Nov. 26, 2014

Recap | Final Stats | Notes | USATSI Gallery

Notre Dame Head Coach Mike Brey

Opening statement
“That had to be the quickest college basketball game in history, because they’re holding the ball, they’re burning and they’re playing zone. The game went fast, but it was kind of a unique thing to mentally play against because you’re guarding the last ten seconds of the shot clock and then you’re playing against zone. I thought overall we did a pretty darn good job with that, and I thought we were efficient offensively and it was good to play against a zone offensively for forty minutes.”

On bouncing back tonight from loss to Providence…
“One of the things I talked to them about was defending. We weren’t good defensively on Sunday. Then it was tricky to evaluate our overall defense because you’re chasing the burn and then you’re guarding at the end. We played a little bit of zone. I think for the most part I’m just happy we shared the ball and moved and we got some zone offensive work.”

On the performance and efficiency of the offense…
“It was great to watch. We were calm and we are really efficient on the offensive end. We put some guys in different spots tonight against the zone, we didn’t force anything and we threw it inside when we had to. We really made the extra pass, we went middle and out and a lot of different guys caught it in the middle and made that extra pass out, and I thought we took really good shots. It was good to see Demetrius Jackson rise up and shoot his three-point shot and not overanalyze it. With him and Jerian, when the ball reverses to you and you have a clean look we want you to shoot it. Not can I get closer and `can I drive one more time?'” He turned one down early and I got on him and then he stepped up and shot that ball for us”

On shifting Demetrius to the corner in the second half…
“What I was trying to do there was go into three deep because they were in a 1-2-2 zone. It was a different look where we have two guys up top and three on the baseline. Usually your guards are always up top, but I wanted more size up top, to look over the top, so Steve and Jerian were up there. We kind of experimented with that tonight, and I like it. Demetrius is down on the baseline and he’s a really good corner jump shooter. Even last year he made corner jump shots, plus he can rip down the baseline and he doesn’t have to play against length and guys engulfing him all the time. It’s tough as a small guard to always face guys in an open stance, so that was interesting and we talked about that on the bench as a staff. It’s something to remember against a 1-3-1 or a 1-2-2 zone.

On Coach Ray Martin…
“I would really call him an educator. There are a lot of young people in the college game, through his different coaching stops, that have really benefited from his relationship. He’s one of the good guys in the business, he’s a class act, and I think every young person that comes in touch with him feels better about himself. It was really neat there at the end, I grabbed him to get in the alma mater and he said, `I watch on the football Saturdays and at the end of your games, and I get a little emotional every time the alma mater plays.'”

“He was a heck of a basketball player for us, and a great guard coming out of New York City. I was younger, but I knew the name Dice Martin, growing up in Washington D.C., you knew of him. I think he’ll be a big help to a new coach at Grambling State because he is a veteran and he has seen it all in our profession.”

Grambling State Head Coach Shawn Walker

On Assistant Coach Ray Martin…
“Coach Martin is great. When I took this job in August, I didn’t know him. He as a person comes with the impeccable reputation. From there, as a coach, he is well schooled, has won a national championship and has played at the highest level. He’s been at places and programs that not everyone has the opportunity to coach or play at. He’s been a great tutor to me thus far. We had the great opportunity today to meet Digger Phelps and talk with Coach Brey, and none of this happens without Coach Martin. I feel honored to have Coach Martin beside me, because he could very well be the head coach with me beside him. I’m excited to have him and he is certainly an asset to the Grambling State Basketball program.”

On approach taken tonight…
“Obviously, as you could see, we were having a lot of trouble scoring the basketball. We wanted to control the tempo of the game. I was really concerned about the pressure that Notre Dame can put on you. Their pressure can be overwhelming. We tried to spread the court tonight and kill the clock. Ultimately, what ended up happening was the mismatches they would have had in terms of size that we were able to use against them. We were able to drive the ball to the basket, and after we made a couple buckets, we got confident. Obviously, Notre Dame is more powerful and they have better players than we do–they have more good players than we do. When you look at the stat sheet, it shows that we played extremely hard. Outside of the three-point shots–which we didn’t hit–we were right there with them. I am proud of the kids and what they were able to do. I thought we played as well as we could play. I thought Notre Dame showed great resilience, because I thought we controlled quite a bit of the game. They hit 12 three-pointers, some right at the end of the shot clock, and that enabled them to get the lead that they did.”