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DIRECTV WOODEN LEGACY MEDIA CONFERENCENovember 13, 2013Doug WojcikTIM SIMMONS: Thank you for joining us today. I want to ask you to start out with, obviously practice started very early this year, I guess the end of September. How has that benefitted your team, and how do you view it? COACH WOJCIK: Well, I think it's been good. I mean, you have to plan a little bit further out in advance, but I'll tell you, it takes a little pressure off the beginning of the season in the sense that you can practice a day or two and take a day off. I just think it allows us to be in the gym more with the guys, and any time you do this, at the end of the day it's about being around young people, and you can teach a little bit more. So I've really enjoyed the change personally. TIM SIMMONS: Obviously practice and so forth, what have you seen so far through the practices and then with your first three games, including two regular season games? COACH WOJCIK: Well, I mean, your typical thing where you're trying to put together a team with your experienced players and then your younger players and trying to fill in‑‑ you're trying to blend your new guys with your experienced guys, defining roles for the most part, and what worked maybe last year may not work this year, so we had a scrimmage with East Carolina, which was very useful to us. It was interesting, we talked a lot about officials and officiating, the changes that were going to be taking place in our scrimmage with East Carolina was completely different than our exhibition game with Newbury, which was completely different than our game at Louisville. And then last night was a lot different than our Louisville game. So I just think that we as coaches have to really adjust to game by game situations as we move forward with the new officiating rules. TIM SIMMONS: Obviously probably one of the surprises for some of us, maybe not to you, is Canyon Barry. He's been your leading scorer in all three of your games, the exhibition and the two regular season. Can you talk a little bit about Rick Barry's son? COACH WOJCIK: Yeah, he's really developed. Coming out of high school he was just a multi‑sport kid. He's very talented. I think people need to know that he's a 4.0 student and he's a physics major. So he's off the charts talent‑wise. He's kind of a renaissance guy, can do a little bit of everything. You know, I just think he has a high basketball IQ. It's funny, I think the lights are on and he's really responded and surprised a lot of people in some sense. From my perspective I didn't think he'd score it like he has if you want the truth, but he's really, really smart, and because of that he has a blend of IQ for the game, he's able to put the ball on the floor, he has a great first step, and a kid that has a great first step, a lot of times they can't finish at the rim, and he has still that extra burst of athleticism that allows him to finish at the rim. He's really been‑‑ I knew he was going to be a great player, a good player, but he's been a very pleasant surprise so far this early. TIM SIMMONS: Any other players been standing out for you so far? COACH WOJCIK: Yeah, I mean, I think you've got to give a lot of credit, if you watched, knew anything about our game last night, our freshman point guard Joe Chealey from Orlando, Florida. He's just been sensational. I'm actually starting a freshman back court, and they've been really, really good. And then I get great senior leadership from Willis Hall. He's a fifth‑year senior, just a real tough kid. Every team wants a Willis Hall on their team. And then Adjehi Baru has been terrific. I think he's just been affected by the foul situation. Those four have played really well for me, and we'll continue to get better and try to put things together before we get out to California. TIM SIMMONS: You were here a couple years ago with Tulsa when you were coaching Tulsa. Do you like the format of playing two days and having the third day off and playing a fourth day? COACH WOJCIK: I've played in, this is my fourth straight Anaheim ‑‑ Charleston Classic with Tulsa, Charleston Classic last year with Charleston and now Anaheim. It puts a lot of stress on a team, I can tell you that, but it's games that I can't normally get. You know, it's good to put stress on a team in a good way, as long as you keep your confidence and you stay injury‑free. But it's still three games in four days, guys, and it's still a little bit of a challenge for everybody, but it's still a good thing for us. It prepares us for March, and we're glad to do it, and we're very happy that you have us in the tournaments. TIM SIMMONS: You play San Diego State in the first round. Have you had a chance to look at the Aztecs? COACH WOJCIK: I have not. I had Louisville, and I go two‑game prep, Charlotte last night; two‑game prep, Asheville on Friday; two‑day prep, Miami on Monday. I have not looked at San Diego State yet, but I will here in the next seven days or so. Q. Coach, I know you said you haven't looked that closely at San Diego State. At this point what do you know about them, and what do you know about Steve Fisher? Have you guys crossed paths before? COACH WOJCIK: Yeah, I know nothing about their team right now. Coach Fisher, yeah, we kind of go way back. My last college game actually was an NCAA tournament game, 8‑9 seed in the old Charlotte Coliseum with Michigan, and David Robinson scored 50 points. There's an old high school coach from Adrian, Michigan, by the name of‑‑ I shouldn't say old; he's a young old. Pat McDevitt, and I recruited one of his players at the time named Greg Stevens, and Greg Stevens was a really good player for us at Navy, and Pat McDevitt and Coach Fisher ran camps in Michigan for many years, and that's obviously a connection I have there. Obviously I was a Michigan State assistant, so he's a Michigan guy, so there's also that little thing there, too. All good with Coach Fisher. Nothing but positive‑‑ our paths crossing, nothing but positive things through the years, know Brian Dutcher, just being an assistant for 15 years. But that's kind of it. It's all good. I'm glad to be able to coach against him, and we're looking forward to taking our team out there. I've got some games between now and then, so I'll get on San Diego State next week sometime. Q. I think a lot of the coaches in this tournament thought it was a good tournament, and as the thing kind of progressed, you get into these things so early, it's really become a really good field. I wonder if you could speak to that. You guys play a San Diego State team that's been top 25, win or lose you're playing Arizona State, very good team, or Creighton, and they have the best player in the country, and you play Marquette in the final. Could you speak to that a little bit? COACH WOJCIK: Yeah, for me it's really good. For me in the last couple years I lost a series to Arizona State out there, and then at my place, my place was a really good game, and had signed a four‑year deal with Greg McDermott, great guy, played the first game in Tulsa, and that night, I'll be honest with you, Doug McDermott was just unbelievable. He scored it every which way you can. He's a really good player. I know those guys. I just think it's good as you move forward. I think to the casual fan if you don't win, oh, my goodness, the world is ending, but truth be told, it's all about growth, it's all about developing, it's all about the journey, and to be able to coach in a golf shirt and in a setting where you're going to see these guys around the hotel, we're all in it for the right reasons, we're all trying to get our teams better, I think that's the camaraderie that I like in it. As I do now the change in being able to scrimmage people. What a wonderful way to develop a relationship. I have a pretty cool thing here in Charleston. I've got John Kresse in town, I've got Bobby Cremins in town, I've got Les Robinson in town, and to be around those guys and see how they joke, and they're jovial, and heck, Coach Robinson was at NC State and Coach Cremins was at Georgia Tech and they were rivals but they're friends, and I think the more we can have that in our game, the better. I think these tournaments and these scrimmages help us promote that. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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