|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
MOUNTAIN WEST CONFERENCE MEN'S TOURNAMENTMarch 11, 2015Hayden GrahamZach KocurDave PilipovichLAS VEGAS, NEVADA Air Force – 68 THE MODERATOR: We're joined by Air Force. Coach, just some thoughts on today's game. COACH PILIPOVICH: Okay, wow. Well, first thing I'm going to start this with is we may be in a little bit of trouble. When I woke up this morning, I had the hotel bill underneath my door, so we may not have rooms tonight (laughter). That was not a good sign when I saw that. But unbelievably proud of our cadet athletes. We haven't won here much in the Mountain West Conference tournament. I think this is our third time ever. We talked about that. We talked about it from last year when we were here. We beat a very good New Mexico team who has some players out, obviously. But that's a team that's never lost here. Our hats go off to them. The first thing I'd like to say, too, is we're at the same hotel with their fans. We came in yesterday and their band and cheerleaders and fans were waiting for their team and we walked through it. Today when we walked through to our bus, they were having a pep rally outside. Classiest, best fans around. They treated our guys with respect, they applauded us as we walked through. So thank you, Lobo fans, you guys are awesome. THE MODERATOR: Questions for the student‑athletes. Q. You started shooting two for 15 from the field. From there on out you shot well over 60%. What changed? HAYDEN GRAHAM: I think it was a little bit of nerves at the beginning, just coming out. It's a big scene. It's a conference tournament. We had to get settled in. Coach kept emphasizing in timeouts and when we huddled up, just settle down, breathe, get in the flow of the game, then shots are going to come. ZACH KOCUR: We've had this experience before in the season, we haven't shot well in some games. Each game coaches and all the players tell everybody to keep shooting. We have confidence. I think that's the biggest thing, keep shooting. Q. Zach, you were 0‑4 in the first half. Could you sense the importance of the first shot in the second half of what that means to the team? ZACH KOCUR: Yeah, I realized one of the reasons I'm out there is to shoot threes (smiling). I think, yeah, we knew we didn't make any shots in the first half, barely any, and we stuck around. We knew if we came out and started shooting decently well, we would be there. They made some runs. We made some runs. Q. Hayden, one of the big keys was how you were able to defend inside with the 7‑footer. HAYDEN GRAHAM: We had to keep a body on him. It was kind of tough because of the game plan, the shooters go to the corner for New Mexico. We kept a body on the big guys, get the inside positioning for rebounding, just make sure they don't abuse us inside. Q. I've seen you here a number of times. It's been the same story. The other team makes the run late. Today you guys had the late run. HAYDEN GRAHAM: It feels great. We've been saying all year, this is a different team than last year. We're more mature, we're more confident. We believe in ourselves. We didn't do too well on the road this year, but in neutral sites we were 1‑0. We came in, Let's keep that going a little bit. We felt good about it. ZACH KOCUR: Yeah, we started that little stretch second half of the year where we started winning down the stretch. We had a long stretch where we couldn't. We hadn't won after we trailed at halftime. That carried over to today, us being able to believe, just make plays down the stretch, not fold over. Q. I think you missed nine in a row after the three to open the game. Was there a time where you felt, Here we go again in Vegas? HAYDEN GRAHAM: No, no. I don't think anybody on this team will forget the feeling we had against Fresno State last year. We didn't want to go back to that. We had to stay positive, stay confident. Every coach, every player was emphasizing at timeouts, We're fine, this has happened before, believe, move on, make the next play. ZACH KOCUR: To go off that, last year against Fresno we didn't hit free throws down the stretch. That was a big part of the win. We were able to hit a lot of free throws, the front end of one and ones. Even though we were 12 for 16, we made big free throws that kept us ahead. Q. This is the second game where Trevor Lyons asserted himself offensively for a stretch. How important is he to this team? HAYDEN GRAHAM: Trevor is huge for us. He's a young player. He brings so much to the table. I'm glad we have him for the next two years after this. He's just going to grow, only get better. He brings a lot of confidence and swagger to his game. ZACH KOCUR: Not only offensively, but he's tremendous on defense, getting steals and deflections. That helps us a lot when his shooting is not there that game. Q. Specific to New Mexico, their offense has struggled this year. They lost some guys that would have helped them offensively. Is the game plan against New Mexico to make them shoot three‑pointers? Is it true that Greenwood is the three‑point shooter? HAYDEN GRAHAM: In a sense, I believe so. We wanted to make sure we closed out on Greenwood because he's a great shooter. There were a couple others we had to make sure we closed out on. But we didn't want them to just fly by. We didn't want to get out of the defense and let them attack the basket. We were trying to stay tight and locate the shooters we were talking about in our scout. ZACH KOCUR: Greenwood is obviously a great shooter and great player. But our main focus for the other guys was containing them 'cause when they got in the lane and dished it out, that's when they got their open threes. If we could contain them, that was our primary focus. Q. Thoughts on tomorrow's game against Boise State? HAYDEN GRAHAM: I'm excited. I'm very excited. We felt like the game at home, we were right there. It was a great game, I think. When we went out to Boise, I don't think we brought the same energy and effort as we should have or we were capable of. This is just another opportunity to show people out here and everywhere what kind of team we are. ZACH KOCUR: We know we can compete with them. We competed for the majority of the game at home. We made some runs. I think if we just carry that over to the game tomorrow, we all believe that we can do it. We just got to come out with the same energy. THE MODERATOR: We'll dismiss the student‑athletes at this time. Thank you, men. We'll continue with questions for coach. Q. In Albuquerque we stood outside the locker room, two weeks after you lost Kam, the day after you lost Max for the start of that. You said you wanted to improve in January and February and get to this point where you could peak in March. Did you believe that at the time and do you feel that's the case? COACH PILIPOVICH: Yeah, I did. If you're around these guys every day, they just bring it. I mean, they're awesome. We went through a stretch, as I told you, that SanDiego State game, we were on the top. Kam Williams goes in for a dunk, makes it. A minute later he tears his Achilles and is out. Then Max was out. They wouldn't allow us not to work, not to come together. In 28 years of coaching, I've never been around a group closer than them. When checking the scoreboard, we were getting each day in practice, in games. If we did those things, the scoreboard would take care of itself. We've grown here in February and early March. So proud of them. Q. What do you think was the key today? COACH PILIPOVICH: At halftime I think those guys said it right, I think we were pressing a little bit early. Still, you're talking about a team that's never lost here. Cut the nets down three times. We've been going home now for three straight years. So there's a difference. Once we got to halftime and managed a four‑point deficit, it was manageable. We talked about, Let's relax, be us. We don't need to be Superman. Shots are going to fall because we're good shooters. We relaxed and settled in. Q. Second‑chance points... COACH PILIPOVICH: That's always going to be a problem. Do you see any 6'11" guys on our team (laughter)? Q. That didn't seem to impact the game all that much. COACH PILIPOVICH: You know, you can measure here, but you can't measure here. We play with a lot of heart. We were aggressive. I think we got on the floor, challenged things. We didn't want to go home. We wanted to survive, advance, play another game. The seniors talked about that this morning at breakfast, Why can't we win a game, a couple games, let's go. Their effort, attitude and leadership was unbelievable. Q. At halftime you had five points from Mooney, Zach Moer and DeLovell. Do you feel like they kept you around? COACH PILIPOVICH: They did. Zach Moer was really big on the glass.  Matt Mooney was aggressive, one turnover late in the game. He knows what to do the next time. DeLovell is a leader, a senior. He does so many things for us. He and Justin Hammonds, Max, Olesinski, those four, so happy for them, so happy for them. They kept talking about, We're not losing every timeout as we went out. We didn't. We didn't. Q. We heard the players talk about Boise State. What are your thoughts going into tomorrow? COACH PILIPOVICH: Boise is so talented. They're well‑coached. Extremely good perimeter players. Player of the Year, newcomer of the year, Coach of the Year, bus driver of the year (smiling). They're really good. We're going to look at our film, see about some things we did well against them. As Hayden mentioned, we were pretty good against them with 3:20 left in the game, it was a tie game. Did pretty good at the Taco Bell Arena. If we can get out to some shooter and put some pressure on them, not give them open looks, I think we can be in it to win it. Q. Do you feel the tenseness you felt early, is that gone now? COACH PILIPOVICH: Yeah. If you were in our locker room about 10 minutes ago, I think it's gone now. I think we're okay now. I think we're okay. Q. Wherever you stay tonight, do you think you'll make sure the bill is slid under your door? COACH PILIPOVICH: I said to my wife, Did you put that underneath there? We're going to be okay (laughter). Q. From an opposing coach standpoint, Hugh Greenwood started his career here 0‑9 here. What are your thoughts about him? COACH PILIPOVICH: I told him as we left the floor, I have so much respect for him as a player, probably more as a person at what he's done. He's what you talk about as a student‑athlete. He's unbelievable. I'm going to miss him. I'm not just going to miss him when we play him. But he is awesome. Hugh Greenwood is awesome. We have so much respect for their program. They've been at the top of the league. They've done it the right way. Outstanding coaches, players. That's where we need to get to. I have a lot of respect for him. He's been great for this conference. Q. Specific to this game and the season for them, they were out a couple players this year. Their offense was more limited this year than recent years. From a game plan standpoint, are you hoping they make a living on the three‑point line? COACH PILIPOVICH: Today, this game, that's what we wanted to do. We wanted to keep everything in front of us. We wanted to make sure we knew where a three was at. We felt if we're going to get beat, they have to beat us over the top rather than inside. They're really good drivers. If the ball comes off the rim, they usually get it. We don't get it much. That was our game plan. They went through a lot. Losing Delaney last week, it's a shame for him he didn't get a chance to perform here because he's been a part of that championship tradition for so many years. You feel bad for that. I hate to see any players in our league get hurt and not be able to perform. Q. Boise State, defensively, what have you seen from them in that aspect? COACH PILIPOVICH: Personnel is a little bit different. James Webb is an outstanding player. He's 6'9", but he can shoot threes, long, guard one through five. Derrick Marks, player of the year. They just gritty. They take on Coach Rice's attitude. They're tough‑minded, go after loose balls. They'll knock you down, push you a little bit. They're a gritty team. Not only that, but they're talented. When they can stretch you and make shots like that, they're hard to beat. THE MODERATOR: Thank you very much, coach. COACH PILIPOVICH: Thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
About ASAP Sports •
FastScripts Archive •
Recent Interviews •
Captioning •
Upcoming Events •
Contact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links |
|
ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297
|