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NCAA MEN'S REGIONALS SEMIFINALS & FINALS: LOS ANGELES


March 27, 2015


Brandon Ashley

Rondae Hollis-Jefferson

Stanley Johnson

T.J. McConnell

Sean Miller

Kaleb Tarczewski


LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA

THE MODERATOR: Coach, we'll start with an opening statement.

COACH MILLER: We're very excited to be here. It's obviously a heck of a story when a year ago we played Wisconsin, at the time we were the No. 1 seed, they were the No. 2 seed, and here we are again a year later as the reverse. They're the No. 1 and we're the No. 2. But I think both programs kind of have one thing in common, and that is that we have a great core group of players that have been with us over these last couple of seasons, that have made both seasons very, very special, and we're looking forward to the game tomorrow very much.

Q. Brandon, what is the most craziest, most athletic thing that you've seen Rondae do, whether it was in a practice or in a game?
BRANDON ASHLEY: For me personally I'd have to say against New Mexico State last year when he pretty much dunked on half of their team when he drove down the baseline. So I'd definitely have to say that one right there.

T.J. McCONNELL: Yeah, I'd have to agree with Brandon. I've never seen anything like what Rondae did to the kid from New Mexico, but I think he outmatched that when he dunked on the kid from UC Irvine this year that was like 8' tall. So I wasn't surprised that he did it, but at the same time, I really was like, What the heck just happened?

KALEB TARCZEWSKI: Any time Rondae goes up to dunk, it's almost like he sprouts wings, he jumps, and it's almost like he continues to -- he just keeps going. So it's pretty spectacular to watch. I'm fortunate he wasn't dunked on me yet in practice, so I'm going to try to keep that going.

STANLEY JOHNSON: I probably would go with one of the practice dunks he had on one of our players on the team. I'm not going to say any names, but, yeah, it was my fault letting him go by me in the closeout, and he put somebody in there. In the game probably he had a goaltend block versus Cal, and I was right there, and his head was all over the rim. I thought he could have grabbed it, but they called a goaltend, I don't know why, but he was really high in the air, and it was amazing to watch.

THE MODERATOR: Rondae, do you want to say what your best athletic move was?

RONDAE HOLLIS-JEFFERSON: No, they did a good job, thank you.

Q. Kaleb, how comparable is Stainbrook and Kaminsky?
KALEB TARCZEWSKI: They're both very similar players. They do a great job of using their body to get post position, and both their teams really get the ball to them in similar ways. It was a tough game last night, but it's over with now. We're focused on the next game.

Q. T.J., the Wisconsin players last year talked about after they got to the Final Four what it meant to get Bo Ryan to the Final Four. Do you talk about that amongst yourselves with Coach Miller, what it would mean to you personally and the rest of you to get him to the Final Four?
T.J. McCONNELL: Yeah, all of us talk about that a lot. We've been talking about it here a bit. But we're just going to treat this game like it's another game. We're not going to make it any bigger. But we know what's at stake, and getting to the Final Four is a big thing for us, and getting Coach Miller to a Final Four is also a big thing for us as well.

STANLEY JOHNSON: I think getting to a Final Four with Coach Miller is what we all came here to do. So I know that's what I got recruited here for.

Q. Last week Stanley said in Portland he thinks the reason you're such a good defender is you can anticipate what every player you're guarding is going to do. You know it ahead of time. How much film do you watch by yourself?
RONDAE HOLLIS-JEFFERSON: Well, I don't know. I watch film. I do watch film, but that's just a natural instinct I have. I learned that from my brother. He always told me to be like a step ahead of the offensive player. Learning their game is the best thing for you to do, and with that being said, it helps you know what they tend to do on certain players. I just try to strike a fear in their heart from jump street.

Q. Brandon, how frustrating was it to not be able to play in this game last year, and how gratifying is it to be back and to be able to take part in it tomorrow?
BRANDON ASHLEY: It was definitely frustrating to not be able to be out there and compete with my team last year. It was tough to see the game come to such a pivotal point at the end of the game where we were pretty much down one possession and needed a bucket, and I couldn't be out there to help get a tip in or help in the play. But I mean, to be in this position now is a blessing. I'm definitely looking forward to the opportunity to compete against them tomorrow.

Q. Sean, what was your reaction if you heard about Dean Smith's letter with the $200 meal voucher, if you will, that he sent to every one of his lettermen? Can you talk about the relationship you've built with all the players you've worked with over the years, and if you can imagine even wanting to do something like that?
COACH MILLER: Well, I've got two answers for that. Number one is I'm fortunate because my dad, being a high school coach, I knew Coach Smith quite well. He actually recruited me. If he would have really recruited me, I would have probably gone to North Carolina, but I pulled up short. I was probably like third or fourth there on that pecking order. But went to his camps. Got to know him very well. And it was amazing even myself as years went on, he was amazing how he'd remember your name, remember my brother's name. Dante Calabria who ended up going there to North Carolina was recruited. My dad was his high school coach, and, again, the familiarity of how he would treat people always stood out. He was just one of those people that when you met him, you knew you just met someone extraordinary. When I saw that yesterday I guess for the first time, and I think Dante Calabria's letter was actually the one that was on the picture of it, I couldn't believe it. It was, to me, one of the great things I've ever seen in sports. What better way of kind of giving back to these guys who have gone to battle for you, have listened to you, have blood, sweat, and tears for you. For that to happen is just amazing to me. It's incredible. Again, I couldn't believe it when I read it. So in terms of myself, the relationships with these guys are all a little different. I would say that the one thing that all of us coaching today probably wished was different, you very seldom have an opportunity to be around people like these guys for five years, four years, where you recruited them for a year or two and you watch them walk out the door as seniors. Your time spent with them isn't nearly as long. Because of that the relationships have changed a little bit. Derrick Williams would be a great example. Where Derrick was with us for two years. It felt like two months. Yet I still, and we talk and stay in touch, but if you said would they be with you for four years? That would be a much different thing. That's why these guys are all coming back. Take a good look at them.

Q. How did it feel to dunk on a man 7'6" tall? What was that like?
RONDAE HOLLIS-JEFFERSON: It was definitely a thrill. A lot of energy going through my body. I was really amped up, and the celebration was amazing. On the court I got to slap a couple hands of my teammates. It just felt good to do something that spectacular. It really felt good.

THE MODERATOR: For the record, that's Mamadou Ndiaye of UC Irvine.

RONDAE HOLLIS-JEFFERSON: And that's my Cousin, by the way.

Q. You said last year that you embrace when people say, Okay, the best coach who hasn't been to the Final Four. Why would you embrace it, and do you think it's a fair or unfair kind of thing people put out there about coaches given all you've won before that, what Coach Ryan did, Coach Keady, everyone that's been in that moment, why do you say I embrace it?
COACH MILLER: I don't know if I have an alternative. You know, if you don't embrace it, what do you do? I think there's a lot of pressure on coaches. I think if you follow just what's happening this week about March Madness and making the tournament, and now it becomes advancing in the tournament, probably sometimes unfairly so, because these guys will tell you, winning the Pac-12 regular season championship through 18 games, nine at home, nine on the road is an amazing accomplishment. You can make the argument that for us, I don't know if there's anything harder, more difficult to achieve, but yet not many people ask us about winning the Pac-12 regular season championship or back-to-back years like we have. The focus is always on that last game. Sometimes in too big of a way. But for us as a program, we compete to be in the Final Four, and right now we've competed regularly. I think each one of these guys will tell you that when we have our first team meeting or we start practice in October, when you think about when it's going to end, you think about it ending in the Final Four. But you have to compete for it, and the more opportunities and chances you get, eventually it will breakthrough. And that's how I look at it. If you let it define you or you tighten up or can't lose, that's not going to work. So I think for us, and T.J. said it, not make things bigger than they need to. Trying to be the best we can. We all know what our identity is. Make sure that's in place tomorrow and then let the chips fall. Last year we could have very easily been in the Final Four, and Wisconsin could be in our boat, but it didn't happen, and it was a difference of about three plays. Maybe one play. So we're excited about tomorrow and we'll see what happens.

Q. I'm wondering where you watched the game last year against Wisconsin and your emotions after the game watching the one-point loss?
STANLEY JOHNSON: I was watching the game. We had a State Championship game just like they have this year, so I was watching in the locker room before the game started, and I saw the last play as I was running on the floor. I obviously had to play a game, so I was focusing on what my team had to focus on. But after the game, I saw Coach Miller and I texted Coach Miller and he congratulated me on winning the State Championship. I just told him I wanted to get us back here to the same game, and look it's the same team. So obviously this has been marked on my calendar since back then, and it's just a blessing to be here in this game.

Q. Do you remember the first time you watched Rondae play defense? I assume it was sometime in high school or early AAU, and what stood out to you?
COACH MILLER: No question. It was early AAU. I think it was on the EYBL circuit somewhere. I'm not sure where it was. But right away it became a quest of ours. I think Rondae would tell you to make him the most important guy we were recruiting. At that time we were losing that position. I think Solomon Hill was leaving, and we were looking for who would be the next wing player. And he just fit in so many ways what I felt like what we were trying to do here at Arizona. The thing that stood out then and it still stands out now, and I think these guys would say the same thing, he can dominate a game without scoring. When he's around great players or other players that are talented, his value is even bigger because his style brings out the best in his teammates. I saw that then. Knowing he's from Chester, Pennsylvania. Chester is a great place for high school basketball, and Jameer Nelson, I coached against him when I was at Xavier, and he had a toughness about him that I thought if you watched Rondae play for a couple minutes, you could see that Rondae had that same toughness about him.

Q. Given the way NBA people regard your talent, I'll assume that you're not going to stay at Arizona for all four years. Do you have any envy or any feelings of sort of when you look at a guy like T.J., that he gets to play four years and you might not get that chance?
STANLEY JOHNSON: I don't even think about the NBA, honestly. I think college is hard enough to figure out itself, especially for a guy like me coming in. I struggled for a little bit. So I just try to focus on college basketball and let the future be the future. I think T.J. is a great player. He's very, very talented. He gets a lot of credit for that, and I think he'll get more and more as the season goes along. For me personally, I just worry about college, and whatever happens after that happens.

Q. What, if anything, have you heard from your teammates over the last year about the Wisconsin game? Is it something they talk about a lot? Do you get sick of hearing it? Is it something they don't talk about much at all? How has that been?
STANLEY JOHNSON: I would say it's been the whole season. We're consistent with what we say. It's all about not making mistakes on defense, and being a better defensive player and doing the right things on the court. The same message Coach Miller told us last night and was going to tell us before the game are the same messages he would tell us in November. And that makes it easier because I know what to do. As long as I do what I do, play how I play and cover my assignments, everything else will fall in place, because the rest of these guys will do the same thing for themselves. That makes it a lot easier for me as a freshman, especially for everybody else sitting here.

Q. How has Coach Miller made you a better player? Can you talk about that?
BRANDON ASHLEY: Over my tenure here, I feel like being around Coach Miller, I've learned a lot. I feel like the time I spent injured last year, I had a greater chance to really be able to sit there and have a conversation with Coach Miller, not only about the game, but about life and different things like that. So I definite feel like coming to the University of Arizona has made me a better person on and off the court, and helped me mature a whole lot.

T.J. McCONNELL: There is not one thing that sticks out about what Coach Miller has taught me as a player, because it's not so much. It's the thing that sticks out about how he's made me a better person. He teaches us not only about the game of basketball, but about life, and that's why we all love playing for him and play as hard as we do for him.

KALEB TARCZEWSKI: I agree a lot with what T.J. and Brandon said. I'd say the one thing for me is coach's kind of passion for the game. There are a lot of days, and when I have an off day, I'll go to the pond and do a little fishing and try to relax. But Coach Miller is always in the coach's room watching film. His passion for the game, his love for the sport is unlike anything I've ever seen. Really it kind of rubs off on the rest of us. Really makes us all just want to win more than anything.

RONDAE HOLLIS-JEFFERSON: For me, I would say coach has done a great job at making a transition for me from high school to college. I would say I didn't understand when I first came here a lot of things, and he put in perspective for me to understand and relate to better. And he worked with me throughout the transition. I wasn't the best kid to work with, but he understood that, and he sacrificed a lot for me, and I appreciate that. He has done a great job. Thank you.

STANLEY JOHNSON: I haven't had as much time with Coach Miller as a lot of these guys have, but I think it started from being recruited by him. He was always honest and genuine, whether I went to here or not. Being a guy that was out of high school, once guys get promises to start and play minutes out of high school, and trust me when I say he got the heat put on him about me starting, he never committed to that. He was always honest with me and said, As long as you do what you have to do, good things will happen. He always said, Honor the process and stuff like that hits me later when I get more mature and athletic. I understand what he's saying more and more as I started maturing. So honest and genuine is what I would say.

Q. I'm wondering, do you have any vivid memories of last year's game with Wisconsin that really stuck with you, whether in the game or after the game, that really stuck with you since then?
COACH MILLER: No, I think when you play Wisconsin, it's a game of small victories, small battles, because the possessions are so long. On their end, the offensive end, they're very deliberate. They share the ball. They're highly skilled in and intelligent. They don't beat themselves, and you're on defense for a lot longer against them than any other team, and it's easy to break down. Sometimes you break down at the very end with a foul. Sometimes you break down off the ball and they make a cut and it does you in, a second shot, which I thought last night really hurt North Carolina. Wisconsin got a couple of big second shots. So I think to me the game goes by fast. It doesn't seem to take as long because there isn't a lot of fouling and these possessions are so long. More their style stands out for me than the actual ending. A blocked charge call, I don't know. Is it a block? Is it a charge? I think about that every ten minutes, 20 minutes. But you can't control that. What you can control, especially now that we're playing again, is to do the best that we can with who we are, and really respect why they're such a great team, and they really are, especially on the offensive end.

Q. When you look at the success that T.J. has had late in his career and Kaminsky has had later on in his career for them and a lot of the players from the tournament, juniors and seniors who have excelled, what do you think that says about the place that there is in college basketball for a kid who blooms later than 18, 19 years old, even when there are so many one-and-done players or big-time recruits and all that kind of thing?
COACH MILLER: College basketball for me, it was the end all. I didn't move on beyond my playing days, and playing in the in the NBA, I wasn't good enough. And it's not because I'm a coach, but a lot of my friends from that generation, I saw Donny Marshall here, and you start asking about college basketball games, your tournament experience, and it's as if it happened yesterday, it's so vivid. I know there is a lot of talk about the rule changes, and there is a lot of talk about the transfers and they're young, but I still think there are a lot of great things happening in college basketball. And you're right. T.J. McConnell is one of those things. You look at how he's performing. Kaminsky for Wisconsin. There is a place for those guys. And I think when they leave college, they'll be much more ready for the rest of the world and the rest of their life. I think when they look back, they'll look back with tremendous joy on all of the things they were able to be a part of as a student-athlete. It's not all negative. There are a lot of positives going on.

Q. Who was the Rondae he was referring to earlier? Rondae early in his career said he was kind of tough to coach. What was he like?
COACH MILLER: His heart has always been in the right place and he's a great competitor. When you ask some of these young players to practice for two and a half hours again and again and again, and when is the next game, it's not for a while, and then you play a game and it's like, Guess what, the next day you practice, it catches them off guard. As much as they think they know how to work hard and how everything is important, not until they get into our programs do they truly understand. I think Rondae, who has always won and looked at himself as a competitor, kind of needed a more comprehensive approach to becoming a good player himself and understanding how many different things there are in the game. Screening, off the ball, what you do off the ball on offense, and not just when you have it. Even as a defensive player, he's grown so much. Nick Johnson, I thought a year ago really helped him show him the way, which you hope is a part of your program. But it's those types of things that I think he was referring to. And I also think he now does some of those things with tremendous pride because he knew how hard they were for him to do a year ago.

Q. USC and UCLA being here, you've got a ton of guys on your roster from LA, Orange County, the Valley. What's been your key to being able to recruit this area well? Also historically, Arizona has recruited this area well. Why do you think that's been the case?
COACH MILLER: Well, it starts with our tradition long before I ever got here. Our tradition is based on the state of California, and in particular, Southern California. We all can rattle off the great California players, and Steve Kerr comes to mind, Chase Budinger comes to mind, Derrick Williams, who was one of our first. But those guys have come here to the University of Arizona and thrived. Solomon Hill from Fairfax High School, who took four years, who is that guy that I was just asked about, and you look at him right now starting for the Indiana Pacers. But when a number of people in the past have done it and have gone on to do great things, those future players tend to look at you with bright lights. I'll also tell you this, the only thing that you have to do is come to a home game at McKale Center, and you see there aren't many places that love and embrace college basketball more than Tucson, more than our fans. When you're 18 years old, Stanley Johnson, you want to play in front of a packed house. You want to play in front of a crowd, fever pitch, 14,500, and we have that 17 times a year regardless of who we are play. It's our tradition. It's what we have. And obviously every one of these guys wants to compete in these games, and we've been in these games. Hopefully we can continue.

Q. You played college basketball. You've coached in different regions of the country. Just to get your perspective on what everyone's been talking about with the dip in scoring over the last few years, why do you think it's happened? Do you think it needs to be fixed, and if so, how?
COACH MILLER: I've thought about it, and a lot of different people have asked me. Really as I've thought about it, I've come with different answers. Obviously, I listen to other people talk. But I think one of the things is defense in general has improved. There are so many statistical -- there is so much more statistical information, and there is so much more of an ability to show your players video, to be able to see how the other team scores, and I think that's part of it. I think all of us have kind of embraced that to give ourselves an edge and more familiarity with the offense. I think the guys on our teams are bigger, stronger, and more physical than ever before. I thought about last night's game, I mean, there were very few shots that weren't contested around the goal. And you have guys weighing 300 pounds. Kaleb, 260 pounds who can run. I think has the size and strength, with that familiarity, has come alive. It makes it more difficult. From officiating perspective, maybe the one thing that we could do to help our overall game is unite all. Where on the East Coast in the Big East or ACC, the things that are emphasized and the way the game is called is identical to those here in the Pac-12. I think they're working towards maybe uniting that. Sometimes in different areas or different conferences that's affected, which I don't think is healthy for our game, especially when you get into the NCAA tournament. But those are a couple of my answers. I know they talked about shrinking the shot clock. This past summer was the first time I've ever coached with a 24-second shot clock when I was the assistant on the USA Basketball under-18 team. One of the things we did as a team is we pressed and we dropped back into man-to-man. I'll tell you, with the 24-second shot clock, you're not playing 82 games. You're only playing 30. I can make the argument it can be more difficult to score if you're able to take some time up in the back court. So I think if you shrink the shot clock, all of us would probably think about what are the other things that would have to accompany that to make it really work. But I know that the NABC and the Rules Committees are really working hard to establish that. The last part I would just say is this, if Stanley Johnson was a junior, I bet you we would score more points at Arizona than we would with him as a freshman. The more that our young players, the best players in our game leave that continuity, a lot of times you feel it on offense, I think. If you have somebody who is an upperclassman and a lottery pick, and I think Wisconsin may be a great example if you look at how easy it is for them to score, how efficient they are, they're doing it with older players. They're doing it with players that are playing more together. And they're really efficient. If Kaminsky left after his sophomore year, maybe they're not as good on offense. So I think like everything in our game, as young, great players leave, it affects what we're doing.

Q. Referencing the back and forth that Stanley mentioned after Arizona lost to Wisconsin last year and while he was on the verge of winning his fourth State title, what do you remember of that conversation?
COACH MILLER: Well, like he said, I did. I congratulated him, obviously, on winning his fourth State Championship, and he got right back to me and said, Coach, great season for you guys. Next year, just so you know, we're going to get back to that game and we're going to go two games further or three games. I forgot how he said it. But that's what he said. It is very ironic that we find ourselves here again playing Wisconsin in the Elite Eight. It remains to be seen if it comes true. That's what he said, and I think it's a great story to have all of us here again.

Q. You've obviously had a lot of success throughout your career, and not just speaking about last year. But is there a game where there is a player or younger coach in the NCAA tournament that stands out, a loss, that maybe sticks with you years later?
COACH MILLER: I mean, they all do. For me, a number of them have come in the Elite Eight. Playing UCONN a few years ago, we didn't have one shot to win the game. We actually had two. And I thought the second one in particular is that one you see all the time where it's an offensive rebound. It's a broken play. It's a kickout. That's usually the one that wins the game, and it didn't. But that one, when you think back to it, UCONN went on to win the National Championship. You know, last year the whole blocked charge, was it a block? Was it a charge? Then having the chance to get the ball there at the very end. Those two stick out pretty vividly. But the one thing you keep coming back to, I think, as a coach is how did your team perform in those games? Everybody focuses on the end. But those are some epic battles, great games. When you play in those games you have the peace of mind that your team is ready to play, competed hard. And I think all of us once you reflect back with those thoughts, you feel a lot better about the result either way.

Q. I had a chance to talk to your father, and he said he thinks you've grown even more determined in the last two years to get to the Final Four, and that it stems from the Elite Eight games. I wonder if you could offer your thoughts on that?
COACH MILLER: Yeah, I've been in the Elite Eight five times. Once as an assistant, and four times now as a head coach. So if it ends there, it sticks with you for sure. But for me and for our team and really our program, because Arizona you also can't forget that it's quite an accomplishment to be at this level, and I think there has to be some gratification. There has to be a good feeling as well. If there isn't, I mean, you're working awfully hard for something that doesn't happen very frequently, and that is to be in the Final Four or win a National Championship. But I keep going back to what I said, and that is all of us have a process and a way of doing things. If it's comprehensive enough and you have the peace of mind that it works, eventually you keep knocking at the door enough, it will break through. But the determination, I don't know if I'm any more or less determined. I knew when I came to Arizona, that's what we were trying to do, and we're still trying.

Q. Looking forward to tomorrow's game, while they have some guys who have slightly different roles, Nigel Hayes and Bronson Koenig, does it help your guys to have a different reference point from last year's game?
COACH MILLER: Very much so, and it's because of the uniqueness of Wisconsin. Their deliberate pace, their ball movement, how they play their own version of man-to-man defense. It's a style that is somewhat unique. I think the more familiarity that you have with it, it has to be to your advantage. Us not being in the Big Ten or even from that area of the country, not only didn't we ever play against Wisconsin or very frequently, or I should say the guys that were on last year's team didn't, but you don't see them a lot either. You maybe see them on Sportscenter highlight or on an occasional game. I'm sure they feel the same way about us. But we know how good Frank Kaminsky is. We know how disciplined their team is. We know that they don't beat themselves, and you're right. We have the experience of at least going through it once, and I can't help but think in some way that's going to be to our advantage. By the way, they have the same advantage, it's just that they won last year's game.

Q. We heard your players talk about getting you to a Final Four. Some of the players talked last night that said Wisconsin has definitely been on their minds for a year. Is there any danger of those guys making this game bigger than it is?
COACH MILLER: No question. Again, if you're in this game a year ago, I can't help but think that that's to your advantage because they've gone through this one time. But we're not going to be successful if, in fact, we do make it bigger than it needs to. But I don't know if any team in the Elite Eight would be. Part of what's going to make us play our best basketball, and that's what we're after tomorrow, is to do the things that we have done religiously from day one, and how we prepare, even the practice we're about ready to go to. And as exciting as it is, it's not about the result. It's about being that team during the game where we're defending, we're rebounding, we're playing our style. Because the one thing about Wisconsin is they're going to play their brand and their style of basketball, and they do it exceptionally well. We have to be able to be that same tough-minded, disciplined team. Making it bigger than it needs to doesn't help that happen.
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