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DIRECTV WOODEN LEGACY MEDIA CONFERENCENovember 13, 2013Mike LonerganTIM SIMMONS: Early practice this year, starting September 27th, has it benefitted your team? COACH LONERGAN: Yeah, I'm kind of against that new rule, though. I think it makes for too long a season, and I like that we already had two hours of work with the guys a week. But October 15th used to be a sacred date for players and coaches, so I really wish that was still the real start date. TIM SIMMONS: How have things gone so far? Looks like you've played three games in exhibition and two regular season, and obviously have posted some big scores. How is the team advancing? COACH LONERGAN: Good. Things are going good. We had a couple injuries early, a couple of our better guards were hurt. One of them is back, Joe McDonald, our point guard, is back now playing, and then Patricio Garino had broken a finger, and we're hoping he's back within the next week or so. We've played well in our early games, and we have not been what we should be defensively, but we have a little more scoring power this year, but our schedule is definitely about to get a lot tougher now starting with Manhattan at Manhattan on Saturday night. TIM SIMMONS: Any players been standing out, been a surprise? Obviously the transfer from Indiana, Creek, had a good game last night. Any thoughts on that? COACH LONERGAN: Yeah, he's given us what we really needed, a scoring threat on the wing and a very good outside shooter, so we couldn't be happier with Maurice and how he's played so far. Kevin Larsen‑‑ basically all our freshmen from last year have really progressed, Kevin Larsen worked hard on his body in the off‑season. He had nine rebounds and I think 13 points last night. Kethan Savage has been terrific for us. He's putting up pretty good numbers, and Joe McDonald is coming off the injury, he's a little rusty right now, but I think those three sophomores along with Garino are really going to make a jump for us this year, and then Isaiah Armwood is really our leader, and we think he's ready to have a terrific senior year. TIM SIMMONS: Your thoughts on playing in the Wooden Legacy. You've got two games, off a day and then play the third day. What do you think about the format? COACH LONERGAN: I think it's great. We're really excited about going out there, and I think it's a great field, probably a much better field than I expected when we were trying to get in the tournament. But that's a good thing. A lot of excellent coaches, and we're playing the defending ACC champion and Coach Larranaga. I'm a local guy here from the D.C. area and I saw up close what he did at George Mason, and he's a terrific coach. We're excited about that challenge, and all three games are going to be very tough games for us. TIM SIMMONS: What do you think about Miami, obviously very inexperienced team compared to what they had last year. Have you done much preparation for them? COACH LONERGAN: Yeah, I haven't really focused on them yet, but I know they've got a lot of new guys, so obviously they're going to be a much better team in hopefully not a couple weeks, but they're going to be much improved. They're probably just getting used to the new guys and the turning guys playing much bigger roles. But I think they have one of the greatest college coaches in the country and I'm sure he'll get them going very quickly. Early season scores, there's always going to be an upset or two, but I know that Miami is going to be a good team by the time we face them in the Wooden Legacy. TIM SIMMONS: You're going to be playing the very first game which is 11:00 in the Pacific time zone but 2:00 where you come from. Does that make any difference in your preparation for the game? COACH LONERGAN: It'll make for an early pregame meal, but give us time to have Thanksgiving dinner later. No, I like that we're playing early. This Saturday we play at 7:00 in Manhattan, and I'd much rather have 1:00 games. But it's great. I think it's great, and then we get to enjoy the other games, scout them and watch these other teams play. I'm really excited about that first day. TIM SIMMONS: Any thoughts about playing Marquette or Cal State Fullerton the second day? COACH LONERGAN: No, I mean, I don't know a lot about Cal State Fullerton, and I do know about Marquette. They practiced in the Smith Center, our arena here, when they played in the NCAA regional, I guess, at the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C. I coached against Buzz Williams when he was the head coach at University of New Orleans. I think it might have been his first game as a head coach. I'm not sure. He's a terrific coach, a great guy. So I'm actually looking forward to seeing him even if we're not able to play them. But I just really have been focusing on Maine and now we're focusing on Manhattan. We'll have plenty of time break before we go out to California so we'll have plenty of time to get familiar with all the teams out there later. Q. I know obviously last year you started all the freshmen with the idea of having them get experience and building towards something for this year. I know it's early in the season and you don't have Patricio, but I'm wondering, how has that plan from last year manifested this year in specific ways beyond the wins? Are there things on the court that they've developed because of gaining that extra play last year? COACH LONERGAN: Yeah, I think that just having all that experience that they got as freshmen, and they did a great job, they were very competitive, we lost seven or eight close games that went down to the wire. But we knew they had to make a jump, and I think they all have made a jump. A lot of people thought Kethan Savage was going to be the odd man out with Maurice Creek coming in, and I always told Kethan that Maurice wasn't his competition, he himself was his own competition. I'm happy that Kethan got off to a great start this season because started last year but he played limited minutes and he didn't really put up very good stats. He's done a great job early, and the rules‑‑ the way the game is being called this year has really helped him because he's a touch match‑up, he's strong, he can get to the rim and it's hard for people if they're not allowed to hand check to really stop him. TIM SIMMONS: Coach, are you going to do any recruiting in Southern California? COACH LONERGAN: Yeah, one of our former players Aaron Wares, is an assistant coaching high school, and we're excited about being out there. My brother is a judge, was a lawyer and now he's a judge out in Los Angeles County and lives in Manhattan Beach, so a lot of my family, my dad and three of my four sisters are going out there, my wife and kids. So it's exciting to make that trip, and to get to California in the wintertime is nice. We're excited about the trip, and I wish all the teams the best of luck, especially these games before we go out to California. We can't wait to get out there. TIM SIMMONS: In your comments about the tournament you were talking about John Wooden, and I think didn't you say you had a picture in your office of him. COACH LONERGAN: Yeah, I'm good friends with Morgan Wootten, who's a hall‑of‑fame coach at DeMatha High School, and when I was a coach at Catholic University, my alma mater, we took our team out to California and played in the Whittier Classic, Division III tournament, and we were allowed to practice at Pauley Pavilion, and thanks to Steve Lavin and Coach Morgan Wootten hooked it up where John Wooden came and spoke to our team. My dad made that trip and got to meet John Wooden and I have a picture in my office. I keep his Pyramid of Success in my wallet, and it was like meeting the Pope. It's one of highlights of my coaching career to be honest with you. To participate in the tournament, the Wooden Legacy named after him, it's really special for me. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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