Recap: Georgetown
Jan. 31, 2009
Overshadowing MU's 94-82 victory over Georgetown on Saturday afternoon was an awkward exchange between coach Buzz Williams and analyst Jim McIlvaine during Williams' usual post-game radio interview on AM-540.
Williams took umbrage to a question asked by McIlvaine, a former MU star and NBA player.
"How do you keep the kids focused and not buying into all the hype?" asked McIlvaine, according to multiple listeners who heard the exchange live on the radio.
According to those listeners, here is how Williams responded:
"I appreciate what you said, Mac, and I know you played here and had a lot of success here. We pay absolutely no attention to anything said by the media, said within the media, and I'm not trying to be condescending but I don't think you win 11 straight games, eight straight in the Big East, if you're focused on the wrong things.
"And so I'm somewhat offended that you would even ask that, because what you should talk about is the character and the heart of our players. That's what should be talked about."
Williams apparently continued by telling McIlvaine that he was disappointed that the home-team radio announcer would ask such a question, and that he should be proud of what MU's players have accomplished. McIlvaine responded by saying he was proud, and tried clarifying his question.
Williams then answered the coaching staff and team would continue to work just as they've always done, before play-by-play man Steve 'The Homer' True shifted gears and moved onto another topic.
A request to AM-540 for a copy of the audio later Saturday was denied. The rights to the broadcast are owned by Nelligan Sports Marketing, which is MU's marketing arm.
No more than 10 minutes later, Williams was asked a similar question -- how his players were handling the winning -- in his post-game news conference with the largest media contingent at the Bradley Center for an MU game this season to date.
"I probably didn't handle the post-game radio show the right way, so I'll try to handle your question the right way," said Williams. "I've been employed here 297 days, and we handle day the same way. And the thing that bothers me internally, that I try not to voice, is this is a really, really, elite-level, special group.
"And moreso than their wit, moreso than their skill set, partly because of how I'm built, but mostly because how it's been revealed, is our toughness. Toughness is not something that you talk about. Toughness is something that you do every day. And if you go to work every day and everything's good, and if you go home every night and everything's good, I don't think that's toughness.
"And I've been incredibly hard -- moreso than what you guys would know -- on that group of guys. And I am still incredibly hard on that group of guys. And they respond every day. So to succinctly answer your question, we'll do the same thing that we've done the last 297 days. And despite the incremental increase in media coverage, it's not going to change who we are.
"Because our character has been revealed, and we'll continue to work to refine our character, and we'll continue to get better from a skill-set perspective and an intelligence perspective because we've got a lot of season left, and we've got a long, long way to go. When a team shoots 56% for a game, most times that's a loss. We can feel good about the win until midnight, but we have to figure out how to get better defensively, or we may not win another game."
McIlvaine, when reached after the game, implied too much was being made of the incident.
"I think it was just a misunderstanding," he said. "I've already forgotten about it."
-- A couple quick fouls took Maurice Acker out of the stopper role he had played in two of the previous three games.
Williams actually turned to Acker in the first half, earlier than normal, but ultimately replaced him with Jimmy Butler. The junior-college transfer responded with nine points on 2-for-2 shooting from the field and 5-for-5 shooting from the free-throw line in 15 minutes.
"I thought our guys (on the bench), particularly Jimmy, were really beneficial to our team," Williams said "His rebounds and his 5-of-5 from the free-throw line were key."
-- Georgetown junior forward DaJuan Summers looked pretty darned good despite a strained left foot that had left him as day-to-day heading into the game.
He scored 22 points in 36 minutes for Georgetown, and said afterward only that he was less than 100%. Coach John Thompson III said he didn't know until after pre-game warmups that Summers would be able to go.
Summers came out red-hot, scoring the first eight points for the Hoyas, and 11 of their first 16 as Georgetown asserted control early and eventually went into halftime tied with MU at 42-42.
"They came out ready," said Wesley Matthews. "We'd probably grade ourselves a C-minus or a D in the first half, and they played well. They made a lot of shots and they were the most aggressive team, scrambling to balls."
-- Matthews provided some laughs in the post-game when he was asked if there is any guard in the country playing better than teammate Jerel McNeal.
McNeal, of course, had just put up a superlative line with 26 points, 11 assists, six rebounds, five steals and three blocked shots in 38 minutes, and was within earshot when Matthews zinged him.
"I am," he said, drawing laughs. "But he shoots it more than me. Jerel, it's hard to talk about him because he's in here right now. But he's playing well. Well is an understatement. And that's a tribute to his work. Jerel, he's being Jerel."
McNeal of course gave Matthews a hard time on his way out of the media room in return.
-- As Williams alluded to earlier, MU won't win many games from this point forward allowing an opponent to shoot 56.1% from the floor.
"We can't have that anymore," echoed Matthews. "It's a tough, tough conference and we can't give up 56 percent. We knew that going into the game. We knew that coming into the second half. They were shooting 66 percent. We have to get better every day."
-- Williams passed out donuts to students prior to the game as a thank you for their support.
"I think the thing that adds to all of this is the response of the community of Milwaukee in addition to the students," he said. "The students were lined up out the door and all the way down the street. I thought the students were absolutely phenomenal in regards to supporting our team.
"Unlike most institutions I think this one has a distinct feel for time, score and momentum. And I thought they were key for us down the stretch, especially in the second half."
-- Dominic James is now one assist shy of 600. He'll be the third MU player to reach that plateau.
-- MU had three players (McNeal 26, Matthews 23, Lazar Hayward 23) score at least 20 points for the second time this season. It also accomplished the feat at Providence.
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