George Washington University Athletics
2/7/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 7, 2008
Recap | Final Stats | Notes
NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL
February 6, 2008
La Salle 80
@ GW 58
Post-game comments
GW Coach Karl Hobbs
What caused the team to struggle in the first half?
"We came out real flat, while La Salle came out with energy and ready to play. And we just never recovered. We never got our footing after that."
Did you look at this as a must-win game?
"No, not with this team. It's a matter of getting them to play at a certain level. Every team is different, and I have different expectations for them. I don't look at any games as must win games."
Maureece Rice was held scoreless for the first time since his freshman year. Is there something he can do differently?
"Once we couldn't get the engines going, he never got involved offensively. They did a good job of crowding him. They started the game with the box-and-1, which didn't allow him to get off to a good start."
Are you concerned about not finishing well enough to make the A-10 tournament?
"I'm not that concerned about that. I'm more concerned about getting the team to play at a certain level...If we can do that, we'll have a realistic shot. But that's not something we can talk about until we're playing at a high level."
Johnny Lee is playing more and more minutes each game. Can you comment on his role?
"Once Travis [King] went down, I knew it was going to hurt us. I didn't think it was going to devastate us. Johnny gives us some direction and stability at point guard, and frees Maureece Rice off the ball so he can score more."
You've been playing close in the last several games. Is a loss like this a setback?
"Yes, you'd have to say it's a setback. Guys looked physically and mentally tired. I know that the Temple game was a very emotional game, and this is the first game where we had only one day of preparation...I thought that at times and guys were physically tired. But you still have to get yourself up and play with a certain level of energy and passion for the game."
GW F Damian Hollis
How did it feel when they're scoring and your shots aren't falling?
"It's frustrating, it's real frustrating because they were hitting all their shots and we weren't making many of ours."
What did you talk about at halftime?
"We focused on our defense because they were hitting open shots and rebounding as well. We tried to make our defense be our offense."
Do you agree with coach that the team was tired?
"Yeah, I could tell the way we started out, a lot of people started out real strong, then their energy just started to diminish toward the middle of the game. I felt it as well."
La Salle Coach John Giannini
Opening statement
"We're obviously extremely pleased. We felt like we were in for a challenge against a talented team that had length, a number of scorers, one of the best returning players in the league in Maureece Rice, and just a team with a lot of size and athleticism. And our guys responded wonderfully. I couldn't be more pleased. Obviously, defensively I thought we did a good job. In the 2nd half, we only had 3 turnovers; that was gigantic. We got contributions from a lot of people....and we obviously shot the ball well. When you have guys like Darnell Harris shooting 3s, you immediately become a better coach [laughs]."
Did your 1st half defense frustrate Rob Diggs?
"The hidden heroes in that, especially when we're in zone, are the Williams twins and Yves [Mekongo Mbala]. They really fought to try and keep the ball away from him, and we then we just gave him good weak-side help. When he did catch it, he wasn't very open, so it was usually in a pretty tough position when he caught it. He usually caught it in an awkward position and couldn't get help right away."
"We've been on our guys with low-post defense a lot, so it doesn't matter who's down there. But we know how good [Diggs] is. In the 2nd half, he started to get on a roll. But when we did let up, he certainly scored."
How did you feel making all the 3s early?
"Any coach feels good when you're shooting well. But what pleased me was the 0 they had. We obviously came out with good defensive energy. Shots can go in or not go in. I never get upset about a guy missing good shots, because that's going to vary from game to game. But you have to be pleased with our defense early in the game. It just set the tone for the whole night."
Did you expect GW to struggle after they've been at the top of the conference for the past few years?
"You never expect to win comfortably at GW. That's just beyond what any reasonable coach would expect. I just think it was a night where we really made shots and they weren't at their best. It was a perfect storm in favor of us. I know the players, I know the coaching staff, and that's a talented team. They have great things ahead of them. They lost a critical guard at the beginning of the season, and have a walk-on guard in Lee. Basketball is a game of guards. Their front line, their 6' 7", 6' 8" guys are as good as there is in this conference. Maureece Rice is as good as there is in this conference. They're just trying to play with one guard and a bunch of forwards, and that's hard to do."
La Salle F Paul Johnson
La Salle has never won at the Smith Center. Is it significant to have won here tonight?
"It is for two reasons--for building our program, and just the fact that we needed an A-10 win. This game was worth a lot in the standings in terms of us going to Atlantic City. So it was big for a lot of reasons."
You actually shot better in the 2nd half. Did it seem like the offense was always clicking?
"I think the main thing was at halftime in the locker room, we came together and agreed that we can't let up. We've been up at halftime before and had big lead. We'd have to play harder in the 2nd half if we wanted to win."
La Salle G Darnell Harris
What's the difference in your game inside and outside the 3-point arc?
"Today, I just got a lot of open looks. GW is a team that likes to scramble a lot, so you get a lot of open shots. And coach always says if you're open, take an open shot."
How important was it to stop GW's 2nd half comeback?
"It was definitely important. When a team goes on a run in any part of the game, you have to pull together as a team and get that lead back up by playing defense and trying to get rebounds."
Did you get complacent when GW started its comeback?
"I wouldn't say complacent. It's more like we got comfortable at one point. That's why I, as a team leader, had to step in and get guys back up and say the game isn't over yet."
