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NCAA MEN'S 2ND & 3RD ROUNDS: COLUMBUSMarch 19, 2015Archie MillerJordan SibertScoochie SmithCOLUMBUS, OHIO THE MODERATOR: Questions for the student-athletes. Q. Are you all tired? SCOOCHIE SMITH: We don't get tired. Can't afford to get tired. JORDAN SIBERT: Scooch said it best. Can't afford it. Q. Could you give me an idea what the last 12 to 20 hours was like, in other words, the game ends. Did you guys get a chance to get a full night's sleep. Between the game ending and getting here, what was that like for you? JORDAN SIBERT: It was rough. Just leaving the game and trying to get on a bus and come right up here right after the game. But we did a good job just sticking together and making sure that we enjoyed the moment last night but as soon as we got back, we tried to get rested up as much as possible. Now we're just moving on to the next game. SCOOCHIE SMITH: Yeah, as Jordan said it was tough. Just to have all those type of different emotions just going through your body after a win like that in front of all those fans that just support you throughout the whole year. It was just a good feeling and just to drive about 70 miles up north is just an even better feeling. Q. Jordan, excuse me for asking you to go back, the shot last night, didn't realize the significance of it at the time. You end your career the way you started it, with a game-winning 3-pointer. When did you realize that and what was your reaction to it? JORDAN SIBERT: Well, I realized after the game after everybody was kind of telling me about how important the shot was. I really didn't think about it at all. Like I said yesterday coach called the play and Scooch made a great pass and Kendall had a great screen for me and I was able to knock down the shot. But just to be able to make that shot in my last night in the arena was just amazing and the fans were terrific and they helped me concentrate and they helped me focus. And I'm glad I was able to leave out a second time on a good note. Q. With the moment last night, how quickly were you guys able to kind of turn your focus to Providence? SCOOCHIE SMITH: Just after the game, we kind of celebrated a little bit. But we know we've got another task at hand and another game to try to win and try to advance and survive. And that's what it's all about. Q. Jordan, just to clarify, you guys did bus here last night? Curious what time you got here. And also have you talked about Providence at all, seen any film of them, or will that be tonight or even tomorrow? JORDAN SIBERT: Yeah, we bused here right after the game. I'm pretty sure it was maybe around one-something we got in. But early this morning we were able to watch film and look over Providence a little bit, see what they have. Great team coming in here, have some good guys that we have to key in on. But it's really not about them. We have to focus on what we need to do and prepare and make sure that we're ready to go. Q. You guys also played your championship game on Sunday in New York. Does playing close to home, at least in some ways make up for the fact that you've got this crazy schedule? Does it make it easier because you played home game and now you're playing close to home? SCOOCHIE SMITH: We try not to focus on it being a home game. We know we're in the NCAA Tournament just like everybody else. So we just try to stay true to one another, and just be there for one another throughout the whole 40 minutes of each and every game. And I think we'll just be right there to win the game as we did every game this season, and I think that just helps if we just stay true to one another. JORDAN SIBERT: Whether we're close to home or not, basketball is basketball. We still have to go out there, stick together, stick to our principles. And like Scooch said earlier we're still in the tournament. So even if we're close to home or far away we still have to focus on winning because we're blessed and fortunate enough to still have another game to play. THE MODERATOR: Thank you. Coach, an opening comment. COACH MILLER: It's good to be here. It was a very entertaining and exhausting night for us. A lot of adrenalin last night to calm ourselves down once we got into Columbus. But it feels really good to be here. I'm really happy for our players. I'm happy for our school and our fans. It's great to be on this stage in March. Now we have our work cut out for us again against a terrific Providence team. So we're going to take the next 48 hours or whatever it may be and try to get ourselves ready to go. THE MODERATOR: Questions? Q. What is the challenge of playing five games and now I think it's going to be eight days for you? That's the first one. The second one is LaDontae Henton was signed to you. What kind of an attempt did you make to try to keep him? COACH MILLER: The first one, playing our fifth game in eight days is difficult on our team. We've lost a lot of practice availability. We've lost the ability to do that in the last 10 to 12 days because of all the games. I wish we had more time to clean some things up but it is what it is. It's more of a physical thing. And getting ourselves ready to go physically is the biggest thing, because mentally, we're ready to go. And we have a group that's very together. They play the right way. They play to win. And I think that won't change. But it's going to be taxing. I'm glad the game is late. The second part, LaDontae Henton, he obviously signed to Dayton before I was ever named the head coach. When you get that opportunity to become a head coach, the first thing you're going to deal with is change. And I had an opportunity to speak to LaDontae and his family and his high school coach probably a few days after I got the job. And they didn't know me and I didn't know them. And I felt really bad that he wasn't going to be able to come to Dayton but also really understood and respected that's part of the deal, and he's turned out to be one of the Big East's best players -- you know, 2,000 points, 1,000 rebounds. And what if sort of things for Dayton. Maybe they shouldn't have hired me or something, get somebody else to keep him. But he's had a great career. We're obviously here and we're proud to be here, too. So it's worked out well for both of us. Q. Obviously I'm sure you prefer to not have been in the First Four -- COACH MILLER: I liked it. I absolutely enjoyed being in the First Four. It was one of the greatest experiences that our team and school will have. I don't know if we'll ever have the opportunity to do it again. But to be in the tournament was great. And to play a home game, I'll take that any day of the week. Q. I wasn't trying to knock you into playing at home. But obviously this has been a pretty fortunate circumstance given that you did get a home game and then play here. Is it kind of odd the way it's kind of broken out that way in your favor, maybe? COACH MILLER: I think distance from home is a big, big part of the first couple days of the tournament. You can see a lot of teams regionally are being put in those situations. So I don't think it's very surprising for us to be in Columbus at all. To play the home game, probably more surprised than us being in Columbus. Q. Playing in the game last night, coaching-wise does that change the way you prepare for Providence? Did you already have someone getting ready for Providence or was it not until you won last night that that all starts? COACH MILLER: Oh no. I don't know how every staff does it. We're scattered out. You have to have one guy, Tom Ostrom would be the assistant coach that's going to spearhead this scout on Providence, and he was ready to go last night and when we played the next game or the next opponent, someone would be ready to do that as well. Q. You're going to face a pretty good player in Kris Dunn? What are his strengths and weaknesses what kind of approach do you take to stop a guy like that? COACH MILLER: He's about as impressive of a point guard as I've seen in a long, long time. The last guy I think I've seen on film that startles at you at that position was Kemba Walker, when we were getting ready to deal with him. He's so dominating in the game on both ends of the floor. The ball hits people's hands on time like I've never seen it before. Not only is he tough to deal with as a scorer, he puts the ball where it needs to be at all times, and I can see why so many people are high on him after getting a chance. We're going to have to be who we are. I mean, we're going to have to play defense the way we play defense and obviously there will be some scouting tidbits. But he's a good player. And we dealt with a good player last night in Marks, and you're going to have to react during the game to how things are going and you gotta adjust. But we've done it all year. We've done it a long time, being able to play the way we want to play. And Providence presents a lot of challenges. Not just him. But he's really a special player. Q. People look at your roster, they see the low numbers, they see the lack of height and just assume that you're going to have trouble off the glass. And that hasn't really been consistently the case. Does that just speak to your team's toughness? Is there any way you can frame it? COACH MILLER: I think the big thing is rebounding the basketball, you have five guys committed to it, and it's something that we know if we didn't do -- we wouldn't have had a chance. So we spend a lot of time -- I didn't think we did a good job at all last night against Boise and it would have been one of the biggest reasons why we didn't win the game if we didn't. But all season long we've been able to commit to our perimeter players hitting, blocking out. Dyshawn has done a terrific job all season defensive rebounding. I think the one thing that Providence brings to the table is a real athleticism and physicality on the glass. And it will probably be number one on the report of, it's got to get done or the season will end. But rebounding the ball to me, I think their size is overrated. I've said that. I think guys naturally are good rebounders. Dyshawn is a great rebounder. He has a way of getting the ball. Our perimeter guys will put their nose in there and go get the ball. Teams that don't rebound well at times, I think it's about wanting to go get it. Q. You've lived here. You obviously know your fan base. What do you expect it to be like in terms of a home court advantage for you here tonight? COACH MILLER: I know we'll travel. I don't know the numbers. But to be playing in Columbus, clearly we're going to have fan support. And to be honest with you, if we were in Buffalo we were going to have fan support. If they would have sent us to Pittsburgh we we're going to have fan support just because of who we are. We're a basketball program with basketball fans. And football teams travel. They say that. We travel. We'll travel. And I think it will be an Ohio crowd per se. But it doesn't play a difference. Last night was an amazing environment. But Boise played right with us the whole time. And we got our work cut out for us with a great team in Providence. Q. What is it about Jordan, his makeup and his game, that allows him to excel especially in late-game situations. He seems to make a lot of plays for you when you need them late in games? COACH MILLER: Jordan's really evolved. Jordan wasn't a very confident guy when we got him. And he took a year to work with him and develop and he worked very hard on his shot. I think that's the first thing that he took care of. He became a consistent shooter. And I think last year, playing the first time with a real big role, he was able to play through the season and gain confidence that he belonged again. This offseason, to his credit, was the best offseason that he's ever had. He gets to the foul line a lot more. He's a better handler. He's stronger. When you're a fifth-year senior, you're different, the game is slower for you. I think as we've been able to win games and gain confidence, he's just become that guy for us. He's an all-star all year for us and I'm happy for him. He did it the old-fashioned way. Q. A little bit off beat for you have Joey Gruden on your roster. What kind of contributor, what kind of person has he been as a walk-on? COACH MILLER: Joey's a great kid. I know the Gruden name pops out there with his family or whatnot. But he's just like one of the other guys. He does a great job in practice with us, whether it's the practices, the scout team, with our numbers this year, all those guys have been invaluable. And he's a credit -- he's a great kid and I'm glad he's with us. I'm really glad he's with us. He brings a good personality to the team. THE MODERATOR: Thank you, Coach. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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