Quotes From Terps On Upcoming NCAA Tournament
3/16/2004 7:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 16, 2004
Head Coach Gary Williams
Opening thoughts:
"It's been a wild couple of weeks for us. This past weekend was probably the most incredible three days as a package that I've ever put together as a basketball coach, but at the same time, that's over now and we move on to the NCAA Tournament. It's important that we are able, starting right now, to really focus on the job ahead of us which is UTEP. Any team that wins its conference -- they won the WAC -- is somebody we respect. I have played in too many conference and NCAA games not to know how teams feel about playing in theirs, especially a team like UTEP that doesn't get there every year. It's going to be a challenge.
"Their point guard is the junior college player of the year last year, and several other junior college players that know how to play the game and are older than a typical team that a new coach has coming into a program. They are a very veteran team in terms of years and basketball experience - maybe not at UTEP - but having played organized basketball. It's a situation where we have to do a great job."
On his approach to the NCAA Tournament:
"In the Tournament you don't worry about going all the way, you worry about the first game, and if you win that you can be worried about the second game. I have gone all the way and that's how we handled it. That's the way you have to do it. At the ACC Tournament, you worry about Wake Forest and not anything else because you don't know who you are going to play next anyway, so you always handle it that way."
On putting the ACC Tournament behind the team
"I don't think you can put it away right away, and that's one of those things that the players will remember for the rest of their lives, it's that big, so you don't just put it away. I really believe that when it comes time to play Thursday you can put it away for that time and know that this is different.
"At the start of the year - I do this every year, not just this year - but it's important for them to realize that the regular season is like one, the ACC Tournament is like two, and then if you can get to play in the postseason, that's three. Now we're in stage three. They (the team) had questions in October about whether they were going to be the team that breaks the streak and go on to the NCAA Tournament, and they've done a great job of dealing with that and hopefully they can handle this situation as well."
On Travis Garrison's contributions:
"It's been up and down for Travis all year. He's had some great games and he's had some that he wasn't a factor. We don't win the ACC Tournament without Travis Garrison doing what he did. When you go against Duke, you are going a front line that is as good as anyone else's, and Travis just battled all the way. He was great for us."
On the momentum from the ACC's:
"You have to keep the momentum. You can't relax now because you won the ACC Tournament. This isn't the time of year you can relax. I'll stress to the team how important it is to keep that feeling going."
On the team's depth:
"We have great depth. It's good that Mike Jones and Mike Grinnon played as well as they did because they know that they can step in and really help us in that situation if D.J. Strawberry is hurt."
On the team's mental toughness and leadership comes from:
"For a while, I had to be the bad guy and do all of that stuff. John Gilchrist is demonstrative when he plays but Jamar Smith is a completely different personality out there on the court. Jamar has done it recently with his coming back, he had all of those double-doubles and then he didn't have any for a while, and now he's come back and the players watch and they see. The one thing that Jamar has gotten through to this team being the only senior, is how important this is to him right now. Jamar knows that this is it. He doesn't express it as much as John does, but he's very effective as a leader."
On John Gilchrist:
"If you look at the point guards in the ACC this year and the 16 games that John had to play against, to keep his strength and toughness and gradually run the team better was outstanding. He had all that scoring at the ACC Tournament, but I don't think any other point guard did a better job of running our team."
John Gilchrist
On what he has been doing since being back in College Park:
"Anytime you go from an emotional high like [winning the ACC Championship], the best thing for me to do is let everything die down. I was emotionally drained and needed to rest."
On the quick turnaround in between games:
"It is the nature of sports. This is Tournament time and you have to get used to playing and advancing. All you can ask for is to play and keep winning. The other team has to play the same schedule we have to. We're going to go out there and give it our best. It reminds me of AAU basketball, everything is set up in a Tournament nature. You have to play back-to-back games, sometimes two or three games in a day. And you have to keep winning to win the Tournament."
On his play at the ACC Tournament and earning the Most Valuable Player Trophy:
"I prayed and asked God to help me see what I needed to do to help us win. When I got on the court, I saw opportunities to help my team - a shot to take, a lane to drive. I don't go into a game knowing what I'm going to do. I go out and play."
"You look at guys like Steve Blake and how he got a lot of recognition, but eventually people look at your team's record. I used to think that the guys with the best skills were the best players. Now I know, at the end of the day, they might get the individual accolades but it is the team that wins."
Ekene Ibekwe
On winning the ACC Tournament:
"It feels good to be a part of the ACC Championship. We've come a long way, and a lot of people doubted us this year. We just beat three of the top teams in the country. It hasn't really sunk in yet. I was watching the coverage and us in our t-shirts and hats cutting down the nets."
Chris McCray
On the difference from last year's ACC Tournament:
"We went to the ACC Tournament and we knew we could be one-and-done. We did not want that feeling. John and I, because of last year, knew what it felt like to have to come right back home and we didn't want to do it."
On the nature of the NCAA Tournament:
"In the NCAA Tournament, you are facing teams you're unfamiliar with, so teams come after each other very hard."
Travis Garrison
On his strong play at the ACC Tournament:
"I feel like I have my confidence back and I feel comfortable on the court. Beyond that, when I'm having fun, my game comes. Whatever coach tells me to do, I try to go out there and do it. One of my strongest points is shooting the jumper, but this weekend I tried to take it strong inside also. I try to do whatever the team needs me to do."
Nik Caner-Medley
On the NCAA Tournament:
"In the NCAA Tournament, the game is still the game. The only thing that is different is there is more media and more hype. So, if you can focus on the game it makes it a whole lot easier."
On what the team learned from the weekend
"The thing that we take from this weekend is that we have a lot of weapons on our team. At any time, we have players that can step up. We're on a roll right now and we have to try and keep that going."
Mike Grinnon
On the team's momentum:
"Right now, the way we're playing as a team, I'm happy we're playing on Thursday. We just went through the ACC Tournament and we can build on that - the emotion, the energy. We can use that positively and all we need to do now is play our game."
