USC / Pepperdine Post-Game Quotes
December 15, 2000 | Men's Basketball
Dec. 15, 2000
Post game quotes from USC coach Henry Bibby
"It's like I said all along, our kids are not sure how to play because the officiating isn't like anything I have ever seen.
"Pepperdine shot well. They got open looks late that they didn't get earlier. But we played good defense even without our three best players. We hung in there. Granville played good defense on Armstrong, especially in the first half.
"There's nothing we can do (about how the officials are calling the game). I'm sure there'll be some rule changes next year. Last year the emphasis was on palming, this year it is on physical play. The game has been taken away from competitive play and put in the hands of the officials. Now they look at only one thing (physical play). It's taken people out of their game. It took Sam Clancy out of his the last two games and it took Bluthenthal out today.
"That's why I go with Granville, he gives us experience. At the end, we wanted to get the ball in the hands of the veterans, Granville or Scalabrine.
"We knew Armstrong and Gibbs take a majority of Pepperdine's shots. We didn't want Armstrong to catch the basketball and we did that in the first half."
Post game quotes from Pepperdine coach Jan van Breda Kolff
(On the officiating)
"It's unfortunate. Games had been played a long time one way and now they are really ruling hard on the hand checking. Coaches have tried to adjust. It's part of the game now, I guess.
"I thought we played poorly tonight. We didn't execute and we didn't shoot well. But despite all the negatives, just look at the scoreboard. We had a chance to tie the game with one shot. That says a lot about this team's character.
"If we can play this close against the No. 13 team in the country on the road, that tells us we are a better team than we think we are."
