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ATLANTIC 10 CONFERENCE MEN'S TOURNAMENTMarch 14, 2014Jim CrewsDwayne EvansMike McCall, Jr.BROOKLYN, NEW YORK ST. BONAVENTURE – 71 COACH CREWS: Well, I thought that the first half we played pretty well. I thought we ran well. We were sharp offensively. We did some good things defensively. We committed too many fouls in the first I think nine minutes, got them to bonus, but the last 11 minutes, we were really sound defensively. I thought a little of a negative in the first half, though, was we kind of had it going our way and we took really quick shots when we were getting good results by just staying with the offense. And then obviously we weren't very good the second half. When you give up 43 points like we did, you're not going to‑‑ we're not going to win from that standpoint. But St. Bonnies did a great job. They stayed with it. Their guards were really, really good, both distributing the ball, hitting the open threes, finding the right guys and putting pressure on us, and pushing the ball to the floor when we turned the ball over. We had a few too many turnovers in situations. Their zone bothered us in terms of being in rhythm. We just didn't get guys in the right spots in a consistent way. So really don't know why, but we were having problems with that. So here we are. Q. Can you all talk about the difficulty that you did have dealing with the 1‑3‑1, particularly when they started extending it out a little bit? MIKE McCALL: I didn't think they were aggressive with it. I thought it was just sticking‑‑ just holding the ball and not attacking it. They was trying to turn us over and stuff like that, and I just probably should be more aggressive with it but wasn't. DWAYNE EVANS: Yeah, I agree, they weren't aggressive, especially when they first got into it, we didn't really show that we could make plays against it and that ended up being the story of the second half. Q. Mike, when you experience a one‑and‑done loss like this, does it make you appreciate the great run that you guys had here a little bit more? MIKE McCALL: I guess you could say that. I mean, last year, we made a great run in this tournament. I mean, everybody knows that, but I mean, St. Bonnies, like Coach said, they are a good team. I mean, we respected them since day one, and I mean, they made some big plays down the stretch, and the second half we didn't play that well. So just got to move on. Q. Dwyane, on the last possession for you guys, you hit the three pointer. When you got the pass, that was a little bit awry; do you have in mind immediately to shoot the three or you just went through a process of what you want to do and then you just presented yourself with shooting the shot? DWAYNE EVANS: Yeah, it was a process. I turned to see what was open and I think I had thebig guy ‑‑ (indiscernible) ‑‑ so I shot it. Q. I know you don't like losing, but is there any sort of good news/bad news, where you now have six or seven days before you play your next game so you do get to rest? MIKE McCALL: Yeah, it's tough losing the first one, especially in the tournament. But like I said, we have to get back in the gym, clean up some things and get ready for the NCAA Tournament. Q. Mike, could you take us through that final possession, St. Bonaventure's final possession and what you wanted to do defensively against that? MIKE McCALL: One of our ball screens ‑‑ we knew a ball screen was coming, their zone action, so it was basically get over that and just try to stop them from scoring. But player came up, made a good play, and had a wide open look and took it and it fell. Q. The first half you had a 7‑0 run and you had a really good game today scoring 21 points. How do you carry your success here forward going into the NCAA Tournament? MIKE McCALL: I thought we played good defense in the first half. We had, like, made the run. I mean, that's the type of team we play ‑‑ (indiscernible) ‑‑ on defense. So just got to get back in the gym, try to get ready for the tournament. Q. You've lost four of the last five games now. What's been the difference between the great start and the last few games and what do you think you need to work on in the next six days to get ready for the tournament? MIKE McCALL: Rebounding a little bit more. Defending, just little things like loose balls. Like I said, rebounding, ball screen defense, things like that, in order to be successful. Q. You competed today against Kloof, their senior captain, especially in the first half, he was so crucial, what was your experience playing against him today? DWAYNE EVANS: I thought he was pretty aggressive throughout the whole game. He was finding players to get to the rim when he needed to. He had a couple big plays throughout the game, he was being a leader and that's what you have to do. Q. The feeling on the last possession, after you guys tie it up, what's the feeling there those last 20 seconds? DWAYNE EVANS: We thought we were going to win. We thought we were going to win‑‑ with the mind‑set of getting a stop. We tried to ball screen the last one. So, I mean, things didn't go our way. Q. On St. Bonaventure's final possession, there was a ball screen and Charlon looked like he got doubled and was‑‑ outside of Jordan making the shot, was there anything else you could have done on that possession‑‑ COACH CREWS: Well, he put pressure on us. Kloof drove the ball and we rotated, but then 35, he set the screen for that kid. And I mean, he's a big screen, and we didn't quite get to it. Mark did a great job. Those are all little wrinkles that he does all the time with situations, and they are really well set up and they are really challenging from a defensive standpoint. Q. I know we talked about this a couple days ago, how important it was for you all, you wanted to win this tournament back‑to‑back, but is there a benefit now to having six or seven days off and resting these guys? COACH CREWS: Well, I hope so, since we got beat. That was not the plan and everything. I think it also is a great reflection of what these guys have done. There's only four championships in the last two years. I mean, the regular season, the tournament here, regular season, and now, and they won three in a row. They won three in a row. I mean, that doesn't happen. That does not happen very often, and so it's tough. I mean, I've said it all the time, I don't know if anyone ever believes me or anything; our league is really, really good and you've got to really play well and you've got to be fortunate and we didn't play well enough today, and that's because Bonnies outplayed us. They outplayed us. But hopefully it is‑‑ I don't know if it's a benefit or not. I guess if you win a couple games or a first game, you can say it is. If you lose, you can say, well, you got rusty. I mean, we can do all that all we want. We just need to get better this week and try to see what happens. Q. Obviously a lot of great experiences here last year. What do you think after this report‑‑ COACH CREWS: Say that again‑‑ Q. The ACC might be coming to play in Barclays in 2017 for the tournament and the A10 would have to go. What do you think of that and what it might mean to the conference. COACH CREWS: I have no clue. I don't care. I have no clue. I mean, we really love playing in New York. I think it's been great. Wow, 2017‑‑ wow‑‑ I don't know. You're more futuristic than I am. Q. Their 1‑3‑1 was the most difficult aspect of the length of the kid‑‑ COACH CREWS: We couldn't get our guys in the right positions most of the time for some reason, I don't know what the heck was going on. But we weren't very aggressive at the right points. We got out of what we were doing a little bit. But they are good. They are long, they are competitive, and they stretch you out. A lot of times when people stretch you out, you quit looking inside. You just look kind of outside the house instead of inside the house, and I thought at times that's what we did. Q. Being that you are one of the top teams in the conference, or one of the two top teams ‑‑ COACH CREWS: We didn't win the league‑‑ so there's only one that one the league ‑‑ Q. What I'm saying is on a national level as far as, do you feel your team gets everybody's best shots? COACH CREWS: Yeah, but I think the league is like that. I don't see the St. Bonaventure ‑ George Mason game, or the VCU ‑ Rhode Island game, I don't study all that. But this league is a very competitive league. You have competitive kids that do a great job. It's a fun league. I'm well equipped because when I go home, my wife will look at me and goes, "Do you need to"‑‑ "do I need to call your daughter or your son?" My daughter is a therapist and my son is a pastor; so I don't know if I need counseling or I need prayer, so I take my pick; I'm well equipped. (Laughter). Q. It's always tough to go out early in the tournament like this but on a personal level, you were able to see some family, took the team to West Point. Is there anything about those kind of personal things about this trip soften the blow? COACH CREWS: We try to make trips any time that we have a chance and have a little time. We are very fortunate because we are on spring break this week during this tournament the last couple years. So we always try to get the kids a good experience of fun or educational things and things that will help them just see the big picture more and more. So being able to do that, and then obviously it's a special treat for me because I've had both of my kids living in Brooklyn now, I have one living in Brooklyn, and a grand baby and a daughter‑in‑law. It's good for me. It's a lot better than the tournament being in Charlotte. Q. Are there trends in the four losses that have been consistent or have you concerned? COACH CREWS: The game‑‑ we just take one game‑‑ not really. I think there's always‑‑ I mean, you can get a laundry list. When we won 19 in a row, there's still a laundry list of stuff that you to get better at. You can never get better at all of them. You just chip away and try to get better. I'm not trying to blow off your question but I'm not smart enough to figure it out, either. We pick out our spots and try to clean it up and keep working on the fundamentals and then move forward. It's a pretty simple formula. I'm not saying it's a great formula and I'm not saying it's the best formula, but that is our formula. Q. We have talked about the theory of late‑game situations; any thoughts of fouling, tie game, 20 seconds? COACH CREWS: It did cross my mind but not for long. Not for long. Q. Because‑‑ what swung it the other way? COACH CREWS: I think we get a stop, I think we can win in overtime, something might have happened before that. But I thought they would kind of spread it out and just put you in a position where they are not a ball screen, because we get aggressive with our ball screen defense the four or five minutes and knocked some things loose for us. So they did a good job of getting away from that that last play. Q. This is the third consecutive year you'll be in the NCAA Tournament. Do you feel you're ready to make a good run? COACH CREWS: Well, I think you're not going to face any bad teams in the NCAA and I think that's what makes the NCAA an unbelievable spectacle in this country. I mean, people are addicted to the NCAA Tournament. It's fun, because it's the unknown. I mean, you don't know what's going to happen, and us coaches don't know, either. We don't. But you know what, kids have dreams, that's why this is a special‑‑ it's kind of like, what's that TV show, when they sing American Idol. You have all this talent and kids can get their dreams. Same thing as American Idol almost. Kids are living their dream, working their dream; and you have to be good and you've got to get lucky. You've got to be good and you've got to get lucky. Hopefully we are good enough, and hopefully ‑‑ I know we are pretty darned good. But we have to play good and get lucky. We weren't good enough today and that was the bottom line. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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