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MISSOURI VALLEY CONFERENCE MEN'S TOURNAMENTMarch 6, 2014Richard CarterRay GiacolettiSeth VanDeestST. LOUIS, MISSOURI EVANSVILLE – 69 COACH GIACOLETTI: Take your hats off to Balentine tonight. I mean, hit 16 the first half, 4 the second half, pretty consistent. We tried a little bit of everybody on him. I tried playing zone, tried to switch defenses, and he's a guy that's really become extremely versatile, not only scoring the basketball, but being able to pass it as well. I'm proud of our three seniors and what they've been able to accomplish. The belief and buying in and getting a team to buy in on a brand new coach and staff this season, I couldn't be more proud of those three guys and each in different ways. This team has grown as we've gone through the year. This team won a tournament earlier in the year in Fresno and had adversity as we went through the season with losing Gary Ricks, but never splintered or cracked or quit. I want to thank all of them and appreciate everything that they've‑‑ the foundation they've laid here our first year at Drake. Q. Richard, you started off on an absolute tear, getting nine points early. What allowed you to come out of the gates and just go get 'em, and be successful? RICHARD CARTER: I just took what the defense was giving me. I wanted to be aggressive for my teammates. We're at our best when I'm aggressive. Q. Seth, Coach mentioned Balentine, but talk a little bit about not only does he score but how he's able to kind of get everybody involved. Just talk about that, maybe beyond just the shooting, how does Balentine affect a game? SETH VANDEEST: He creates opportunities for his teammates also when he comes off the pin downs and flares. If anybody helps, he's going to find their open guys, especially their big guys. If we extend the screens and help up, he's pretty good at getting them the ball in a position to score. Q. Richard, talk a little bit, got off to a good quick start. I think you had nine points in the first five minutes. Did they do anything different the rest of that first half, or kind of how did you see the game playing out late in that first half? RICHARD CARTER: Their zone was very effective. We didn't do a good job handling the zone. So that was the key for them. Q. You all had the lead 21‑19 in the first, and then they got off to a 14‑0 run. How difficult was it to try and fight back from that? SETH VANDEEST: You know, we know they're going to make their runs. They're a good basketball team. We just had to make sure we stayed together, and we ended up fighting back and making a run of our own. That's kind of the way the game works. Just proud we're able to stick together and not splinter and not give up. RICHARD CARTER: Like Seth said, the game was all about run. They wanted to run. We wanted to keep fighting and stay together and try to cut down the lead. Q. This is for Seth or Richard. As you guys kind of move on from the program now, have you had a chance to talk to the younger teammates? What would be the thing that you maybe convey to them moving forward as they start going for 2014/'15? RICHARD CARTER: Just stay together. It's a long season. It's a grind out there to stay together and play hard. SETH VANDEEST: I'd say just cherish every moment that goes by fast. Everybody says that, but you don't really realize it until the end comes. We built a good foundation this year. I look forward to watching them in the years to come and grow as a team. THE MODERATOR: Gentlemen, we'll dismiss you. We're going to stay with the head coach. Q. Coach, talk a little bit just about maybe the flow of the game a little bit. Was it what you want? Because you jumped ahead early. Was it all Balentine, or what else was Evansville doing to seize control? COACH GIACOLETTI: They hit back‑to‑back threes. We didn't get matched up in transition twice, and it happened so quick that you go from an even game to down six. I don't know if it was even‑‑ how it happened. I just remember back‑to‑back threes, and we didn't communicate well enough to get matched up. It's‑‑ we tried a little bit of everything. We tried, different guys tried to defend in, tried zone, really a difficult team. Marty is different to prepare for because most teams today set a ball screen offense, his is motion offense and screening and flooring and rescreening. So as soon as you make a little mistake‑‑ I'll tell you what Balentine's really gotten good at is, when you make a mistake, finding the screeners and the slips, especially of the big kid inside. So he's not only a scorer, but he's become equally as good a passer. Q. Coach, their big man had a double double, tournament record eight blocks. He was causing all kind of havoc in the paint. What were you trying to do to mitigate that damage, and how was he able to still be successful against that? COACH GIACOLETTI: We wanted to go out initially early and see if we could get him in foul trouble. So our first two plays were trying to go at him and see if we could take advantage of him, trying to stay in the game or try to get him in foul trouble. He responded pretty well. We played him a week and a half ago, and we kind of went at him a little bit. The things we were able to have success with a week and a half ago, we weren't able to have success with tonight. Q. Coach, kind of the buzz word all day has been youth and how young this league is outside of Wichita. You just played a team with no seniors, and you're going to return the bulk of your lineup. How do you see the league going forward as far as how good it could be in a year or two and how you see Drake in this picture? COACH GIACOLETTI: We're going to be really young. We have five freshmen coming in, and that will be the first piece of the foundation in building something. Take nothing away from the guys this year at all, but a full year to recruit and have your own guys‑‑ I've watched this league since I was a little boy. I coached in this league 20 years ago at Illinois State. It's one of the, if not the best, mid‑major leagues in the country. My focus now is about Drake. I don't worry about anybody else, Drake. What do we need to do to help Drake take the next step? I know how good a league it is. I think people are going to find out just how good Wichita State is. For anybody to go undefeated not only in the league but to this point in the season is a remarkable feat. But can't worry about all those things. It's what we need to do at Drake and the five guys we have coming in and what we need to do this spring and helping us take that next step. THE MODERATOR: Thank you. Best of luck. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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