Nov. 28, 2012
QUOTING COACH SENDEK
COACH DID YOU THINK IT WAS A LITTLE TIGHTER THAN EXPECTED UNTIL THAT 17-0 RUN IN THE SECOND HALF THAT BLEW IT OPEN? CAN YOU TAKE US THROUGH THAT.
"We were able to free John along the baseline for a couple three-point shots, and he delivered for us. Not to take anything away from Pine Bluff, because I think they played an excellent game. They obviously used their quickness and athleticism to offensive rebound and get the balls. We weren't sharp in any phases of the game tonight, and I was very disappointed in the way we played. That doesn't take anything away from our opponent. We respect everybody and they did a lot of good things; but as the coach of Arizona St. I can only speak to our team and what we can control, and as far as that goes I expect better from our men."
JUST ONE OF THOSE NIGHTS OR WAS THERE SOMETHING LEADING UP TO THIS?
"There was certainly nothing leading up to it, but we did not perform like we're capable of playing."
WERE TURNOVERS AN ISSUE TONIGHT?
"Yeah, turnovers were a big issue. Certainly, it wasn't the only issue, but we were really careless with the basketball. 18 turnovers is way too many. The game wasn't played at a fast pace, we only took 47 shots in the game. They clearly controlled the pace of the game. So, definitely, turnovers were way out of whack."
WERE THERE ISSUES IN GETTING COMFORTABLE IN THE ZONE?
"I thought early on, especially Chris, we really settled. We had an advantage inside, that we struggled to take advantage of and we settled. I think it was those first two possessions we took three three's in two possessions. I don't mind taking three's, you know that, we'll lead the nation in that, but I don't want us to settle and I want it to come with the framework of the offense. Over half our shots were three's tonight, but there's two sides to every story give them credit, they were packing it in and playing a tight zone, which is a very good strategy for them. But, even on the other end of the floor, I didn't think our concentration was what it needed to be. A great example of that is the three point shot they hit in the corner on the baseline out of bounds. I thought their penetration hurt us. So, all in all, not to be overly dramatic or too much of a sour pus, I think we can play better than what we did tonight. To add one more time, that doesn't mean to imply that we take anything away from our opponent. These games are important games; they require great intensity and concentration. We've made that perfectly clear to our guys; every night around the country we're reminded of that. We just didn't play anywhere we're capable of playing. I thought the one guy that probably did do that for us tonight was Carrick."
WHAT WAS HE ABLE TO DO? IT SEEMED LIKE HE WAS THE ONLY ONE ABLE TO EXECUTE ON THOSE PLAYS.
"He played. Hopefully we'll learn from it and move on. We have a very challenging game on Saturday; a team that's really capable and dangerous that has already beaten Utah in our league, on the road. We are going to have to be much better on Saturday night."
OBVIOUSLY YOU'RE NOT HAPPY WITH THE EXECUTION, BUT THE END RESULT IS A VICTORY. NOT THAT YOU WANT TO MAKE A HABIT OF THIS, BUT WHAT DOES THIS SAY ABOUT A TEAM THAT DOESN'T PLAY IT'S BEST AND STILL FINDS MANAGES TO GET THE VICTORY AT THE END.
"It's good that we won. Obviously, if you played like we did, you're very vulnerable to not winning. Once again, not to be too flamboyant, we see that every single night in college basketball. Last week, we saw Bryant over Boston College, Poly got UCLA, Illinois wins the Maui Classic and goes home and beats Gardner Web by one. You have to be ready to play every single night in college basketball, and the minute you don't, you are very vulnerable and treading dangerous waters. Just been doing it too long, seen too many games, I've been on both sides of those kinds of games; whether I've been at Providence, or Kentucky, or North Carolina St, or Arizona St, and even at Miami (OH), or maybe we were on the other sides of the fence, if you aren't ready to play and don't execute and take care of business, even if you do, games are competitive. This is a unique sport. If you don't, you're in dangerous waters. Our guys failed, despite ample warning, I just didn't feel like we took that to heart."
WHAT HAVE YOU SEEN FROM CARRICK IN THE LAST COUPLE GAMES?
"Right now he's playing well, and I think it's largely a product of his habits. To earn the right to play well, you usually have to develop good habits. You could, maybe in a given game, do some good things. But to play consistently well you have to have good habits. I've been saying all along, Carrick has worked hard in the offseason, he's in a great place mentally, and he's continuing to forge very good habits. When you have good habits that allows you to play well on a consistent basis. If you don't have good habits, you might be able to play well sporadically, you might catch lightening in a bottle, you might make a big play, you might have a good game, but to go through the grind that represents college basketball, you have to have good habits. That's one of the unique variables of our sport. Last week we played four games, all of a sudden, we travel Sunday and we're right back at it tonight. I use Illinois as an example, they play in Maui, they fly home, they get to their home court and boom there's another game last night. There's not a week typically in between games. You consistently have to replenish yourself mentally and physically and be up again. If you can't, then you're at much greater risk of not performing well."
WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU GUYS DID RIGHT IN THE 17-0 RUN IN THE SECOND HALF?
"We largely got a few stops, and we made some shots. That's the other thing, when a team is going to play like they did, as much as we emphasized and didn't do a great job of going inside, you do give yourself a lot more breathing room if you can step up and make some shots. During that stretch that happened. Usually, when you're scoring you're not turning the ball over. It's hard to score when you have 18 turnovers."
JAHII SEEMINGLY PLAYED A MUCH DIFFERENT ROLE THIS GAME.
"His role was exactly the same. We didn't change his role. We didn't change anybody's role from last game."
AFTER HIS SUCCESS IN VEGAS, DO YOU THINK THE ZONE WAS DESIGNED TO CUT OFF HIS PENETRATION?
"This team played zone against Washington State, it's what they do. They do have man-to-man in their arsenal, they play a lot of zone, and we prepared for zone. Whether it's zone or man, I know you guys are tired of hearing me say this because it applies on both ends, it all comes down to basic fundamentals. It still comes down to good concepts. They're either going to play man or they're going to play zone. Either way, to attack it you got to have good concepts and good fundamentals. We actually treat both defenses relatively the same with our offense."
QUOTING CARRICK
ON GETTING USED THE ZONE DEFENSE....
"We came out of the gates kind of slow, with low energy level. Arkansas controlled the pace the whole game. They are a great team and it showed. We just have to make sure we bring it everyday. Like Coach Herb Sendekwas saying, college basketball is happening every where."
ON THE DIFFERENCE IN THE SCORING AFTER THE PAST TWO GAMES....
"I'm playing slow, waiting for things to come to me. Our point guard Jahii.Carson, finds me at good spots as well as everyone else. I'm just playing slow and playing my game."
ON HOW DISAPPOINTING IT WAS PLAYING SLOW THE FIRST HALF...
"It was very disappointing coming off very slow in the first half. We did shoot 16 of 20 from the free throw line. We also held the other team from shooting 29%, which is good because we shot 40%. We just have to be ready to play every game. Not every game will be easy as it seems, and not every game will be there for us to take, we just have to work. Arkansas showed up worked."
ON THE DIFFERENCES OF Evan Gordon IN THE SECOND HALF...
"Evan Gordon really stepped up in the second half. He made some good penetrating kicks, and couple threes which got himself going. Jonathan Gillingwas also big in the second half. He hit three threes, almost back to back to back. So that was definitely huge for us. We got down on defensive at the other end, picking up the energy and being smart."
ON EVAN'S SHOOTING CAPABILITIES...
"Evan is amazing at what he does. He can score the ball man, he can really score the ball. He's starting off slow right now but we've just got to continue to give him confidence. He knows he can shoot. He knows he can make every shot. He's just got to continue to work on it, it's going to come. Tonight was a good rhythm starter for him to get going for the next game because we've got a big game coming up on Saturday."
ON EVAN'S SPIRITS ON THE BENCH...
"On the bench the first half, he had a lot of energy. If you can tell everyone from the end of the bench all the way to the front of the bench everybody's energetic. The bench was a big part of this game helping to give us energy and give us talk throughout the game."
ON HIS AND Jahii Carson's GOOD ON-COURT RELATIONSHIP...
"It just comes back to Jahii being a great point guard. He's a great player. We have played together for a while no. I guess you could say we've been used to each other for a minute. He kind of does know where to give me the ball and we talk throughout the game. He's just a floor general so he does his job."
ON HIS CONTINUING SUCCESS...
"Like I said, I've just got to continue to work each and every day- give my team what they need me to do. If they need me to be a rebounder I can be a rebounder. If they need me to be a passer, an energy guy, whatever it is, day in and day out I'm going to be there for them."
ON THE TEAM'S AGGRESSIVENESS...
"So far, I've been aggressive. I think I just need to be a little more aggressive sometimes and not settle. But so far so good. I think we need to continue to just get better as a team and focus on the rest of the season because it's going to be long. We can't settle and get happy with being 5 and 1 right now."
ON WHAT THE TEAM MAY IMPROVE ON...
"We've got a lot of things to improve on. Right now I think being together is what we're doing the best on. Just being together, staying together as a team. Rebounding is definitely something we need to improve on and also communication. Other than that, we're chipping away every day in practice, making sure that each day we're getting better at something."