March 17, 2006

Georgetown Head Coach John Thompson III

On Roy Hibbert's development as a player
"His development has been tremendous. It's a tribute to his work ethic and his caring. You look at him, and God blessed him with that body. But, he has the desire and an understanding and a willingness to be coached, a willingness to be taught. It's just the tip of the iceberg. He's improved weekly, and he will continue to improve. He's a long way from where he will be."

On if he expected a low-scoring game
"I expected this kind of game looking at their team and looking at our team. I didn't necessarily look at statistics, but every game they do a terrific job dictating the pace of the game. They are a tough team, they are a poised team. They are a veteran team. It showed up today, it showed up every tape that we've seen of them. They are going to find a way to get the shots they want. They are going to make, for the most part, your possessions and ability to score difficult. They are a very well-coached team, and so this game was as I anticipated."

On the difference in the team this year including depth
"I think we're significantly deeper right now. It shows up in many ways, not just with the guys that are playing. Last year, the guys that were playing significant minutes in the game also had to contribute and log significant minutes in practice and demonstrate in different drills what we are trying to accomplish. We have a group of guys - and it's truly a team effort - that have not had the opportunity to contribute as much on the floor, game time, but have really been able to push to make the guys who are playing much better. We are deeper, and everyone has approved across the board. Roy's development may be the most glaring, but I think that across the board our guys have gotten better."

On his first impressions of Ohio State
"I'm going to start thinking about them in about 15 minutes. It's a good win for us right here today. Obviously, they're a very good team, playing in this building. Sitting in the locker room changing up it was very loud out there (during the Ohio State game). Quite honestly, my assistants can talk more about them right now. In a couple of hours give me a call, and I can let you know what I think."

On his first impressions of Roy Hibbert
"My first thoughts were that he's awful. He could barely walk. I remember our trainer, in the fall of his freshman year, had him in the gym working on running, `This is how you run.' He's a worker. He's a kid who, in a perfect world, you probably would have wanted to red-shirt last year because, you know, he's a baby. He's 19. There are some kids in high school that are still 19. We knew we had to force feed him last year, throw him out there when he wasn't ready, and he responded well. Coach (Pete) Carrill used to talk about some players are light bulbs. When they walk into a gym, a light bulb goes off. As a coach you get excited to work with that player because of their willingness, not just because of their potential - some guys are light bulbs that never get into the games - because of their willingness. Roy is one of those guys. He walks in the gym and a light bulb goes off, because he wants to work and he comes to work and it's paying off."

On his father, John Thompson, Jr., being in Dayton to call the game for CBS/Westwood One radio
"It's special to have `Pops' around, whether is an NCAA win, whether it's the first game of the season, whether it's a pre-season scrimmage. It's good to have him around. Hopefully he'll get a chance to congratulate me, before I stop coaching, after a lot more NCAA wins."

On if he is glad that he didn't have to hear the radio broadcast (by his father)
"I am scared to see what that will be like. When I heard that he was doing this region, I thought that he's going to kill us. I can't imagine what went on during the broadcast. So, I probably will not call home and check and see how he did."

On his team's defense in the second half
"They have such a good offensive team, and for every play that they run they have a counter. They have good offensive players and they do a good job of getting people in position to have success. In the first half, I have a tendency to get caught up with offense, like how we are going to score and what we're going to do. And looking at our offense, I thought we were getting very good shots, but it felt like they scored every possession down the floor and shot the open shot. They did a very good job of exploiting how we were playing defensively. We changed a few things in the second half, and I thought that we did a good job of making them take good, contested shots. We were fortunate that they didn't go in and that, for the most part, our guys ran down the rebounds. A lot of it, I think, is that we were just fortunate that they missed in the second half."

On Jeff Green's contribution despite only have two points
"Jeff has a knack, and people who have been following us have seen this. You look at the stat sheet and you say `Jeff Green has two points,' but you felt his presence in that game and you felt his impact in that game, and that's how it's been for two years now. He's going to have games he scores, but he leaves his imprint on the game. He does things to make us win. He does things to help his teammates. Yes, we would like Jeff to score. For us to play this time of year, for us to continue to have success, we're going to need to have Jeff score more than two points. But he's one of those people that' you're fortunate to coach that can control a game without scoring points."

Sophomore Center Roy Hibbert

"I have to be aggressive all the time, but make sure I'm a smart player. People double team me and I've got to make sure I kick it out to my shooters. When Ashanti hits the shots, it makes it much easier on me, and when I make shots, a lot of people collapse down on me and it makes it easier for Ashanti and the rest of our guards to hit shots."

On his fourth foul
"I tried to clear space, and he took the hit and fell. I've got to live with the call and roll with the punches. I'm going to keep on playing aggressive as long as coach wants, I know he does. So I'm going to keep being aggressive."

On the defensive game plan
"We wanted to make sure we showed them a picture: No easy lanes to the basket, so if one guy looks at the basket, he sees four guys in the middle. Once they get there and penetrate we scatter and cover the shooters. We play together, the main thing is to have your teammates back."

Senior Guard Ashanti Cook

On early foul trouble
"I picked up those fouls because I was a little too overaggressive on the defensive end. I had to sit out and learn from my mistakes in the first half. I pretty much just told myself, `stay solid, stay in front of guys and make it difficult, don't try and reach' and that's just what I did."

On Roy Hibbert's role
"It's very important for us to establish Roy in the post. You figure when guys collapse on him while he's scoring buckets, he can kick it back out and we're open for three-pointers. We just have to knock our shots down, pretty much, and that opens it up down low for him."
"After the first game, now our jitters are out so now it's time to play basketball. Like we said before, we're not here to participate, we're here to win. The whole thing. So right now, the game's over and we're going to enjoy for tonight, but we have to prepare for our opponent Sunday."

On his four free throws in the last 30 seconds
"Just to relax and think that I'm in the backyard by myself shooting free throws. That's it. Just to calm myself down."