Our conference doesn't get nearly the credit it deserves. George Washington has had a magical year, and we're all disappointed in the seed that they got. |
Our players deserve a lot of credit just for making the game hard on him. You look at his field goals that he made, the shots were contested. I thought we did an excellent job tracking him. |
People at Xavier are wholeheartedly on the same page. The basketball program is treated with amazing respect. In return, you do what you're supposed to. You feel very responsible to see things through because the support is so consistent. |
Recently against us, if you're that guy that can't make a 3, you usually knock a few down. It was good to see that percentage come our way. |
Saint Joe's, it all starts with their guards. In game one, we made things hard for their guards. Every shot in my mind was contested, minus a few. We really had a disposition to stay with it. |
Some things right now are very challenging for us. Just getting into the next game and being able to play better is certainly our goal. |
Stan wants to win. You have to figure out what keeps him from getting 21 in the second half too. In no way does that diminish his game - especially in the first half, he was the difference - but when you see a guy play like that, you wonder if you can get that in the second half. Maybe not 21 points, but someone who can continue to play the same way. |
Statistically, you could put him up against a lot of guys. Especially his size, he doesn't take a back seat to very many big guys. He rebounds well, he scores well, he seems to pass well, and he creates a lot of problems. |
That hurt us a little bit. We were up two at the halftime with him sitting there for most of the half. It's tough. Up nine, with our team, I don't know if we're going to take it from nine to 15 like we could have in the past. |
That was a really big shot for us. That's kind of what I mean when I talk about players making plays. I don't mean the last-second shot, and I'm not talking about the final play. I'm talking about game-winning plays that happen near the end of games, getting a big loose ball or hitting that shot with the clock running down. Those are all things that this team can't take for granted. |
That was clearly our best way of getting back into the game. We stayed with it in a remarkable way. |
That's when we want to be the same. That's when I hope (media critics) are continuing to say we're doing well on defense. If that's the case, we have something special going on. |
The concern right now is ... being able to move to the next game. This year, it's now a home game against a very dangerous opponent in Saint Louis. |
The game (Thursday) could have gone either way. With that, there's some disappointment, but we'll pick it back up ... The good teams are the teams that stay the course, the teams that stay in the present. That's our focus right now. |
The other four players are really important when he gets the ball. We want to crowd him and trap him and try to make him get rid of the ball. One part of his game that I hope is apparent is that he'll turn it over. I hope that happens tomorrow. |