Nov. 17, 2001
WESTERN KENTUCKY VS. GEORGE WASHINGTON
NABC CLASSIC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
NOVEMBER 16, 2001
WESTERN KENTUCKY HEAD COACH DENNIS FELTON
On winning the NABC Classic…
“We are extremely pleased to win such a terrific tournament with the field that was in it. We came here focused on winning the tournament and not just beating Kentucky.”
On what WKU needed to do in the second half…
“I told the players at the half that I was happy with our defense and our rebounding. I felt in the second half we needed to shoot better. I told them not to expect George Washington to go away. I saw yesterday that GW will not go away. Our players were poised enough to put them away.”
On his feelings before the game…
“Yesterday, I was very relaxed and I felt it was our time to finish a great game. Today, I was more much intense because I knew how important it was for our players to relax and I really feared George Washington.”
On Filip Videnov…
“We really need him to play with consistency. We’re working hard to get Filip to be the really explosive player that he can be.”
On what the tournament victory means to WKU…
“We’ll see what this does for us. It will be very interesting to see the follow-up to tonight. I’m interested to see what this does in our community. We have a great core of fans, but we are looking for people to jump on the bandwagon and fill up Diddle Arena.”
WKU PLAYERS
Chris Marcus
On sitting the bench in foul trouble for 13 minutes…
“It was tough just sitting there and not being able to play especially in a game that was so close. Our bench really stepped up and took control of the game. We played real hard tonight as a team.”
On winning the tournament…
“This really means a lot to our program. We are playing Evansville on Tuesday so this really boosts our confidence to prepare to play at home.”
On winning M.V.P…
“It is great especially since I beat out my teammate Derek Robinson because of how well he has played. He really stepped up this tournament and showed great leadership so to still get this honor knowing how well others played is just great.”
On the game…
“It was a tough game because for awhile the game was going nowhere. Neither team was getting shots to drop so we were both staying in the game by defensive play. We really came out the second half and played our best. Down the stretch we started to hit our shots and just pulled away for the win.”
Derek Robinson
On winning the tournament…
“It feels real good, especially for me, Tremain, and Chris. We’ve always been told that hard work pays off and it’s paying off for us now.”
On playing for Western…
“It’s been tough the last couple of years when we’ve practiced so hard. I would rather be winning and practicing hard than losing and practicing hard.”
GEORGE WASHINGTON HEAD COACH KARL HOBBS
On the game…
“I thought we played against a very good basketball team. They were deep and experienced. Their big guy (Chris Marcus) had a great game. When they made a run, they played well. We did well to hold them to 40 percent shooting and 29 percent from three-point range. We showed our youth tonight. Our freshmen showed they are young. We are going to grow from this experience.”
On the team’s foul trouble…
“The foul trouble hurt us a great deal. Then in the second half we felt we had to gamble. We were pushing the ball up but weren’t getting much in our half-court sets.”
On his players playing so many minutes…
“Obviously that made it very difficult for us. Our starting five played 30 minutes a game. (Chris) Marcus was a load. When they (Western Kentucky) sub, they bring in five fresh guys.”
GEORGE WASHINGTON PLAYERS
Chris Monroe
On what he said to T.J. Thompson…
“I just told him that I have been through this. We are a young team and we don’t have a deep bench. I just told him that he went out and tried his best. I wanted to let him know that he did a good job out there.”
Jaason Smith
On Chris Marcus…
“He’s a big boy. He’s a great player, very talented. He’ll be in the NBA someday.”
