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SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE MEN'S TOURNAMENTMarch 16, 2014John CalipariWillie Cauley-SteinAaron HarrisonJames YoungATLANTA, GEORGIA Florida – 61 THE MODERATOR: We'll go ahead and get started with an opening statement from coach and then take questions for the student‑athletes. COACH CALIPARI: What a game. If you were watching that game, you had to get excited about college basketball. So proud of my guys. Had every chance to let go of the rope. Told them on the bus today coming over, there's no team that's been through what this team has been through, the barrage, and they have stayed together. They have stayed as a unit. They keep believing in each other, and they believe in our staff. They believe in the coaching. Like I said, I'm amazed when I see them and that's why I said they had a fabulous year. Now, this game here, we had our chance. I don't like calling timeouts there. If I had to do it over again, I would not have called a timeout. The court was spaced. We could have gone and shot the ball. Done exactly what I wanted to do without a timeout. But we had what we needed. Andrew had the ball. He played another great game. We didn't make the baskets for him. He had all kinds of attempts for assist, we just didn't make any shots today. But again, for us to shoot 35 percent, folks, and be a second away from winning the conference championship is amazing. It means we really showed a lot of fight. THE MODERATOR: Talk questions for the student‑athletes. Q. For the players, if you could talk about what do you think the effort this weekend does for you guys moving forward? No matter where you go or who you play in the NCAA tournament, what did you learn about yourselves, and how is this going to help you in the future? WILLIE CAULEY‑STEIN: It's definitely a big confidence booster. Considering that the last games of our regular season and then coming in here, we were a brand‑new team. I think that building off that going into the NCAA tournament is going to be good for us. AARON HARRISON: It was a big confidence booster and it helped us a lot. It just built confidence within each other. We just played as a team. JAMES YOUNG: It just showed that we could play with everybody and we just came out with a lot of confidence this weekend. We moved the ball and communicated a lot and it really helped us. Q. James, on that last possession, just what was going through your head as you were driving the lane and then you slip and fall? JAMES YOUNG: I wasn't really thinking at all. I was just trying to get to the basket. I just took too much of a wide step and just slipped. That's just on me. Q. For Aaron, what did you guys do that brought you back into this game? You really struggled for awhile there and then just really turned it around. AARON HARRISON: I think what really changed the game was Willie defensively. Blocking a lot of shots, grabbing every rebound. We started getting run‑outs and hit a few shots. I think it was just Willie blocking a lot of shots and grabbing every rebound. Q. You guys played today against Florida, played them tight the whole way pretty much. What was the difference in this game than maybe the other two or at least the second half? WILLIE CAULEY‑STEIN: Just the fight we had. We're a brand‑new team and it shows that we got some fight in us. That's what we did the last game is just fight and scratch and claw our way back into the game. AARON HARRISON: You think we gained confidence like we all said before, and we just had confidence going into the second half. We knew they got ahead early and we knew we could make a run and we knew we had to make a run. JAMES YOUNG: It was just our will to win. We just didn't want to lose. We wanted to fight back as much as we could and we came together as a team. We still kept talking to each other like a family instead of letting the game get away from us. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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