|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
BIG EAST CONFERENCE MEN'S TOURNAMENTMarch 13, 2008Jessie SappJohn Thompson IIIJonathan WallaceNEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. Q. Coach, can you talk about the two guys on either side of you. At different times they almost took over the game. COACH THOMPSON III: Yeah, they did. And, you know, you play that game, and to say Roy had a tough time getting into rhythm would be an understatement. You know, the nature of our team is when any particular guy is struggling, not doing well, we have other people that can step up, and our team is confident in everyone. John got us going, kept us going in the first half, and Jessie made some plays in the second half. You know, we're fortunate; that's a very good team. That's a team we know. We made a little run to start the game. I forget what the score was, 10-12, two or three, and you know they're going to come. They made that run in the second half, and we were fortunate to hold on. But we stuck together as we do. That's what we do. So these two were terrific today. Q. What are the positives and negatives of Roy Hibbert in a big game like this not being able to score? COACH THOMPSON III: The positive is that we won. That might be the only thing positive coming out of it. We're good enough particularly when everyone else steps up to win, but that can't happen. He has to get the ball, he has to score. Between the foul trouble made him tentative in the way they play, the way they root him out made him tentative. But that's something that can't happen, won't happen again. Q. How surprised were you with the fluidity of the plays running so smoothly in the second half and the open shots? Were you really surprised how that worked? COACH THOMPSON III: You said with the fluidity? Q. The fluidity of the plays? COACH THOMPSON III: Walking down the hall someone told me, how many assists on how many baskets? 25 on 28. You know, the guys did a very good job of making the extra pass. In many ways they do such a good job. They do such a focal point. They place such an emphasis on taking away post play that everything else opens up. So we were fortunate the shots went in tonight. Q. It's a question for Jessie: You're from the city. You seem to have big games when you come and play here. Can you describe whether that's just a coincidence or whether there is a feeling that you get about playing here because you're from here? JESSIE SAPP: It's just a coincidence. I come out every night, whether it's here or any other place we play. I give it my all. It just so happened that tonight and the other nights that I played here has been one of my biggest games. Q. Can you just talk about your first half play, and did the basket look huge for you? JONATHAN WALLACE: Just my emphasis coming out Coach told me make sure I was aggressive. That didn't necessarily always mean by scoring. We just try to be aggressive and get good looks at the basket. And my teammates, we were keeping the offense moving really well. I was just getting open looks and stepping up and making them. Q. Coach, when you pretty much give them your best punch and you have an 11-point lead at the half, and they come out and start the second half on an 18-3 run, do you say anything to the guys to help them keep things together and get refocused? COACH THOMPSON III: I don't think it was our best punch, because our best punch involved the big fella. But that being said, we've been there before, and that's a good team. That's an NCAA Tournament team. That's a team that's played a lot of ball, played a lot of teams and won a lot together. Teams in this league are going to make runs. Teams in this league are too well-coached, too talented, too poised to think that you're just going to run away from somebody. So they made a run. We started the second half. Roy missed the lay-up right there. DaJuan stepped out of bounds. We took a couple of quick shots. Then they come down and score. We missed the shot, and then all of a sudden they get a transition basket. So it happens. It happens. They're too good not to expect that to happen. As always, we just said let's stay focused. Let's stay together, and we were able to slowly, methodically pull away as we do. Q. Is Jessie kind of like a really good insurance agent, he always seems to know what you need and he'll bring it? COACH THOMPSON III: (Smiling) No (laughing). Is Jessie like a good insurance agent? To answer your question, Jessie plays well normally when he gets a chance to give his mom a hug. So that's why he's played well when he comes here to the city. But I said it before, Jessie makes plays. And so we have other guys in the locker room. We could come out tomorrow and it would be a totally different group of guys that are able to step up, and everyone in that locker room knows that. We're fortunate to have him. Q. But what I mean by that is it can be points, it can be rebounds, it can be steals, it can be defense. COACH THOMPSON III: Well, he knows that if he doesn't do all of that consistently, he'll spend time sitting with Ms. Michaels on the bench. So he has the ability to do all of that, and he's got a God-given ability. So we expect him to do it, right? JESSIE SAPP: Right. Q. If I had told you that Stokes and Reynolds would have more turnovers than field goals, made field goals today, would you be surprised? COACH THOMPSON III: Did they? Honestly, looking at this stat sheet from their standpoint and from our standpoint, there is a whole lot that you say, if you told me this would happen, if you told me that would happen, we wouldn't be sitting here. So that's why you've got to play the game. Our guys were attentive to them. Our guys were attentive to them. They had a tough run yesterday morning. But I think that our focus was very, very good at the defensive end. We had some lapses, as Jessie indicated, at the start of the second half. Then good teams get going, good players get going, and we were able to make a few adjustments and pull away in the end. Q. Nova goes without a field goal for five minutes and change. Talk about your defense with Hibbert on the bench. COACH THOMPSON III: We were fortunate. The previous question, I guess, in many ways is the answer to that. Our guys were attentive. We were very attentive. We helped each other. And so in many ways certain times they're small, they're fast. So a lot of times at the defensive end when Roy's out we're not at a disadvantage because we can get small and fast, also. I think that played out a little bit today. Q. Can you talk about the contribution from Chris Wright in the first Big East Tournament game. COACH THOMPSON III: Chris and Austin. It's good to see Chris running around out there a little bit. Knock on wood, hopefully he can stay healthy. But it gives us a little more depth. He's been a big injury to us this year. We've missed him. We've had to adjust and tweak and change a lot of things based on how I had anticipated playing during the course of the year. You know, they're freshmen. They're freshmen, and it's the end of the year. I don't know, this is Chris's 11th, 12th, 13th game, I forget. He's missed most of the year. And Austin, for the most part, has been steady. So they're going to be pretty good one day. Q. Jessie, the time that you've been here, you've played like last year or this year. Have you been overlooked on this squad? JESSIE SAPP: Not at all. I know those guys are great players. I just played my position. It's a team thing with me. Whatever the team needs, I always emphasize on that. It's not the fact of being overlooked. I just play my position and just do whatever Coach tells me to do, and I know I'll get credit for it in the long run. Q. You guys made so many threes today, how much of that was a by-product of Roy's struggles or might you just have had an exceptionally hot shooting day with or without him? COACH THOMPSON III: I think it's both, to tell you the truth. Like I said earlier, they place such a premium and they're very physical in terms of the person that's guarding Roy than they bring the weak side help all the way over and sit right behind him. Most times he has three people around him when we're playing them. With skip passes and good ball reversal, which our guys did, you end up with open shots. Now, you still have to make them. I think they're playing, let's give them shots. If they make them, they make them; if they don't, that's what they try to create. But they put so many people around our post players that you have to make shots. We told our guys be ready to shoot. "You're going to be open, put the ball in the basket. Make shots. " Q. We've seen two noon blowouts so far. Your next opponent you've had two close games with West Virginia and against UCONN. What do you expect tomorrow night? COACH THOMPSON III: I want to wait and see who we play first, and then we can talk. This is the Big East Tournament. So you're going to see whoever you play, one of those two, they're going to be playing well. They're going to have won two games, and we'll see. We'll see who we play. We'll get there and start to prepare later. Q. You indicated you thought Villanova was a tournament team. Obviously, there are probably other teams other leagues around the country that would argue with you. That is the nature of this time of year. But what is it about that team or your league that you see that indicates they should be warranted that number of slots? COACH THOMPSON III: Well, as you go through, and I'm not on the committee. They have a tough job, all right. You can sit and everyone has an opinion, and I guess that's people's jobs, but if you're going to pick the best teams to be in the tournament, they're one of them. If you're going to pick the best team to get an at-large bid, they're one of them. And I know that just based on going through this league. This league is brutal. All right, this league has so many -- I've said it over and over again in the past two weeks or so, so many talented players. So many good coaches. So many different styles of play. We added extra games this year, so we beat each other up for a couple more games this year. So you walk away from this league ready. Not having looked at the landscape, but knowing that if you're going to pick the best teams to get an at-large bid, they're one of them. End of FastScripts |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
About ASAP Sports •
FastScripts Archive •
Recent Interviews •
Captioning •
Upcoming Events •
Contact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links |
|
ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297
|