|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
NCAA MEN'S 2ND & 3RD ROUNDS: AUSTINMarch 24, 2013Nnanna EgwuTyler GriffeyJohn GroceBrandon PaulAUSTIN, TEXAS Miami - 63 THE MODERATOR: We'll go ahead and get started with an opening statement from coach and then take questions for the student‑athletes. COACH GROCE: Well, couldn't be more proud of our team throughout the course of the season. And I thought it was exemplified in full fashion today. I thought we battled, I asked them to play with courage, they played with a high level of courage. I thought their poise was tremendous. They were resilient. We had several guys make plays. We had our opportunities. I want to give Miami credit. They're a really good basketball team. You don't win their league and their tournament championship unless you've got good players and you're well coached and you play well. It was a battle. It was like a heavy weight boxing match out there. Unfortunately, we came out on the short end of it. The worst part for me is that I've got these guys up here, two of the seniors. I got three more back in my locker room and we don't get to go to practice on Monday and Tuesday. That's the part that's hardest to swallow. Because these guys are high character guys, I loved being around them from day one, they have laid a foundation for where we're headed and as I told them in the locker room, I'll be forever grateful for that. They represented the university well. Proud of them. Questions? THE MODERATOR: Questions for the student‑athletes. Q. Brandon, you kind of slumped over there at the end of the game and just wondering what your thoughts were at that moment. You guys were so close probably seemed like you were within reach there. BRANDON PAUL: When the clock hit zero it kind of just hit me faster than I thought it would that that was the last game of my college career. And more importantly, just my last time being able to step on a court with the guys I came up with. With Tyler, Joe, D.J., the rest of the seniors, Kevin and Sam, as well as, the rest of the guys on my team as well as the coaching staff. I've had a great career at Illinois, I've done a lot of things, and just looking back I'm proud of the way we fought tonight like coach say. We made plays and it put us in position to be successful. Miami played a great game and they never gave up and they're a good team. Q. Nnanna, with about 40 seconds left you were battling for the ball I think with Kadji under your basket. And it looked like you guys thought you were going to get the inbounds play and then they gave it to Miami. Just how surprising was that to you? What was? COACH GROCE: I'll answer all questions regarding that play. Thank you. Q. Nnanna, just talk about the way you guys came back at the end of the game and just the feeling when you get that close and it doesn't work out. NNANNA EGWU: Basically he just shows the resiliency of our team the whole year and we showed it time and time again through non conference season, through the conference season. The seniors, they led us well throughout the whole year and they showed us that they never give up. They keep battling from end to end and that's just another example of that tonight. Q. Tyler, just a thought about what happened down the stretch and how close it was and how it didn't come to pass the way you guys wanted it to. TYLER GRIFFEY: Credit to Miami for making plays. We had the opportunities there, we just didn't convert enough of them. They're a good team and we just couldn't get stops down the stretch. THE MODERATOR: Okay, gentlemen, we'll let you go. We'll take questions for coach now. Q. Just talk about that inbounds play there. It looked like everybody was really surprised that it went the other way. COACH GROCE: Well I had two thoughts: One, I thought the officiating Friday and today was tremendous. These are the best of the best. I thought they did a good job as you saw. And my second thought is you saw the same video that I did. Those guys did a good job though. They did. It's a hard game to officiate, it's both teams physical, both teams desiring the same thing. 50/50 calls are hard sometimes. That's how he saw the play in life speed, and certainly respect him and respect the call that he made. Q. You kind of touched on it a little bit with the guys, we have talked about this all year, but what do those guys mean to you and how hard is it right now sitting here right now knowing that you're not going to have those guys any more. COACH GROCE: It's hard. It's really hard. It's really hard. Those guys have done a lot. To be in this position I think a lot of people wouldn't have thought that at the beginning. And then we got off to a good start and then we struggled a little bit at the beginning of Big‑10 play and I felt like people kind of doubted them again. Then they found a way to be resilient and grind out some wins there in Big‑10 play and play really well down the stretch. Biggest thing though I said this is I just said this to them. I hope it's a great life lesson for them that don't put self imposed limitations on yourself. And believe in your self. And when times get tough, they're going to get tough, they're going to get tough when they're married some day, when they have kids some day, and they have got to pay bills and all those life lessons that you learn, that's what sports are about. To be resilient and to grind and find a way. And they did that all year. I'm proud of them for that. I'm proud of our staff. Felt like we got a lot out of them. Our staff deserves a lot of‑‑ assistant coaches deserve a lot of credit for that. I thought today we played really, really well. I thought they played well also and they're a good basketball team and it just didn't go our way. Q. You touched on it sort of in general, but specifically Brandon gave you some big threes down the stretch, Tyler early, just talk about some of the individual contributions, Tracy to the hoop. COACH GROCE: Yeah, I thought ‑‑ well we have got guys that have a lot of courage. They do. They believe in themselves and one another and the coaches. They have done a great job and guys made plays. Guys made‑‑ I thought Sam's block was off the charts. I thought that Griffey made shots and rebounded the ball well. I thought Paul made plays. I thought Richardson was really good defensively. I thought he challenged the heck out of Shane Larkin's shot there. That was a big shot in front of the Miami bench and I give them a lot of credit for making that play. He's a terrific player. We had Nnanna with 12 rebounds, I mean you could go right down the line. I felt like everyone that played contributed in some form or fashion. That's kind of how it's been all year, we have been kind of a committee of guys trying to do it together. And I think our guys have, for the most part, they have done that, they stuck together through thick and thin and for that I'm proud of them. Q. How tough is it to see D.J. Richardson shoot so poorly in his final game? COACH GROCE: It's not easy, because I believe in D.J. I know he believes in himself. I thought he had some pretty good looks there. They just didn't go in. We had enough chances to make some plays that could have affected the outcome throughout the game and he had some pretty good looks. And I trust him a lot and most days he shoots 10 threes of the quality that he had tonight, he's not going to make one of them, but you know, stuff happens. And the great thing about D.J. is he found other ways to impact the game with how vocal he was, his leadership, the way he defended, I thought he was really locked in and engaged. I was proud of him and the way he handled himself all season. Q. Kind of reflecting, can you talk about how lucky you were to inherit a group that was this resilient all year long. COACH GROCE: Yeah, they have been ‑‑ I'm very fortunate, that they were open minded and having said that, I think that our assistant coaches worked very hard and we worked hard to develop relationships with the kids and that's what coaching is. Finding a way to connect and the players were very open minded and allowed us to connect with them and their belief in what we were doing. Grew exponentially as the season kept going on and on and on and on. Even when we were dealing with the adversity there where we weren't, we struggled a little bit, they stayed the course and so I feel very blessed to have coached that group and what they have done as we move forward here from year one to help us build a foundation of what we want to be about. Q. Building off that, how much does this help you, the success and getting to the tournament for those young guys as you look to take further steps here? COACH GROCE: Well I think it helps. Obviously. I'll have a chance to reflect more on that maybe tomorrow. In terms of the breadth of the whole season. Our guys have invested so much, I know that they're disappointed and they should be. They put their heart and their soul and their mind into this from day one and kind of had a cause and they battled every day to put themselves in position to have this opportunity tonight to have a chance to go to the Sweet 16 and they made all that happen, so they obviously deserve all the credit. THE MODERATOR: Thank you, coach. COACH GROCE: Thanks. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
About ASAP Sports •
FastScripts Archive •
Recent Interviews •
Captioning •
Upcoming Events •
Contact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links |
|
ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297
|