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NCAA MEN'S 2ND & 3RD ROUNDS: SAN DIEGOMarch 21, 2014Gary Bell, Jr.Mark FewPrzemek KarnowskiKevin PangosSAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA Gonzaga – 85 THE MODERATOR: From Gonzaga we have Coach Mark Few, Gary Bell, Przemek Karnowski and Kevin Pangos. Coach? COACH FEW: It was a heck of a ballgame. We knew it wasn't going to be pretty. We knew we were going to have to fight and we talked about being the toughest team on the floor and, you know, I think for stretches of it we were, because if you don't match OK State's toughness, you don't have a chance. I'm proud of my guys, they did a good job with that and tip my hat to OK state, they kept comin' at us. Travis did a good job of making the game longer there at the end where we had to earn it and work on our end‑of‑game situations. THE MODERATOR: Questions for the student athletes. Q. Gary, you got off to such a hot start and then you get the two quick fouls. When you went back in, did it make it tough to get in a flow or were you thinking at all about the third foul? GARY BELL: I was definitely thinking about that third foul but the coaches, they put me in a position that, you know, told me not to get another foul and I was smart with not getting another one. The guys were good with me on the bench also, too, so it was like I never left. Q. Gary and Kevin, they got into the lead, got it down to three, and it looked like they had a run that was going to keep going, and called a time‑out, Gary you hit a three and Kevin you made a steal and a layup. Did you feel like those plays got you guys back and gave you confidence, felt like you could hold them off? GARY BELL: Definitely because I felt like we went through a stretch where we wasn't scoring, Coach called a great play I felt like I was going to be open and I was thinking shot before I got the ball. Thank him for that and I was confident when it touched my hands. KEVIN PANGOS: I think the same thing, it was a good call by Coach and Gary came off and nailed a big one and to stop a run like that is tough, and the steal just opened it up and got the layup but the three was the big shot. Q. Kevin, have you gotten tired hearing about turf toe and being asked questions about it every day? KEVIN PANGOS: I definitely have. I don't know, you're never going to be 100%. I'm feeling good, and this time of year it doesn't really matter. You just go out and play for your teammates and get the win, that's all. But I'm feeling fine. Q. Mr. Karnowski did you hear anything about the announcer's comments today calling you "the big Polack today? PRZEMEK KARNOWSKI: I heard about it and he came and apologized to me. Q. Was it offensive to you? PRZEMEK KARNOWSKI: Not really, some people told me it was offensive so I hadn't heard of that before I got here. COACH FEW: I think a guy made an honest‑‑ it was just a mistake and I don't think we need to crucify him for it. Everybody makes mistakes and he wasn't offended by it, the guy is a heck of an announcer and he has a bright future ahead of him and I think everybody needs to letting it and move on. We've all made mistakes, everybody in this room, letting it and move on, let's talk basketball. Q. How much did all the fouling, 78 free throws, how much did that change the tempo and course of the game? KEVIN PANGOS: Especially at the end, it got a bit choppy, but it was smart on their part, made it prolonged game, empty possessions, so it was a choppy game, weird rhythm but our team did a great job of pulling through and getting it done no matter how the tempo went. Q. Gary, Marcus Smart made a lot of plays, had some things go his way, had some things not go his way. Just wondering, what was your impression of how he played and what impact he had on the game? GARY BELL: He's a tough guard, tries to get into your body every single play so it puts the refs in a tough possession because it looks like a foul but sometimes it's not. I mean, I feel like we handled it really well, we went to the free‑throw line a lot but we made plays when it counted and that's all we can do. THE MODERATOR: Any other questions? Thank you. We will continue with Coach Few. Q. Mark, could you talk about your approach defending Smart and how you felt that all played out? COACH FEW: I mean, it started Sunday afternoon, you know, right when the match‑up flashed up on the screen. We played Marcus last year in Stillwater and I was fortunate enough to be able to coach him in the USA basketball stuff for a summer. So we knew what he's all about, he's a heck of a competitor and a heck of a physical essence, and I thought for the most part, even though‑‑ what did he end up with, 23? I thought we did a pretty good job on him, you know? That's vintage Marcus, he's going to beat you any way he can, whether it's with rebounds, 13 boards tonight, which is unbelievable! But it started with challenging our guys to step up and compete against him. It starts and ends with just being‑‑ getting your competitive level up to that and we did. Gary is a heck of a competitor, like I said Sunday night and so is Kevin and so is Stocks and Kyle came in and gave us great minutes and he was on Marcus a lot. Q. Mark, when it was 56‑50, you guys were losing ground and can you discuss that, what you drew up? COACH FEW: These guys deserve credit for that, that was a set we never ran all year, just made it up, because I wanted to go to Gary and to bring him off screens and to their credit the guys that were out on the floor, we had a hodgepodge lineup that was out there stepped up and executed it right out of the time‑out and Gary did a great job coming out and knocking it down. I think he made a good call, he was on a roll early and he got two fouls and that was unfortunate but we trusted him enough to bring him back in that first half to keep his rhythm goin'. He's been playing very well this last three weeks now. Yeah, for three weeks. He's huntin' shots and really doing some things offensively that maybe he wasn't when he came back from his injury. Q. I know you haven't had much time to think about Arizona, but when you do, what jumps out at you about them and what are going to be the challenges for you guys? COACH FEW: Well, the biggest thing that jumps out at me is they have had an awesome year, you know, to take over that No. 1 spot and to hold it for as long of a time as they did, and to continue and earn that No. 1 seed and dealing with the significant injury like they did with Ashley, I think Sean and his players just deserve a ton of credit for that. They have been so impressive, their defense has been off the charts so that's probably the biggest thing. They're rim protectors and it's impressive with the frontline and Nick Johnson has had an amazing year. They're a No. 1 seed for a reason. THE MODERATOR: Thank you, Coach. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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