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NCAA MEN'S 2ND & 3RD ROUNDS: SAN JOSEMarch 23, 2013Jim CrewsDwayne EvansKwamain MitchellSAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA Oregon – 74 THE MODERATOR: We are joined now by Saint Louis interim head coach Jim Crews, student‑athletes Dwayne Evans, a junior forward, and Kwamain Mitchell, a senior guard. COACH CREWS: Well, obviously we played a very good basketball team tonight and we didn't play very well, so that's not a good formula to have a successful night, and we didn't. But one night's not going to overshadow what these guys, these two, but the rest of the team, have done this year. They've just done a remarkable job. In the midst of uncertainty, just hung in there. We had a big hole and each one grabbed a shovel and dug in and contributed in ways off the court, on the court and relationship‑wise that was an amazing five, six months that we've had together. So I couldn't be more proud of a bunch of guys than I am in terms of what they've accomplished this year. And more so off the court than on the court. They've certainly accomplished a great deal on the court, winning two championships and winning whatever number of games we won, quite a deal, quite a deal. And so they did a wonderful job and we're very, very disappointed with the night. But one night's not going to overshadow what the whole big picture is of Saint Louis' program and these kids, what they've gone through this year. Q. Dwayne, after a first half where nothing went right for you guys, you came out in the second half, you got two early baskets. You had a couple of possessions there where you stopped them, but couldn't score. Then there was a sequence where they got two or three offensive rebounds and finally made a basket. During that stretch there did you have a feeling that things were turning around and you had an opportunity right there? DWAYNE EVANS: I know we have a team that's never just going to give up and roll over. We expected to come out and have a big second half and make some runs. But obviously they played better than us. We didn't get the job done. We got a bunch of offensive rebounds, we didn't get stops when we needed them, and that's what killed us down the stretch. Q. I know it's tough, the game just ended, but how will you guys look back on this season when you have time to reflect? KWAMAIN MITCHELL: Like Coach Crews said, one game is not going to ‑‑ reflect all the stuff we've been through. The guys taking care of business while I'm out, that's one thing that I really appreciate, those guys handling the team well without me. Obviously I wasn't there for the first part of the season, I was still there supporting the guys. We've been through a lot this year, and I just know, just the opportunity to play for a group of guys I can call my brothers. They handled things for me when things got tough and I did the same for them. We had a great season. It's tough when you lose a game where you know that you could win. It obviously didn't come into play. DWAYNE EVANS: It's been a good ride this year. Probably one of the funnest years of basketball I've ever played. And it's had the most adversity, so it's ironic. Couldn't ask for a better group of guys to be around every day, even outside of practice, just a bunch of guys that got along. Q. Did they surprise you with their zone defense and were you surprised by how effective it was against you? COACH CREWS: No, they didn't surprise me that they played zone. Usually we've done better against zone, we've had other people zone against us. I just really think that we tried to shoot our way through some situations that maybe our problem was executing our way through it. So we were a little quick with shots. I think just the statistic, and I'm not a big statistic guy, but they were 4 for 6 in the first half from three, and we were 0 for 10. It wasn't shooting, they were getting shots inside, out. We weren't getting shots inside, out. We were on the perimeter not looking inside the house, we were just staying outside the house. I thought we did better than that in the second half, in terms of just a mentality. But again, I think we were just anxious. They wanted to do well and we just kind of got out of kilter with it. Q. What was sort of the pregame scouting on Damyean Dotson, No. 21 for them, obviously he's really broken out late in the season? COACH CREWS: Yeah, he's long. He has an high arch. We had to get him off the shot spot, they set some down screens for him and he'll run the floor and get transition situations. He's a good athlete. He's got great touch. We didn't get him off of shot spots like we wanted to. And sometimes it looked like we had pretty good pressure on him. But he's long and really has a good lift on it, which is a little unorthodox, but you can't complain with the results if you're an Oregon fan. Q. The start of the second half I don't know what you told the team at halftime, but the start of the second half seemed to be going your way. Were you satisfied with the way the second half started and the way things seemed to be going? COACH CREWS: Yeah, and I thought we started the game, we were very aggressive defensively to start the game. We were very aggressive the second half defensively. But, you know, if you give up fouls and offensive rebounds and at times breaks and you're not ball strong, then you're letting people off the hook. And too many times we let them off the hook. So we didn't really play our offense like we normally do, and sometimes our defense, because of ‑‑ you can do a lot of great things on defense, but if you don't get the rebound, it's all negated. And that happened too many times tonight. Q. A lot was made coming into the weekend about Oregon's seeding and coming in here and then winning twice. As far as teams you've seen this year, where are they at right now in terms of the way they're playing? COACH CREWS: Well, they're really playing well. I probably can't answer the question, because I just haven't followed it enough. But obviously they're in the NCAA tournament. Obviously they've played better since their guard's healthier. And I know they started the season off hot with him and then had an injury. So it didn't surprise me how well they've been playing. Dana has been a great coach for a long time. So they have a chance to do well. They're doing well. Q. When Dana was hired there was a little bit of a Dana who reaction in Eugene. And obviously you knew about him for a long time. I wonder what your reaction is to in three years he's got that team in the Sweet 16? COACH CREWS: Well, it doesn't surprise me. Dana has been a winner everywhere he's been. He does a great job. He gets kids to really play hard. He gets them to play together. He has a very, very sound system of play, both offensively and defensively. It always is kind of interesting when people at their schools when they say Dana who, or Jim who or whatever who, Adolph Rupp ain't coming to Oregon. And that's just like every school. That's just how it starts in coaching. But they couldn't get a better guy or a better coach at Oregon and his success doesn't surprise me one iota. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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