Nov. 14, 2008

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Post-Game Quotes
Loyola vs. Rockhurst
Nov. 14, 2008

Loyola Head Coach Jim Whitesell
On the loss
"I think you have to congratulate Rockhurst, they played an excellent basketball game. They seemed to answer every time we took the lead and got things going again, they punched us back. You've got to give those kids a lot of credit. Levels are levels, it doesn't matter what level they are, we knew they were going to be a good basketball team. We settled down a little in the second half, but you have to give them a lot of credit, we got outplayed tonight. With the exception of J.R. (Blount), I don't think we played very assertive at all and I didn't coach very assertive."

On scouting Rockhurst
"We had seen them on tape and talked about how every other possession could possibly be a three. We talked a lot about how when they do miss, there's going to be some long rebounds. I think they did a great job of running their offense and I'd like to see us be much more aggressive and assertive defensively. We got rebounded in our gym, which is disappointing."

On the team's start
"It was a really bad start. The first possession or two was good, but then they hit two threes and negated a little bit of our hard work. I thought we came out in the second half and played pretty well the first seven or eight minutes, but sustaining it and them punching us back I think was the difference in the game."

On the final minutes of the game
"J.R. can't shoot every time down the floor. You have to look at their team and they played a wonderful basketball game. We just did not play good enough defense to win the basketball game. Offensively, we really dug ourselves a hole for about 10 minutes in the first half and then in the second half we had stretches where it wasn't very good, it was just really non-assertive. We can't rely on one player to score for us - it's not going to get you many wins."

Loyola Senior Guard J.R. Blount
On taking over the game
"A lot of the scoring was just going through the offense and there was a lot of ball screen plays, which is what we've been working on. It didn't go through my mind that I have to take over the game. We were playing well to start the second half and I was just taking open shots and shots I thought I could make. I wasn't trying to do anything special."

On Rockhurst's shooting
"They made some tough shots, a lot of open shots, but I don't think it had to do with anything we weren't prepared for. They ran about three or four different sets, but it was all stuff we had gone over and looked at on tape. It just came down to us giving a very poor performance and effort defensively and that's how you get beat."

On his performance
"I just let the game come to me. That was one thing I was telling myself throughout the game. I got to the free throw line quite a bit and that's what the coaches wanted me to do. When I get to the free throw line I usually play pretty well and I was actually making some free throws tonight."