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HAWAIIAN AIRLINES DIAMOND HEAD CLASSIC MEDIA CONFERENCEDecember 16, 2013Randy BennettHONOLULU, HAWAII Q. Coach Bennett, you brought back ten letter winners from a year ago. Can you talk about the expectations you have for your team and how the season is going so far? COACH BENNETT: Well, I can answer the second one. The season is going pretty well so far. We've played well. I'm not sure what our expectations were. We lost a really good player and we lost some good seniors. But Dellavedova had such an impact on our whole program. He'd been there so long and been a leader. I was concerned about the leadership void in all areas of our program. And I thought we had really good senior leadership coming back. But in the extra case, I didn't know where to put it. Our guys have done a very good job. Obviously we've played seven games at home to start the season. Which helped, and we had a good road win. So, so far, so good. I'm pleased with where they're at, and they have great attitudes, so I'm pleased with that. Q. You defeated Akron earlier this season in a non‑bracketed Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic game. You could possibly face them, and you won Saturday night at Boise State, so you could face both of those teams. Does that give you an advantage that you play in Hawai'i? COACH BENNETT: No, the only advantage it gives us is it's less time you have to spend on the scout because you've played them. We played Akron almost a month ago by the time‑‑ it will be over a month ago by the time we play them. So that will require a little more scouting. But Boise we just played. But it wouldn't be a lot of tape to watch if you're not playing. You're pretty much ready to go. Q. The tournament format‑‑ you played two games you're off a day and you have a game on Christmas Day. How do you like the format? Can you tell us about your first round opponent, SouthCarolina? COACH BENNETT: I really like the format. I think it's‑‑ obviously we're excited about going to this tournament. So it's nice to have a day where you can enjoy the trip and have a fun day. A lot of our guys have never been to Hawai'i and may never get back, so it's a little bit of a culture experience too. We want to take that in. It's so much better with a day off in between games so that can you do that. I think most coaches and most teams really appreciate that. I don't think we really notice it until we find we have a day off. It's fun. It goes a long way to helping your team have a positive experience. As far as SouthCarolina, I haven't seen them play much yet. We have another game coming up before that. So I haven't seen them play at all. I've seen their scores. I know their coach and what he's about, so they'll hang their hat on being tough and playing hard. I would imagine they'll be good defensively and on the board. I have to be honest, I haven't seen them much, and that's all I have on SouthCarolina at this point. Q. I thought it was a heck of a game on Saturday. Just wondering your impressions of the game with Boise State, and if we were to meet you again, what kind of game might we see then? COACH BENNETT: Well, I thought both teams‑‑ I thought both teams played at a high level offensively in that game. If you watch that game and you were a fan, I think you would have enjoyed that game. The amount of shots that went in, they were tough shots. I know Elorriaga hit shot after shot, and Holt was making tough shots early in that game for us. So I just thought it was two good teams playing high‑level pass ball offensively. Sure both coaches said, we can't guard anybody, but I think this was a taste a little bit of where things were just good offensively that night. I think if they play again, I would hope it would be similar. Teams play at a high level. It doesn't always happen that you play at a high level in a big game. But I know we did. I would assume they felt like they played at a high level too. Q. Coach, what does it mean to you to be the first team besides Hawai'i to bring your program back to this tournament? COACH BENNETT: It means we're smart. The only one smart enough to get back in it so quick. No, really, it's one of the highlights of our season. We'll try to get back in it as soon as we can again. So I think it's every four years. We'll try to get back. It's my favorite tournament. You play over there, and we played in it actually when they had the Rainbow. That was just a great experience that I remember to this day. I remember that team. We actually won it that year. To this day I have that trophy sitting on my desk, because it was just a ‑‑ you just don't get to do that with your team very often. You go to a place like that, and it's you and your players and you end up doing some things that you wouldn't normally do, whether it's hop ping in the ocean and swimming, or going to one of the sites and going to the bay or whatever. But you do some of those things over in that tournament. So we're excited. I can't tell you how excited we are. We're honored to be able to play in it. They've let us play in it again, so hopefully we'll represent the tournament well, and play good basketball. Q. A quick follow‑up, Eran Ganot, I'm sure it's special for him to come back out here. But what are your thoughts of what he's brought to your program as a member of your staff? COACH BENNETT: He had been with me before, so he knew a little about our program. He went to Hawai'i, and that was a great experience for him working for Reilly, and he worked for Gibb a little bit and Coach Nash also. So he grew. He learned. He learned a lot. He came back, and I think he's, for me the guy on our staff that knows our program the best. So I rely on him a lot. He's been with us off and on for 12 years. So, like I said, he went to Hawai'i for a while, but I think he always kept track at how we were doing. He knows our players. So on my staff, he's the guy that I can go to about, hey, what's going on in our program? What do you think? If it's moving forward or where we're at at that point. So I lean on him a lot. I trust him a lot. He does a great job and oversees our rebounding and some of our offensive stuff. He does a lot. Anything involved in our program, whether it be recruiting, coaching, program building, relations with our players, he has his fingerprints all over our program. We're lucky to have him. I'm glad we got him back. ELIZABETH MCCOLLUM: Coach, we appreciate you taking the time to speak with us. COACH BENNETT: Thank you, I'm looking forward to coming over there. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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