TULSA POSTGAME QUOTES VS. WILLIAM & MARY: NIT
3/17/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
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TULSA HEAD COACH Frank Haith
Opening Statement
"It was a really good win. First games in postseason are a quick turnaround. I knew today was going to be like going to the dentist, playing a team like this. Give our guys a lot of credit. Obviously, William & Mary had a shot there at the end. I thought defensively we were pretty good. The trouble we had was rebounding the ball, which is disappointing. We had some turnovers there in the second half. But I thought our D for the most part was good against a team that is very, very good offensively. You look at their numbers they are an outstanding offensive team. I just think that we lost our focus on those loose rebounds, and lost our focus attacking the 1-3-1 there late in the game, and had some costly turnovers. It was good to get that first win and get our feet wet and get back going."
On the mindset during William & Mary's comeback
"We don't say here we go again. I don't think at that point in time that [James Woodard] was worried about what happened at UConn, I think he was just trying to play the game. In our timeouts we were talking about how with those guys no lead was safe because they shoot the ball so well and they are very good offensively. We needed to keep scoring at that point in time. That was what our issue was, our turnovers and we gave the second shots. They scored a lot, but a bunch of those were second shots where they missed their first shot and got loose balls and reversed and then, kick-kick-kick-three. Wide-open threes. For the most part we guarded them, in terms of doing anything differently defensively, that never crossed our mind. We were changing defenses and I thought that kept them off-balance. In terms of what we wanted to do different was just not turn the dadgum ball over. Let's fake pass, make a pass and be strong with the ball and let's sure-up our rebounding."
On switching the defense
"We went zone to man and did different things. On their little scissor-cut we stayed with the cutters as opposed to switching it. There were several things we adjusted to throughout the game because their offense is unique and we were getting caught up on some of the switches and we want our guys to just stay with their man."
On what happened when they switched to the 1-3-1
"We missed two layups around the basket against the 1-3-1. We threw a play we set up and [Rashad Smith] tried to dunk it instead of just catch it and go back and lay it up. So, we had plays around the rim we missed. Then we had some ball handling miscues up front. They had good length and knocked some balls loose and those are unfortunate. You have to be able to squeeze. When you play a defense like that you have to be able to attack the elbows and boxes, you heard Marquel talk about it. We got passive, we stood with the ball above our heads and that's one thing that defense feeds off of. You have to be ready to attack and be aggressive with your bigs because you have a little guy down there you have to be ready to go score when you catch it."
On what to do when rebounding stops
"That's the effort game. I thought we let up. When you play a team that shoots a lot of threes, and they shot 32 threes, you have long shots and long rebounds. So there's not going to be a lot of true rebounds, there are going to be a lot of loose rebounds. That's where our quickness and our speed in our guards needed to help us come up with a lot of those rebounds and we didn't."
On the quick turnaround for the staff
"I though our staff did a great job. You are talking about stuff that is unique and different and we changed a little bit in how we were guarding to try to keep them off balance. If you go back and look at William & Mary's stats, they are one of the most prolific offensive teams in the country and we held them to 33% shooting and 29% in the second half. Even with them getting 17 offensive rebounds. I felt really good about that, it was very important to be able to defend a team with this unique style. It's not like spread pick and roll, 3 out 2 in or high-low. It's the pinch-post, elbow, a lot of cutting and back-cutting and dribble at you DHOs, so it's unique. But I thought our guys adjusted quickly and did a good job."
On Marquel Curtis
"Marquel is a guy we've been pushing to want to do more because we think he is capable. When he gets in those moments where he's like a toss-back, people are going to have to guard him. He was way more aggressive tonight and we need him to be. He's a great finisher, driving the ball. He's a great layup-maker. So opportunities like that will be plentiful if he is able to make a jump shot. If he is able to continue to do that that helps his game and helps us."
On the energy and effort of the team tonight
"I was really proud of that. That's always key this time of year with the quick turn-around. The game you just finished is lingering and then you don't make the tournament and then the first game is always hard. But I thought our energy was great, I thought our focus was great, I thought we were excited about playing. We executed well. So you have no issues there. We knew they were capable of coming back. Thornton is an outstanding player, there were like five NBA scouts out here to see him tonight, the guy can play. When you have a guy of that caliber you know you have your work cut out for you."
TULSA JUNIOR GUARD Marquel Curtis
On hitting that three with about 1:20 left to put the team up six
"Yeah, if I didn't shoot that I would have gotten yelled at. Every time I don't shoot the coaches have something to say because they believe in me. I was confident shooting tonight."
On being more aggressive today
"I was able to attack the gaps and create for myself and others. I think we talked about that in practice, how we are able to attack the elbows. I was able to do that and I was able to finish."
On the quick turnaround
"It's kind of challenging. We had one day to prepare for a good team. That's going to be hard. Like coach said they run a great offense so we knew we were going to slip up a little bit, but we were able to get the stops that we prepared for in practice yesterday and today at walkthrough."
On everything clicking for you tonight
"Yeah I just felt good today. I was in a rhythm. I was really aggressive. A couple games in the past I wasn't really aggressive and it kind of hurt the team. But coach always believes in me and tells me to be aggressive and play the way I can play. I did that tonight."
TULSA JUNIOR GUARD James Woodard
Did you have any flashbacks from UConn towards the end of this game?
"A little bit. We just have to get rid of those little lulls in the game. They put pressure on us on the offensive end. They are a very efficient team on offense. It's very hard to guard a Princeton offense. There are a lot of cuts and movement and they have great scorers like Thornton and Prewitt. They gave it to us at the end."
WILLIAM & MARY HEAD COACH TONY SHAVER
Opening Statement
"We weren't good enough for 40 minutes tonight to win this ball game on the road against a really fine basketball team. I am very proud of our effort and how we battled in a tough situation. I wish we wouldn't have gotten down 20, quite honestly, but we showed a lot of character battling back. We really struggled to guard them in our man-to-man defense today. Their quickness and athleticism really bothered us. Great effort by our guys, but we got beat by a really fine team."
On the zone they used late in the second half that caused problems for TU
"An extended 1-3-1 zone. We've played some late in the season. It isn't a staple of ours, but we've worked on it a lot lately. It obviously bothered them today and our guys played it well. One of the reasons we play it is Terry Tarpey, #25, is such a great anticipator and great athlete. He is so disruptive. Honestly a real key was getting him his second and third fouls and having to sit him down for the length of time we did really hurt our ball club."
On TU's defense
"They are good. There is a reason their opponents have shot 39-percnet. Their length, their quickness, they mix up man and match up a little bit, and it is tough to play against."
On making the come back late in the second half
"Defense started it for us. We rebounded better out of that particular defense. We didn't make shots all night. We are a really fine shooting team, but we haven't shot the ball well in a couple of weeks. They are very good defensively, I don't want it to sound like we just missed shots, but we have a lot of good players that can make those plays."
On Marcus Thornton
"He is a great player and great kid. He has helped take our program to a new level. I thought tonight we have to walk a really fine line with a great player like that. He has to be aggressive for us. I told him at halftime `You have to be more aggressive for us.' We didn't find that fine line tonight. We weren't balanced tonight and we've been a balanced team all year long. We need him to be aggressive. He has meant the world to our program. He is the leading scorer in school history, and again he has helped take us to a new level."
On Tulsa watching them on film versus in the game
"You know film is so deceptive. They are definitely quicker, and we've been told that too that their speed will surprise you. Their guards are really good, probably as good as we've be played against this year and we've played North Carolina and Florida. They are really good."
On coming back from being down 20
"It says a lot about the players, it really does. It says a lot about the team. I'd like to not get down 20, but we competed really hard. This team has competed hard all year long and it is really fun to see, fun to be around and fun to be a part of. We haven't been the same team in about three weeks since we lost Daniel Dixon to an injury. He is back now, but a shadow of himself somewhat. I am really proud of how we battled down the stretch and put ourselves in a position to win the ball game."
