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MOUNTAIN WEST CONFERENCE MEN'S TOURNAMENTMarch 12, 2015Josh AdamsCharles Hankerson, Jr.Larry Nance, Jr.Larry ShyattLAS VEGAS, NEVADA Wyoming – 67 THE MODERATOR: We're joined by Wyoming. Coach, just some thoughts on today's game. COACH SHYATT: I thought we had it in the bag the whole game. Just kidding (smiling). I love these guys. At times I didn't think we played particularly well tonight, at times all season. But I have never been around a team I've enjoyed being around more on and off the court. Resilience comes to mind, down seven or eight. They just keep playing. I thought our defense towards the tail end of the game, maybe holding them to four baskets in the last eight or nine minutes, was probably the difference. I wish Stew the best. Utah State, you don't know what you have till you don't have it any more. We're losing a great one, a great coach and a great man. THE MODERATOR: We'll now take questions for the student‑athletes. Q. Back and forth game with all the lead changes. What was the difference? LARRY NANCE, JR.: I believe it was our defense. I mean, obviously you're going to hear that over and over again, but that's our principle. Defense, defense, defense. It doesn't help to have Josh and Junior slashing the way they were tonight. It does help, sorry. Q. Junior, offensively it's been up and down. What was working tonight? CHARLES HANKERSON, JR.: To be honest, it was just my teammates continuing to believe in me, putting me in great positions. This is definitely the best that my back has felt in a couple weeks. That definitely helps. But mainly my teammates just putting me in the right positions for me to be successful. Q. Junior, having some up‑and‑down moments, what did it feel like to be able to contribute today? CHARLES HANKERSON, JR.: Man, well, this is my first Mountain West tournament. It's an incredible atmosphere. The Wyoming fans really came out in full force tonight. We just wanted to make them proud. We're fighting for our careers now. Every game is crucial. That's our mindset. Q. Josh, you've had success against Utah State the last couple games, being that aggressive player you've been. What was working well? JOSH ADAMS: Just the same thing that Chuck just said. My teammates finding me in the right positions, you know, having Larry down there drawing attention, having Jun. slashing, too. Having to respect a lot of players on the court. That opens up a lot of court space for me. Once I drive they have to focus on that. It's just a team camaraderie thing. Everybody's playing well, so things open up. You just exploit it. Q. Larry, essentially two wins away from the NCAA tournament. How do you stay focused? Would you consider anything short of reaching that tournament a success? LARRY NANCE, JR.: I just think you said it, we're two games away from reaching the NCAA tournament. If that's not enough to keep these guys focused, I don't know what is. For five guys on this team, this is our last go‑around. To answer that last question, I would hate to put a cap on it right now. But I do believe this team can do it. Q. Josh, this game seemed to be so intense. What did it feel like to be in a game like that, that much intensity on the floor? JOSH ADAMS: It's a great feeling, you know, to be competing against the best guys out there. This conference is stacked. Every team is solid. As Coach Shyatt said before, Coach Morrill is an outstanding coach. It's an honor to play against him. He knows how to coach his team. He knows how to counter plays. So does Coach Shy. It's an honor just to be out there in the fight with your teammates against another team where they're all in it as well. That competitive edge is what the sport is all about. It's just an honor to be out there. Q. Josh, what do you think of the nickname Dunk Town, how much you enjoy adding to that reputation wherever you go? JOSH ADAMS: We love it. We love it out there. We do have a lot of athletic guys. That's a direct correlation to the coaching staff, how they've recruited. They've not only recruited great athletes, players, but great people. We fully embrace that nickname and our fans have. You can see our fan support out there tonight was outstanding. Again, it's just an honor to be a part of this program, a part of this league, the Mountain West. Q. Which of the three of you, who on the team likes dunking the most? LARRY NANCE, JR.: I say D.C. It's like the rim did something to him. He's angry every single time he dunks. Q. You agree, Josh? JOSH ADAMS: I'm going to have to agree with that (smiling). Q. Junior, coming through it on the other side. When you were in the middle of struggles this season, were there times when you lost faith? If so, what did you do to get out of that? CHARLES HANKERSON, JR.: Coach Shy is always saying get out of yourself, get into the team. That was my whole focus. My personal stats and stuff, I mean, it's kind of irrelevant to me. My stats are 23 wins. You know what I mean? That's the only thing that matters to me, surviving and advancing. I just try to stay in the moment and continue to do my best. Q. Larry, you're a powerful guy. How are you able to counteract when they're trying to draw offensive fouls on you? LARRY NANCE, JR.: That's credit to, like they said before, Coach Morrill is a terrific coach. If he could coach them to do that, they obviously knew our game plan. That was my go‑to. Those plays were just kind of bonehead plays that I've got to remove to win these next two games. THE MODERATOR: We'll dismiss the student‑athletes at this time. Thank you, men. We'll continue with questions for Coach Shyatt. Q. What do you think Junior added to you guys in this game, not just with the scoring but his energy and his performance? COACH SHYATT: Against the better teams on our schedule, we need five or six guys. We need Derek Cooke to get 10 rebounds, we need Junior to score some points. We've been pretty steady on defense, doggone near every game. It's been the times when we didn't have everybody contributing in different ways on offense. Q. You think the experience of this group that's been through so much, that played a factor, especially down the stretch? COACH SHYATT: I don't think there's any question. This team has been through adversity like never before in my 40 years. When I say 'this team,' these guys. Three years ago we had a great season going. We lost two players in February. Two years ago, we had an even better season going, we lost Larry to an ACL in February. This year we had even a better season going after we swept CSU at 19 and 4. We got hit on the tail end with not one by two viruses, mono. They kept going. They never made excuses. They just kept playing as hard as they could, not pretty, but as hard as they could. I think there's a reservoir there that some teams have been around they just don't have. Q. You talk about keeping going. With Junior, obviously he was struggling at points. What is his character and attitude been like to be able to keep pushing? COACH SHYATT: Junior's paying his own way this year. That says a lot in itself. He has a level of appreciation a lot of athletes will never have. But I think it's his teammates that supported him more during this year and just made sure that they knew, Look, it's coming, we need you, just put the pressure on your defense and forget about your O right now. I think tonight it came to play and thank goodness it did. We needed him and D.C. Q. Utah State did a great job of shutting down Josh. What have you seen from him in the last two games against the Aggies, especially today? COACH SHYATT: When the virus hit us, we lost our only two 4 men, Herndon and Nance, we were a physical team from a physical and numbers standpoint. I think at that point we talked about racing it up the floor a little more often, shooting it quicker. That's more to Josh's liking anyways ‑ not that he's going to listen to me. I think it carried over when these guys came back, got a little healthier. They're probably not 100%, but they're looking a lot better now than they did two weeks ago. Those four or five games when we weren't healthy helped Josh immensely. Q. I know it's a quick turnaround. You have the top seed tomorrow. What are your thoughts on Boise? Are they a different team from the one you beat earlier in conference play? COACH SHYATT: They most certainly have a different mindset. They're the champions. They've had a great season. I would say more than anything that's impressed me when I've had a chance to watch them on tape is they have really collected themselves defensively. I think they're the best defensive team in this league. If they're not the best, they're one of the best for certain. Q. Your thoughts on the nickname Dunk Town? COACH SHYATT: I've enjoyed being aside from that, just enjoyed watching our guys play. It's a pretty good percentage shot. I sort of like to see D.C.'s elbows above the rim when they can drop it off to him. There's something to be said for our unselfishness. A lot of our dunks this year have come on extremely unselfish plays. THE MODERATOR: Thank you very much. COACH SHYATT: Thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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