George Washington Head Coach Mike Lonergan
On GW’s issue’s during K-State’s 20-0 run…
“In all honesty, I think it was their point guard just dominating us. We could not get into an offense. He got up into our point guard and we really struggled with the ball. We could not get into any of our sets. We ended up not getting good shots and those led to easy shots for K-State, so I thought the kid, Jevon [Thomas], dominated that game, despite not making a field goal, with his defensive ball pressure.”
On the team’s offensive struggles…
“I thought we actually got good looks from three. Mikic was ice cold and so was Maurice Creek. I thought in the second half we would make a run, but we never did. We just could not hit an open three. I just think it was that they took Joe [McDonald] out of the game. He is a terrific point guard for us, not the quickest guy in the world, but he was really struggling handling the ball. He had one assist and eight turnovers and I think is assist to turnover ratio is almost four to one. It just was not his night and we do not have another point guard.
On Jevon Thomas…
“Well I figured he had to be pretty good because in his first eligible he played 19 minutes. It just seems like, reading articles and everything, that he is a point guard for the future. What seems like is missing for them – and Will Spradling does a great job and his assist to turnover ratio is awesome, but he is not a true point guard – so that seems like he might be the guy they are missing. I did not know though because we could not really get film on him, that he was that good defensively. He really manhandled us up top. Like I said, we could not even get into our offensive sets. We are not a great one-on-one team so we have to rely on our half court offense, but I have to give him a lot of credit because he was terrific. He did not have a great game offensively, but six assists and no turnovers along with his defensive pressure that does not show up on the stat sheet changed the complexion of the game completely.”
On K-State’s defense…
“I think they guard the three real well and they are smart. They are not the most athletic team that we will play, but Spradling is a really smart player. He will pressure you and he is great at taking charges. Their help side defense is good. Even Gipson we thought got to the basket and laid out for charges and changed our shots. Isaiah [Armwood] was 1-of-7 and part of that is the help defense with what Gipson provided for Kansas State. It is a good culture here. They have a very good defensive coach, and that is why I told our guys that this is not the same team that beat us last year. They are totally different players but they are still going to rebound. Last year we gave up 24 offensive rebounds and today we only gave up 12 today. Still, that physical play really hurt us. That is what their coach does and if [Thomas] is good as they think he is, because they are playing him over Nigel Johnson, then that will be a key for their season. That defense is pretty good. Joe [McDonald] has played some pretty good teams and nobody has taken the ball from him like that.”
