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76 CLASSIC MEDIA CONFERENCEOctober 31, 2011Jay WrightTIM SIMMONS: Our next coach up is Jay Wright from Villanova. Jay won the tournament two years ago down in Puerto Rico. Thank you for joining us today. As an opening question, how have pre-season practices been going? COACH WRIGHT: It's been going great. We had our first scrimmage yesterday against Fordham. That went well. It's been interesting because of the NBA lockout, we've been able to have some of our players come back and practice with us, which has been great for a young team. So they're getting a lot of reps against bigger, stronger bodies which they're going to see in the Big East, they're going to see in the 76 Classic. We're young, but I like where we are right now in pre-season. TIM SIMMONS: Coach, you're used to the tournament format. You won the Puerto Rico event a couple years ago. Do you see a challenge for your team this year in playing this type of tournament? COACH WRIGHT: I think this is the best format. I really like having the day off on Saturday I think is great. You play two in a row. It's good for a little rest. It's also good just to enjoy where you are just for a day. I think by that point when you've played two games back to back, you've seen your opponent play twice, you can relax a little bit on that day, which is great for the guys. You have a couple tough days and you lose, it's good to take a break, get set for that last game. So I love this tournament. I love this format. Yeah, I see a lot of challenges. I can start with UC Riverside and name six others. TIM SIMMONS: Talking about UC Riverside, have you done much looking into this team? Any comments about playing them? COACH WRIGHT: No, we haven't got to see them a lot yet. I know one of my assistants is working on them. He's told me about Martin, their leading scorer from last year, and Veteto from Oakland, told me about him. I know they're going to be a tough squad. When you play these teams that you're not used to seeing, it's the first game of a tournament, it's always a tough game, no matter who you are, who they are. You're unfamiliar. It's the first game of the tournament. You want to get off on the right foot. They're fired up to play you. You got to be ready to play. I'm sure they're going to bring it. It's going to be a great game. TIM SIMMONS: Obviously your team probably has a different look. Any players that have surprised you in the pre-season drills? COACH WRIGHT: We are a different kind of team. We're much bigger than we normally are. We've always played with a lot of guards on the perimeter, and we're going to do the same, except our guards are just bigger. The challenging part is they're younger. We have Maalik Wayns who is a junior returning. Don't have any seniors. He's a great floor leader. Having a guy with his experience at the point guard position is going to help our young guys. Also up the middle we have Mouphtaou Yarou. He's had a great pre-season. We took a trip this summer to Europe. He averaged a double-double against pros, some big-time players. Those two have really stood out. Then we have another junior in Dominic Cheek that's looked good in the pre-season. Those three juniors are going to have to be real leaders for us and carry us. TIM SIMMONS: You're going to be out around Disneyland. Any special plans for the family? COACH WRIGHT: You know what, actually I'm sad to say this is going to be the first time for me ever that my family isn't going to be able to come. We always take this trip together. I have a son that's a freshman in college. He's not going to get back in time. My other son is playing high school basketball. My daughter plays basketball. I do have plans because we have a lot of Villanova alums. Believe it or not, California is the fourth largest state for us in terms of alumni. We have a lot of alums coming. Looking forward to see Disneyworld. Also looking forward to a big Thanksgiving dinner with all of our Villanova alums. TIM SIMMONS: We'll open up the floor for questions for Coach Wright. Q. (Question regarding Pinkston.) COACH WRIGHT: He really has. He just has a great opportunity. I think he appreciates everything now that he gets to do. Instead of looking at a basketball practice, a long practice, a workout session as being difficult, I think he really appreciates it. On the other hand I can see some rust in not playing for a year. It's taken him a little bit of time to work his way back. At this point I think we would have projected him a starter. I think he's going to be a real significant player for us. But I can see he's rusty. He's just a step behind sometimes. He'll get it all back. Hopefully by the time we get to the Classic, he's going to be a real factor for us. TIM SIMMONS: Coach, thank you very much. We look forward to seeing you in a couple weeks. COACH WRIGHT: Thanks, guys. Look forward to seeing you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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