	products recent interviews FastScripts archive about ASAP Sports

Our Clients:

Browse by Sport

Find us on

Subscribe to RSS

Click to go to
Asaptext.com

View our
e-Brochure

ATLANTIC 10 CONFERENCE MEN'S TOURNAMENT

March 11, 2011

Chris Mooney

ATLANTIC CITY, NEW JERSEY

Richmond Â– 55
Rhode Island - 45

MODERATOR: We're joined by the University of Richmond's head coach Chris Mooney and Richmond student-athletes Kevin Anderson and Justin Harper. We're going to ask Chris Mooney to make some opening comments and then we'll take questions for the student-athletes. We'll dismiss the student-athletes and then open it up for questions for Coach Mooney. Coach?
COACH MOONEY: Thank you. Well, obviously we didn't shoot the ball too well. For a team that's accustomed to shooting very well, it's a little bit -- you know, it just catches you off guard when we shot that poorly.
Rhode Island went to a two-three zone. I think the first half we didn't score in the first eight possessions. They ran it and, you know, smartly stayed with them the second half.
I thought our defense was terrific. I just thought it was tremendous. Our defense, our rebounding, and we were just a tough enough team to win without doing something that we usually do well. So I'm proud of our effort and very, very proud of the win.
MODERATOR: We'll take questions for Kevin and Justin.

Q. Kevin, can you talk about the senior leadership that needed to come through when you guys didn't shoot so well on something that you usually do?
KEVIN ANDERSON: I that we did a good job on defense. And our energy, even though shots weren't falling for us, we kept our heads and we kept the energy, we kept getting stops on the defense, and just kept coming down, our offense trying to hit open shots, trying to drive in there, getting offensive rebounds.
And like I said, we just kept our composure, even though things weren't going our way on the offensive end, we did great on the defensive end to get stops and keep our energy.

Q. Justin, I was wondering if you could speak a word or two about the impact that Martel had and Darrius Garrett.
JUSTIN HARPER: Tonight Darrius and Francis off the bench were just unbelievable for us. The amount of energy that they bring to our team is -- it's hard to explain. They just do so much for our team.
Francis, he's just able to go up there and grab just about any rebound. And the same with Darrius. And, you know, it's the same on defense for both of them. They just have such an impact on our team.

Q. For either of the players, you played a game against Rhode Island in January where you scored 74 points and lost. Tonight you scored 55 and won. How does that happen between two teams?
KEVIN ANDERSON: It's the defense. Yeah, we scored at home, we scored well, but we didn't play any defense against them at home. They beat us pretty good up there, even though the game might have been close. They beat us pretty good. We didn't have any energy. We weren't getting any rebounds, and we weren't playing any defense, leaving the shooters open, and they was knocking down the shots. That's something that Rhode Island does. And tonight, we just wanted to come out and make sure our defense was good, and it was the whole game.

Q. Kevin, you guys are scheduled to play Temple tomorrow. Do you think you need to win this game to get you into the NCAA tournament, and if you do, what are you planning to do to combat the tough man-to-man defense and/or match-up zone?
KEVIN ANDERSON: Temple, they're a great defensive team. They grind you out for the whole shot clock, make you get tough shots, tough twos, tough threes. We're prepared for that. The strategy is probably going to be the same thing. We have to be good on defense because defense is going to win us games, and our energy and rebounds is going to win us game.
As you see tonight, we didn't shoot well at all. Our defense won us the game, and that's where we're going in there to do tomorrow night against Temple.

Q. Justin, what specifically did you do against Delroy James to shut him down? Last game, seven points. Today, ten, but I think eight were in the first five minutes of the second half.
JUSTIN HARPER: You know, he's just a great face-up player. We just tried do our best to stay tight on defense. Most of the game tonight, he would get matched up with either me and Dan, and the few would get around us, our focus was just to have another guy waiting for him there in the paint and just being -- just being tight all the around defensively. I thought we did a great job on him tonight.
MODERATOR: Thanks, guys, appreciate it. Questions for Coach?

Q. Coach, Malesevic had 24 points last game. He had two in I think one out of four, one out of five shootings. Did you change anything for him, or was it just focus a little more on him?
COACH MOONEY: Well, a lot more focus on him. He's a very good young player and had a tremendous day down in the Robbins Center, and we actually talked a lot after that game about kind of how we've gotten to this point of being a good program and that it's really been our defense. As good as we are on offense, usually, that it's really been our defense that's made us good.
And we did really focus on him and wanted to make sure that he didn't get any free looks because he hurt us so much in Richmond.

Q. Last game against Temple, you guys had a tough time. You lost by about 20. What do you think you can do differently this time to change the outcome of that game?
COACH MOONEY: Well, you know, Temple, they're really a terrific team. Just watching a little bit from the La Salle game tonight, they have so many good players. They're under control. They're solid on their front line. They have a few guys who -- I think all three guys were all-conference. I think we just -- in Philadelphia, I don't think we played well. I think Temple had a lot to do with that. And we just need to be better on defense to start.
In the beginning of the game, both teams scored. They really hurt us on the backboard, which teams have done to us. So we need to be better on defense and getting the defensive rebound.
Last year we had a great game with them, a low-scoring game. And we're in a championship and we were really in the game because our defense was so solid.
I think when Darrius is in the game for us, I think we go from being a good defensive team to a great defensive team. So when he's in there and Francis is getting us the minutes that he did, that really helps us.
But we kind of need to be in a pretty good flow at both ends in order to sub that freely. So if we can guard them better, we'll have a chance. But they're a terrific team and they can just hurt you in a lot of ways.
MODERATOR: Thanks, Coach Mooney.
COACH MOONEY: Thanks, guys.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297