March 16, 2011
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Northwestern vs. Milwaukee
National Invitation Tournament
Welsh-Ryan Arena
March 16, 2011
Postgame Quotes
Northwestern Head Coach Bill Camody
Opening statement...
"There are certain ways to get a win in the postseason. We started off and it was going back and forth, we didn't do too good a job stopping them too much, I don't think. So we went to our 1-3-1 defense and that seemed to help us a lot. So we changed the complexion of the game, I thought. [Alex] Marcotoullio, was very good at the top, all the guys were, Mike [Thompson] and John [Shurna] and Drew [Crawford]. We did a real nice job switching things up. I actually thought we should have had a bigger lead at halftime then we did. It seemed like we missed some opportunities there. Well we missed open shots, too and they missed them. But it seems like we got some easy things that we didn't finish off, some steals, breaks, lob passes, ally-oops. And then in the second half we were still pretty effective. They're a very good shooting team. They average eight threes made per game and they got a guy inside who's really tough to play one-on-one on. So I think they made four or five in a row to cut it down to six or seven there. Then Mike actually said let's get out of this 1-3-1 zone, Coach. So we went back to the combination we started the game with and they missed about three shots in a row and we got rebounds so that sort of decided it. But they never stopped fighting. It's a very well coached team and they played hard, but we have some guys that made some shots when it counted."
On the play of Milwaukee...
"They reminded me of Ohio State, but I'm not comparing them, but they have these good shooters, three of four of them, and they have that kid inside who's really tough. He's not [Jared] Sullinger, but he's very good. They made 11 threes, you know. Luckily about five of them where when we had a sizeable lead there, but it brought them right back in the game. I was happy because when Mike [Thompson] said change defenses with whatever it was, three or four minutes to go, after they had knocked down a few in a row, they still played like they were on the 1-3-1 and weren't throwing it into him, about three times in a row. We got the rebounds on their shots. I didn't want to do it because I knew they would go inside to this guy, but for a few times they didn't and that really made a difference.
On using the 1-3-1 defense...
"We worked on it the last few days. We haven't used it lately. Coach Mitch Henderson thought that it would be very effective. Watching tapes and things, he thought that would be an effective defense. I didn't want to start in it. I'd rather not play it if I didn't have to, but he had said all along we should go to this. Even though they have good shooters he thought we could get a hand on a lot of their passes."
On concerns of Shurna taking a final this afternoon...
"No, I asked him. The people here in Academic Services were willing to change things and have him take it tomorrow, but the guys that took them - you know how exams were, you want to get them over with. So he said I'm fine with that. What it does is it's the normal, daily thing. It's like when you have a home game you sleep in your own bed, you eat your own meals. It's part of being a student athlete here and so they said they're fine."
On the Ohio State game helping Shurna's confidence...
"Well you know he's been playing better, but I think probably that picked him up. That game he hit a couple, he was on the right wing and he hit a couple one or two dribble drive pull-ups to his right, off his left foot. He hadn't done that in awhile, effectively, so I knew that his foot was feeling a little bit better. We thought we would get some open looks tonight. Maybe it helped his confidence, but he has been playing better."
On Boston College...
"It's a veteran team that can score, they're well-coached, they have seniors and guys that have played a lot, fifth-year guys. It's a big conference; they win a lot of games. They were supposedly one of the bubble teams. They're a one seed. Actually they didn't complain as much, at least that I heard like some other teams did, but they're a very good team."
Milwaukee Head Coach Rob Jeter
On ending the regular season and preparing for Northwestern...
"First of all, I'm very proud of my team, my young men, for the season and the effort. Very proud of the way they handled themselves. We probably played, at least in my opinion, one of the most difficult teams to prepare for, with the shortest amount of time to prepare for, when you haven't seen them because of their style. They're very well-coached and disciplined. The 1-3-1 and their offense really puts a lot of stress on you as a team because its so not typical of what you see every day."
On missed opportunities...
"The differences are, they had seven more attempts than we did. That means they got some offensive rebounds and free throws. We lose the game by nine, they shot more 3-pointers than us; we were 11-for-33 and they were 12-for-34. It came down to free throws and a few more opportunities. That's offensive rebounds and a few turnovers. That was the difference."
On facing Northwestern's zone defense...
"[We had to try and] get a rhythm or pace to their zone. We hadn't seen them much, and it was hard for us to simulate that in practice. I thought the second half we made a few adjustments. Look at our shooting percentage in the second half, I thought our guys did a nice job at making some adjustments. But the few timely shots and a few turnovers there, we just couldn't capitalize."