March 11, 2005

Recap |  Box Score |  Notes

2005 BIG TEN

MEN'S BASKETBALL

TOURNAMENT

Game Four  • March 10, 2005 • United Center • Chicago, Ill.

#1 Illinois 68, #8 Northwestern 51

 

ILLINOIS COACH/PLAYER QUOTES

 

Head Coach Bruce Weber:

Opening Statement:

"I thought we came out a little sluggish early, but I think the key to the game was that we had a better feel for their system. They had maybe one or two back doors, but, for the most part, we were pretty good. We learned how to deal with their quick post play. I though Deron did a nice job of giving us energy early, pushing the basketball, got us in transition. We didn't have a great rhythm in the game. Free throws kind of disrupted us. We never got to a point where we made a great run. Hopefully, we can put it together tomorrow."

 

On comparing how Illinois' play is now to earlier on in the season:

"Every day is a little different. Every game is a little different. The last Northwestern game and

last Purdue game maybe gave a little false sense of who we are; we shot the ball so well. When

you shoot three's, it makes it seem like you are playing great basketball. Then we didn't shoot

quite as well at Ohio State or today. So, now it makes you a little sloppy. The things I am

worried about are defense, rebounding, pushing the basketball, and that is what we are trying to

concentrate on. If we defend, it will give us a chance to get into transition. We are good at

transition. We have good athletes and pretty good depth."

 

On what he expected of his players after the Ohio State loss:

"After a loss, they would have a little more energy, but the crowd really didn't get going.Early

morning? I'm not sure what it was. We couldn't get it to flow. There were long possessions by Northwestern, so we didn't play with quite the energy. Then in the second half, we had the lead, kind of thinking we are going to win, and then you start going through the motions. Then they get a little close, and you can't click it in. They outscored us 7-2 starting the second half."

 

Deron Williams:

On gaining confidence back after first loss:

"I never thought we lost our confidence.  We had a bad game at the wrong time.  I think we are back on it now."

 

On today's effort:

"We picked it up.  As coach said, it wasn't very consistent.  Tomorrow will have to pick it up and give it a forty minute effort."

 

On Brown's pass off the backboard:

"I didn't know it was coming. I slowed up.  I thought Dee was going to lay it up.  I would have dunked it, but I didn't know it was coming."

 

Dee Brown:

On what was going on between him and T.J. Parker:

 "I was just talking to him.  I wasn't trash talking. We were talking about life.  We weren't even talking about basketball."

 

On Brown's pass off the backboard:

"I was just running and when Carter gave me the ball Hachad had a good break on me, so I just put it off the backboard."

 

James Augustine:

On playing with intensity after the loss:

"I haven't played well lately and Coach Weber has emphasized that.  It's effort. It's being at the right place at the right time. It's a little bit of everything.  So I felt I had to concentrate a little more and give a little more effort."

 

 

 

 

2005 BIG TEN

MEN'S BASKETBALL

TOURNAMENT

Game Four  • March 10, 2005 • United Center • Chicago, Ill.

#1 Illinois 68, #8 Northwestern 51

 

NORTHWESTERN COACH/PLAYER QUOTES

 

Head Coach Bill Carmody:

Opening Statement:

"When you play a team the caliber of Illinois, I do not think you have to play perfectly to win. You certainly can not have as many turnovers as we did today. We had too many possessions where we did not even get a shot. We got the lead down to around 10 in the second half, but then we started turning the ball over again and they went on a run. I think that we never really threatened them."

 

On James Augustine's play:

"We had played zone against them previously. We decided to match-up with their three guards this time and that opened up the lane for Augustine as well as Powell to a certain degree. If you let them get as deep as we did they are difficult to stop. That little left-handed jump hook is a great move from in close, but if we could keep him 10 feet away from the basket it would not be so great."

 

On Mohamed Hachad's play:

"In the last seven games, Hachad has been arguably our best player. Once we have five guys who play with the aggression he has, I will worry about the turnovers."

 

Mohamed Hachad:

On whether he was on a mission today:

"I was just trying to help the team win. Coach set up some plays for me and Vedran to score inside, and some of those we didn't take full advantage of. I thought we needed to go out there and compete to get a win, if that's a mission."

 

On his rebounding effort in a smaller lineup:

 "Coach is always telling me that I'm a good sized guard. That means that I have to help my teammates out and get more rebounds. That's what I was trying to do, and, especially on the defensive end, I felt I got up and got some rebounds."

 

Vedran Vukusic:

On what to look for next year:

 "We started the pre-conference season with some pretty bad games. Probably some games that, with the players on this team, we should have won. Next year we need to focus on the non-conference games. They are grounds for the Big Ten season, and if you win those that can really help improve your confidence. It's not like I'm trying to make excuses. It is also important for us to work hard in the off-season on getting better team unity and chemistry. That way we can start out better and try to win as many as we can."