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ATLANTIC 10 CONFERENCE MEN'S TOURNAMENTMarch 14, 2014Jordan GathersMark SchmidtMatthew WrightBROOKLYN, NEW YORK ST. BONAVENTURE – 71 COACH SCHMIDT: Yeah, I don't think I can overemphasize by saying it was a great ballgame. Give Saint Louis a lot of credit. It was just a great ballgame back and forth. But I thought our guys, we got down by ten, by 12 or whatever it was, and I thought Youssou's length of the course, layup that we practice every day (laughter), I think gave us a little bit of momentum, a little bit of hope going into halftime because we didn't play well ‑‑ I think nervous, whatever it was, we didn't play well in the first half, and we went in, we had a glimmer of hope because of what Youssou did. And then the second half, the first five minutes of the second half was critical. I told the team it was either going to go from ten to 20 or we were going to cut into it and make it a ballgame and our guys really responded. I thought our 1‑3‑1 zone in the second half was really effective, kept Jett out of the paint, Dion Wright was tremendous on top of it. And then we made plays. We've had a hard time making plays throughout the year, getting really close and not finishing and the last two nights, last two days. And then at the end of the game, Jordan's big shot, the biggest shot of the year, and probably one of the biggest shots in Bonaventure history. So it was a great victory. We showed some character. We fought and we did it together and really proud of our team and the effort that they gave. Q. Take us through, first of all, when the ball left your hand, did you know it was going in and did you have one of those, did you not hear anything, see anything? JORDAN GATHERS:  Definitely when I ‑‑ when Charlon passed me the ball, great pass by our senior veteran and captain, and when I let it go, yeah, I knew it was going in. I've been in the gym working hard and it's finally paid off. Q. Have you ever hit a game‑winning shot before? JORDAN GATHERS: No, this is my first in my career. Q. And was the play designed, did the plan unfold exactly as you planned it, where you were on the floor, was it extremely fluid or did something break down where you ended up with the ball? JORDAN GATHERS: No, we chanted Charlon to have the ball on his hands to come off and create and find whatever he needed to find off the high ball screen and I circled up and I was open for the three point shot. Q. Can you just talk about, what it's like to play alongside Matt, and what that's like, and the second half, did you feel there was a key to get going? JORDAN GATHERS: We've been playing together this whole season. These guys are my brothers. I love them. I wouldn't want to play with any other two guards. They are great passers and great decision making and just great leaders out there, so love playing with them. Q. Players talk about being in the zone. In that second half when those 3‑pointers were going down, did you feel like you were in the zone and if so what was that feeling like? MATTHEW WRIGHT: I'm not going to lie, I was a little numb in the second half. I kept telling the team to relax, the game isn't done yet, so a lot of basketball left. I was ready, when Dwyane Evans hit that three, I told them, the game isn't done yet. But you know, they played‑‑ give credit to Saint Louis, they played amazing defense in the first half, they really made it hard on me to even get an open shot. But you know, once we broke the initial defender, Charlon did a great job of finding me in transition, especially in transition; and just to see the ball go to the rim as a shooter, it gives you a lot of confidence. Q. Obviously the second half of this game is probably going to be the story that lives on, the game‑winning shot, but talk about Charlon's performance in the first half. MATTHEW WRIGHT: Yeah, he's the heart and soul of our team, and he's the guy who‑‑ he's the spearhead of our offense. He's the guy who gives us the pep talk before the game. You know, when he goes‑‑ like wherever he goes, we go. And Charlon, when things weren't working in the first half, he had, I don't know, 14 points to keep us afloat, basically single‑handedly put his team on his shoulders the first half. Everyone is going to remember Jordan's shot but people are not going to remember Charlon's pass on that one and the decision making and his defense on Jett who is the Player of the Year, so you have to give a lot of credit; Charlon should be up here, too, with us. Q. Take me through the play when Evans hit the play to tie the game; what goes through your mind? JORDAN GATHERS: We knew we had the last shot, and trying to put ourselves in a good situation with the last seconds on the clock when I knew Charlon was going to come off and make the right play. You don't think a lot about it.  You just go out there and try to make a play. Q. Matthew, when you guys did go to that 1‑3‑1, particularly when you started extending it out a little bit further, why was that so effective against Saint Louis? MATTHEW WRIGHT: In our first matchup we played 1‑3‑1 and it was kind of the first time we implemented that defense and we noticed that in Saint Louis, we forced maybe the first seven possessions, maybe five turnovers. So for some reason it just worked on them better than any other team that we have put it on. You know, their weaknesses is outside shooting, so I felt like with Dion, having a 6‑8 forward at the top of the press, it really makes it hard for the guards to really maneuver and get straight line passes. That's what hurts our zone, so we throw a lot of passes and we are able to get there in time and it really worked the second half, for some reason, it really works well on them. Q. Right now they are showing your shot on ESPN1, ESPN2, etc., but this is March Madness, right. Have you dreamed of this moment? Have you ever fantasized‑‑ JORDAN GATHERS: I mean, it's every player's dream to hit that big‑time shot or to make that play or have a big game. It's really a blessing and I give God all the glory for that shot I made tonight. Q. In the second half offensively for you as a team, to be able to shoot 59 percent and put up 43 points on a defense that good, how were you able to do that? MATTHEW WRIGHT: Like I said, Charlon, it all starts with him. And Coach is right, Youssou's full‑court layup gave us momentum going into the second half, but you know, Youssou, as well, played huge down the stretch. And you know, more or less, we were able to get stops and that keyed our transition. It's hard to guard teams in transition, especially teams like us, we thrive in transition. But you know, Charlon definitely instigated the second‑half attack. Q. When you talk about the zone defense, you were able to mix it up. COACH SCHMIDT: We just thought that they run such good halfcourt offense, they execute tremendously; they get the ball swung from side‑to‑side and it's really difficult to guard them. I thought in the first half, we guarded them, for like 25 seconds, and then we would break down and they would get a layup or an open three. So we felt going into the game, you try to change defense, keep them off balance a little bit. They are not a great three‑point shooting team stat‑wise, so we thought our zones could be effective against them. But you never know going into‑‑ until the game starts and then you see and make adjustments, but I thought our guys, the 1‑3‑1 was much more effective than a 1‑1‑3. We were active, kept them out of the paint for the most part. And that's what, from a defensive standpoint, that's‑‑ when the game end, it helped us offensively, we got some steals and we got some easy baskets and that's how you shoot 59 percent in the second half. You can't ‑‑‑ against Saint Louis, you can't attack them; their set halfcourt defense, it's just too good. They do a tremendous job of ball screen defense and knocking the big guys off the post. You need to get some stuff in transition, and we got 23 points off of turnovers, and that was critical. Q. I think most people remember, two years ago, you authored a magical run in this tournament. Are you trying to block out thinking about doing that again? Are you trying to press the same buttons that made that happen last time? COACH SCHMIDT: No, I think we have some guys on our team that were a part of that, and I think that helps, that experience. You know, experience is everything. Charlon and Matt, Jordan, Youssou were a part of that, and you know, they have seen it, they have experienced it, and that's something that we talk about when we came into the tournament. You know, two years ago, we lost our last game against La Salle and so we came in, we didn't have, quote, momentum. And we made some momentum as we went through the tournament and it's the same thing here. And you know, who knows what's going to happen tomorrow. But we've got some momentum. We're playing better. We're playing with some confidence and we're finishing games. You know, to beat a team as talented as Saint Louis can only give you that confidence that you need to be‑‑ to play well. Q. You talked about Dion at the top of the 1‑3‑1 and his impact, and you also saw his depth at grabbing offensive rebounds; why is he so adept at being such a factor on the offensive glass, and talk about his impact on the defense. COACH SCHMIDT: Yeah, we call him "the worm"; he's slithering all the time. He's got that crazy‑looking body. But he's really active, and he's just got‑‑ from an offensive standpoint, only had one offensive rebound today, but he's just got a knack. You can't teach that; you've either got it or you don't, and he has it. He's got really good instincts. He's got really good length, and that helps on the top of a 1‑3‑1. You can't play a short guy at the top. As Matthew was saying, if you allow direct passes, you're in trouble. And I thought Dion did a tremendous job up top making him throw high passes, loop passes, so we could get to the shooters. Q. How are able to limit some of Saint Louis's big men down low, like Manning; they only scored a combined ten today? COACH SCHMIDT:  Yeah, I think the 1‑3‑1 was effective. I thought the first half they hurt us. We played much more man‑to‑man than we did in the second half, but they hurt us inside. I'm not sure what it was, I think they had‑‑ they were plus‑ten in the paint in the first half and it was even for the game. So THE 1‑3‑1, it was really from a defensive standpoint, it's what won the game for us. Q. You mentioned yesterday, the last game against Saint Louis, 66‑60, you said you made it a close game; how did that help your confidence? COACH SCHMIDT: I think our guys knew that we had a chance; that we were not playing a team that when we went to their place, even though it was two months ago, that they beat us badly. We had the lead, I think it was eight, nine, ten minutes left in the game and we got a one‑point lead. So I think our guys understood if they continued to play well ‑‑ we played better, because I didn't think we played that well out there. If we played better, we'd have a shot. It's a neutral court and not at their home place. So we went in with a lot of confidence thinking that we can give them a game. You know, winning, who knows, but we knew we would give them a game. Q. Can you talk about the level of unselfishness of Kloof and how the whole team feeds off it? COACH SCHMIDT: Yeah, he was named captain, you know, as a junior. You've got a foreign kid that has not been in the States butsix months or whatever; and for our guys to name him captain speaks volumes and tells you everything you need to know. Unselfish; he played tremendous today. He had a tough year last year but he's really bounced back and he's the leader of our team, and he has the ball in his hands and like we're going to talk about Jordan's shot, and it was a great shot, but if it wasn't for Charlon delivering the ball, that shot would never have presented itself. Q. Also to that point, he had big point totals in the first half. COACH SCHMIDT: Yeah, exactly. They were playing really aggressive, denying man‑to‑man, and we couldn't really get the ball to the wing and we really had to do a lot of stuff off the dribble. We had two assists at halftime, which is a season low. But I thought Charlon really, he was aggressive and we needed him to be. When they are out denying the wings, you have to have somebody that can take guys off the bounce and that's what Charlon did in the first half and he came our passer in the second half‑‑ but really proud of his effort and what he brings to our team, not just from a basketball standpoint, either. He's a great kid and a tremendous leader. Q. What's it like to have the A10 tournament in Brooklyn‑‑ (Inaudible)‑‑ what do you think that might mean for the conference as well? COACH SCHMIDT: Hopefully we stay here. It's a great venue. It's the capital of the world. It's where basketball‑‑ basketball here is everything. Hopefully we can stay here for the next 20 years. It's a great environment. You saw what it is, a noontime game, having that type of environment speaks volumes about this league and how good it is. Q. Matt Wright obviously didn't make it all 18, but if you can give him his due for the development that he's made over the last couple years and talk about where he came from to where he is now and what he's meant for this team this year. COACH SCHMIDT: Matthew Wright didn't have a scholarship offer from any school. We got Matthew Wright in June, might have even been early July, and he had nothing. I don't think anybody knew Matthew Wright. I certainly didn't. For him to come from not having one DivisionI scholarship and probably played in some small school in Canada to what he is now, just speaks to his work ethic. He's just been tremendous. His skill level has improved, his strength. You saw him as a freshman, he was a little skinny‑‑ he looked like he was 12 years old, and now he's a man and he has a chance to play for money after he graduates. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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