Coach was stressing on getting me the ball more. We've been working on setting more screens and running more set plays. We just stressed setting more screens, and it gave me more open looks. |
He did a nice job on me in the first half. Charles [Smothers] and I are getting a little better on our timing off of screens, and that showed in the second half. |
I saw how they were kinda sloppy with the pass. So I decided to take a run at it. |
I think it was just experience. We were tired of getting beat. That's where we've been getting beat. We've been coming into the third quarter and playing lackadaisical. |
I think that made them wonder if they could win. A five-point play to tie the game is a pretty big blow after you've been leading for the whole game. |
I'm not sad that my high school career is over. This game is all about making the jump to the next level, accepting a college scholarship and proving yourself that you're one of the best players in the country. |
If you take a play off against those guys you get dumped on and made fun of. You have to be on your toes. |
It felt good to jump on them in the first quarter the way we did. They haven't been scoring a lot on anyone else, so we thought we could shut them down with our defense. |
It was a great thrill when I found out I was playing. I was at home when I got the invitation to play, and I was so excited. You look at all the other guys in the game before me, and you realize what a privilege it is. |
It was a great thrill, and the reason I wanted to play in the game, having it here, in my hometown. The other guys got the butterflies out (he started the game on the bench), and it gave us a chance just to come in, slow down the tempo, take better shots, and that helped us get back into the game. |
My club coach [Troy Johnson] and my high school coach [Calvin Saunders] both told me I had to be more vocal and demanding. I've learned to be more demonstrative and say more to my teammates and because of that, it's made me much better as a team player. |
Our timing was off on the screens all night. Sean Hughes got some great screens for me at the end. |
That really turned the game around for us. We are tired of losing to teams that shouldn't beat us. |
They were denying me real well. It got frustrating, but I had to do other things to stay involved. |
We do that (run out and dunk) a lot in practice. When we can do that in a game, for some reason it seems to pick our team up a lot. |