Post-Game Quotes GW vs. Saint Louis

Jan. 27, 2010

NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL
January 27, 2010

Saint Louis 62
@ GW 67 (OT)

Postgame comments

GW Coach Karl Hobbs

How does it feel to come out with a win after the heartbreaker against Richmond?

"It's obviously a relief, and I'm really happy for the players because they've been playing extremely hard. We talked about the last game, and the fact that under a minute to go, Richmond executed and we didn't. Today was different. We were able to execute our timing on our quick-hitter plays, and particularly on defense we were able to get the big rebounding down the stretch."

Did you make any halftime adjustments that led to the improved 2nd half shooting?

"I don't know if we made any adjustments per se. There was a possession where we got a stop, we fumbled the ball, Dwayne [Smith] got the rebound in such a hurry, threw it to Tony [Taylor], he fell out of bounds, and we were in such a hurry. You could feel the tension with the team, so we called a time out somewhere around the 9-minute mark. I told the team, `We need to relax. We're playing like we have the world on our shoulders right now. The worst thing that can happen now is that we can lose a basketball game.' Afterward, we were a lot more relaxed, we didn't rush plays, and I think that was the difference."

Talk about Tony Taylor's performance and his 18 points tonight.

"The points speak for themselves. I thought his defense was the difference, particularly on that last possession in regulation. Kwamain Mitchell is a good player; he's their leading scorer. Several times he tried to make plays, and Tony was able to contain him. On the last play, we had a foul to give and I wanted Tony to foul him so that Saint Louis would have to inbound the ball with only a few seconds left. But fortunately he didn't hear me. He was determined that he wasn't going to let Mitchell get by him. That was huge."

"There are going to be games where we need someone to step up. Tonight we needed some scoring, and Dwayne stepped up. I thought [David] Pellom did a magnificent job just overall. Down the stretch, the defense and the rebounding are what made the difference."

In the 2nd half, you called off the double-team. Did changing your defense cause their offensive struggles and help you get back into the game?

"Even though they had made a few 3s, we just wanted them to play faster, and sometimes, you're going to give up an open 3 or a layup. But the intent is to get them to shoot that ball and not use up the entire shot clock. We needed them to shoot shots quicker, and hopefully those last few minutes, those legs are more tired, and those shots start to fall short."

"I give Saint Louis credit. They truly execute. They are patient, they almost play like an NBA team. They play at a real nice pace; they don't rush anything. If you overplay, the guy goes backdoor. If you don't, the guy steps over. They are a terrific offensive team."

Do you feel your team played like a more veteran team?

"Not really. This was the first time these guys have been in those waters...But when you look at their team, they've got two Australian guys who've played a lot of ball. We're too many games in to be talking about being young now. It's all about executing at the end."

Talk about Dwayne Smith's contribution

"He was one of the guys who gave us scoring and his defense. The biggest play he made--he took a 3, and missed it. But he had the courage to want to succeed. He wasn't afraid of failure. That says a lot about him. He was huge all game long."

GW soph. G Tony Taylor

You're only a sophomore, but you've taken on some key roles. Do you feel like this is your team?

"I just try to be a leader to the team. We've got five young players, and I been here longer. I'm just trying to help out everyone."

Did the time out a the 9-minute mark get the team to relax?

"We were definitely playing really tense and just trying to hurry everything, and make all the right plays instead of relaxing and doing what we usually do in practice. So when Coach came in the huddle and told us to relax, we all just took a deep breath and said, `now we can play basketball.'"

What made the difference down the stretch?

"We picked up our defense. We contested their 3s and were in the passing lanes a lot more. We pressed almost all of the second half and made them have to make plays in a hurry. That was all we needed to get over the hump."

Saint Louis Coach Rick Majerus

What happened down the stretch?

"[GW] is a very good team. They're athletic, they are certainly a more veteran team. They got some key rebounds. We threw some inopportune passes, we got a little bit apprehensive. The foul situation hurt us, getting to the line only 10 times hurt us..."

What did you tell the team in overtime as the game appeared to be slipping away?

"I was trying to set up some plays. Cody [Ellis] hasn't been in practice for several days. He had food poisoning or a viral infection, so for 5 days when we could've integrated him in, we didn't get a chance to work with him...We didn't keep the ball in front of us off the dribble penetration...We struggled to score points; we're missing pretty much at point-blank range. So we've got to look to get too much scoring out of a position that I don't typically want to get scoring out of because we're missing."

"We had 18 turnovers, and eight of them were errors of either fatigue or trying maybe to force the issue a little bit. Every game is kind of an adventure for our five freshmen. "

What was supposed to happen at the end of regulation?

"I didn't want to go to a time out [at :08 left] because they switched defenses, and we don't have the maturation and leadership [to adjust]. And the kid took Kwamain [Mitchell] out of the screen, and didn't let him get the pick, and I think that frustrated him. And again, Cody doesn't quite know what to do. I'm not blaming him; he's trying to warrior-up just trying to play, then he's been sick. I applaud the kid. He has to learn on the fly, and that's not a good situation when you join a team...I'm happy for him that he hung in there."