Nov. 30, 2012

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No. 20/25 Georgetown Men's Basketball 37, Tennessee 36
November 30, 2012 | Verizon Center | Washington, D.C.
Post Game Press Conference

Cuonzo Martin - Tennessee Head Coach

Martin on the overall game ...
I thought both teams played extremely hard and both teams competed. Very competitive game, our guys fought, just couldn't come up with shots, I don't think we did a very good job of posting up like we wanted to, but ultimately we need to make shots from teams playing the zone, we have to a better job of flashing against that zone.

Martin on the low possession game and having 13 turnovers ...
I think we had two early in the second half and I think we had three or four down the stretch, with like two minutes left in the game ... a tough thing to do. Our defense kept us at bay, but you can't turn the ball over down the stretch of games ... You have to give those guys credit, with their lane style, the way they defended. The way they extend so far in the perimeter, we have to be able to get the ball inside, post feeds, post-production, because you still post upper-body, and I think we did a good job with that.

Martin on if the struggles from the field came from the free throw line ...
Normally from the free throw line, our shooters are better. I don't think Trae [Golden ], Skylar [McBee], Jordan [McRae], those guys got to shoot a lot of free throws. I think you have to give credit where credit is due. We didn't make shots, and I think they did a good job defending. You can't make more shots if nobody is on the floor, so you have to give them credit for using that line.

Martin on not having a strong offense on either side and sustaining the level of energy ...
At the end of the day we felt like it would be a "grimey"; type of game because we knew they would play the zone, but for us, we wanted to help get that W. However you get the W is fine, we move on to the next game. We came up short. We had shots from the perimeter we didn't make, we didn't get the ball in the post like I thought we should, or could, so now I have to go back and watch film. It could be totally different.

Martin on the last play, Tennessee possession ...
That is the play we run, I thought it was a good play, I thought a couple of our big guys were open on the flash as it cuts to the rim, but you know the guy that takes the ball out of bounds, he has to see it and he has to feel it. I could see one thing from the side, but he has to see it to make a decision.

Martin on the positives from the game ...
We're a pretty good rebounding team, I thought we were very good in the second half, attacking the glass, and I thought we did a good job of keeping them off the glass, because with that length we spent a lot of time talking about that and I thought our other guards did a good job of keeping those 6-8 guys off the glass.

Martin on making any adjustments made on the second half ...
We were trying to put a body on someone down low, because they extended so high so the key is to get the ball inside, you have to be the flash and be aggressive. A key is to protect the zone and you have to make perimeter shots, too. You have to have a good flash guy, but you have to be aggressive. There will be hands everywhere so you need to be able to make decisions also when you're flashing up. Those are the biggest things we've talked about.

Martin on the takeaways from today ...
"I think watching film, I can look at things more accurately, but more than anything just watching during the game, Stokes has to post up more aggressively and put his body on somebody, because when you have someone posting up with that kind of length for a pass, I'm hesitant to make the pass, I need to feel it and know that you're open to deliver the ball. Sometimes the bounce pass, sometimes the quick chest pass.

At the end of the day, you need to come out with a W. You don't need to do anything to be pretty, just get a W. You're playing a very talented ball club; you get a W and leave the scene, that's the most important.

The thing I told our guys and I give them the upmost credit - that is a tough offensive go-against, that you don't go up against on a day-to-day basis. I knew at some point, in our back pocket that we had to play that zone against that team, and we didn't play the zone, but our guys did a tremendous job accepting that challenge, not allowing those guys to get a back cut the whole game. So I told our guys, exceptional job defensively but we need to hang our head on the defensive side of the ball, shots aren't falling, but we gave ourselves a chance to win at the end of the game and we just came up short against a very talented team ... It doesn't really matter if the other team plays zone or not, it has to be what we do, You've gotta do what you do. I think our guys will be better shot makers when we get home, or when we play in someone else's gym. As a coach, now we have to go back and watch film. We have to visualize and see it, so it doesn't really matter what teams play zone or not, we'll do what we need to do to be successful.

Senior Guard Skylar McBee

McBee's thoughts on the game ...
I felt that we were doing anything that we could to do anything against the zone, to get the best shots we could. We tried to pin it inside. Like coach said, we have to give credit to Georgetown, You don't see many teams that have two 6-9 guys on the wing. I mean they are long and it's tough to get it inside with those guys extending out as far as they do, so we also have to give credit where it's due to Georgetown. We didn't shoot it as well tonight and that's part of it. You're not going to shoot well every night, but our defense gives us a chance to be there at the end of the game and I take a lot of the responsibility for this. I owe it to my team to take shots and that's what I have to do. So the responsibility of that goes on me tonight.

McBee on the loss ...
It's tough, but those guys need to step up and make free throws, and I've never been one to say what lost a game. Have to go back to the drawing board, continue to work on it, but you have to make them. Once we were given the chance to win the ball game with 3.5 seconds left, we came up short.

McBee on all-around shooting, and pace of the game ...
I wouldn't say it was frustrating, I mean it was always close. If we win 10-9, I wouldn't call it a frustrating game, if we get a chance to win it at the end. We didn't shoot as well as we thought we could, and like I said credit is due to Georgetown, they did a good job on that zone and they are a lengthy team and they make it tough out there.