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MOUNTAIN WEST CONFERENCE MEN'S TOURNAMENTMarch 8, 2012J.R. CadotJim ChristianHank ThornsLAS VEGAS, NEVADA Colorado State – 81 THE MODERATOR: We're ready to begin with TCU. Coach, we'll start with you, just some remarks on today's game. COACH CHRISTIAN: You know, as I just told the team, when you play in a conference tournament, you got to raise your level. You got to raise your level on the defensive end of the floor. The key to our game plan was to keep them out of the lane. I just thought we did a really poor job right from the outset of containing dribble‑penetration. It just led to too many easy baskets. They got in a good rhythm. They're a really good rhythm. When you let them get in a good rhythm, they hurt you. They hurt us right from the beginning today. We dug too deep of a hole. Then we tried to come back. We kind of lost our offensive discipline. We tried to get it back too soon. That's what happens when you dig holes. THE MODERATOR: At this time we'll open it up for questions for the student‑athletes. Q. Hank, what did they do in the first half? It really looked like it stunned you guys for a little bit early. HANK THORNS: They just made shots. We didn't show up defensively. Me, I mean, I let Eikmeier get off to a pretty good start. I mean, we just didn't come to play today. No excuses. They just made shots. They played. They out‑toughed us. They hustled. They played harder. They had something to play for. We acted like we didn't have nothing to play for. I'm still proud of my team. We still fought hard. We showed toughness. We showed heart. Q. Hank, the team struggled from the three‑point line today. Did that change the way you tried to play the rest of the game? HANK THORNS: No. I think our game is, we win games on defense. I don't think our offense really is a problem. We make shots. We miss shots. But the game is won on the defensive end and on the rebounding side. We just didn't do that today. Q. Was the tempo of the game a little bit slower than you would have liked to have played? HANK THORNS: I feel like it was times we didn't run as much that we wanted to. We wanted to run a little bit more. You got to rebound the ball to run. Like I say, we just didn't show up to play today. No excuses. We played poor defensively, me included. We just got to bounce back. We still playing. We got to go back to Fort Worth and play. Q. J.R., why do you think the lapse in defense happened today? Any explanation? J.R. CADOT: I honestly can't explain it. I guess it just happens in basketball. We are prepared. We practiced good. We had a good shoot around, came out, felt like we were ready. We fell off as the game went along. They out‑toughed us on both ends of the court. At the end of the day it showed. They came up with the victory. So hats off to them. Q. J.R., Pierce Hornung was a force on the boards. What does he do so well and how hard was he to contain? J.R. CADOT: He's a tough‑nosed player. To be a tough team, you need a player like him to do all the dirty work. You never know where they'll go with a player like him. I'm happy for the guy. Best wishes for him. He did a great job. Hopefully he'll continue to do it throughout the tournament. THE MODERATOR: We'll dismiss the student‑athletes at this time and continue with questions for Coach Christian. Q. As tough as they had played you in the previous two games, you had shot the ball at least from the perimeter fairly well against them. Did they do anything differently defensively to cause you to go 2 for 20? COACH CHRISTIAN: No. Those are shots we had. Same type of threes. Until the end, you know, the end we started forcing some bad shots. At the beginning of the game, we were getting the same shots. You got to make 'em. I don't think they did anything different. I mean, they played hard. They played man the whole game. They always play us man, so... We was in a bad rhythm shooting the ball. Q. When you got down a little bit in the first half, did you consider putting Craig back in at all in the first half? COACH CHRISTIAN: I mean, when we get down, it's hard. You need him for the whole game. 14 minutes to go in the first half, you put him back in, he picks up a third, put him back in in the second half. Craig usually fouls in bunches, so you got to get him out before he picks up a third quick one. Had nothing to do with the outcome of the game. Q. Any reason you just struggled so much more from three‑point range this game versus the first two? COACH CHRISTIAN: No. I mean, I wish I could tell you. Same guys taking the same shots. Sometimes you have nights like that. But really, you know, a lot of threes we get are in transition. We couldn't stop 'em, so we couldn't get the ball out and run like we normally do. That hurt. Everything was kind of a halfcourt game. That wasn't as good for us. We have to get out and run a little bit and get in transition. When they shoot 60% in the first half, it's hard to get out and run. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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