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PACIFIC-12 CONFERENCE MEN'S MEDIA DAYOctober 15, 2015Rosco AllenJohnny DawkinsSan Francisco, California COACH DAWKINS: Well, for us, we're excited about the start of the season, like I'm sure all the rest of the teams are. You know, we've lost a lot from last year, but that's an opportunity for our younger guys to step up and establish themselves. I always tell our players, it's about your opportunities. It's about not looking at who's missing, but you guys, it's time for you guys to step up in those roles and start establishing yourselves, and I think our guys really believe in that. We went to Italy this summer, which was a great experience for us. We had a chance to transition from the team that we had had that won the NIT to a team that was looking to gain some experience, and guys have stepped up for us, like Rosco Allen and Reid Travis and Marcus Allen, really did a good job of not only playing well for us overseas but also establishing a culture and a certain leadership that we were going to need. Really, really excited about this upcoming season, excited about our schedule. We have a really terrific preseason schedule. We play the likes of Texas, SMU, Villanova. We'll either play Georgia Tech or Arkansas, as well, so we have a schedule in the preseason that I think is befitting of a team that we really believe in. We're excited to get the year started with this group, and I want to just open it up for questions from you guys. Q. Johnny, I was just kind of wondering what your thoughts are on Bobby Hurley coming in and having a Duke guy in the conference as a head coach. COACH DAWKINS: Well, I'm excited for Bobby. I'm happy for him. I think it's well‑deserved. He had a really good run at Buffalo, and he has a great opportunity in one of the best conferences in the world now. Happy for him. And of course, it will be awkward competing against him, but excited for him and his team and his program. Q. Rosco, what did you see from the three freshmen on your trip to Italy? Kind of curious what you felt about them. ROSCO ALLEN: I feel like each of them can contribute right away, starting with Josh Sharma, who's a seven‑footer, really athletic, runs the floor really well. Cameron, he's a very versatile player. He played the 1 through 4 for us. He's really skilled. Marcus Sheffield, very skilled player on the wing, can really put the ball in the hoop, and they all showed signs of greatness, and they're definitely going to contribute this coming year. Q. And a question for coach, too: Last year a team like‑‑ any time you needed a big shot, it was going to be Randle to take, and now he's gone. You've lost two‑thirds of your scoring basically from last year. How is that going to work in the final minutes of a game or a half when you don't have Randle? Are you going to be able to distribute that evenly, or who will you look for to take the key shots? COACH DAWKINS: Well, we won't distribute it evenly, but we have some options. I think if you're looking at something inside and going to the basket, of course Reid Travis becomes a major option for you. I think if you're looking at something where you need versatility or bring someone off to shoot the basketball, I'm very confident what Rosco can do. I think we have options there, whether inside or out. Q. I wanted to ask you guys about the trip to Italy, and specifically when you guys played a game and you had to move locations because I guess a backboard broke or something, so I was wondering from both of you what that experience was like. COACH DAWKINS: Well, from my perspective that had never happened before. We're in the midst of a game and it's a very competitive game, and all of a sudden the backboard shatters because a young man tries to dunk and he holds onto the rim. Now we have the option of trying to continue the game at another venue or just canceling the game. We had gone a long way just to cancel the game, so we came up with a solution to move the venue to about 45‑‑ about 30 minutes away from we were. Restarted the game up, and it worked out well for us. I thought our guys showed a lot of maturity to be able to kind of with stand the fact that there was a huge stoppage but to go and continue to play against a very good opponent. ROSCO ALLEN: And just after that, we actually had police escorts for the players and for the fans, which was a different experience. It was kind of ‑‑ changing cities just to play a game was pretty amazing. Q. Johnny, can you give us an update on what the timetable you expect to be for Marcus Allen to start practicing and playing against? And also, can you talk about what you expect different from Reid Travis this year? He was injured part of last year and we didn't really probably see him at his best. Looked like he played pretty well in Italy for you. COACH DAWKINS: Well, with regards to first with Marcus, I think Marcus is going to be fine, but there's no real timetable for his return. But in seeing him at every practice, he's in good spirits, he's healing, and he's getting better every day. So we realize that he will be there for us when the season gets underway, which is really good. And with regards to Reid, of course last year he was out with a number of different things that happened to him, unfortunately. He could never find a rhythm because of that. To see him 100 percent healthy this summer and to see how he played over in Italy, it was very exciting because we knew he was the young man we recruited, and I think his production really showed this August versus the European competition. Q. Rosco, did you notice, playing the NIT last year with a 30‑second shot clock, anything different about the game? ROSCO ALLEN: Not so much, because neither team really pressed the ball. When you press on defense, then it might make a difference because now after the 10 seconds goes down on the backcourt, you only have 20 seconds left as opposed to 25, so that's the only real difference I saw. Q. Rosco, so with Chase and Randle and Anthony Brown all leaving, how confident do you feel in your abilities to take over and be the new leader of this team? ROSCO ALLEN: I feel like I've prepped myself really well the last three years. Each year I've stepped into a bigger and bigger role and I feel like I'm going to do the same thing this coming year. There are a lot of other guys on our team, too, that are ready to step up into bigger roles as well as leadership roles. Q. Rosco, losing a guy like Randle, obviously it affects you on the court, but he was also a big voice for the team. Who is that guy for the program going forward? ROSCO ALLEN: Going forward, we have three captains with myself, Reid and Marcus, and we each feel that we're all going to contribute and become leaders on this team, and I feel like the Italian trip definitely has solidified that for us. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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