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PACIFIC-12 CONFERENCE MEN'S MEDIA DAYOctober 15, 2015Josh HawkinsonErnie KentSan Francisco, California ERNIE KENT: Opening statement, I've got seven new players, and any time you go through that many guys there is a transition that you have to go through. They're a very talented basketball team and probably the most significant thing about them is that they came out of the summer with a 3.2 GPA, and they'll sing the school fight song in the weight room in front of their peers. You might ask, what is the significance of all of that? I think in this day and age when you've got young people with that type of character and combine that with talent, you have a chance to probably have a pretty good basketball team, so that's my opening statement. Q. If you both could describe what it was like when Klay Thompson came to campus with the Larry O'Brien Trophy and came to practice? JOSH HAWKINSON: Yeah, Klay came and he watched us practice. We actually scrimmaged and he came with some of his former teammates as well. We just learned a lot from him, just what it means to be a Cougar, and reflecting yourself, and your image. That is a big thing for him and that he put on us. Also the championship mentality, and he talked about the work ethic he brings in every day and how we should bring that on and off the court for this team this year. ERNIE KENT: I was working for the networks when I did the game there when he had to stand up in front of the student body and address some issues that had taken place in his personal life, and I thought for him to have come that far and to come back to that campus with the type of growth that took place and has taken place in his life is just a tremendous compliment to him and his parents. So I was very, very proud for him, not only to win the championship, but to come back the type of man that he exemplified. Q. Josh, I was just wondering, after kind of taking some people by surprise last year, what are you anticipating in terms of being a bit more of a focal point for the defense? And also for Ernie, as a follow‑up to that, do you kind of plan differently for what your capabilities are in the front court now that you know that Josh is a pretty strong player in the Pac‑12? JOSH HAWKINSON: I just plan on taking the same mentality that I had last year. This team has a lot more depth, so I know there's going to be a lot more guys behind you that can back me up and have the same type of production. So I'm not worried about trying to increase what I'm doing or do too much. I'm just trying to stay even keel and continue on what I've done from last year. ERNIE KENT: I think the biggest thing we've noticed so far with practice and things and we do not notice Josh as much, and that is an indication, again, that he's got a supporting cast around him that can score and do some things. But he's still our guy. Our go‑to guy on our team and all those things. So we're going to have to do some things probably creatively to get him the ball a little bit more in the spots he likes to shoot the ball in, and we should be able to do that. Q. A lot of coaches in this conference got their starts in coaching with humble beginnings, Division II, Division III. Your coaching start was pretty unique and pretty interesting. Will there be any things that you still use in your coaching acumen that you got from those early days? ERNIE KENT: I think for those of you who have been spending time in a foreign country and to go there and spend seven years in a foreign country with two of them in a Shiite Muslim village, it was a tremendous growing experience, it taught you humility, and it taught you patience. That's probably the biggest thing that I brought forth in my coaching career is to have the patience to teach the young people. With the language barrier I have to deal with over there, you have to teach, and reteach, and teach again. So it made me a better basketball coach in terms of having the opportunity to go through that. Q. Here you are building the program once more, and you talk about patience. How important is it to have the patience that you're talking about and the forward thinking and not just be results oriented immediately? ERNIE KENT: I think the biggest thing in building a program is you've got to keep the big picture in mind. With with this team, and especially this day and age, they have enough stuff in their lives as it is. I'm a coach that coaches from the positive side of things and gives can confidence in reference to, again, this team being picked last. As I looked at that, I have the best group of big guys that I've ever coached, since I've been in coaching, in terms of their ability to get things done. Josh being the anchor of all of that. But I've got two seven‑footers that are pretty big basketball players that are going to help us. I've always had really good guards. And with the type of character I've seen on this team and how hard this team has worked in the weight room this summer and they've done everything you've asked them to do. Their chemistry is really good right now, though they're going to go through growing pains. I look at it, this conference, if we're the last place team, this conference is going to be a really, really good conference, and that's a good thing for all of you. So, again, it will put a premium on keeping the big picture in mind, because we're going to go through growing pains in the preseason until we find ourselves and again when the conference starts. I just hope we'll get there sooner rather than later. Q. 30‑second shot clock. What impact will that have on the season? Then a follow‑up to that is do you think we'll explore 24 seconds, or is that the next step? ERNIE KENT: I don't think the 30‑second shot clock is going to have a huge impact. I think there are going to be some coaches that are going to look at pressing more. They make you take up the ten seconds in the back court, maybe falling into zones and there are some things that come into the zone on a first pass, just to make you hurry up just to put more premium on skill set. It won't affect us because we're a team that gets up and down the floor. We want to shoot the ball, want to score, want to attack anyhow. I think there is going to be a significant difference in wanting to change this game. I think there is an experiment that took place up in Canada or Australia where they had a 24‑second clock, and it went back to 12 seconds. So it kept the game fast and kept a premium on skill and taking and play making. So we're trying to do things to our game to speed it up, make it more entertaining. And quite frankly, I've always thought we have a great, great game as it is. I know officiating is going to be enforced again. I think that's going to be really good for our game. But I don't think the significance of a 30‑second shot clock is going to be huge for us, because our game has evolved and more teams want to get up and down, and score and shoot and those types of things anyhow. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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