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EA SPORTS MAUI INVITATIONALNovember 25, 2014Stanley JohnsonT.J. McConnellSean MillerLAHAINA, HAWAII Arizona – 72 THE MODERATOR: We welcome Coach Sean Miller, Stanley Johnson, and T.J. McConnell to the press room. Coach, some opening statements on today's win? COACH MILLER: Well, first of all, really especially this early in the season there is not a loser in tonight's game. We knew before we played Kansas State that they're a very, very good team. You don't share in a Big 12 title a year ago and return the players and obviously a great coach and coaching staff and you're just going to go out there and be clearly the better team. There isn't a lot of difference between our teams. I say that because I feel like we left with a hard‑fought victory over an excellent pass ball team. On our end, tonight was the first game this season where comprehensively we knew we were in a high level game. A number of players go through things individually. Stanley is one where he was in immense foul trouble and yet put that behind him. Came in very, very late in the game and made key winning plays. Brandon Ashley, who he hasn't played in a game like this in fairness to him in a long time, you could see that for most of the first half. But in the second half, Brandon was as big of a reason we won as anybody. Then I could keep going on. Kaleb Tarczewski hasn't been scoring as much. Tonight was his night. We got the ball to him and he delivered. Then obviously T.J. who, in my opinion, is our team's heart and soul. You can't define his game by points. You have to define his game by his leadership and play making. So we're very, very proud of tonight's win. We feel like we beat a great team, and that's why you come to Maui to challenge yourself on a neutral court like we just did. Q. I wondered how it felt like to come back after that long and that first test you've had in this level of situation, and how did it go? Were you able to feel pretty normal coming back? STANLEY JOHNSON: I think as a freshman, this was my first game where it was like super intense. You kind of feel it from the start of the game. I think, you know, we have great leadership and great coaching, because every I need a little stint from myself, I can look at Coach Miller, T.J. or Kaleb or Brandon and keep going, while I'm on the bench, and staying engaged in the game knowing what's going on, and also knowing how to control my body a little bit more. At the end of the day, it's all about winning games. When I went Wac in the game, it was time to rebound, and get it to our leader, T.J., and have him orchestrate stuff. Q. Stanley, at the end of the game, you had lots of games that were similar to this in high school. Did all of those games back then make the end of the game easier? STANLEY JOHNSON: Not really. College is very different from high school. If there is a game I miss there on the four and five, and I'm in trouble now. It's way different. Way more stakes on the line. Q. T.J., Coach just mentioned about it being the heart and soul, and your teammate mentioned about leadership. Can you talk about your role this year as a senior starting with the team and big expectations? T.J. McCONNELL: We came in as the number two team in the nation. My job is to keep everyone level headed. That ranking doesn't matter until the end of March, early April. Pretty much my job is to show how hard I'm working on defense and get us into our offense. Kind of just make sure things run smoothly for this team. I know my teammates do a great job of making shots when I give it to them. So it's a team effort leadership‑wise, but I do as best as I can. Q. Stanley, just talk about that steal you had near the end of the game where they were trying to inbound it and you were able to get it? STANLEY JOHNSON: You know, with our boxing stance here, just in the lane. Once everybody cleared out it was just me and him on the island, I feel like. I knew it was coming, and I was right inside of him. The only way he could get it is if he passed to his outside hand. So I kind of gambled knowing I could make up for it. And he passed it right to his chest, and I just stepped in front of him and stole it from him. COACH MILLER: I think that's the first time he's been in a boxer's stance since he's been at Arizona. Good. Hopefully that's more things to come. Q. T.J., I just wonder if you could elaborate on the team's mindset this first time that you guys have had a game like this. Was there any sense out there how it was going or tricky or nerve‑racking? T.J. McCONNELL: I thought when we played UC Irvine we grew up a lot. But after this game it kind of shows how resilient our team is. The score was going back and forth, and you weren't really sure which way the score was going to go. I mean, we just played hard. We knew this game was going to be close. Kansas State is an NCAA tournament team. They're very good. They're very well coached. I thought we didn't get down when we were down scoring. We didn't get too high when we were up. So I think we did a good job. Q. T.J., how did the loss of Aaron Guarino affect this team this year? T.J. McCONNELL: You can't replace a guy like Aaron Guarino what he does on the court. He works hard. He defends. He doesn't force shots. But this guy next to me, we brought him in and he's doing as good a job as anybody in the country. It's hard to replace a guy like Aaron Guarino. But that's last year, and we have to move on. It's a new team. Q. T.J., can you look back a couple years ago and see how things have gone and where you are now and the situation for yourself? Is this kind of some of the things that you envisioned? T.J. McCONNELL: I thank them for giving me my start. But I've been watching this tournament since I was five years old. To be playing in it with Coach Miller who I've been growing up and hearing about in Pittsburgh and the fans where we play in front of every night, words can't describe how thankful I am for Coach Miller and all these fans for giving me this opportunity to play here. That's why I play so hard every night is because there are many people that want to be where I'm at, and I wouldn't give it up for anything. THE MODERATOR: Questions for Coach. Q. Marcus Foster was kind of quiet in the second half. Did you get the feeling he would kind of get going there and lead their team back? COACH MILLER: We watched Marcus quite a bit on film as much as we could in one day, and we scouted Kansas State ahead of time. Respect isn't a good enough word to describe how we categorize him as a player. There aren't too many guards in this country who are better basketball players who mean more to their team. The thing that I admire about him is he really does things through the flow of his team. He forces very little. He takes great shots and makes his teammates better. Seems like a great kid. Obviously one heck of a player, and he proved that tonight. He was challenged at a high level, but I think we guarded him with three different players; and for him to put up the numbers he put up, it wasn't like we were giving him threes. His six threes were hard earned. Kansas State did a good job of freeing him up. I have no regrets of how we defended him from the three‑point line. It's just he's that good. I'll also tell you this, Thomas Gipson is very good as well. I mean, he's a load. Again, on our end, Kaleb Tarczewski is an excellent, excellent low‑post defender. There aren't many guys playing that bring to their teams what Kaleb brings to our team defensively. One of the keys to our victory tonight was I thought his really good defense on number 42. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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