Northwestern University Athletics
Post Game Quotes
3/4/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 4, 2008
Northwestern head coach Bill Carmody
Opening statement...
"You're only down six at halftime. You did not play well and you're only down six. You start the second half and go behind again. Then you make this nice comeback and things are working, but I'm looking at the stats. You force a team into 16 turnovers on your home court and you only have seven. You should win that game. But the telling stat is that they took 23 threes and made 12. We just didn't get up. We played [Justin] Johnson last time and I think he was 0-7 from the floor out in Iowa. He, [Jake] Kelly, and [Tony] Freeman were just knocking down shots most of the night, at key times and also at the end. Then in the last two possessions, one was almost a shot clock violation that nicked the rim and they get the rebound. The next time down the court, Kevin [Coble] fouled, pushing off and going for a rebound. You've just got to have a big guy in there that can get some rebounds because that was the difference there. At the end of the game, you had to get those."
On allowing Iowa to make 12 three-pointers...
"[Cyrus] Tate had hurt us in the second half the last time, out in Iowa City, so we were down in there. There's no real excuse because that's what Johnson does, is shoot the ball like that. We know who their shooters are. We came off and helped in times when we shouldn't have. Kelly penetrated a couple of times and threw the ball out. It just drew us in and we should have strung it out and stayed on them. We did not do that."
On resiliency and close games...
"[Craig] Moore was off the whole night and then he came through in the end, but he missed the foul shots that could have put us ahead, down two. You've got to make them. Then [Seth] Gorney makes his and Jeremy [Nash] is 1-for-2 so at the end, we're 2-for-5 from the foul line. You lose a close game like that and those things are telling. The team hasn't quit all year and when you've only won one game in conference, there are a lot of opportunities to. It's a good bunch of guys and they're fairly resilient. You'd just like to see them win these close ones, see someone come through with a play. Mike [Thompson] had a little pull-up from about 12 feet and you want to see that go in. The difference between winning and losing is not that much."
On what Northwestern is missing on defense...
"It's getting some guys with speed that can close out so they don't go around you. Freeman can go around you and Kelly goes around you. You certainly keep working on it and keep working on it, but it might come down to a question of speed."
Iowa Head Coach Todd Lickliter
Opening Statement...
"I thought tonight was going to be just the reverse of what happened in Iowa City, where Northwestern built a lead and we were able to some how come back. Northwestern outplayed us for most of the second half. It looked to me like they did enough things right to earn a win. They missed a couple shots where they had good looks. They also made some shots where I thought we were there. I think they're a difficult team to defend, and we were really fortunate tonight. A couple of our guys made some pretty big shots. Seth Gorney obviously stepped up; he hadn't shot but maybe two shots all game. He hadn't played extended minutes and stepped up and hit four free throws at a very crucial time. I appreciate his poise. He's a good free throw shooter. He's got confidence, and I've got confidence in him shooting free throws, so I'm glad it was in his hands."
On Northwestern's defensive play...
"They extended, they trapped, and they picked us up in the back court. They were switching a lot, and we weren't patient or poised enough to get the ball inside, which is what we were able to do in Iowa City late in the game. But we couldn't do it tonight; they were too good on defense. We turned it over a great deal, and I give them credit for putting the kind of pressure on us that we didn't handle well."
On his team's thre- point shooting...
"That's kind of who were are. We were fortunate to make some of those, but we also moved the ball fairly well I thought. But that's kind of who we are.
On his team's play while leading...
"We really struggle with prosperity, I will tell you that. I don't think it's boredom, but if we get ahead a little bit, we're going to try some things that are a little more difficult to add some flavor to our game. For me, I like boring, and I like boring execution."
