1/30/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 30, 2008
NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL
January 30, 2008
Saint Joseph's 61
@ GW 59
Post-game comments
GW Coach Karl Hobbs
Your impressions of the team's resilience in the second half?
"We fought our way through, but we really made some poor decisions. That was the inexperience in our team versus St. Joe's. They really capitalized on those things. What makes them a very good basketball team is that they don't beat themselves. Down the stretch, we had some opportunities, but we bounced the ball off our foot, we threw it out of bounds a few times. And those were critical moments in the game when we were getting some good stops defensively."
Do you think the final non-call could've gone either way?
"No, not at all. I think Sean (Hull) is a terrific official, and I have a great deal of respect for him. The ball was in the air, both guys are going after the ball; it just so happens that the other guy was 6'9", 200-something pounds. It didn't make any difference which one of my guys was there, if there was any kind of contact, he was going to go flying. So I really didn't have any problem with the call."
Do you take any positives from games like this where you keep it close?
"We have to look at the opportunities that we had and the situations in the game. We had several possessions where guys weren't in the right positions, and it cost a turnover. We had a situation where we ran an excellent play and have a guy wide open, don't make a 3. We get a guy fouled, he misses both free throws. To be a good team, you have to complete those plays."
Will these games help you at tournament time?
"I'm not even thinking that far ahead. I just hope it helps us Sunday against Temple. Hopefully, we'll cut down on those unforced turnovers, particularly down the stretch."
On Rob Diggs' performance
"I thought he had a fabulous game. Whenever we got the ball into him, he delivered. He scored, and that's what you want your best player to do from an offensive standpoint. And I thought he did a great job on the backboard. He had a magnificent game. Unfortunately for us, he fouled out."
As you get ready to go on the road, are you disappointed that St. Joe's went on the road and took a win from you?
"I don't look at it like that. We have to get better. We had opportunities, but we didn't capitalize on them. It's not that complicated. From the 4-minute mark, we had a lot of turnovers. I think we turned it over two times in a row. And they were unforced turnovers."
Going forward, will Rob Diggs be the guy you try to get the ball to?
"We have to get the other guys producing. He seems to be the guy who's scoring. We need to get the other guys to join the party. We need to do a better job of converting."
Saint Joseph's Coach Phil Martelli
How important was a win like this after the emotional win against Temple?
"That was three days ago. These guys are part of the MTV generation. They don't remember what happened 15 minutes ago. They'll probably get on the bus, jump around, and be giddy. And Coach will remind them that that wasn't nearly a good way to finish a game. Temple had nothing to do with it. We had a really terrific practice on Monday, and an above-average practice yesterday. The small picture was getting ready to go on the road against GW, and the big picture is this is the first of 4 games in 8 days. And we have to be better."
What was the issue with solving GW's defense?
"We had two guys in the first half who were literally standing behind their man. So your vision would say, there's nobody open. There was also a mental laziness because we went over it. The number one thing about GW--and I admire Karl Hobbs' teams for this--is those guys are the same guys. They used to be called Mike Hall or called Pinnock. Now, you call them whoever you want to put out there. They're long. He recruits to a way that he wants to play. It was a challenging defense, and challenging to simulate because we don't have that same kind of look. In the second half we changed it, and put Ahmad (Nivins) high, because he was down on the baseline, and never was involved in the game in the first half."
What did you do to try and stop Rob Diggs?
"Nothing. We challenged Ahmad, we changed our post defense a bit. But that was a one-on-one match-up that we lost.'
Your thoughts on starting a string of road games.
"I always put up a couple of `specials' before each game. One was, we're about six weeks from the Atlantic 10 tournament, and I think it'd be a badge of honor for this team to be the best road team in the conference...The challenges we have on the road--at Xavier, at Duquesne, at Rhode Island, at Dayton--nobody feels sorry for you. We have got to perform. We can put ourselves in position to do something special with this group."
