Davidson vs Georgetown postgame press conference

Posted Monday, March 24, 2008

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Raleigh, NC - After their win over the Georgetown Hoyas in the second round of the NCAA Tournament at the RBC Center, Davidson's head basketball coach Bob McKillop, and players Stephen Curry and Jason Richards talked with the press.

COACH McKILLOP: Clearly another signature victory for our program, and against a tremendous basketball team. They played great defense the entire game. They were magnificent in the way they executed their system and their discipline of their system. I credit John Thompson for really making an impact on Georgetown with the way he's built his system with some great, great talent.
But I think our system is pretty darned good, too, and the catalyst of our system, sitting right here, Jason, and Steph, and just to be able to share this moment with so many fans and so many former players and so many alums, but most importantly with our players and our families is one of the most special moments I've ever had in sport.

Q. Clearly the other day you had one of those unbelievable performances, particularly in the second half and today it seemed like a total team effort.

STEPHEN CURRY: Definitely. First half, I made two points and they were swamping me everywhere I went and Jason Richards took advantage of that and came out of transition, came to the basket, took a foul, got to the free throw line and broke the momentum a little bit. Our guys did a heck of a job with their big guys, getting into foul trouble and just controlling the boards. So just from top to bottom, everybody performed their part and we came out with the win.

Q. Talk about the run, and you guy the were down, I don't know what it was, 16 or 17, and if you could each pick out a moment or two you thought was very important during that run.

JASON RICHARDS: I remember being in the huddle, I forget what time it was, we were down 16 and Coached asked us if we were having fun and got us smiling a little bit and got our focus off of where we were and came out and got some great stops and this kid starting getting on fire like he did the other day and when he does, it's tough to stop him.

I don't know if there was a significant point but just a total team effort getting stops and just finding Steph on the offensive end.

STEPHEN CURRY: I would say when we just started getting defensive stops overall. I don't think there's one point. I think we got a key foul -- they got a time-out on an in-bounds play where they couldn't get the ball in and just breaking their momentum like that and just getting stops and getting in the transition game and guys finished down low when we fed them the ball and I hit some outside shots and Jay took some drives and got to the basket.
All aspects of the game, we competed.

Q. When you hit the 3 and were fouled, after that, did you just kind of have that feeling inside that everything was going to go?

STEPHEN CURRY: I try to have that feeling every time I shoot the ball. You don't want to shoot not to miss; you want to shoot to make it.

But that was one of the first ones went in for me during the game, so definitely that got some confidence. That's just a testament to our transition game because we were struggling in the halfcourt and that was a key for us get out in the open court and make plays and our defense made that happen for us.

Q. Where did the scoop layup come from?

STEPHEN CURRY: I guess I was always short growing up, so I had to figure out a way to get to the basket and that kind of came back today.

Q. Talk about the job Jeremiah Rivers was doing defensively, and you seemed to be getting frustrated the first half and again for the second game in a row, you just seemed to be building off of -- coming from behind, a 15-point deficit here in the second half and your shots started to fall.

STEPHEN CURRY: Well, we've been working on endurance and playing for 40 minutes, so he did a great job in the first half of chasing me around screens, and like I said, I was just going to be patient and not force the issue, because I have total confidence in my teammates to make plays, and so that showed in the first half.

But second half, I just got some great screens from big guys and Jason found me in open spots. I just had a lot of confidence to shoot it. I think he did a great job for the whole game. The whole team did a great job of defending us as a whole.

Q. Do you think Georgetown misjudged you at all after the first half? Do you think they thought they had you?

STEPHEN CURRY: I thought it was pretty balanced from half to half the way they defended us, and I guess me individually.
But I just wanted to keep running and just keep cutting and getting stops, like I said, because the first half was more halfcourt oriented, and the second half, we got stops and rebounds and open court plays.

But their defensive effort was pretty consistent the whole game.

Q. I believe at one point in the second half they were hitting over 70 percent of their shots from the field, and that's right when you guys started getting down pretty good. Was there ever a sense that you just might not be able to win this game?

JASON RICHARDS: Never. That thought never crossed our mind. Being an individual basketball player, you can never think about that. We stayed focused, stuck to our system, and I mean like I said before, you can't think you're not going to win the game, to fight the full 40 minutes and that's what we did. Fortunately we came out on top.

Q. Have you ever had a rougher first 25 minutes and why, and then what ignited it? Have you ever been hotter late? I guess you have a couple days ago.

STEPHEN CURRY: I had a couple games like that earlier in the season, Elon, I can't remember the other one. Wasn't unfamiliar to me. Like I said if I didn't have confidence in my teammates, I would have got down on myself and forced the issue and forced bad shots but that's not the case. We stayed in the game the first half and then stuck to our system in the second half and I got shots and kind of worked out for us.

Q. How much did the crowd drive you guys?

STEPHEN CURRY: They were big for us, when we were down, I don't know what the biggest deficit was in the second half but when we started making a comeback, you could definitely feel the noise and the involvement from the crowd, so we definitely fed off of them a little bit and just wanted to keep it going and keep them in it and keep the runs going.

JASON RICHARDS: To add to that when we heard the whole stadium thinking, "Sweet Carolina," that's kind of our theme song, hearing all the Davidson fans and people who are not Davidson fans cheering for us, it was definitely a lot of fun out there.

Q. Did you feel any less pressure going into this game? Obviously you try not to have pressure but was there less in the Gonzaga game than this one?

STEPHEN CURRY: This being the first game against Gonzaga, there was a lot of attention, just being the first game in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. So once we got the butterflies out and all that, I think we kind of relaxed and played our game and that flowed into this game.

We got down early but our confidence in our system and our defense really helped us to force that comeback and so I think it was -- once the first half is over in the Gonzaga game, I think we kind of broke loose and played our game.

Q. With nine and a half to go, he hit a three that brought you to win four, and Georgetown called a time-out, and you two looked at each other and laughed and you gave him a hug and you said something to him that sort of seemed like it was going to come. Do you remember that, and what did you say?

JASON RICHARDS: Steph is a great shooter and I know his shots were not falling early. I just said stick with it because shooters don't pass up shots and he kept firing and, just said, if you can't smile in the tournament, then something's wrong with you, and that got him to smile finally, and I think that really got him going.

Q. Where did the "Sweet Carolina" come from? Do you know the words?

JASON RICHARDS: We definitely know the words. The whole school knows the word. There was a guy who works in the sports marketing two years ago, Mark Clayton, and he actually came up with the song and he started playing it at the eight-minute Mark time-out at our home games and just kind of caught on in the last three years, it's been our theme song. It's awesome. It's a lot of fun.

Q. After both of these wins, both of you got together right after the game to do a little hand game, is that anything worth to know about?

STEPHEN CURRY: Halfway through the season Coach wanted to get our mojo back and enjoy playing in the game so after we like to celebrate a little bit. But our little handshake, Coach said that me and Jason kind of fit together like a hand in a glove, so I formed the circle as holding the glove and Jason puts his hand in it like a hand in the glove. It's kind of corny but I guess it works for us.

Q. Can you talk about where you thought the key moments were, how did you manage that comeback?

COACH McKILLOP: One of the key moments was the halftime locker room conversation, and Matt Methany, one of our assistants, used a little bit of scrutiny in terms of what we were doing, and he adjusted our pressure, our full-court pressure. We have a very subtle full-court pressure. The very slight adjustment that Matt recommended, suggested and explained just got Georgetown out of their rhythm.

Georgetown gets out of their rhythm, all of a sudden we get stops. We get stops, we get in transition, we get in transition, we learn how to take it through the net and we're getting a couple of easy baskets and it led then to a bit of confidence which fed the rest of the half.

So I think it started in the locker room at halftime.

Q. Wondering if at any times during a game when Steph puts up a shot, you actually shake your head and say why is he shooting this off-balance deep three and then maybe change your mind --

COACH McKILLOP: I have never had that feeling this year with Steph Curry, absolutely never. In fact, I did shake my head when he took that shot where he drew the two-shot foul and then he threw it up and it almost went in right in front of our bench. I did shake my head on that one, not because it was a bad shot but the IQ that he had to get that off at that point; and it almost went in. That three-pointer he made where he used that ball screen and he had the two guys right on top of him, what an incredible shot.

Q. You talked about now getting two signature wins for your program in this tournament. At what point do you start to let your thoughts drift that this tournament would be more than signature wins for your team?

COACH McKILLOP: I'm numb right now, so I can't really address that.

Beating Gonzaga, which is a program that is one of the elite programs of the last ten years; beating Georgetown which is one of the legendary programs and of course being a New York guy and knowing the battles between St. John's and Georgetown back in the late 80s, it means a lot to me and I think it means a lot to our players; we watched tape on Georgetown and saw how good they were and we beat a really, really good team today.

Q. I wanted to ask you, what was your plan on Roy Hibbert, and if you would have looked at the box score, at the end of the game and see they was only held to six points and one rebound, would you ever have figured that?

COACH McKILLOP: Our plan was the way our defense has been all year, you've got to remember, we played against Kevin Love and Tyler Hansbrough, two of the great centers in the country and Roy is another one of those great centers, so we have had experience playing against the great centers.

And it does not surprise me the way they played in the game today. We have guys that really appreciate and understand and value and accept their roles. Thomas Sander is the consummate guy in terms of understanding that.

Q. You were asked the other day in here about opportunities to move to bigger programs, and your summation was that the longer you stayed, the deeper the roots are. Did you ever think, though, that this moment would never come for you, and if so -- I know you said you're numb, but what does it mean for you personally?

COACH McKILLOP: I'm a dreamer and I've been a dreamer my whole life. And for me to not think that we could get to this moment would be selling myself and the people who are behind me short.

Do you know what I used as our pre-game talk? Just so you know that I don't toot my horn, I was cut from the 1972 Philadelphia 76ers, and that team was 9-72, and so I was cut from the worst team in NBA history, so there's a little bit of a caveat about that.
But when I went to training camp with the Sixers, I got on the elevator in Scranton, Pennsylvania and as I got on the elevator to go to the first workout, some guy got on the elevator who was competing for my position, telling me he was going to beat me up, do this, do that.

We went to the first practice and I was a point guard, and the ball went through the net and no big guy took it out; they all ran down the court. So I took the ball out, passed it in, came up the court, passed it, they shot, I ran back down the court. Ball goes in the net, I took it out, brought it back up court, threw it in; I was the take-out man. I was just happy to be there.
And I made sure our players understood, we are not just happy to be here. We are not going to be take-out men. We are going to make sure nothing intimidates us and we are going to go out there and play and play to win and that's what our guys did.

Q. On Curry's recruiting, were you other ACC schools were not after him and were you secretly hoping that somebody at the end doesn't jump in and offer him?

COACH McKILLOP: Once he made his commitment to come to Davidson College, his word is his bond and the word of his family is their bond. There's no quote, unquote, crap terminology in today's world of debate commitment. A commitment is a commitment; he makes a commitment; he's coming. So I have no doubt that once he said Davidson, he was going to Davidson.

I was surprised, but I also understood that he did not have the body that most ACC programs, SEC programs are looking for. He did look a little frail. He did look very young for his age, and in many cases they would hope that he go to prep school for a year or go and redshirt for a year. So I wasn't puzzled by that. I understood what their thinking was.

Q. When did he commit to you?
COACH McKILLOP: In October of 2006 -- 2005 maybe. 2005.

Georgetown Hoyas

Georgetown John Thompson III and Hoya players Roy Hibbert and Jonathan Wallace spoke with the press.

COACH THOMPSON: It's disappointing. I guess I just want to say, I've got a very special senior class. I've got a class that is Georgetown basketball, and they have done so much for this program. They are this program. They have done so much for me.

You know, I just feel like I've let them down. It's a group of guys that have done any and everything I've asked them for four years. You know, they have put this program on their back, put us in a position where we can possibly have success in the future. I just feel bad for these guys. I feel bad for these guys. You know, we lost to a terrific team today. But I can't -- I just feel bad for my seniors.

Q. I know this is difficult for you, but you guys obviously threw a lot of different people at Stephen and you were able to keep him down for a while; when he got hot, did you feel that no matter what you did, it was going in?

JONATHAN WALLACE: Their offense, we knew at that point in the game, everything they did was going to be good and ran through him. They set a lot of screens for him and he was in constant motions and tried to force him to make tough shots, but he makes tough shots.

Q. Roy, can you talk about your early foul trouble and sort of go through the foul trouble, how you got it and how fast you got back in it, and the calls?

ROY HIBBERT: You know, I went to post-up, and I had a dumb foul to start off with. I need to play smarter out there. I talked to the referees, and they told me what I was doing, and I tried not to do it but you know, they made the calls; I respect the calls. You just have to keep moving on.

I think our guys -- when I was out of the game, I was really cheering them on and they was getting things done, but ultimately, Davidson pulled through.

Q. Both of you, you heard Coach just say that you carried this program on your backs, and he feels like he let you down. Could you say something about what you think about that, and if you feel like he let you down at all?

JONATHAN WALLACE: No, we don't think Coach let us down. Coach did everything he could to put us in a good position so we could better ourselves. It's not just me and Roy did all the work; Tyler Crawford and Patrick Ewing, Jr., all of the work they put in, it was a struggle and we were all together.

ROY HIBBERT: He's the coach but ultimately we are out there playing. I just want to thank him for everything he's done for us. He brought the program back, but ultimately, you know, we lost today but he did a great job coaching today.

Q. What were your thoughts when you got up 17 before Davidson put up that big run to get back in it?
JONATHAN WALLACE: We just try to keep playing our style of basketball and we know it's basically a home game for them, and any spark they could provide the fans would get behind them and make it even tougher.

We knew they was making a run and we tried to withstand it for a majority of the time, but once they got going as a group and made some tough plays, we were not able to recover.

Q. What's the balance in your mind between how well they played and maybe what you didn't do that you wanted to do?

JONATHAN WALLACE: They have been playing like they have been playing all year. This season doesn't do them justice of how good they are. We knew coming into this game is going to be tough for many different reasons. It was a hard-fought game. It was very competitive and they played up to their potential.

Q. Did Steph remind you of anyone you've played, that shoots like that, such a quick release?

JONATHAN WALLACE: Playing against Quincy Duby (ph) a few years ago when he was at Rutgers and when you look at this year; Scott Reynolds, a lot of different guys that are able to get the ball around quick and just run around screens and just able to make tough, deep shots.

Q. How big of a factor was the crowd and do you feel like you got a raw deal with the draw to come against a lower seed in Raleigh?

COACH THOMPSON: I've said all week that seeds are irrelevant. When you get to this time of year, everyone's good. Everyone's well coached.

I think the public, and I guess it's driven by the media, you start looking at numbers and seeds. But every team that's still playing is a very good team, and so did we get a raw deal? No. We just played against a team that's won 23, 24 games in a row, a very well-coached team, a team with good players and a team that made plays.

Q. You were real upset, the foul trouble --

COACH THOMPSON: Was foul trouble normal? I'm not going to comment on the officiating. I was upset about more than one of them.

Q. Can you talk about your defensive scheme on Stephen Curry? You played a lot of different players on him today, and just your game plan coming in to try to stop him.

COACH THOMPSON: I said this yesterday, that he's too good to say you're going to stop him. He has not stopped all year. No one's stopped him. You know, we wanted to give him different looks. We wanted to switch out on him at times. Wanted to keep one person with him at different times. You know, we were trying, and trying not to let him get into a rhythm, let them get into a rhythm. And we were successful for a few minutes, and most of the second half we were not successful.

There are situations where he is going to score. I don't think you average 25, 26 points a game and say we are going to stop this guy. It's more important that had they score, we come down and execute at the offensive end and we come down and we keep scoring.

They are going to score points. They do a terrific job -- I said this yesterday -- of helping him, of his teammates getting him the ball when they should and how they should as teammates, unselfishly setting screens for them and Jason controls every game, he makes every pass, makes every right decision. They have been consistent with that all year and they were consistent with that today.

Q. When you first sat down here, you said that you felt like you let your players and your seniors down, and to hear Roy and John say that that completely wasn't the case, did your feelings change on that?

COACH THOMPSON: I don't know, my point was, my senior class is special. I have never been around a collective group that cares as much as they do. I've never been around a collective group that totally understands the sacrifices that are necessary, the individual sacrifices that are necessary for the success of the group sometime.

And I just wish that those guys had the opportunity to still be playing. I mean, we're in this together; they know that; I know that. You know, in some way, shape or form, everyone in that locker room is responsible for us losing together, just like everyone is responsible when we win.

But that group, I just wish that group could still be playing.

Q. Throughout the year you've been saying that you're going to take it one game at a time and at the end of the season, you'll pick your heads up and see how you've done. Do you think you can do that now or do you think you need a few weeks or months to shake this off?

COACH THOMPSON: It's hard to digest the season 20 minutes after the season just ended.

Tied in with the previous question, I hope that people don't judge this group -- and I'm thinking about my seniors -- based on this loss today, and looking at all that they have accomplished in their four years here, and looking at -- this isn't, quote unquote, upset.
This loss is disappointing because of what they have done for the last four years. And so I hope that they are not looked upon or remembered just solely or primarily because of this game, because those kids -- those kids are the program. Those kids are Georgetown.

Q. Just to follow on your thoughts that no one has stopped him this year. I don't know from the course of the game if you do this, but when he hit the 3 and got fouled, did a little red flag go up in the back of your head like, oh, man, this could be the start?

COACH THOMPSON: No, when the second half started, the red flag goes up. He scored 30 in the second half two days ago. So whenever he -- it's more of with him, when he misses, you wonder what's wrong, than when he makes it, you wonder what's wrong.
But that four-point play was big. It got him going. And then I think for the most part, I remember, one, across from their bench, I don't know how, but he ended up wide open. For the most part, he had guys all over him and the ball was going in.

I think shooters shoot. He puts the ball in the basket. That's what he does.

Q. Maybe you just answered the question, wondering what you thought was the turning point in the second half; was it that four-point play?

COACH THOMPSON: I don't know. I've got to go back and look at the tape. I don't remember. I don't remember the specifics of what was going on when that four-point play happened.

You know, it was more so at our offensive end as it was at their defensive end. You know, as I said, we did not go into this game thinking we were going to be able to stop them or stop him. We just had to make sure we scored, and we didn't do it.
They did a good job of not letting us score in the second half.

Q. I think there were two plays where you called, I guess it's your muscle play, where you go right inside to Hibbert and then you didn't do it anymore, it was almost like they didn't go inside anymore. Were you worried your team had stopped working for him or is that where your offense went?

COACH THOMPSON: No, we didn't stop looking for him. The few times we went in -- we were worried about him fouling out.

Q. Given that you had the 17-point lead, have you already thought of anything you would do differently, or is that simply not how your mind works?

COACH THOMPSON: I can think every possession something I would want to do differently.