Feb. 3, 2009
Recap | Box Score
Coach John Thompson III
On Georgetown's first half performance...
"Losing is awful, it's awful. We took a baby step today; we got a win. There's a lot we still have to improve on, a lot we still have to get better at. I really like what I saw in the first half because we shot poorly... and in the past when we've missed shots we've not been as attentive to every other aspect of the game. And when we've missed shots we've gotten an angst and lost focus and understanding that we grind on victories. Its one possession on offense then its possession on defense; it's a possession on offense and it's a possession on defense. That sounds simple but gaining that understanding that relationship of I've missed a shot, or we've just missed a shot can't effect what goes on down there. Forget that play and move on and I think in the fist half, when we did not shoot well we've stayed attentive to every other part of the game."
Energy on defense...
"I feel like we played really well tonight. I think the guys did a very good job of helping each other. Greg did a very good job of hedging out hard trying to back up their dribblers. They are so effective coming off ball screens and making the right decisions, I think we did a very good job of backing them up and then everyone doing their part in terms of helping each other. It's a group effort and the people behind the (ball defenders) showed attentiveness and anticipated what was going to happen. A few times this year we have been reacting as the play is going on as opposed to anticipating what was going to happen and I thought we did a good job of anticipating at the defensive end, particularly in the first half."
On Nikita' performance...
"Well Nikita has been in there he's just been making hustle plays. He's one of the first to get on the floor. His effort and energy has been terrific. He's been making hustle plays and we've needed that and he's given us a boost."
On the youthfulness of the Hoyas...
"With young teams, they tend to get too emotional. When you're missing shots it affects your life and that's natural that happens. Understanding that first half that we were missing shots but we still executed in every other aspect of the game and that's something we haven't been good at. That is something that hopefully we can continue to grow and build off of and that's key being able to move onto the next play. Get a stop when we miss a shot and get back in transition when we've missed a shot and have a good offensive possession when you give up a shot. That growth is something that young teams takes too long to get."
Georgetown Senior Guard Jessie Sapp
On how his team snapped a five-game losing streak with the victory...
"We're striving to get better at the end of the day. With this win, we feel like we're back on track and we just want to continue to do the things that we did in this game and improve on them so we can win the next game."
On his perfect 2-for-2 performance from three-point range...
"Those are just shots I practice every day and shots I normally make. I just haven't been making them. I stopped thinking and they went in."
On his team forcing 21 turnovers on defense...
"That was just us paying attention to detail. We are a team that can get 21 turnovers if we play defense the way we're capable of."
On his working on his shot for an hour after practice on Monday...
"It was just a rhythm I had to get into."
Georgetown Freshman Center Greg Monroe
On his 10-point, 7-rebound performance...
"I'm just trying to win. That's all I'm trying to do. I'm just trying to get a win for my team."
Rutgers Head Coach Fred Hill
On if Georgetown's defense was the key to the loss...
It was everything. Certainly Georgetown's defense, our decision-making, ballhandling,16 turnovers from our guards, you're not going to win a game that way. It's almost shocking to me that you can claw back and be in a game down by 10 after they had a 20 point lead. Like usual, we dug ourselves a big hole and we're great at climbing back out of it, but you can't turn the ball over 21 times against a good ballclub and expect to be in a game and win a game.
On changing from man-to-man to zone defense...
They made shots and that's when they are so good. Our philosophy going into the game was to not give up those easy backdoor cuts for layups and I thought we did a great job in the first half, forcing them to take threes and they didn't make them in the first half. In the second half they hit them even against our man-to-man. We talked about it and I didn't want to give them good looks at open threes. You're going to get open looks against a zone from three. You're going to contest them, but you're hoping they don't make them. I switched to zone in the second half because they made three threes against our man-to-man, so I figured if they're going to make them let's switch to zone and see if we can take them out of rhythm and I thought that was fairly successful. They still made a couple but we forced some turnovers and from those turnovers we were able to get some easy looks at the other end.
On Georgetown's shooting...
We've watched the games. You look at the stats, I don't remember each and every game, but two stand out in my mind the Seton Hall game where they were 3-of-23 from three. When you're 3-of-23 from three on the road you're going to be in a dogfight and they came up a little short. They shot the ball a little better against Marquette, but it was such an up and down game that the numbers were so high that they probably needed to shoot the ball a little better. Looking at the Marquette they were 10-of-20 from three and tonight we were hoping they wouldn't make seven, eight, nine, 10 threes. That was the game plan to try to make them shoot them and contest them well enough where they would only make three or four threes.
On scoring a season-low against Georgetown...
Well it's 21 turnovers. When you only get 44 shots up you're not going to score. I thought they did a very good job in their transition defense, they didn't let us get out and run, I think that's been a very big part of what we do this year, so credit them. It's the base of the game, it's the way they play. They're good enough to play against a team like Marquette up in the 80's but they're most comfortable in a game like you saw tonight. You're going to score less when you play Georgetown, they're going to score less, they only scored 57 and held us to 47.
