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NCAA MEN'S 2ND & 3RD ROUNDS: SAN ANTONIOMarch 21, 2014Emanuel ChapmanJeremy IngramLeVelle MotonSAN ANTONIO, TEXAS Iowa State – 93 THE MODERATOR: We're joined by NorthCarolina Central head coach LeVelle Moton, and student‑athletes Jeremy Ingram and Emanuel Chapman. Again, Coach will make an opening statement, and then we'll take questions for the student‑athletes only for the first few minutes. Once we release them, we'll take questions for Coach Moton. Coach, your opening statement, please? COACH MOTON: Well, obviously as I told you guys in pregame, I thought Iowa State was the best offensive team in the country. Anytime you allow a team to shoot 9 for 17 from the three‑point line and 64% for the game, you're not going to win. Our goal within our program is to hold opponents to 40% or below, and throughout the year we've been one of the top teams in the country in doing that on the defensive end, regardless of who we played. Regardless if it was a power conference team, a like opponent or a mid‑major team, we've been successful in doing that. Tonight we just didn't do it. We didn't defend with the tenacity or the effort that it takes to be to beat the team of that caliber. Offensively, we feel like we could get anything that we wanted. We shot 46%. So if you would have told me we were going to shoot 46% before the game, I would have assured you we would have won, because I'm that confident in our defensive abilities. But they're a tough team, and that's what they do. With that said, credit them. They spread you and they make you pick your poison. I mean, it's really, really tough when DeAndre Kane, I mean, he's a nightmare match‑up. He's a power forward in our league, just the rest of the players. I don't need to name names. But regardless of that, I'm so proud of my team. I'm so proud of what they accomplished. We didn't give our best performance on the national stage, but that's okay because these two to my left have been incredible. They made me look a lot better than I am. They have elevated this program, and I wouldn't take two guards in the country over these two. They fought tooth and nail. It hasn't been an easy jersey for neither one, but the reason I'm up here is because of these two. So I'm just proud of them. I love them to death, and they made history. So, questions? THE MODERATOR: Questions for the student‑athletes only at this point, please. Q. Fellas, real tight game at halftime. How was Iowa State able to eventually finally pull away from you guys? JEREMY INGRAM: I would say they got a couple offensive rebounds in the second half. Kind of got them over the hump, and the fouls were kind of going their way in the second half or so. It was kind of like ticky‑tack fouls for them, and we had to go strong. So I would say that was a factor in the game. But credit them. They knocked down shots, too. EMANUEL CHAPMAN: I would just say their ability to make shots. They would get offensive rebounds and kick it out, and that's the best shot in basketball, so they knocked it down. So credit them. Q. Emanuel, can you just put in perspective how proud you are of your teammates and kind of the accomplishments of the whole season? More of a real kind of look back about this season really quick. Just put it in perspective how much you guys accomplished? EMANUEL CHAPMAN: Right now it's kind of hard for me to swallow this and give out how proud I am of our accomplishments. But the thing I'm most proud of is that everything that we did and everything that we accomplished in our conference and out of conference. We did everything together. There wasn't one guy that got all the glory besides, of course, Jeremy with the Player of the Year. But that goes without saying. But everything we did, we did it together. Defensively, offensively, on and off the floor we were a family, and we're still a family. When we go back in that locker room, of course it's a little tough to end our season here. But regardless, we're going to always stay together. THE MODERATOR: We'll now take questions for Coach Moton. Q. Coach, what do you want your guys to take out of this game and being here in this experience? COACH MOTON: As crazy as this may sound to the outside world, you know, if you go in our locker room right now it's like a morgue, because those kids walked into here expecting to win a basketball game. There are no moral victories. That doesn't count in our program. That doesn't count in the game of life. Either you win or lose, and the reality is this is America, and America loves winners. Although we didn't give our best effort on this national stage, I do want them to understand that they represented NorthCarolina Central and the MEAC basketball conference really well. You know, the difference in the game, I just thought in the final minute and a half of the first half I didn't think‑‑ we talk about finishing halves all the time, because I think that is essential, and we allowed them to get an offensive rebound and a putback right before the half. I thought that gave them some momentum going into the locker room and allowed them to win what we call the first four minutes of the second half. But overall I'm just proud of our guys, and I just want them to know that when you have a dream and you have a focus and you stick together and you sacrifice yourself for the betterment of that team, it's amazing. It's amazing what a group can accomplish when no one cares who gets the credit. Like these guys really don't care who gets the credit, and that's what I tell you it's about. Q. Coach, kind of a two‑part question. How difficult was it for you guys just to slow down Iowa State's offense? And second part of that, Iowa State has reported that Georges Niang is out for the rest of the tournament with a foot fracture. What do you think that's going to do to their team based on how he played you guys tonight? COACH MOTON: It's extremely difficult to slow them down because Georges Niang is a point forward. We haven't seen anything like that, yet alone DeAndre at 6'5", 200‑something pounds. He's Player of the Year. He had a quiet 17‑8. You're basically picking your poison. Those are pros out there, man, and you've got to decide if you're going to double Kane and leave out some shooters and be late on rotation, or if you're just going to play it straight up. We tried to mix it up, but our guys are convicted in our man‑to‑man defense, so I didn't want to get here and switch it up so much that they felt as though myself and my staff didn't have faith in their abilities. It's a nightmare. Second part of that with Niang out, man, I'm sorry to hear that. That kid is tremendous. He ran by the bench and said a couple of words to me, I mean, in respect to my team. I'm a huge fan. I'm a huge fan. That kid plays basketball the right way, and he's a match‑up nightmare. I think especially at this juncture in the season, I just think it takes away from anything, your core and your nucleus, but Fred's a wonderful coach and he'll find a way. Q. LeVelle, at the end you and Jeremy and Alfonzo sort of had a moment there where you hugged. Were you sort of appreciating what this season had meant or what was that like there? COACH MOTON: I'm really hard on them. I hold my kids accountable every single day. I tell every recruit, every player before they play for me do not come here if you do not want to be held accountable every day. I expect greatness and I demand it from you every single day. So at that moment, I thought it was only respectful for me to pull them out of the game, let them hear that appreciation from the crowd and embrace them and tell them that I love them. I'm extremely proud of their accomplishments, and I hope they learned half as much from me as I've learned from them. Hopefully I've given them some kind of intangibles and characteristics to take out here in this real world so they can be productive citizens. You know, it was just that moment, and I just told them I love them because they made me look really good as a basketball coach this year. I didn't make a shot. I didn't grab a rebound. I didn't throw an assist. It was those guys along with the other seniors. THE MODERATOR: Thank you, Coach. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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