George Washington University Athletics
2/9/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 9, 2008
NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL
February 9, 2008
Dayton 54
@ GW 57
Post-game comments
GW coach Karl Hobbs
You've been close in a lot of these losses. What's it like to finally get over the hump?
"The players really wanted to redeem themselves. They may not admit it, but I think they were a little embarrassed by their last performance. They felt like they let the students down...They wanted to give a great effort and were able to do it. Fortunately, Wynton made a great shot down the stretch to bring the game home. Robert, whenever we needed a rebound or a big shot, he got it for us...He put us on his back and carried us. I'm sure tomorrow he'll be in the trainers' room getting some ice for his back because he carried us the whole night."
You've talked about wanting the team to play at a certain level. Did you get that tonight?
"Without question. And the key to it is being able to sustain it over a period of time. And that's the next challenge for this young basketball team--our ability to do it away from this building. Consistent effort has been our struggle all season, and that's what happens with a young team...What I'm proudest of is win, lose, or draw, what I asked of them, they went out and executed, which was to play with energy, to box out, and play together. And they did that."
What are your thoughts on Saint Louis, since your last win was against them?
"I'm not going to talk about Saint Louis. I'm going to try and enjoy this win as much as possible. We'll focus on them tomorrow. They're playing their best basketball now. And going on the road, we'll need to play our best to win...That game was so long ago, we barely remember it."
How important is it to get Maureece Rice going?
"There is no question. He's in a little shooting slump, and we need to find a way to get him out of it because we're going to need his production. Hopefully, he's got to keep grinding it out, because we're going to need him to make shots. The last play was designed for him to get open, and he made a terrific decision and Wynton hit a big shot."
GW F Wynton Witherspoon
On the final shot
"Obviously, the play wasn't designed for me. It was for Maureece. They doubled Maureece off the catch, so he passed it to me, and I shot it with confidence."
GW F Rob Diggs
Dayton didn't seem to have an answer to you. What allowed you to be so effective in the post?
"I wouldn't say it was Dayton. I got tired of us losing. I just tried to play to my ability and do what I can to help us win."
What does it mean to get a career high and break the losing streak?
"It meant a lot to me because it got the team excited [again]. That's what we needed. We needed some excitement in the locker room. Guys have been down a bit. It got us back on track."
What were your thoughts before and after the ally-oop from Maureece?
"During it, I was thinking, `I'm going to dunk this pretty hard.' [laughs] After, I was thinking, `Wow, `Reece really threw the hoop on the backboard!' [laughs] I haven't seen that play since Pops and TJ."
Dayton coach Brian Gregory
Opening statement
"That last shot was obviously a great shot. But give Karl and his team credit because they played us for 40 minutes tonight. We were very fortunate to be in there at the end. We just didn't play well enough and do the things you need to do on the road to be successful."
What were you looking for defensively on GW's last possession?
"Your first option is the thought of them going to Diggs. They ran a special for Maureece who hasn't been in the game and hadn't made a shot all game long. Obviously, he's still their go-to guy. Unfortunately, we sent two guys to him and that left [Witherspoon open], and our rotation on to him wasn't fast enough. He made a good shot."
What was your strategy against Diggs?
"We didn't cover him well. He's a very good player...Obviously GW has some very good parts. They just haven't made it come together as a team for whatever reason...But Diggs is a very good player. When you get to the free-throw line 14 times, that's going to make a big difference...They spread you and keep the four guys on the perimeter, and let him roam around inside. He's got the length and athletic ability to make some plays. He got it going because in the first half, our transition defense was horrendous. That gets guys and teams that are struggling going, and that's exactly what you saw tonight."
How does this game affect your profile in the A-10?
"We're 4-5 in the A-10 and struggling a little bit. At the beginning of the season, you'd have thought that losing to George Washington on the road wouldn't hurt you. But unfortunately, they've struggled. So a loss to them will be considered a bad loss...They've had some tough breaks. You just have to keep playing good, and we didn't tonight. George Washington had a lot to do with it."
Did you consider using your timeouts with 1.7 seconds left?
"We have a play that we run on that with 2 seconds or less. Unfortunately, we got the ball too deep to the baseline on that particular play. We looped Brian [Roberts] across, and if gets it a little deeper, he has a cleaner look." "There was a 4- to 5-minute stretch in the 2nd half that I thought was key to the game. We were coming back and playing better. And London [Warren] had two straight turnovers, and Marcus [Johnson] had a turnover, and Brian had a very casual turnover. All four of those were against the extended pressure, but to be honest with you, they were more concentration turnovers and casual, lackadaisical turnovers than due to pressure per se...You need concentration and focus on the road, but we didn't demonstrate it tonight."
