Yeah, we turned it over I think on four or five of our first possessions or something like that and settled for quick threes. Turnovers are going to happen sometime, and Jake tried to force some things. But one thing we have told them, after made baskets we need to reverse the ball a couple of times and make them have to guard us a little bit and just didn't do it. We were really all out of sorts at halftime, and I'm not sure if they thought it was going to be a little easier than what it was but they kept doing what we were doing and we got a way from what we were doing in the first half. Q. The pass‑back threes‑‑ COACH LANSING: Yeah, that's one thing. You know, a guy that has not made a shot, when he gets to the free throw line, gets to see that thing go in; we know Zach can make those things. And, when we were doing that, we were guarding the ball screen correctly on the first time that he hit one, and he switched it and we were supposed to switch on him and didn't switch. Yeah, that was really big right there in that stretch. I thought even before that, I mean, obviously we got six guys on the court (chuckling) we were a little out of whack in all areas there to start the second half. Q. Can you talk about the lack of concentration during that period and how disappointing that is when it just seemed to turn on a dime. COACH LANSING: Well, we were right there. We were right there with a very good team, a team that we still think we could have beat. But, when you play like that, you know, it comes down to possession basketball a lot of times, and you can't just hand them‑‑ they are so good in transition. If you turn it over, they are going to turn it into something.  And in the first half, that's really all they scored was off of transition and off their second shots. But it's disappointing, but we don't have a senior, you know, and these are young guys and we've had quite a bit of a break from our last game. We didn't finish the season the way we'd like to. We are going to be a good team. We have shown that. But we got out of sorts, and then that probably starts with me. But these guys have been a hard‑working group all year, so I'm not going to take any away from them trying real hard to make some plays. Q. The end of the half, 13‑4 run, you're up eight, that's where things started to unravel. To your perspective, what happened there? COACH LANSING: Well, it's transition. They got a couple dunks in there. They run out‑‑ and this is a team that when you are getting back in transition, you always try to say, to sprint ahead of the ball. That's not even good enough against Iowa. You have to sprint ahead of their farthest guy down the floor, because those guards do such a great job of advancing it. And all of them run; all of their bigs run and they are really good in transition. They are great in the front end of a possession and they are great off the glass to end a possession. So I still thought we were okay. I still thought we were okay even because they were really only getting buckets in transition and off the glass. So I thought we were going to be fine. But you can't‑‑ and to start the second half, you just can't turn it over like that. Q. How tough is it trying to come off a 12‑day break into a game like this and win? COACH LANSING: I think it's difficult, but it's like anything else. They came from playing awfully well to finish the season and then really fighting like crazy just last weekend. So I think we needed rest. We really needed rest after our conference tournament. We got rest and I thought our legs were fresh. We were okay in that area, but we just didn't play real smart to start the second half. So you know, a lot of times in the Valley, we are a week ahead of everybody else with our tournament; who knows if it helps. Our league has done well in the postseason tournament so who knows if it's better, worse, you get more rest. But I know we needed rest to come in here to try to compete. Q. If these guys move next year, and most have a year of experience under their belt; that mental concentration, that you've had at your best in the season, but you didn't have in the last month of the season really needs to improve‑‑ COACH LANSING: That's what we talked about in the locker room. Everybody has got to look in the mirror, and that starts with me. We have to do things a little differently and if we want to contend to win a championship, we've got to be a little more resilient, we've got to be a little tougher, we've got to listen better. I think I've gotten too negative with them the last half of the year and just frustrated with how we played. So it starts with me and it goes right down to our upper classmen, our soon‑to‑be seniors with their leadership, so we have all got to change a little bit if we want to be able to compete for a championship. There's enough talent in there to win our league. We've just got to all get a little better. Q. Marble's stat line was pretty impressive. COACH LANSING: He's good. He handles the ball, and you don't see many point guards at that size. He plays a little different than his dad. He's so good with the ball in his hands, and he's unselfish, too. He gives to the basket. I know he took 15 shots but if you get that deep and get to the rim, he's a touch matchup and I knew he would be but they have got a few of those, too. He gets to the line a lot and he was 8‑for‑10 from the line there, and to only turn it over once, we tried to pressure him a little bit and he only turned it over once and to get four steals; he's a stat sheet stuff, that's for sure. Q. What was it like for you being on the opposite side of the bench here? COACH LANSING: It's just neat to come here and see all my friends and the good people here. This is a place that I hold dear to my heart and I'll always appreciate the seven years I had here, and always going to come back here, too. I'm a Hawk fan, always, and I appreciate the attention we got and how everybody was so nice to us. But sure don't want to lose, either. I want could tomorrow in here, even though I'm a Hawk fan, we wanted to beat their butt, and we didn't get it done. This is a great place and I think you guys all know that. Q. What was it like to get the ovation? That doesn't happen to everybody. COACH LANSING: Oh, I don't know if that was an ovation or not (laughing). They are Hawk fans; they may be clapping for the other coach a little bit. It's neat. You know, i didn't want to leave here. I got fired. So maybe it's a little sympathy, too. But I left everything I had here after I got fired; our last year here was the best year of that tenure, and won a tournament championship. I'm still pissed about that Northwestern State doing that thing at the end of the game (laughter). FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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