George Washington University Athletics
Postgame Comments: Xavier at GW
1/10/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 10, 2010
NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL
January 10, 2010
Xavier 76
@ GW 69
Postgame comments
GW Head Coach Karl Hobbs
What allowed Xavier to make that run in the last 6-7 minutes?
"The offensive rebounds, clearly. I thought we defended them very well. It came down to their ability to get the offensive rebound. In the first half, we held them to 3 offensive rebounds, but they finished by completing 70% of them, so that's what it came down to."
How was Xavier able to overcome your pressure?
"They have a very good point guard in Terrell Holloway, and a very talented guy in Jason Love. If you look at the talent level of their players, you're just not going to turn them over all day. The bottom line is, we just couldn't keep them off the offensive glass."
Are there any positives from this kind of loss?
"There are a lot of positives. We had some opportunities, we have to talk about some decision-making that was made out there. It doesn't make a difference who the opponent is. It's a matter of us learning from each game. You have to give Xavier a tip of the hat. From the 8:00 mark on, they played like a veteran basketball team. They made terrific decisions and didn't turn the ball over. I think they knew they could really exploit us on the board."
Talk about the difference that Xavier's defense made in the 2nd half.
"At some point in the 2nd half, we needed to be up by 14. When you've got a young team you're playing so many guys because of fatigue. At one point, we were 60 for a long time...Those are momentum changers. We're only going to stop them so many times; they're just too good of an offensive team to stop them 5 or 6 times in a row. We just weren't able to make those baskets."
Talk about the difference Xavier's experience made.
"You could see it in terms of the decision-making. There was never a moment when Xavier looked like they were out of the game. They continued to make the right adjustments....The experience without question was a factor, but also talent."
Is this the kind of game you'll fall back on later and learn from the experience?
"I would like to think so. We'll evaluate situations and plays we could have made, and we'll talk about things we could have done better. We just have to keep improving, and getting better. It's going to take us just learning from this experience and I think we will."
GW senior F Damian Hollis
What was the difference in the 1st and 2nd halves? "They forced us to slow down a little more. When the zone comes around, we slow down a little bit and we're not as comfortable. That's something we're working on."
How tough was it to go against Jason Love?
"He's clearly bigger than me and outweighs me. He definitely had his way on the offensive boards. On defense, it was tough because I was going up against a big body, and I haven't played against that much. That was an adjustment I had to make."
GW sophomore G Tony Taylor
How did Xavier's zone affect your offense?
"The zone really slowed us down, and we weren't able to do what we wanted to do as much. But their offensive rebounding was really big. Our team rebounding needs to get better."
Xavier Head Coach Chris Mack
Opening Statement
"I give GW a lot of credit for being really ready to go from the jump ball. They were energetic, they were hard to deal with when we had the ball on offense. They really pressured our guards and our post players, and made our offense extremely uncomfortable. We had 11 turnovers at halftime, and a large part of that was because of GW's energy and effort."
"I told the kids at halftime that the number one thing we can do to help our team is to quit turning the ball over, because it led to easy baskets by GW, indefensible points, and we're obviously not getting good looks at the baskets when we're turning the ball over...We were more aggressive in the 2nd half on offense. I don't know if I've ever been in a game where the momentum swung in the last 7 minutes like it did today...A combination of things avalanched the score in our favor."
Talk about the difference in rebounding and how it affected the outcome.
"Number one, we didn't have a lot of opportunity for offensive rebounds in the first half because of their pressure put our players so far out on the floor that when shots went up, they were in no position to offensive rebound. In the 2nd half, we calmed down, and I credit a lot of that to our backcourt play, not turning the ball over. And now our posts are closer to the basket and able to rebound."
You used several defenses in the 2nd half. Was one more effective than the other?
"I think that by changing defenses, that was the most effective thing. It sort of stymied GW and allowed us to regain the momentum. In the first 3 or 4 possessions, we weren't able to get an offensive rebound, so you're over there wanting to play zone, but you're not able to do it. I thought we got better as the half went on."
Did having to come from behind in other games this year help today?
"I think it did. We talked about that at the under-4-minute media timeout. I said that we've been here before. We could have controlled some things better in those other games, but the momentum was clearly on our side and our players knew it. There's no question that if you've been in those situations before, you handle them better the second and third time around."
How much better is GW this year?
"A lot better. I think Karl enjoys coaching his kids because they play extremely hard. They play a lot of guys, and I know they're all happy because they know they're going to go out and compete. Damian Hollis is such a mismatch at the 4 position. I think they have a very talented team."
