|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
ATLANTIC 10 CONFERENCE MEN'S TOURNAMENTMarch 15, 2014Mark SchmidtMatthew WrightBROOKLYN, NEW YORK ST. JOSEPHÂ’S – 67 COACH SCHMIDT: Give all the credit to St. Joe's. They played well. I thought Kanacevic was the difference. He affects the game both on the offensive and defensive ends. He was tremendous tonight, double‑double. I thought in the first half, we played well defensively. We struggled offensively throughout the game and some of it had to do with St. Joe's defense, and some of it had to do‑‑ I think we went ran out of a little bit of steam, especially in the second half where we made four field goals. One of the strengths of our team is being able to score and when we lost, it's more defensive break downs, but St. Joe's, Roberts, Kanacevic and Galloway were just three tremendous seniors and they played really well and deserved the win. Q. Obviously you're disappointed in the loss, but if you could take a step back and think about the season as a whole, 18 wins and being here today in the semifinal, what's your take away from this last season right now? MATTHEW WRIGHT: At this moment it's hard to reminisce. Obviously the loss stings right now. But maybe in a few days, when the dust and debris settles, I'll be able to look back at the season and see how far we came from being picked last in the division. You know, we're not even supposed to be here. We should be doing individuals right now. Our season should have been a week ago‑‑ but the fact that we are still not done and we still have games left, and Charlon and I both know, we want to play at least three, four, five more games. We don't want to end our season with a bad taste in our mouth like this. But when the time comes, we'll be able to look back on the season and reminisce, but right now, it's back into the gym. Q. You guys were up 19‑10 at the 11‑minute mark of the first half and really playing well at that point, and then from that point on, really nothing seemed to go your way. What do you think happened from that point on? MATTHEW WRIGHT: Like what Coach said, the key to our offense, like offensively, was‑‑ defensively I felt like we played a decent job. We did a decent job defensively guarding them. Offensively is where we really struggled and what keys our offense is turnovers and stops and transition and Charlon, he's the fastest player in the league, he pushes the ball and we get dunks and layups and threes and that's what we thrive off. It's hard to push the ball when we have a set defense back there taking underneath the net. So they did a really good job of putting the ball in the basket and it was really hard for us to get out on the floor and run. And also, I'm not going to sit here and lie and say we are not tired. Obviously we came off two really physical games against Saint Louis and La Salle. I just felt like we looked at each other and nothing was going, baskets we usually make, going off the rim. It was frustrating physically and mentally. Q. What about their defense when you're already maybe a little bit tired; probably makes it harder when you are feeling pretty tired. MATTHEW WRIGHT: They are a sound defensively team in general but what makes them really good is their offense, and their versatility, especially with Kanacevic, a four‑man who can pass the ball, handle the ball, shoot. It's their offense that is their bread and butter. Q. Obviously you've been such a big key to the whole season, especially from a scoring standpoint, you are this team's scorer when they need it. Bembry seemed to kind of be able to take you out of the game a little bit today or make it very difficult for you to do what you normally do. How tough was that for you? MATTHEW WRIGHT: Well, they scouted us very well. They usually run a lot of set plays for me, and he just seemed to‑‑ he was yelling out the plays as we were yelling the plays; they were ready; they were prepared. And give them the credit, and Bembry's a taller, longer defender, just raise up above him and shoot. So he played‑‑ he played very good defense on me. It was frustrating. I forced a lot of uncharacteristic shots in an effort to get going. Just give St. Joe's credit. Q. Was there a point in the second half you were just like, it's just not our game at any point; it's just bad luck kind of a thing? COACH SCHMIDT: No, not at a coach. Just like a player, you continue to fight. You're never going to give in. Is that the question? Q. No, just seemed that there was such a crazy amount of lay‑ups‑‑ COACH SCHMIDT: Yeah, we missed a lot of layups.  It's frustrating as a player, as a coach you, but just continue to play and I thought that's what we did. Q. Obviously the third game in three days, and we talked about maybe some tired legs. How much do you think the fatigue might have been a factor? COACH SCHMIDT: It's hard to say. We missed a lot of layups, and like I said, St. Joe's is a good defensive team. They gave us a lot of problems but we missed a lot of shots. Part of it could be fatigue. Part of it was their‑‑ it's a combination of both. But to make four field goals in the second half, you're not going to win doing that. But they are good. They are a good defensive team. Q. The loss is still fresh but can you reflect on what you accomplished this year? COACH SCHMIDT: Yeah, I think the expectations were really low. People thought that we weren't going to be able to do anything, and I think our guys‑‑ we always emphasize over‑achieving and I thought we over‑achieved. You never want to be a part of a team that under‑achieves and I think we have a bunch of guys that got the most out of their ability. And if someone said that we were going to win 18 games this year, I would have looked at them a little bit sideways, but I thought our guys really came together; with what we lost, I can't even remember what the percentage of the scoring and the rebounding and the assists. But we lost a great deal last year, and we really didn't have one go‑to guy coming back and for us to be able to win 18 games and play in the semifinals of the Atlantic 10 tournament speaks volumes about our guys and how far they have come. Q. Beyond accomplishing what you did after being picked 12th, beyond that, going into this game, Charlon, Youssou, Jordan, those guys were 5‑0 in A10 tournament games and have not lost in this magnitude of a game; what does that say about just these guys as a team‑‑ before this, you had won five in a row‑‑ playing on this stage and how well they have been able to do that. COACH SCHMIDT: Two years ago we were 3‑0 and had a great player in Andrew and some really good players that graduated. But I think with Charlon and Matt and Marquise, they have been through it and they have good experience, and I think that helped us in this tournament, knowing what to expect, even though Marquise wasn't a part of it from a physical standpoint. But those other two guys, Matt and Charlon, had a great deal to do with it, along with Jordan and Youssou. So that helps. But when you shoot the way we shot today, it doesn't matter how much experience you had. We just didn't have it today. 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
|