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DIRECTV WOODEN LEGACY MEDIA CONFERENCENovember 13, 2013Greg McDermottTIM SIMMONS: The first question I have, with the early start to practice this year, I think it was September 27th, has that been a benefit to your team? COACH McDERMOTT: I'm not sure it's benefitted us as much as other teams, simply because we have so much experience returning. I think it got to be a little bit of a grind. We have three third‑year players, three fourth‑year players, a fifth‑year and a sixth‑year. So we've got guys that have been around a lot and been through it. But I think we're in a good place. Obviously I think it's great for the new players to be able to be exposed to some things a little bit earlier. But we're pleased with where we're at at this point in time. TIM SIMMONS: How have the practices gone, and of course you've had three games, exhibition and two regular season games and you've won them pretty handily. You must be happy with where you are to date. COACH McDERMOTT: I don't think any coach is totally happy, and I think I fall into that category. I like our record, I'm happy about that. But we have a lot of room for growth, especially on the defensive end. We, like everyone else in the country, continue to adjust to some of the new points of emphasis from an officiating standpoint that involve hand checks and the block charge call. I think that's been new to everyone and we still have some work to do in that regard, but I feel like we're moving in the right direction. TIM SIMMONS: I guess we can't go through an interview without talking about your son. How is he playing for you? COACH McDERMOTT: Doug has played well. He got off to a great start the other night against Missouri‑Kansas City, and Doug continues to be efficient on the offensive end, and obviously we ask him to do a lot. He's on the move all the time offensively, and then he needs to be a consistent rebounder for us, as well, as well as be one of our team leaders. But I couldn't be more pleased with where he's at. I think he's developed his game over the course of the summer, and he's excited for his senior season. TIM SIMMONS: Any other players been standing out, any newcomers? You said you had a pretty experienced team, but your thoughts on some of the other players? COACH McDERMOTT: Well, Devin Brooks is a junior college point guard that we're bringing off the bench that has done some really good things for us in the first couple games. Zach Hanson is the only true freshman that we have on our roster this year that we've made the decision not to red shirt, and he's playing on the interior for us and doing a good job. Really the only new starter from a year ago is Will Artino, who starts at center for us, and Will has been very consistent shooting the basketball, has blocked a few shots, he's rebounded the ball for us. He's just learning to play in a new role. But other than that, Austin Chatman, Jahenns Manigat, Grant Gibbs along with Doug are all back as starters, and they've got a pretty good feel for what our expectations are. TIM SIMMONS: Your thoughts about your opening round match‑up with Arizona State. Obviously you played them last year in Las Vegas so another neutral court game with the Sun Devils. COACH McDERMOTT: I can't say I'm very excited about it. I think they had a tremendous basketball game. Jahii Carson is if the not the top point guard in the country, he's certainly in the discussion. We had a very difficult time trying to keep him in front of us last year and corral him. Jordan Bachynski inside is a body and a physical presence that we don't really have, and we were able to match up with him last year with Gregory Echinique, and then I think the addition of Jermaine Marshall, the transfer from Penn State, has really given them what they maybe were missing a year ago. I think this is a very, very good basketball team in Arizona State.  I hate to be playing them the first round because we're going to have to play a great game if we expect to advance. TIM SIMMONS: Did you ever envision that Marquette when you signed up for the DirecTV Wooden Legacy would be in the field, too? COACH McDERMOTT: Well, we knew they were in the field when we signed up, we just didn't know we'd be in the same conference. That's probably what is the most surprising thing. But obviously we're going to see a lot of Marquette in January and February, so it'll be interesting to check them out here in a few weeks. But their success as a program really speaks for itself. They've got a great tradition of success and have been very successful in the Big East, and that's where we aspire to be. TIM SIMMONS: You play in three games in four days. Do you like the format for the tournament? COACH McDERMOTT: I do. I think having that day off where the kids can kind of enjoy the sights and take in Disney I think is a wonderful opportunity for them, and we're actually staying a couple days extra because we're playing at Long Beach State on Tuesday. So we're going to be spending eight days in California and playing four very good basketball games. Q. One question is about the field. Obviously teams got into this I think a couple years ago not really knowing how good or the quality of the field, and I wonder if you could speak to how good this tournament is because I know a couple of the coaches have talked about that. They thought, well, this will be a nice tournament. You've got Arizona State in the first round, you could play San Diego State in the second round, you could play Marquette. How do you approach that? COACH McDERMOTT: Well, we approach it not worrying about anything besides the first game because if we're not ready to play Arizona State, we're going to move into the losers' bracket rather quickly because that's a very talented basketball team. But we realize how good they are. We played at San Diego State a couple years ago, and Coach Fisher does an unbelievable job with that program. I think College of Charleston is a much improved team. So really there isn't much weakness on our side of the bracket whatsoever. I think there's going to be a couple good games there. And then Miami had a great year last year, and I know they've fought a few injury problems early this year, but they'll be ready to go. And I talked earlier about Marquette. They're off to a solid start, as well. I think it's going to be great basketball for the fans that are in attendance. I think there will be some outstanding games, and playing in Fullerton's gym I think will add a local flavor there, as well, where they'll get some of their fans there to take in all of the games. It's something we're really looking forward to. Q. I wonder if you could speak a little bit more detail about the new rules, how you're adjusting, how you think teams will ultimately adjust. Buzz was saying he thinks a lot more teams will play zone. How do you think nationally teams will adjust? COACH McDERMOTT: Well, it probably hasn't impacted us as much as it has impacted other teams because we haven't been a very physical defensive team to start with. We're not really built that way. We bend but we don't break. But we've been a team that hasn't put teams on the foul line a lot in the past, and we just really had to emphasize get your hands away on dribble penetration, and every once in a while you're going to give up a shot you hate to give up, but I just think you've got to do whatever you can to keep that team from shooting 30 free throws on you. We've made it an emphasis since day one in practice, and we've continued to work on it. We blow the whistle, call things very closely in practice. But I agree with Buzz. I think you'll see more zone as a result of that, at least in short stretches, to try to protect some guys, to keep some of your best players on the floor. Q. A team like San Diego State, which basically everyone is 6'8" and they all switch everything, does that give you an advantage because you're not‑‑ it's tough to get angles because there's always someone in front of you, in essence man with zone principles? COACH McDERMOTT: Absolutely, because you're under every screen. You're not really exposing yourself and getting your defense out of sorts with tough close‑outs because of all the switching. And they have the versatility to be able to do that. Not every team is blessed with that. We're one of those teams that doesn't have the versatility to do that. But I think without question that's going to allow them to avoid some of the foul problems that you're seeing across the country. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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