Feb. 12, 2008

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Georgetown Head Coach John Thompson III

On squeaking by Villanova:
Wins are hard to come by in this league, so to walk away with a win feels good and now we have to move on.

On getting senior center Roy Hibbert involved on offense in the second half:
We had to keep (Hibbert) out there and we definitely thought about trying to throw it in to him early (in the second half). He got the ball in the first half also, he just kept picking up fouls. Definitely early, mid, late second half we were trying to get it in to him and let him make decisions as to what happened from there.

On taking 20 three-pointers during the game:
We don't necessarily look at their stats and say, they're giving up threes, so let's chuck up threes. We just talked about we wanted to get it inside, so we got it in and got it back out. I think we took a couple of good threes in terms of getting it in and getting it back out.

On the defensive effort after halftime:
I think a lot of it is we got fortunate. Our communication got a whole lot better in the second half. We tried to really guard the three point line, because they're one of those teams that can just light it up. They hit all of their threes in the first half and didn't make any in the second half. That team has too many good shooters and too many good players, the stars were aligned properly (for us) today.

On attacking Villanova's 1-2-2 pressure:
In year's past, where that has caused us trouble is we end up taking eight seconds to get it across, four to six seconds to get organized and then you don't have time to play. So what we wanted focus on is let's beat the pressure and let's get into our sets, let's get into our offense quickly and I think that's what they wanted to accomplish as much as getting a steal.

On Jeremiah Rivers guarding Scottie Reynolds on Villanova's last possession:
We expected an isolation on-ball and as they always do they put the ball in Scottie's (Reynolds) hands, he's a terrific player, and let him make the decision. He refused a screen, Jeremiah (Rivers) did a good job of staying in front of him and we were lucky to come up with the ball.

Jeremiah Rivers

On the last possession
On the last possession, I think that everybody in the crowd, everyone knew we was going to get the ball, who was going to take the last shot. We just didn't want to foul them. We knew they were in the bonus. I just tried to stay in front of him and did the best I could so he wouldn't get a shot off.

On his block of Reynolds
You try to beat the screen, you try to come back, and the way we play we try not to let them do that. They drove baseline and he ran out of places to go. The only option he had was to throw it out or throw a crazy shot up and try to make it go in. I just put my hand up and deflected it.

Roy Hibbert

On the last play of the game
To tell you the truth, I thought it was an out of bounds on Jon and I didn't know what to do. I was getting ready to get back on defense. But when I heard it was a foul, I knew that Jonathan Wallace was as cold as ice when it comes to hitting free throws and he knocked both of them down.

On his defensive play
I thought I'm just going to try to post up, try and get in a high post and I picked up some early fouls... Overall, I feel I have to continue to be aggressive, take the ball to the basket, and get to the free throw line.

Jonathan Wallace

On the last play of the game
At first I thought I stepped out of bounds with time winding down, but I was kind of nudged and the call's the call.

On his foul shots
We do that every day in practice. Just step up and knock them down. So I knew I had to step up to the line, stay focused, and knock them down.

On Villanova
Well they have a great energy, and their guards are full of effort and they attack and pick up defensively. On defense, we tried to get up in their face and make them take contested shots.

Villanova Head Coach Jay Wright

On the overall game
"That was a great game, a tough game to lose. I was proud of our guys and I thought Georgetown played great. I've watched them win a lot of games this year like that. When they (Georgetown) were out of it and they just found a way (to win) and we had some teams like that for a few years and that was fun, to know you are just going to find a way and our team is just trying to find our way. We had our chance tonight. We just didn't execute down the stretch and no one really made a mistake, we just didn't make a play and they made the free throws. We didn't make a play, they didn't make a play, they just made their free throws."

On Villanova's Last Possession
"We tried to get Scottie (Reynolds) a baseline drive to get Cory Stokes to come behind him for a jumper. When you put the ball in a player's hands, you've got to trust their decisions and I trust Scottie's decisions."

On Villanova's Overall Intensity
"I was proud of our guys. No moral victories here but we played better tonight. I think we are learning, we are getting Casiem (Drummond) in shape and our freshman are getting a little bit better. Stokes is getting better, he's understanding what we are doing, it is just maturity, it's just what we have to go through, it's going to be our journey this year."

On Villanova's 1-2-2 Quarter Court Press
"It kept us in it for a while and created turnovers about half way through the second half, but at the end they got it down pretty good, we were getting some mismatches in the back end of it, so we got out of it. It was a good chess match between the players. Their guys figured it out and we had to get out of it. It was a good game, a fun game to coach."

On the Georgetown Defense
"He (Jeremiah Rivers) played great. I thought Wallace was good tonight. He had four fouls for a while there guarding Scottie (Reynolds). They are both very good and I don't think Georgetown gets enough credit on the defensive end. Everyone talks about their offense, but their defense wins a lot of games. Also, Roy Hibbert, there was a play at the beginning of the game that was intimidating to me, when we rushed the ball up the right side, Scottie Reynolds had it, Hibbert just came out and guarded him. He got down in a stance, wide, and kept him in front of him. He's a good perimeter defender, it's crazy to say it at seven foot, but he is."