BIG EAST CONFERENCE MEN'S TOURNAMENT

March 3, 1999

Kenny Harley

Al Skinner

COACH SKINNER: Basically, what I told the players after the loss this afternoon is that unfortunately, this game is not really reflective on how we performed the last couple of months of the season; so, it's very disappointing from that standpoint that we really didn't show what -- the way we've played the last month. So I think that's what hurts the most. You know, if Syracuse -- has played extremely well against us. They have -- every time we've played against them and we knew that we were going to be in for a long afternoon. But there's some thing that is we didn't do that we'd hoped that we would do. But you've got to give credit to them for the exceptional game that they played. But the good thing is that, you know, all my guys are going to be coming back. We're going to be spending some time trying to improve ourselves and get better. But like I said the most disappointing thing is this game is not reflective on how we've played in this league this year.

COACH SKINNER: You know, they are probably bigger almost at every position on the floor, and it's a factor -- not only are they bigger but they are good basketball players. So, you know, we knew that we were going to be in for a long afternoon and that we -- we had to do an exceptional job. And obviously that did not occur. For whatever reason, we got off to a slow start. The first time we stepped into this building was this afternoon. We didn't play St. John's this year. There's only a couple of players that played here last year. Any time you step into a new building under these conditions, this is a very new experience for these guys. So that's part of the reason why we got off to a slow start I'm sure. That's just an adjustment they had to make in order to participate, as well as playing a most difficult opponent.

COACH SKINNER: Of course, we're happy about the opportunity. We always want to play. We wanted to play and we hoped that we would come out and perform better. Again, I think that -- like I said, it's just -- you know it just does not reflect on how well we played this year. You know, we're a little banged up. We've got some bumps and bruises and some stuff like that because of how hard we had to play this season in order to compete. And it showed as far as what I could see. It had a big effect on our results and the way we performed.

COACH SKINNER: That's not -- that doesn't concern me. I guess it makes for -- it makes for good literature. Would be a good trivia question at some point in time when you do a 20-year anniversary game. But I'm not over concerned about that. As I said before, that's a flip side to this and eventually we'll get to that point.

Q. Coach, any comment on the bad blood between Thomas and Ross?

COACH SKINNER: I think there's a lot of -- you know, they both are trying to establish themselves around the basket. Some times the game gets a little physical. Brian is an little under-sized; so he's trying to maintain his position. But that's just all part of the play. I don't know if that's bad blood, per se, but I think it's just very aggressive play. He's trying to establish himself around the basket. Brian is trying to establish -- they are both trying to do the same thing. It's just the way the game is going to be played. I don't think we're at all overly concerned about that part of it.

Q. Kenny, you've been on a hot streak the last four games. Is it particularly frustrating to you to have a bad offensive day especially here in your hometown?

KENNY HARLEY: It's pretty much difficult after playing so well after the last couple of games. Today, I just think I missed a lot of easy shots, maybe because of being too aggressive or maybe rushing my shots. That's about it, though. I mean, it's difficult playing -- playing in your hometown and not playing as well as you know you can play.

Q. Kenny, can you give us a sense of perspective, having gone through the season and fought the way you guys did and to wind up here the way you did in this game?

KENNY HARLEY: Like Coach said, this game does not reflect on how we played this year. I mean, this year we played -- we were very competitive. I mean, it was tough to match up with Syracuse. They are a tough team. They got off to a good start. And they have a lot of new guys; so maybe being in this building had something to do with it, too, mentally. I'm just looking forward to next year because I know everybody is going to work hard and they are committed and we're going to be even more competitive.

KENNY HARLEY: I just thought we take it little by little and maybe try to creep back into the game. Hopefully they can make some mistakes and we can capitalize on them going into the half.

COACH SKINNER: I think the thing for Syracuse is how well Thomas plays, if he's able to handle the ball well. If he doesn't handle the ball well he doesn't establish himself around the basket, they are going to struggle because they have got to rely on their jump-shooting and that's been a little inconsistent this year. But it helps if he can establish himself in the interior. That's what happened today, let's face it. He did a good job inside made some high percentage shots; got them to have to a good start and gave them some confidence to play. So between him and Hart, it's it up to them to lead the way and help establish this team. If they do that, they have proven they can beat anybody this it league. They have also proven they can lose anybody. He is key, as well as Hart. Hart made some shots for them.

KENNY HARLEY: Earlier in the game I had a hand in my face -- and maybe sometimes when I went to the basket I got hit here; hit there. But also some rushed shots. I missed some easy buckets. But if you have a high hand, they are always going to put their best defender and make you do otherwise what you've been doing the last couple of games.

KENNY HARLEY: Not much, because I've been doing it all year. That's my mentality. I like to play defense. So it's just to help the team so I do what I'm asked.

COACH SKINNER: Basically, there's some -- some offensive skill things that we need to look at. I think the addition of our recruits are going to help give us the added depth that we're lacking right now. So between those two things, and of course, we need to get a little bit stronger. You're still stalk talking about freshman and sophomores. We need to get stronger. So I'm hoping that in the off-season guys are going to work to get physically strong, as well as maintaining their offensive and defensive skills.