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BIG EAST CONFERENCE MEN'S TOURNAMENTMarch 13, 2014Kadeem BattsEd CooleyCarson DesrosiersJosh FortuneLaDontae HentonNEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK Providence - 79 St. JohnÂ’s - 74 COACH ED COOLEY: I thought we controlled the whole second half. We got up pretty big. It's the first time all year we've played without Bryce Cotton for a period of time. So I'm proud of the development of the group. We came together and had a hard‑fought win. I thought we played a great team. That was a tournament game. I think St. John's is clearly an NCAA team. When you look at the depth of our league, what's happened in this tournament clearly shows how strong our league is from top to bottom. I think we were very fortunate to win today. I thought we got lucky at the right time, but I'm really proud of our kids' effort. From what my President told me, we haven't won down here often. So for us to get off the snide, it's a great accomplishment for our program. I'm excited to advance because that's what tournament play is all about. There's a lot of game balls to go around, and I couldn't be more proud of the group. We're excited to play Seton Hall tomorrow. We played them late in the season, so we got a good feel for them. They're playing very well the last two games. So get some rest, throw the ball up tomorrow, and play again. Q. Is it weird sitting up there without Bryce? COACH ED COOLEY: If you've had told me Bryce would be 1‑for‑10 and 0‑for‑4 from the three‑point line and we'd be sitting here, I'd be lying to you. He's been as consistent a player as I coached for a full season. It's about the guys that are up here, not the ones that are not. Q. Coach, this win's got to mean a whole lot to the program with Providence taking down a good team like St. John's. What's going to be the focus going into the game tomorrow against Seton Hall? They've basically surprised, I think, everybody in all of college basketball with this win over Villanova. COACH ED COOLEY: Winning in tournaments to me don't surprise. You're going to see more upsets across the country. Again, I talked about the depth of our league and the quality of our league. You know, in tournament play it's a one‑and‑done situation, and you hope to advance. Again, I'm going to come back to talking about the style of play. It's about matchups. And sometimes when you don't come out of the gate ready to go, you get caught. Q. Ed, can you just talk about getting past Bryce's struggles. You talked to him at the half. Obviously, he seemed a little bit tight. COACH ED COOLEY: No. I talked to him, "stay aggressive" because he definitely came out aggressive today. That's the first time in his career, since I've coached him, he's been in foul trouble. He may lead the country in least amount of fouls committed. He's not a foul giver, I guess. Is that even a word? A fouler. A fouless, I don't know. I'm not the brightest guy in the room, but I know he don't foul often. How about that? Q. I hate to take the focus away from your win, but you sounded pretty adamant when you said St. John's is a tournament team. Come Sunday, how surprised would you be if they're not in the field? COACH ED COOLEY: I'd be shocked. I would be. I'm not in that room and selecting anything, but I've played them now three times. They have matchup problems all over the place. They have length. They have star power. They're a tournament team, deservedly so, because they come out of the Big East and this conference is a monster. Q. Josh, can you just talk about that stretch in the second half where the lead went from three to‑‑ I think you had two threes. Could you sense the zone where they shifted in the zone for that stretch? JOSH FORTUNE: I think they shifted in the zone for that stretch because we did a good job on offense finding open spots and making shots. I think they switched to man because we made shots when they were in the zone. We just made shots. Q. Carson, just talk about matching up with them physically inside. CARSON DESROSIERS: Who? Q. Just in general, matching up with them. CARSON DESROSIERS: They're a physical team. They've got a lot of size, a lot of athleticism. I think we did a pretty good job on the boards today. I think that's one of the reasons we won the game. Q. I have a question for Josh: 24 points today. That's a high. Seemed like a little bit of a struggle the first half. What did Coach say to you at the beginning of the second? JOSH FORTUNE: He told me to be aggressive and keep shooting. I saw a few layups go in, and I just felt like I could make every shot. Coach told me to keep shooting and stay aggressive, and my teammates found me. Q. You think that was working for you? JOSH FORTUNE: Yeah, definitely. COACH ED COOLEY: I think Josh is a big reason why we've grown the last five or six games. He doesn't shoot the ball enough for me. When you look at the success we've had the last couple of week, he's a big reason for it because everybody can't have attention on the other guys, especially Kadeem and LaDontae. And then Bryce draws all the attention. But if you leave him open, I think it's going in every time he shoots it. So he'll be shooting again tomorrow. If not, we're going to have a fight. Q. Coach, were you surprised Obekpa only had two minutes today? COACH ED COOLEY: I don't pay attention to that. I'm trying to coach my own guys as best I can. Q. Did that change your game plan a bit? COACH ED COOLEY: Not even a little. Q. Did you see the final seconds of the Seton Hall game? LaDONTAE HENTON: We were just focusing on us. We heard about the game, but we just know we had to get it done, our game in front of us. We know we had a tough matchup with St. John's, so we know we had to get that done first. Q. What did you tell the team when St. John's pulled close and they had time‑outs and they were putting heavy pressure on you? What did you tell your players in the moment? COACH ED COOLEY: Stay in the moment. St. John's was going to have runs, but we wanted to make sure we had the last run. I continue to tell the team we're the best free‑throw shooting team in the country, and our best free‑throw shooters missed‑‑ Cotton, Harris, LaDontae, and our free‑throw shooter who doesn't often get to the free‑throw line ends up being the hero of the game, going 4‑for‑4, and that's Carson. So keep in the moment. Make sure you don't lose your composure. All we had to do was win by one. That's what I was concerned about. Q. Josh, can you talk about the game tomorrow, the excitement of going to the semifinals and also going up against Seton Hall. You split with them during the season. JOSH FORTUNE: We played them twice during the season. We know how they play and what they want to do or don't want to do. We have to go in there focused with the game plan and execute offense and defense. Q. Kadeem, can you just talk about matching their size and intensity and their defense. They pretty much played zone the entire game. KADEEM BATTS: St. John's? We had a good game plan going into it. We wanted to attack them. We knew they would play zone. Once we had a couple of zone busters, they had to get out of it and match up man‑to‑man. I felt we did a good job attacking their defense. Q. How about your zone defense? KADEEM BATTS: Our zone was very good. We matched up well. We communicated. I felt like that gave them a lot of trouble. Q. Ed, you think St. John's is in. Do you think you're all set for the NCAA Tournament? COACH ED COOLEY: The Big East should have five, six teams in this tournament every single year. Hopefully, you know, but right now I'm not concerned about that. I'm concerned about Seton Hall and how we're going to guard their interior, how we're going to guard their quickness, how we're going to guard their three‑point shooting. I'm worried about Seton Hall. Everything else will take care of itself. But I do know one thing: When you play in this league and play on this stage, we're the best teams in the country when it comes to playing competitively night in and night out, and that's why we're in the situation we're in. Thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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