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ATLANTIC 10 CONFERENCE MEN'S TOURNAMENTMarch 13, 2014Kendall AnthonyChris MooneyAlonzo Nelson-OdodaBROOKLYN, NEW YORK RICHMOND – 76 COACH MOONEY: Well, better to finish the game on the bench, and I thought our guys played very, very well. I thought over defense was really good. Obviously Micah Mason is the best three‑point shooter in the country. I thought we were very alert to him. I think he only got off two threes and the ones he did were contested and were hard shots to make. So I thought our defense was critical and then we made a couple of shots and of course Terry Allen, Alonzo, played great games, as well as Kendall. I think really, the game came down to our defense being‑‑ just making it hard for them to score and hard for them to find a rhythm. Really proud of our guys and looking forward to moving on to tomorrow night. Q. Alonzo, did you see this offensive emergence coming? You had some trouble scoring in the last four games of the season. ALONZO NELSON‑ODODA: For this game I think my main focus was to come out and play aggressive and try to get rebounds. That's what the coaches have been emphasizing a lot in practice and watching film with all the coaches. So I really think that helped get me going offensively. Q. Collectively all together, did you see it coming? ALONZO NELSON‑ODODA: Yeah, I did, especially when I saw Terry, I think he had 13 points in the first half and Kendall was playing really well. Everybody was playing really well offensively and flowing together. Q. Billy shot eight free throws. Talk about how you played such good defense and didn't get into much foul trouble. KENDALL ANTHONY: We just stick to the game plan. Coach had a really good game plan about who was the shooter, who was the driver and things like that and we played it really well. We can't play defense without our hands, I think that was the big thing, and we rebounded really well. So I think that all collectively as a team, I think we did really well defensively. Q. Third time against VCU tomorrow night, what are your thoughts on that, and your thoughts on your two games against them this season? KENDALL ANTHONY: I think we know what to expect. I think that's the best thing, you know, all our guys know what to expect with them, their defense, we know how to handle it I think. I think it will be a really good game tomorrow night. We'll play just like we played in the last two games and be aggressive and attack the press. ALONZO NELSON‑ODODA: I just think it's good that we just played them last week, so we are already on the scout and it's just how we ended up matching up with them. We're ready to play tomorrow. Q. For those of us who aren't from Virginia and don't know about that rivalry, what does that game mean and how intense is it? ALONZO NELSON‑ODODA: We know it's a huge rivalry but like I said, again, it's just the way things matched up, so we're going to be ready to play tomorrow. KENDALL ANTHONY: It's a big rivalry especially for Richmond but we are here to win the Championship and we have to take it one game at a time, and then the next opponent. So we have to be ready to play no matter who we play, so I think it will be a really good game, especially because of the rivalry. Q. You missed some shots early but then you started getting to the line and you were perfect from the charity stripe. Did you change your approach on the offensive end? KENDALL ANTHONY: No, I just played my game, just being calm out there, saw my teammates were scoring easily so I tried to get them more shots and I'll take my shots whenever I have them. So I'll just be patient and take my shots and if someone came, and I knocked some down in the second half. Q. Alonzo, can you talk about the front court having a little more impact for y'all and what you need to do going forward with that? ALONZO NELSON‑ODODA: I think that, again, starts off with us just being aggressive offensively and defensively, just getting rebounds and going out there and playing hard. Q. You said you know what to expect from VCU, they are going to press you backcourt, halfcourt, trap you. What is the counter measure to that? ALONZO NELSON‑ODODA: There's really no counter measure. I think we are just going to come out and be aggressive. I think that's the best way you can handle pressure, and I think we have good enough players to handle the press and handle the ball. Even our front court players can handle the ball. So I think we have to attack it like we have been doing the last two games and be aggressive. Q. Did you see this coming from Terry, and do you think Terry saw this coming from Terry based on the second half with Dayton the other night? COACH MOONEY: I hope so. I think Terry is going to be a great player, and you know, he‑‑ you know, sometimes he makes things look so easy, but you think that, you know, when he has 15 points, he could have 25; when he has eight rebounds, you think he can have 15. I think sometimes he makes it look so easy that sometimes you're kind of starting to be more urgent and maybe even impatient. I think that he's playing with confidence right now. I think he knows how important he is to us, and the different things that he can do on the floor are really, really impressive for a guy his size. We think really highly of him and think that, you know, these games could be more the norm to be honest with you. Q. I'm just curious how VCU's inclusion in the A10 the past couple years has changed the tenor of the rivalry; curious how philosophically things have changed in that rivalry. COACH MOONEY: It's always been a real will he big rivalry. It's unique because the schools are different and we're only six miles apart, and I think it's great. I think the fact that they joined is great for both programs. I think it's good for the Atlantic 10, I think it's probably even intensified a little bit because you're obviously playing twice, playing later in the season. So it's definitely a big game, a great rivalry, and there are a lot of different things that matchup that make it that much more interesting, starting with how different the schools are and of course now the styles of player are a little bit different. So it really does make it that much more interesting. Q. A solid night for your sophomore class in general. Can you talk about how important this stretch is for that group and especially for the program moving forward? COACH MOONEY: Yes, we have these four sophomore front court players who all contributed greatly tonight who we're really high on. Like many players and many sophomores, they have been somewhat inconsistent this season, but tonight, I think‑‑ we got great contributions from all of them. You know, Trey is our best defender. Alonzo is a great defender who finished at the rim tonight as well he has all season. Deion is another very defender who is a good shooter and player and good all‑around player. Terry I think is just so dynamic, he has such a big body and he's so versatile and can do so many things. Those guys are the cornerstone of our program for a few years; the more experiences like this, the more confidence they will have and the better we'll be. Q. How much is it to have those days off to regroup, to set a goal and say, this is it, pretty much. COACH MOONEY: Yeah, it's very important. The season can grind you down. Our last week of the season, we played VCU on Thursday and followed to Dayton on Saturday, so that was a tough stretch, but it did give us an extra day coming into the conference tournament. I don't know how much teams are practicing on the floor, live things right now, but for us we are trying to get on the floor and only do the critical things on the floor to keep our guys off their legs; so the extra time was beneficial. Q. Coming in off a four‑game losing streak, lost some close games, how encouraged are you to see the team play so well, and did you have any concerns that it was just going to be hard for them to sort of finish out what's been a little bit of a disappointing season with some adversity? COACH MOONEY: I thought‑‑ I think it was a rough end to the season. Our guys, we didn't have any practices with the guys packing it in and there was no energy. I think we feel like we have good basketball left in us and we have some good guys. When they accept that responsibility and are aggressive, that puts us in a good position to win games. Q. You were in the locker room at the halftime, were you aware of the award John O'Connor received for his outstanding contributions to A‑10 scholar, student athlete? COACH MOONEY: Is that right? I am not surprised by that, Paul, I'm really not surprised. Q. None of us were. And turning to a more serious topic, when you have gone back and looked at the most recent game against VCU, you had sort of the upper hand for much of that game. Have you pinpointed where it got a way and what you need to do to keep that from happening tomorrow night, and a second part, a neutral court, a bigger arena, some of the advantages VCU normally has present will not be there, will that help you guys? COACH MOONEY: To the second one, I don't think that will have much impact on the game. On the first question, when I read the recap of the game, it said VCU, an 18‑3 run in the second half, and that was over probably five or six minutes. So I think we missed opportunities when we were up by 11 to pull away, and we missed opportunities as they cut into the lead to steady the ship. Of course, they deserve all the credit. Their aggressiveness and their pressure obviously has an impact on almost every game. So I really look at it that we have to take advantage of our opportunities. The pressure presents problems, especially in a tournament format for every team and for all of your ball handlers but I do think that we can take advantage of some opportunities and hopefully the familiarity will benefit us in terms of scouting and not having as much time to prepare for the game. Q. Can you talk about the impact that Alonzo has when he plays like this? And second question, how is Deion? COACH MOONEY: Yes, Alonzo's impact on the game is tremendous. You know, he's so fast and active and long and can do so many things well. You know, for Alonzo, I really think it boils down to confidence. I mean, he has to kind of fine tune his game a little bit more by for the most part, it comes done to confidence, and he can be such a dominant presence on the floor, especially defensively. So yeah, it makes us‑‑ it makes us really, really good when he's aggressive. I think Deion is okay. He went down pretty hard, so we are going to check him out and make sure that he's good to go tomorrow. But I don't have an update on that yet. Q. You know VCU is going to full‑court press all the time, can you talk about playing them a day after a game‑‑ you have a 20‑point lead tonight, can maybe help you out tomorrow? COACH MOONEY: We're obviously expecting the pressure, and that probably creates more of a problem because of the no prep time or no rest time. But it is a tournament that we're excited to play the game. What was the second part? Oh, tonight. We tried to keep Kendall out and then he's our best foul shooter. So we tried to keep him out of the game to have him more fresh for tomorrow. But of course we missed a couple foul shots and needed to put him back in unfortunately, but hopefully not too taxing on him. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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