|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE MEN'S TOURNAMENTMarch 13, 2014James DickeyJherrod StiggersTaShawn ThomasMEMPHIS, TENNESSEE Houston: 68 THE MODERATOR: Okay, we'll get started with our postgame press conference starting with the University of Houston, Head Coach James Dickey, student athletes, Jherrod Stiggers and TaShawn Thomas. Coach, we will get your comments on the game. COACH DICKEY: Thank you very much. Really proud of our guys, big win for us, have a lot of respect for Coach Brown and SMU, they've beaten us twice this year at home. I think Nic Moore had a huge second half. They hurt us in two key areas, on the boards and at the free‑throw line. They got 16 more free throws than we did and averaged 8 more rebounds a game than we had, so would he outrebounded them today and we did not get to the free‑throw as much as we would like but I thought our guys rebounded well. Second half, down 9 at half, I was proud of the way our guys came back and we finally got some flow to our offense. Down the stretch we had empty possessions but they missed free‑throws and I thought our defense and rebounding were key in the second half and obviously we had some balance in scoring. J‑Rod kept us in the game in the first half and hit some big shots and when you have four guys in double figures that always helps, and obviously TaShawn had a huge block toward the end of the game there that was big for us. That's an area that he's really improved on this year and then we made‑‑ Danuel made two big free‑throws and L.J. hit two big free‑throws. Q. Coach, what do you think was so special about the way your team responded after falling behind in the second half? COACH DICKEY: The biggest thing we talked about was togetherness, toughness, playing hard, leaving it all out there on the court. Our guys were disappointed that we lost both these games and they knew if we played right we would certainly have a chance to win. Right before the half, I didn't think that we settled for‑‑ we settled for too many perimeter shots and didn't get to the free‑throw line. The second half we kept pecking way and had good possessions and the guys started understanding "paint touches" you don't always throw it to TaShawn or big J or Danrad but we've got to get to the paint with the ball either off the dribble or throwing it in there and I thought once we played the game inside out, it opened it up for us and we were much more efficient offensively and then we complemented our offense with the defense at the other end. Q. Coach, you guys came close last time at their place when you played. Is there anything from that game you took to this game? COACH DICKEY: The biggest thing was we took better care of the ball when we played in Dallas, didn't rebound as well as we need to do and we weren't as efficient offensively. I thought we were more efficient offensively in the second half even though we had empty possessions there when we had that 3 and 4, our defense kept us in it, they missed some free‑throws and we got the rebound and we had guys hit some big shots. Our guys came into the game with a lot of confidence and I thought Coach Hamilton, one of my assistants did a terrific job in preparation and we're happy and thrilled to come out with a win. Q. Is Jherrod your 3‑point shooting was excellent. Can you talk about how you felt out there? Seemed like everything was going in for a while. JHERROD STIGGERS: My mind‑set was never know if this would be the last game, never know there would be tomorrow so leave everything on the floor. Take everything they give me. Feels great, though. Q. TaShawn, you get a key block at the end, your point man comes up with the ball. Few seconds left. What's going through your mind? TaSHAWN THOMAS: Not to give up the easy basket. The whole game, the rest of the night, lettin' us play and people were dropping to the basket so I knew I was going to be able to give up little "contact" on the basket so I waited for him to release the ball so I could get the block. THE MODERATOR: Gentlemen, thank you. 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
|