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NCAA MEN'S REGIONALS SEMIFINALS & FINALS: LOS ANGELESMarch 27, 2015Sam DekkerJosh GasserNigel HayesFrank KaminskyBronson KoenigBo RyanLOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA THE MODERATOR: Coach, an opening statement, please. COACH RYAN: Again, we just want to say how happy and proud we are to be here and representing our conference and our state and our university. So another chance for these guys to spend a few more days in the warmth of sunny LA. Q. Sam, Frank, Josh, how has Coach Ryan helped you develop from your time in high school to the player that you are now? SAM DEKKER: He's obviously got me much more disciplined as a player and as a person, realizing the little things in life go a long way. And if you wake up each morning with the mentality that you have to get better and you can do a lot in that 24-hour span to improve and build on your life. You know, if you wake up every day like that, you're going to get a lot of things done. And I think he's rubbed that off on all of us. He's taught us that the little things, like I said, in basketball can go a long way. He's changed me into a new person and a new player. FRANK KAMINSKY: I'm a completely different person and player than I was four years ago, and I think a lot of that has to do with coach. He knows how to get the best out of us, from the time we step on campus to the time we're seniors. He really makes a commitment to us. It's hard to put into words how much he actually does for us, because you start to realize in these times how much he has an effect on us, the way we say things, the way we do things on the court, how we interact with each other. It's really just a true, great program. JOSH GASSER: Yeah, I could go on and on about great things to say about Coach Ryan. But really I just respect the way he handles our program in terms of the togetherness and team aspect. It's never about individuals. It's always about what we can do together to win games. And that's why I came to this program to win, and we've done a pretty good job of that. Q. Bronson, last year you came off the bench against Arizona and made what I felt were some huge plays. Last night it was Showalter that maybe turned the tide for you. Can you talk about next-man-up theory for Wisconsin and how that's so critical for you guys? BRONSON KOENIG: Yeah, I thought Showy and Traevon did a good job coming off the bench and giving us everything they could. And Showy always brings as much energy as he can. And yesterday was huge for us. I thought he kind of sparked the run that we went on, as well as Josh's big defensive play on J.P. Tokoto. So, yeah, it's always nice to have guys come in off the bench and give us what they have? Q. Sam, last year you guys talked about when you got to the Final Four, what it meant to take Coach Ryan to the Final Four. Arizona kids were in here a few minutes earlier saying they want to do the same thing obviously for Coach Miller. Can you go back through that process and talk about what it meant to get him there and what you feel they're probably feeling now about their coach? SAM DEKKER: When you're in this position, anyone should want to get to the Final Four, so both teams are going to say the same things about that. But it was great to get coach to the Final Four. He's been there before, but with a different program. But for us to be a part of the team that got him there here at Wisconsin was a huge honor. And I think we take a lot of pride in that. I'm sure he was happy with the guys he had too. So it was great for him to get that, and I'm very proud of him for that. Arizona, obviously they want to come in here and get a win. You know, it was the same match-up for last year in the Elite Eight, and it was a hard fought game and it could have gone to either team. It's going to be the same type of battle, the same type of grit that's going to be needed. Obviously, they want to make a Final Four and so do we. And we're going take a lot of pride in our game and go out there and try to get a big win. Q. Coach yesterday talked about how so many of you guys were under-the-radar-type players, except for Sam, not five star recruits. Do you guys take pride in that, that you guys have been able to win at such a high level despite the fact that you guys weren't the players that scouts raved about in high school and so forth? FRANK KAMINSKY: I think that if you look at the Wisconsin program as a whole, that's what coach recruited. He recruited guys that want to come in and work hard and make something of themselves. And I think Josh and I especially came in with not a lot of expectations, but we were able to work hard and put ourselves in positions to play well in this program. It definitely didn't happen overnight. It was a long journey to get to where we are, but that's what coach really wanted to get the best out of us, and he's done so. JOSH GASSER: Yeah, I mean, rankings, it doesn't mean much usually, and that's what I like about this program. If you buy into the system, and you buy into the team aspect first, you're going to get on the court, and you're going to develop as a player and as a team. So that's where it's come. We all had good offers in high school, so that's not really the case that Wisconsin was our only offer. So we're pretty good players too, just maybe not as heralded as some others. Q. Sam, do you feel like an outsider, the 1-out-of-5 star guy up there? SAM DEKKER: Not really. No, not really an outsider because once I got on campus I had to work hard and earn my spot and earn my minutes just like everyone else. Coach doesn't play favorites and he doesn't play who his was most touted. When you got on the court, you have to start from square one just like everyone else. So I've had to put in the work too, and I've improved. And I think I can go with all these guys in saying you've branded that aspect, and it's helped you develop as a player and as a person. Q. One of your teammates said the other day that what he'll take from his years at Wisconsin are not all the titles or the successes on the court, but the journey that you all have taken together. I guess starting with Josh and anyone else who wants to answer, do you understand that and can you speak to that yourself? JOSH GASSER: I definitely understand that. The relationships we've built with each other for my teammates from years ago, like Jon Leuer, Jordan Taylor. I'm great friends with those guys, I'm great friends with these guys, and that's something you can take with you forever. These guys are going to be my good friends for the rest of my life. We've obviously created a lot of good memories on and off the court, and that's what it's all about. That's what college is all about. You try to win as many games as you can to get championships to solidify that. But really either way, that's the thing that I value the most about my time here are the relationships that I've been able to build with the people around me. Q. Josh, how about an off-court memory? JOSH GASSER: These questions are tough. PG-rated too? I don't know. Q. You be the Judge. JOSH GASSER: There's too many good memories we have with each other. That's my biggest trouble. I can't think of any. I'll let someone else answer that. Nigel wants to answer it. Q. Bronson, since you moved into the starting lineup in January with Traevon's injury, what's been the biggest change for you? And Josh, could you talk about the progression that Bronson has made after he's done? BRONSON KOENIG: I'd say the biggest transition was just getting my body adjusted to playing that many minutes. And then just kind of, I don't know, developing as a point guard really and just learning when to take shots, when to do things, like make plays for myself or my teammates and stuff like that. But I think I've had great coaches and teammates to help me along the way. JOSH GASSER: Yeah, Bronson's always had the ability to make plays and score and make plays for us. But I think the thing that's come up the most is his confidence as a leader, especially vocally. I know last year and even earlier this year I'd have to be in his ear a little bit telling him stuff. And now he's just the guy who is vocal out there and making decisions and calling plays and stuff like that. So he's grown, obviously as a player, but I think more so as a vocal leader. Q. Nigel, did you ever have occasion to re-watch the Arizona game last year? And if so, what do you remember the most important aspects were? NIGEL HAYES: I remember that we missed a lot of opportunities to rebound defensively. We allowed them to get a lot of putbacks which kept them in the game when we tried to get a lead or pull away. So we have to be very conscientious of that in this game to make sure we limit their offensive rebounds. Q. Frank and Josh, Wisconsin has a tradition of always having somebody who maybe most people haven't heard about who just step up after you guys are gone, next-guy up. Who is that going to be on this team? Who is the guy in practice or couple guys in practice that will surprise people next year when they're playing more? FRANK KAMINSKY: I think Ethan Happ is going to be a really good player for this program. He gets better every day. He's one of those guys that has a will to come in and compete every day in practice and get better. But you can say that about a lot of guys on our team. There are a lot of younger guys who are chomping at the bit to get into the rotation, and they're going to work as hard as they can in the off-season to do whatever they can to be a good player and follow in the Wisconsin tradition. JOSH GASSER: Yeah, I'd agree with that. Ethan dominates in practices. He's a really good post player, and he has the ability to come in and play right now if we needed to. But he's smart and wanted to red-shirt and kind of make the most out of his four years. But the other guys, Jordan Hill is a good point guard, or Jordan Taylor Hill is a good point guard. He can come in and make plays, and he's gotten a lot better, a lot better since day one, since he's been here. That's what you get when you go against our scout team. The starters get better every day, you grow a lot better and improve your game, so, yeah, those two guys. Q. Frank and Josh, with Wisconsin being a program where a lot of guys played four years and with plenty of guys being one-and-dones or staying a couple years, can you all appreciate maybe a guy like T.J. McConnell who has played this many years and contributes what he does to college basketball sort of in the same way that you all do? FRANK KAMINSKY: Yeah, T.J.'s a great player. He's definitely the heart and soul of our team. It takes a long time to become a leader on a college basketball team. Not very many freshmen can walk in the door and become the heart and soul of the team or a leader. He's definitely worked as hard as he could to be that for Arizona. And it shows out on the court. We know he's a great on-the-court leader. He can do a lot of things. He knows how to get his teammates involved in the game. He can score, he can rebound, he can pass. So it's hard to frustrate a player like that. But we know at the same time that we have to shut him down if we want to win. JOSH GASSER: Yeah, I definitely respect T.J. McConnell. Just from watching him on TV, you can tell how hard he competes. The plays he makes are winning plays, and that's what you need. That's why Arizona has such a good record and such a hard team to beat because they have a guy like that at the point guard position who is a great leader, tough, makes all the little plays. So he's a fun guy to play against too, because you know you have to bring it, and they've got a lot of guys like that. Q. Frank, could you look back to last year's game a little bit with Arizona and how you got loose and had a big game, and how you were able to do that? And also this year they've got a couple of key guys, Stanley Johnson and Brandon Ashley, who didn't play in that game. How do you think that will make this match-up different? FRANK KAMINSKY: Looking back at last year, it was just one of those games where everything was going right for me. I've had some games like that before, and hopefully I'll have some more. But looking at Stanley and Brandon Ashley, they're both great players. We know about Stanley. He's one of the most talked about freshmen in the country, and for good reason. He's a very good player. Brandon Ashley unfortunately didn't play last year, but he adds another dimension to their team with size and athleticism. So we're going to have to really prepare for them this year, and it's not going to be easy to come out with a win. But we know if we stick to our scouting report and play well, we have a chance to win? Q. Frank, when you walked in you moved Josh and Nigel's name tags. Did you not want to sit next to Nigel? FRANK KAMINSKY: Yeah, he smells bad (smiling). Q. Coach, last year you said the Final Four, you didn't need them to validate anything. Sean's kind of taken that mantra of people say the best coach who hasn't been there. Do you understand why people say that? Is it fair? And in his situation should it validate anything about him no matter what happens tomorrow or in the future? COACH RYAN: Sean's like me. I'm sure he could care less. We don't get into this as a profession just to do one certain thing. I mean, it's all about the years and the days and the hours that you spend with these guys doing our job. So there are just so many good people, good teachers, good coaches whatever that didn't get to the Final Four, Elite Eight or Sweet Sixteen. I look at those guys in Division III that I coached against for 15 years. They could outcoach 90% of the coaches that are coaching in Division I. They could outcoach them. They're more organized. What I learned in Division III certainly helped me when I got into Division I. So as far as validation or solidifying your profession being one thing that you end up doing or not doing, that's ridiculous. So Sean's a good coach. He's worked with a lot of young men. He's going to work with a lot more. And what he ends up doing with his team in their journey is not going to be the final answer of who we are. Q. How do Frank and T.J. fall through the cracks in the recruiting process? Obviously they didn't come heralded, but they play very well. COACH RYAN: It's just life. Not everybody develops at the same stage, students in college that do better than they did in high school. It's not that unusual. People who are successful at a profession or maybe ignored or didn't get a lot of attention when they were younger, it's just life. There are no mysteries. It's just how hard you work. The end is a process to where you become an athlete, a student, a profession, whatever your profession is. So there is no guarantee for success by simply having one trait or this trait or this valuation put on you. So it's just so overrated. It's for people to make money for jobs and to justify what they do in their rankings. Come on. You don't want to get me started on that stuff. Q. Somewhere along those lines, what do you remember about Frank as a player when he was a freshman? What do you remember most? And do Frank and T.J. and other guys like that in the tournament, do they show there is a -- COACH RYAN: When you say T.J., are you talking about McConnell? Q. Their guy, yeah. COACH RYAN: He was undervalued coming out of high school with that Pittsburgh accent? Just because a bunch of quarterbacks came out of the area where he's from. I didn't think he was undervalued. I always thought he was a good player. Q. No, I didn't say that. COACH RYAN: Oh. Q. The question I'm asking is what do you think it says where those guys could have careers, and Frank starts as a guy that's averaging two points a game. They can do what they've done this year. What's that say about a place for a guy who blooms a little later in college basketball as opposed to a lot of the star recruits? COACH RYAN: That it can happen, that's what it proves. There are no guarantees. That's what makes it fun doing what we do and working with these young people, getting them and challenging them, taking them out of the comfort zone at times, and expanding their work ethic, challenging their work ethic. Challenging their academics, which they get challenged at Wisconsin. So my job is to challenge them on the basketball side. So there are driving factors that motivate all of us, and there are just some people that just aren't going to be good at what they do because they're never going to stop working hard at what they do and never being satisfied. Taking satisfaction, but never being satisfied. Q. What are Division I coaches missing by not coaching in NIA, Division III and those levels? What are the things you miss, if anything, about being at Platteville? COACH RYAN: Well, what I was saying about Division III is a lot of times you have to teach at the school. You're around the student body. You're not isolated in some tower and never spend any time with the other students. It's more of being a high school coach in that you're teaching other students, you're with the student body. You're with the faculty. I mean, in Division I, talk to head coaches and see how many faculty members they know or how many they hang around with. When I was at Platteville, I knew everybody on the campus. So what I'm saying about the experience in Division III is those guys have to do all that stuff. You heard about coaches that sweep the gym and drive the bus and do all those things. Well, in Division III, there are no scholarships. You're taking people that are at your school. At Platteville, I had more engineers than anybody else in the country, I think, because Platteville was a strong engineering school. So I tried to get the best basketball players who wanted to be engineers. Our last couple National Championship teams had, I think, seven of the 10, five starters in '98, and five starters in '99 were civil engineers. They had to say things two or three times so that I could understand what they were talking about. But, no, Division III, it's just they have to do everything, so it really prepares you for a lot of things later on. I'm not saying they're better people. But you've got to be really organized, and you really have to do a good job at teaching and coaching because you have players that are there because they're students and, oh, by the way, I'm going to play -- I'm going to be involved in an extracurricular activity. Q. You've had a lot of success throughout your career and even in the postseason. I'm curious is there a loss even dating back to your Platteville days that stands out that is still hard to digest years later in the NCAA tournament? COACH RYAN: Well, I can think of definitely one in Division III. I ran two or three different defenders at a guy who made three-point shots sideways, falling backwards. I was waiting for him to head one in. A kid from Augustana in Illinois. He had like 43 or something, and that was '93. The best defensive player in the country was a sophomore then. A guy I had named Ernie Peavy. When Ernie Peavy was a senior in '95, he was 31-0, and he was the Player of the Year. He could have played in a lot of Division I schools. But, yeah, I'm probably telling you more than you want to know. But that was a very frustrating evening. Because there are a lot of us as coaches where people say, Hey, man, I had 25 against Wisconsin. Yeah, you got your 25. But what we didn't do is we didn't let the other guys hurt us, and it's still the score at the end. If you're on the left-hand side and some guy got 30 and your team was successful, that guy can go talk in any restaurant and tell everybody how many he had, but still it's the team score that matters. The problem was the kid had 43 and we lost. Q. I asked Sean about this and he gave a very long and articulate answer, so the bar is pretty high. Just your thoughts on all the talk of scoring going down? Why do you think it's happened and does it need to be fixed? COACH RYAN: Not really. Somebody told me the ratings for the first week were the highest ever and all of that. Look, there are people who are trying to be noticed and to be relevant by saying things, to stir the pot, look at talk radio, to get the media. I mean, come on, that's what you guys do. It's what you guys do, and we do what we do. I'm not saying one is right and one is wrong. You do things so that you're relevant. So that if you say that a sport is going, Oh, they're not scoring enough points. Oh, well, that's point and then there is counter-point. And then you go at each other, and you get it out there, and you float this, you float that. Come on. My college education was well-paid for by work study. And being an economics and marketing major, I might be a little bit ahead of maybe some other people that don't understand how this game is marketed and what it's all about. It's a business, and I try to keep it with our student-athletes as a college experience. But, come on. No matter what rules are going to be made, coaches are going to coach to them anyhow. I've coached in six decades now, so no shot clock, 45-second shot clock, 35-second shot clock, 30-second shot clock, and 24 up in Canada when we played there two summers ago, it was still basketball. We still got good shots. We were still one.something points per possession. So it's not going to change anything that I would do as a coach. We would still teach the same fundamentals, teach the same strategies. But you know, I still see NFL games 17-10, and I never heard a fan walking out of there going, Oh, man, I only saw a couple touchdowns? Come on. We've got to change this game. Anybody that's played sports understands there is a defensive end and an offensive end, and the forces go like this. If you can't appreciate a sport for what it offers and to simply say that a dunk is worth more on a meter for fan appreciation, they're not my kind of people. They're not the kind of people I hang with. I'll take the two points and, hey, a dunk is great. It's not because I actually could dunk in high school and college, but never did it in a game because they wouldn't let me use Stick 'Em. I used to put it on the inside of my Converse sneakers on the inside, and in warm-ups we were allowed to dunk in the early '60s, so here we are at Chester. I've got guys doing 360s, Tomahawks, doing all that. I could just throw down a right-hand flush because the cheerleaders from the other team were always down at the end for our pre-game warmups. So the game is okay. This game of basketball, and you're talking about a guy that played on the playgrounds forever at the Y's, at the Boys' Clubs, used to go everywhere to play games. It's a doggone good game. It's a lot of fun. You can teach life through it. So I'm okay with the game right now. So you said the bar was high, did I talk longer than Sean? Q. I didn't hear Sean's answer, but that was pretty good. You may have heard of the legislation in Indiana that the governor signed saying that businesses can deny services to same sex couples, and there's been a little bit of backlash. Some people say the Final Four should be boycotted or moved, probably not going to happen? COACH RYAN: I don't know anything about that. I've been looking at game film the whole time I've been here, so I'm not responding to that because I don't know what you're talking about. I'm looking at film on Arizona. I'm trying to do my job. Q. Let me backdoor it here a little bit. Is there any thought on what college basketball or sports in general should do in terms of a social issue like this? COACH RYAN: I don't know enough about what you're referring to. Q. What you were just saying about playing on the playground. Rondae Hollis-Jefferson was talking about he thinks there is a certain toughness that comes out of Chester because of that and maybe that is sort of lost now with all the kids who just play AAU games forever. Do you agree with that? COACH RYAN: Yes. I think that those days -- it means I'm old, but Rondae's not old, but Rondae played a little bit on the playgrounds, I know, because he and I both end up getting back to Chester. I'll do some things for the Boys' Club. Q. He said you're from the nice part of Chester and he's from the tough part of Chester. COACH RYAN: Well, that depends on -- he wasn't even thought of when I was in Chester. You know, neighborhoods change, but the one thing that didn't change was playing at the Cage and how tough you had to be. Guys are going to try to make all the calls. I ended up being the guy that said that's a foul. It's our ball. And you give them a feel. Here. I'm going to give you the ball, and then when you give it back to me, we're going to start on offense or check the ball. So, yeah, and you learned how to settle things. A few scrapes, a few, Hey, but you better stand up and you better be able to handle what's going on or don't go to the Cage. They tore the Cage down. It's not there. But the Boys' Club, the Boys' Club was the same thing, only at the Boys' Club there was a supervisor so you couldn't get too out of control. But the Cage was up for grabs. There were guys who tried to intimidate and tried to -- I played people for lunch money, for real. And if you lose, you had to give them your lunch money. But I never missed a lunch. I'm not saying I was that good, but just you had to be good. You had to get good or you don't make it out. Q. You've said that when you're recruiting you look for players with more questions than answers. How easy is it to identify those types of people, and how do you do it? COACH RYAN: Well, how they treat their parents when you walk into the house and you sit down. It doesn't take a genius to see the interactions of people and be able to tell some things. There is a certain way to handle when people visit your house and how you interact. When you're at the school and you're meeting with them, how they interact with the teachers, with the principal. When I was an assistant, I was always known as the guy who I would talk to the filling station person, the grocery store, anything within that kid's block or his neighborhood, I would talk to them all. It's amazing what you can learn. It's like every job that I've taken, the first person that you get to know is the maintenance person, the janitor, and you treat them better than anybody else because it's amazing what you learn. So that's what I'm always looking for. When I say -- I mean, some guys, well, I know that. Yeah, yeah. You get it. Okay. They've got all the answers. They would have a hard time with me. Q. You said you're old. I didn't. But you probably remember an era where there weren't YouTube videos and mix tapes and four or five major recruiting services and McDonald's games, and ESPN announcing guys Selections live. Has all of that changed the five star, the big time players? It puts stuff in their minds at an age where they're not equipped maybe to handle it that's made them less attractive to you? Because I'm assuming you don't go after those guys, not because you can't get them given the stature of your program now, but because you don't want guys like that? COACH RYAN: No, there is nothing wrong with guys being on all those things because that's okay because that doesn't really tell you who the true person is. Get to know the true person. Start talking to them. Interact with them. Interact with their family. But I might be the only head coach at a Division I school who does not deal with third parties. I talk to the parents. I talk to the high school coach. I've talked to some AAU coaches, but those were guys that I knew when they were younger and either played for me or whatever. And there are some really good AAU programs out there that are doing a lot of good things with their players, teaching them basketball. Not just trying to herd together the best players that they can find and be the person that shows them around. Probably the best at that was my dad. He coached the church league team and he would try to get all the guys that were really good for the big five for Temple, and La Salle, and Saint Joseph's and all them. When they were done playing college ball, he would get them on his church league team. He had the best church league team in the country, I think. Tink Van Patton, look that name up. He had him play for him. You've got to Google that one. He was a pretty good player. Because when I was little I used to watch him play. I was like, Dad, how come you're always beating teams by 50? He said I've got better players. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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