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UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN BASKETBALL MEDIA CONFERENCEFebruary 16, 2015Bo RyanTHE MODERATOR: The Men's Basketball Head Coach, Bo Ryan, is here and will take questions. Q. You've been strong out of the gates the past three, four weeks in games. I know every team tries to start strong. What's allowed you to do that? Is it due to experience, these guys being ready and knowing your message and being ready to execute? COACH RYAN: I think you gotta give credit to the players. You talk about games, you practice the sets of the other team, you run your stuff, you do your due diligence as a coaching staff but it's the players that make it happen. Not every game we've gotten off to a good start, but there's a lot of teams that get it done in games where maybe things were a little bit of a grind early and then figured out a way later. It's still the end result, but I think with the seniors that we have, the guys, the experience they gained last year, you gotta give credit to them. Q. You obviously coached for a lot of years and coached a lot of teams and coached against a lot of teams. How good is this team do you feel like? COACH RYAN: This team will make its statement by its production for the whole season, not any speculation during, before, three‑quarters into it. Teams are judged by their overall accomplishments. They're a good team, they're a great bunch of young men playing hard together. There has been a lot of teams that I've watched over the decades have really good teams, and then come tournament time, one bad game, then people dismiss their work. I've always been "anti" that, which you guys know here. I still think it's the process of our game with the way the tournament is set up, you really have to be fortunate for at least six games. So when the season is over, people have their opinions of this team, but I sure enjoy working with 'em. Q. Bo, you mentioned the seniors, tying it into the quick starts but you got two sophomores in the lineup in Bronson and Nigel. Are they playing as seasoned and with as much poise as your seniors that's contribute to go that? COACH RYAN: They definitely are and there are reasons, there are definite reasons. The fact that we got the legislation passed to do where we could work with the players in the off‑season for a couple hours, not like we're driving them into the ground, and in the summer for a couple hours, we could do things with the drills to give them an idea so when they are playing their pick‑up games in the summer, they're actually running our offense and actually defensively trying to do the things by word of mouth through the upper classmen. So now, you know, Bill Rafferty brought it up, and he knows how I've coached for a long time; you do get your players to understand that they can coach themselves. What he meant by that, because he knows how I operate, you know, there's always a chance for people with experience on a team to get messages across. I always mention the voice in the locker room but it's also the voice out on the‑‑ pick‑up games for basketball is key. You can't always do it in other sports, have pick‑up games, like our sport. So if your experienced players, the ones who have had a chance to be in the program aren't getting anything until October15th, like it used to be, then it makes it harder. But Bronson and Nigel, without a doubt, are playing like juniors, for sure. I think by saying they're a year ahead it's basically because of the legislation and the fact that they're here together in the summers taking classes, so that they can graduate in four years and maybe even start a Masters program. Q. Bo, this certainly isn't the first team of yourself to have good chemistry but it's noticeable to those of us on the outside. How noticeable is it to you and how important is that to you? Just that they all get along and seem to like one another? COACH RYAN: Well, I've seen some seems where the players liked each other and they weren't very good or they were struggling. Not to say they weren't very good, they weren't having a great year. But as coaches, we don't really look for that hug thing about the team, because sometimes when you're stirring the pot a little bit and there is a couple guys on the team that are pushing the envelope, it makes for some good practices and, like, you know, we had two days off and those two practices afterwards we were chippy with one another, but not once they got to the locker room or anything else. But there were bodies banging and some things going on and guys expressing themselves a little bit under their breath. I thought that helped get us prepared for Illinois. But, you know, if they respect one another that's the key. Q. I'm not sure how much time you were able to devote to watching the entire landscape of college basketball but is Frank as deserving as anybody else for National Player Of The Year consideration at this point of the year? COACH RYAN: Well, you know, it's amazing when you're watching a game and you hear 'em talk about all the Big Ten‑‑ look at this, Wisconsin! They have one loss and look who they lost to, they lost to the team in the bottom of the league! I'm listening, did they say that Frank didn't play? No! That's okay. Did they say that Trae went down with a broken foot? Nope. That's okay, because it's good for the league. If the first team can lose to the last team, you know, there are upsets like that, then that's better for viewership, I would think. I can't remember where I heard that, though, whether it was BTN or not. What's that have to do with your question? Did you want to play with Frank or would you rather have Frank sittin' out? I would rather have Frank playin' and he's as good as any player in the country right now for what he means to his team and he's backing it up with his performances. He's pretty steady. It's not like he has 40 and then 5. He's been pretty steady so yeah, I think he is one of the top players in the country that I've ever coached for sure and that exists in college right now. Q. When was the last time with this particular group that you thought, boy, they're not tethered to where I want them to be as a team, that you had to reel 'em back in and put them perhaps in their place? Was there a moment recently, maybe a year ago? When was the last time? COACH RYAN: I don't know. I thought‑‑ I didn't know what direction they would go after the Duke game because I had to go back and look at that. Duke played very well. Defensively looking at that game, I went back again and looked at the game four years ago when we beat 'em. By far this‑‑ how come I always end up talking about Duke when I'm talking to you? This Duke team that we played is better. What I wanted to make sure is that they didn't think they weren't good enough. But I didn't have to reel 'em in, I just had to keep reminding them; we got something here. You guys keep working together. We're okay. We can be all right. But I don't think there was a moment of an explosion or one of those things that they talk about ten years from now. I can't think of anything like that. Q. The reason I asked, this team seems to have it's eye on the prize, so to speak, and was there a moment when you thought maybe that vision had drifted and stuff that didn't matter, awards, attention, that type of thing‑‑ COACH RYAN: That's a good question, no, I have not seen that, and I think Frank, how he's handled the attention that he's received, I think that's the key. Q. Bo, yesterday John Gross was talking about Nigel's assist‑to‑turnover ratio, calling him a power forward and how he can handle the ball. When you guys were recruiting him was that part of his game that you noticed, ball handling, vision, passing ability, things like that? COACH RYAN: You know, Nigel, first of all, when you look at him physically, you're going to say, "We need to get him!" Did we say we need to get Nigel because he's a really good passer? That became part of it. But his personality, his wit, his extremely bright young man. The more you're around him you're like he's got to be in our program. We have to have him at Wisconsin. And when push came to shove he said, hey, Wisconsin has been there from the beginning. Coach Paris did a heck of a job, parents liked us. He became a Badger, even though he received notice from other places. You say a power forward, he's like a point forward. Like Nelly when he called that point forward‑‑ Help me out here, point forward, Moncrief or Pearce‑‑ I'm not sure. But he's a point forward. Q. (No microphone.) COACH RYAN: Paul Pressy, maybe? Yeah. Aren't you a hockey guy? I think it was Pressy. Q. After Penn State's loss yesterday I believe Coach Chambers had some words about the officials and the calls and certain programs might not be getting the benefit of calls while others were getting those. I wondered when you first came out here with the barge program whether you thought that exist and had if you were on the other side of that now as a coach? COACH RYAN: (Laughter.) I think everybody works hard that wears a striped shirt. This is a hard game to officiate. Q. Going back to your answer to Andy about Frank and how he's handled the notoriety, what specifically have you seen about the way he's reacted to headlines and things? COACH RYAN: Shows how grounded he is. You guys have heard me say this 100 times. I go back to your parents and first teachers and he obviously got some pretty good advice as he was being raised, and I think the input there started the process of how he took in what he was told. How he dealt with constructive criticism, people‑‑ you know, basketball players because we have tee shirts and shorts on when we go into other gyms as players, some of the things they say you can hear. You can actually see the person. There is no helmet, there is nothing to protect, so you learn to get thick skin in a hurry as a basketball player, if you're in the upper echelon and somebody who the other team targets to be like the guy you gotta take care of. So Frank has handled all that at an early age, which has helped him to deal with it the way he does here. He really‑‑ he really likes his teammates, he likes his classmates, he likes the campus. He's‑‑ what a joy to know that there are people like that out there in this athletic world. Q. Sticking on that theme, you would think you would want someone to fill that role every year. Who plays that role next when Frank is gone? COACH RYAN: Well, that's not to diminish what Josh Gasser and Trae and the other guys leadershipwise have, but we were referring to his getting notoriety as to how he handled it and how the team did around him. I think that will be an interesting process during the off‑season, that's where you find out in the off‑season and then in the summer. But they have had some good mentors along the way, for anybody who does move into that role next year. At least they have had some good examples. Q. You sit in the back of the plane when you fly to Penn State? COACH RYAN: Always. Q. Why is that? COACH RYAN: I try to sit in the back of every plane because I've never seen a plane back into a mountain. I hate to say that, because the wind sometimes around Happy Valley, around the airport, whew! But you know, the more I think about it I always sit in the front of a bus and if a bus stops in a hurry the person sitting in the front has no chance! But it's just something I've always done. Q. Are you superstitious? COACH RYAN: Maybe a little bit. You know what the guys would do at Platteville, because we drove to La Crosse, Steven's Point, Eau Claire, Superior, they would bet on how long it would take for me to nod off on the bus. Some picked Fennimore, some picked La Crosse on the four‑hour trips. But I never figured out why you don't have a seat belt at least in the front see the of a bus. Actually a new bus that we were on did have one, anybody else noticed that? Anybody been on a new bus? They actually do have seat belts. Q. What about changing hotels, if you go some place and lose? COACH RYAN: What do you think we're going to give them our business again? That's not right! Q. Good point. COACH RYAN: For some reason I think we ended up in Nebraska at the same hotel as the year before! I don't know if it was because it was the only one available during that date or what. Yeah, if they want our business they have to be kinder to us in the gym! Only seems right. Who is giving you all this information? I gotta find out who the leak is in the program! Q. One of your former players! COACH RYAN: Oh, former player, okay. Q. You did put the seat belt on. Is that what you're saying? COACH RYAN: It was only to go to the airport so, no, I didn't. It just didn't seem right. We didn't get up to speeds‑‑ it went from the Kohl's Center to the airport and at most it was 35 miles an hour. I figured I could survive that one. Q. How do you feel like Sam has developed over the last few years up until now? How has your relationship evolved with him? COACH RYAN: I treat each player pretty much the same as far as what you're willing to accept from them and how they react to constructive criticism and praise and, you know, Sam realized he had weaknesses. He's been trying hard to work to overcome those. There are a couple of clips today I have to show him at 4:00, and Sam might faint but I actually have him playing good defense, and I point it out on the teaching clips. So I don't know how Sam will be at practice today. He might come out and say, Coach Ryan said something good about me on the defensive end! Or hey, I blocked out this time! He's like everybody else; he's trying like everybody else. His offensive skills were at a level when he came in, and some other skills were maybe not quite as high, so what happens in life if you have a skill that's really high, let's say somebody has hair that's‑‑ that is used in shampoo commercials, it's so thick well people tend to think the rest of the person has to be pretty good then, but they might have rough skin or something like that and it doesn't go together. So Sam had the good hair but some other things needed to be taken care of, worked on. I don't know that's probably a bad analogy. Jeff, that's easy for you to say. (Laughter.) I should show him pictures of Elroy Hirsch, with that crew cut that he had, the buzz? Q. You said that he indicated that you would be surprised that you would show something good‑‑ COACH RYAN: Oh, I've shown something good about him but the other end might outweigh it though. Q. Has that been a constructive process over the last three‑years, for him to accept that and for ‑‑ you know, to try to figure out how to give it and how to accept it? COACH RYAN: Well, he seems to be listening, but transmit has always been on; receiving is up to the student. But students can't learn if the teachers can't teach, so it's my responsibility to try to get him to be better in his overall game, just like it is with everybody else. And I've never particularly cared if they liked it or not. I'd have been out of coaching a long time ago if that was what it was all about. I was coached, too, also. Some things, when a coach says 'em, has a certain barb to it, and you get over it and it's like, he's right! In the long run he didn't‑‑ my coaches didn't tell me anything that wasn't something that wasn't true; they didn't make up stuff, to make me feel bad, so I accepted it. Again, it started with my parents. Believe it or not, I wasn't like the best kid around the house. I was always taking off, looking for something to do, a hill to climb, another hill to climb! I told Mike Lucas he's the one that got me that nomination from the sales of the book. He's probably still laughing. It's 10 after. We moved the start time for the clips to 4:10. What is it, Four o'clock? So by the way we did set a record today. I was notified by the Big Ten office that my twelve minutes that I had today was the shortest time period for any coach to have been asked any questions. The Big Ten sent me that memo. Q. (No microphone.) COACH RYAN: I heard that, too. I'm second again, because the guy who does them had to ask me one, about Frank. And the only other question was‑‑ oh, about injuries, yeah, with teams. Q. Bo, your choice between if you had to sit on a plane next to one color commentator, would it be Dan Dakich or would it be Bill Walton and why? COACH RYAN: I don't sit in the middle seat. I would sit in the middle seat between those two guys and listen to them. Dan is very sure of himself. He coaches the game as it goes along, and that's what they're looking for with a lot of these‑‑ how competitive that market has become Andy with the Big Ten Network, SEC, ACC, everybody is pushing their league, they get their pep talks behind closed doors and, like, talk about coaching a little bit, talk about what you might have done here. That's encouraged now, way more than before! Bill Walton will talk about the walrus, but he will also say some things that he said to our players at that practice, where he is spot on, about his respect for his coach, how things were done when he played and that he might have bucked the system a little bit at first, but when he realized that Coach Wooden had his best interest at heart, Bill Walton was hooked on doing what he was supposed to do. And Dan has coached, Dan played. He played for Bobby, Coach Knight, and you can imagine the experiences he had. He remembers the days if you didn't play well you fly back to Bloomington, get off, put your practice stuff on, and go for two hours. That's illegal by the NCAA now. You talk about two different guys. I would like to be in the middle of those two, if that's a fair answer. Q. (No microphone.) COACH RYAN: He's the guy that you would go to the corner establishment with, and have the greatest five or six hours that you could think of. His stories, his demeanor, his perception of things, to me he's one of the guys like ‑‑ you know, neighborhood guy. And I played against him, so he can continue to tell the story of, he came to Wilkes with his team, the gym is packed, you can't get another body in the gym. Of course the wrestling mat is down. And Wilken was a power house in wrestling; it's packed. The wrestling match was over. We go up to the locker room, get changed, come out and there were 112‑‑ we counted 'em, there were 112 people that stayed for the basketball game. My freshman year. I looked at my buddy from Chester that went with me and we looked at each other after playing at Chester High where there was never an empty seat on the road or at home, and we're playing in front of 112 people at home and it was his team we were playing against, Rafftery's team. He always gets that needle in. Q. (No microphone.) COACH RYAN: Whatever he said. I can't remember. We were not very good. My teammate and I from high school started as freshmen, so what does that tell you? Because if we‑‑ if it was Temple or Rutgers, wherever I was going to go, you couldn't play as freshmen then, but at a small college you could. A little sideline. THE MODERATOR: Anything elimination for Coach? Thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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