NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: FIRST ROUND - IONA VS ALABAMA

March 20, 2021

Herbert Jones

Hinkle Fieldhouse

Alabama Crimson Tide

Postgame Media Conference

Alabama 68, Iona 55

THE MODERATOR: We're now joined by Herbert Jones. We have several questions for you.

Q. Just wondering those moments, second half, they took the lead, seemed like you guys were pressing a little bit. Was it anxiety? What was it like in that moment?

HERBERT JONES: I wasn't in anxiety. We knew they was going to go on a run. We knew coming in they was a really good team. We just stuck to what we were going to do, follow the game plan. Things turned that way, we got away with a win.

Q. Alex Reese only took two shots, two threes, probably the biggest of the game. Talk about how awesome it is for him in the biggest moment to hit those shots.

HERBERT JONES: We always knew Alex was a great three-point shooter. His percentage doesn't show it, but we always knew how well he can shoot the ball. We kept telling him to be confident in his shot. It showed up today in a big way.

Q. I wanted to ask you quickly, what was Coach Oats' message at halftime? I know you guys didn't finish the way you wanted. You were up eight, into the locker room up one point.

HERBERT JONES: He told us to limit our turnovers, just settle down. He knew that coming in, some of the guys were going to have a little nerves. That's what kind of had us give up that 7-0 run to go into the half. He just told us to settle down and play our brand of basketball coming out in the second half, and that's what we did.

Q. What kind of grade would you give your team here today? How might this help you moving forward into round two?

HERBERT JONES: I'd give ourselves a C. We didn't come out, you know, defensively we didn't come out, I don't think we came out how we should have. We didn't make a lot of shots. But the effort was -- I give the effort an A. Our overall performance I think was a C.

Q. You improved your scoring from last season to this season. What did you work on in the extended off-season?

HERBERT JONES: Mostly my shooting. After I worked on the shooting, majority of the time I worked on my play- making ability, my passing, making reads at full speed, just like reads off the ball screen. I feel like that opened up a lot on the offensive end for me and my teammates. It allowed me to score more points in my three years prior to this year.

Q. Just wanted to ask about your three-point shooting. You've been an amazing shooter most of the season, but you missed 15 in a row over the past seven games. Does Coach Oats get on you when you're missing threes or does he not care because you've won each of your past seven games?

HERBERT JONES: He still tells me to shoot them if I'm open. He knows the work I put in, and my teammates know the work I put in. Nobody's telling me not to shoot the ball. Everybody is telling me to shoot the ball. I mean, if I'm open, I'm going to shoot the ball.

Q. You guys held Junior to six points, two in the second half. What were some of the keys defensively to keeping him from affecting the game?

HERBERT JONES: We just tried to limit his touches in the second half. I think he was a lot more comfortable the first half, we didn't pressure the ball as well as we should have. I think in the second half, that's what we did. He didn't score at will the second half.

Q. It seems like you guys really feed off Gary's energy, specifically the last three, four, five games defensively, then he gets involved offensively. Is that true, what it looks like?

HERBERT JONES: Yeah. We know Juwan comes in, he's going to give us that burst regardless of the score. He's going to come in and give us a defensive burst. I mean, we just feed off of it when we need that burst. Sometimes we start the game pretty good on defense, but coach makes the substitutions we know what he's going to give us off the bench defensively.

Q. The atmosphere, there's only 1200 fans in this gym. It got pretty ramped up there in the second half. What did it feel like on the court?

HERBERT JONES: Repeat the question.

Q. What was the intensity like on the floor in the second half there when it was going back and forth? Seemed like there was a lot of energy in the building.

HERBERT JONES: I mean, our fans, I looked up in the stands, I seen a whole lot of red. I mean, our fans, they showed up, they showed out. The intensity was great. That's any player's dream to be playing in the tournament in that type of game.

I mean, that's what I was preaching to the guys that were messing up, made a couple mistakes. I told them, There's a million kids that want to be here right now, go out and have fun, embrace the moment. I feel after they listened to what I said, I think that's when we went on that run.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you.

HERBERT JONES: Thank you.