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NCAA WOMEN'S REGIONAL SEMIFINALS AND FINALS: BRIDGEPORTMarch 26, 2017Kelly GravesMallory McGwireRuthy HebardSabrina IonescuMaite CazorlaLexi BandoBridgeport, Connecticut KELLY GRAVES: Good morning, everyone. Yesterday was a great day in the University of Oregon sports history, not only this team moving on to our first Elite 8, but our men last night going to their first Final Four since 1939. I think a couple of their players commented to us that we helped inspire them, and now hopefully we can use the inspiration that they have given us to carry us tomorrow. But my coach used to always say when I was in school, he said, you know, if what you did yesterday looks good to you today, then you haven't done much today. So we're excited to move on. Our team earned this right to be able to have a chance to play UConn. Really proud of our effort for the entire tournament, and certainly yesterday. I think this group has shown a real resilience, and we look forward to tomorrow. Q. Sabrina, I'm guessing you guys watched the game last night, the men's game. What was it like? Where did you guys watch it? Just seeing the men's program get to their first Final Four in 75 years, Coach said it gives you guys a little inspiration, but what does it mean to you guys? SABRINA IONESCU: Yeah, well, we watched it, some of us together, some of us individually. It was pretty late, so we laid in bed and watched it. But it's awesome to see what they're accomplishing. They work hard day in and day out. We're with them all the time in the training room, and it's just really awesome to see. Dana is doing a great job with them, and they work hard just like we work hard, and they're definitely inspiring us to try and work just as hard as they are and try and accomplish what they are. Q. You guys are playing some of your best defense of the year. What's your kind of defensive mentality at this time of year? Has it changed at all since January? MALLORY MCGWIRE: Not really, we just have to make them hit shots, difficult shots. That's all we can do. If they make it, then that's good for them, but we just have to make them difficult. Q. Your entire lives, UConn women's basketball has been a powerhouse. I'm sure you all grew up probably watching a lot of their games. What's it like for you guys to play this team? Is it special, or do you try and view it as just another step in what you're trying to accomplish? LEXI BANDO: Yeah, what an exciting opportunity. You know, for any athlete or competitor, this is what you live for. You want to play at the biggest stage against the best team. Tomorrow can't come soon enough. SABRINA IONESCU: Yeah, we're excited for this opportunity, especially as a young group. I think it's going to test us in many ways, and I think we're just excited to see where we stand and get a shot at playing against the No. 1 team in the country. Q. In your view, besides the fact that they have great players, what makes them so successful and dominate year in and year out? SABRINA IONESCU: Well, their culture. You know, they recruit great kids and kids that want to compete and kids that want to win. They don't really have any knuckleheads on their team. So I mean, they have great culture, great kids, and Geno is one of a kind, so I think that definitely helps them in achieving what they have achieved thus far and what they're going to achieve in the future. Q. Ruthy and Mallory, can you talk about in a Napheesa Collier, what kind of a challenge she presents for you guys, and what is it that you see in her that makes her such a great player inside-out and how are you going to combat that? RUTHY HEBARD: Yeah, she's a great player. I think we're blessed to be able to play against great post players, outside players all year long. So I think we're just going to focus on making shots difficult and playing great defense. MAITE CAZORLA: Going off what Ruthy said, she is kind of an all-around player, so she can play outside and inside, but being able to -- like having the height advantage is going to be really helpful for us tomorrow, but being able to make her hit those shots from the high post is going to be probably key tomorrow. Q. Mallory, when Gabby Williams committed to UConn, her dad suggested to Geno that they recruit another kid from that part of the country. Run me through your experience with Gabby and the Williams family, any good stories you may have from your time playing against them or meeting them. MALLORY MCGWIRE: I played against Gabby my freshman and sophomore year in high school, and every year we did play them, it was an honor because it's Gabby, and she was the best, one of the most decorated players to come out of northern Nevada. She's an awesome basketball player. She's just a competitor, and their family is a great family. We were friends off the court, too, as well, but just being able to see her success is amazing, and from such a small town to be on this big of a stage is amazing for her. Q. Sabrina, hearing your answer before reminded me of your coach, and his laid-back attitude with the exciting opportunity and the knucklehead comment. He uses that word, also. Talk about the relationship you have in one year with the big guy sitting on the end of the stage there. KELLY GRAVES: Good-looking, big guy. SABRINA IONESCU: Well, I know as a freshman, I've definitely gotten to know him well during our recruiting process. He was always there. I think he maybe missed one or two of my AAU games my whole junior year, and I think the same with all of us. He was always there at all of our games. We just grew like a really good relationship with him off the court, not necessarily on the court. And I definitely think that that helps us as people, and outside of the basketball court. But I don't know, that comment, he definitely likes the whole knucklehead thing. I've heard it a few times. KELLY GRAVES: It's better than what my coach used to call me. We can't say it out here. Q. Lexi, as a shooter, what kind of defensive challenges or what kind of challenges does UConn pose on defense to someone who likes to shoot the three ball? LEXI BANDO: Yeah, they're a great defensive team, so it's going to be a big test for us, for everyone, and you know, I have great guards that push the ball and find me in transition. You know, I'm not too worried, and then you have our posts that draw so much attention. Q. Sabrina, I was wondering, you guys talked the other day about you went to Spain for a preseason trip and that helped you guys all get to know each other better. Can you just talk about that trip and how you guys got to know each other better and how it brought the freshmen together? SABRINA IONESCU: Yeah, well -- how long did we go, 12 days? We were there for 12 days, and just being out of the country for 12 days with a group of girls that you're just starting to get to know already builds a great relationship. Things are obviously different outside of America. We couldn't walk places alone. We had to stay as a group in an unfamiliar territory. So I think just all being together, we visited, like, museums and churches and cathedrals. And I think just being able to be together for 12 days in a foreign country was something that I think all of us definitely, like, look up to. This happens once every four years, so I think we were really excited that it happened this year with so many new people. We all got to know each other really well. Q. Mallory, can you talk about playing against Gabby, her athleticism and how difficult it is to play somebody like that who can be so quick but has the ability to play against a taller kid? MALLORY MCGWIRE: Well, I mean, the last time I played her was my sophomore year. But being able to watch her, she's so versatile, and it's just amazing because she can play down low, but she also has the outside game, being able to drive from the high post and things like that, but she's also an amazing rebounder. She can jump out of the gym. She's just an overall amazing athlete. Q. Lexi, seems like you haven't been at Oregon that long, but you're kind of the elder statesman already. When you heard about this recruiting class coming to Oregon, I'm sure you even hosted some of them and knew them a little bit. When did you realize that the future could be now this year when they're all true freshmen instead of a couple years from now? LEXI BANDO: Well, first off, I was so excited for this class to come in. There was so much hype around them, and the hype was real. You know, incredible players, incredible people off the court, and it's just a blessing to be able to play with them. You know, I don't think people thought we were going to get to this stage this early, but you know, these freshmen have led us here, and it's been an incredible journey. Q. You would be the first double-digit seed to make the women's Final Four. I realize you've got to play the game first, but if you do that, is that a necessary step in the evolution of women's college basketball? And then my second question would be about the Pac-12; you've had Cheryl Miller's era, you had Stanford winning championships. But now it looks like the Pac-12 is doing what the SEC did years ago where they're realizing en masse that we can really do well in women's basketball. We've got tons of resources and beautiful campuses, so why don't we make a push; is that what's going on, or is it just individual? KELLY GRAVES: Yeah, well, there was a lot in that question. The first part, in terms of the Final Four, you know, we're playing this for us. I think that's what we're looking forward to. I don't know if that's going to make a statement in a bigger picture of things. But was it necessarily a goal of ours when we set out on this season's journey? It's in front of us now, so it's obviously something we're thinking about. You know, the Pac-12 for many years -- and I watched it from a short distance when I was at Gonzaga -- was Stanford and then everybody else, several teams pretty good and some not so good, and I think what's happened, everybody has just gotten better. There are no gimmes anymore. 1 through 12, a lot of programs are stepping up, with Oregon State and Washington in last year's Final Four just shows how the conference has evolved. Yeah, I think all recruits should look to come west. It's beautiful out there. We're laid back, like Doug likes to say, about some of our coaches. And you know, it's just a wonderful conference, great coaches, great players, awesome places to visit when you're on the road. You know, I just think it's a conference that will continue to get better and better. I truly do. Q. Did you think three years ago that you'd be this quickly getting to a chance to get to the Final Four as a group, especially the group you brought in this year, that it would be this quick a turnaround for this program? KELLY GRAVES: Yeah, well, I'm a typical coach. I don't look that far ahead. I like to look at the next day. But I mean, maybe not in our third year, but we certainly expected to be a good program. I mean, there's no doubt about it, and the way we've recruited and my staff, they deserve so much credit. They've been phenomenal. Great recruiters, great teachers, and great people, and I think that's kind of very much helped us get to this spot today. But yeah, I mean, the honest truth is that's why I left Gonzaga. I had a great thing going there. We could have always been competitive, won championships, been a threat to get to the second weekend of the tournament, but I think at Oregon, we have the resources, the brand, the administration, the support. Everything that we have there will help enable us to get to the lofty goals. I mean, you look at the University athletic department, and we're pretty competitive in every single sport that we offer, and that's pretty neat. Our kids get to rub shoulders with some of the nation's elite athletes and world's elite athletes, and that's special. I saw that, and I have Oregon ties. My family has Oregon ties, and I just thought it was a no-brainer to me, and I'm really excited. To put a timeline on it, coaches can't do that. That's tough. That's tough to think that we can get to this spot and have a chance to get to a Final Four in our third year with so many young kids. But it's here now, so we're going to seize upon the opportunity. Q. Today you got more resources around than existed in different ways than before. For example, I'd say that it was not long ago that here in the Pac-12 the scores were in the paper in the morning, when they ran scores. Now you've got the Pac-12 Network and everybody can just get on their computers. How much of a help is that to you when you're recruiting? KELLY GRAVES: Oh, I think the Pac-12 Network is huge. Now, I know we play those 8:00 games sometimes; I know you're in bed already. So I don't know how many people on the East Coast are watching. But I think it's been huge. It's been critical. I think it's allowed those players on the West Coast the opportunity to stay home. They don't have to go to the East Coast or the South to get the attention nationally that they had before. So it's just opened up a lot more doors, and I think you are seeing players on the West Coast stay on the West Coast to play. So yeah, I think it's great. I've always felt that getting on TV is one of the most important things you can do for a program, and certainly it's helped our conference. Q. What kind of a performance will it take for you guys or anyone to beat UConn this year? KELLY GRAVES: Well, it's going to take our absolute best. There's no doubt about it, and we've got to play for 40 minutes. You know, watching them play and what Coach Auriemma has done is incredible. It truly is. I think they've set a standard that is good for our sport. You know, I hear people say all the time, oh, their dominance isn't good for the sport. Really? I think it's great for the sport. It makes us all accountable. We need to get better. We've got to improve our game. At the same time, they're tough to watch because you know, now we've got to play them. But they are a lot of fun to watch. They play the game the right way. They share the ball. They play hard. They play very smart. They never beat themselves. They play together, and then what they do is they play for 40 minutes, and if you let down even for a minute, they can spur a 10-0 run and you're buried, and that's what they do. People can play with them for a time, but can they play with them for 40 minutes? And that's the challenge we have ahead of us. We've got to play a 40-minute game. Things are going to go wrong. We've got to lift our heads up and fight through it and continue to fight, and this team has shown that kind of resilience. I'm not going to sit here and just say we're happy to be here. We are happy to be here, but I have a really good basketball team, and I have a basketball team who believes in themselves and in each other, and so we're excited for the opportunity. Q. Geno Auriemma was one of the coaches that was quoted in your press release when you were hired at Oregon, had nice things to say about you. How close are you with Geno and how has that relationship developed throughout the years? KELLY GRAVES: Obviously I admire him a lot. We've had a chance to spend a little bit of time together. We're not calling each other every week to check up, but we have a friendly relationship, and I think there's mutual admiration. I really appreciated the things he said when I was first hired at Oregon. You know, he has a close Nike relationship, just like we do at the University. And the things he said yesterday, that means a lot to me. And I share the same admiration of him. I think he's -- listen, I'm going to go out and say, I think he's the best coach in basketball, male, female, men's basketball, women's basketball. He's just absolutely phenomenal, what he does, and how he motivates and coaches, and it's going to be an honor to play tomorrow, and that being said, I hope I kick his butt. But I'm really looking forward to testing ourselves against the very best. Q. To follow up on that, have you played UConn before at any point in your career at Gonzaga, Oregon? Also, a lot of teams when they play them for the first time, there's that mystique, see the jersey, see the UConn, and you're already down 10-0. You said they don't really seem to care who they're playing, they just play basketball. Does that help you that there doesn't seem to be that awe factor? KELLY GRAVES: Well, I hope so. And to answer your first question, I have never played UConn, and I hope -- I mean, if they had that issue, they would have maybe shown that against Duke. That's a pretty big brand. Maryland, another big brand, and they haven't shown those kind of in-awe feelings or behaviors. Hopefully that's not the case tomorrow. I can't answer that because we haven't played them. But I have a way of keeping our kids focused and grounded, so I think we're just going to be worried about ourselves and how we perform, and if it's good enough tomorrow, it's good enough. If it's not, it's not. But hopefully they're not just looking at that jersey on the opponent. Q. When you get a win like you had yesterday, the first thing you hear up here is right now we're going to enjoy this one tonight and then we'll get ready. It's UConn. How long did enjoy this tonight last? KELLY GRAVES: Until I called my wife and talked to her, and we had some fun words. And then after that, it was watching tape. That's not always pleasant, you know, when you're sitting there trying to figure out how the heck you can stop those guys. But for players, I always tell them enjoy it tonight because we don't show them any film or talk to them until the next morning anyway. But as coaches, your work begins as soon as the work just ended. That's just the nature of the business. They've got several months to rest and pat ourselves on the back and things like that once this tournament is over. Q. As you were assembling this recruiting class going to their AAU tournaments and whatnot, did you have a sense each piece that you added that this was becoming something really special? KELLY GRAVES: I did. I did. You know, our first year there was tough. We went 13-17, and the one thing that kept us going was we were on the recruiting trail, it seemed endlessly. My family actually stayed in Spokane. My middle son was a senior at Gonzaga Prep in Spokane, so they actually stayed there the entire year, and I see that as a blessing because I didn't have any -- there was no guilt. There was no guilt, like Honey, how come you're not home tonight? I was able to go on the road and spend a lot of time recruiting. Same with my staff. And we knew what we were able to get on the recruiting trail, and with each "yes," each commitment, it kind of reenergized us and kept us going through what was a tough year. I hadn't had many losing seasons as a coach, and that's how we kind of base our happiness, unfortunately, is on the won-loss record. But with each success on the recruiting trail, it kind of gave us more momentum and confidence, and it really kind of got us through that year. But with each commitment, seriously, we were starting to go, wow, this is something special, this is something special. And we had a great recruiting year, and that was just -- the cherry on top was Sabrina. We waited a long time for that commitment, but she kind of solidified everything. She was that Alpha that you need to kind of put it all together. So it was quite a journey that first year. Q. What was Oregon's pitch to you? Did they feel like women's basketball was a sport that hadn't measured up to, say, more recently, football or track and field in a long time? Did they think, this is a sport that's emerging, we've got a lot of resources we can put into it, and then what made you finally decide, all right, I'm taking this job? KELLY GRAVES: Well, Lisa Peterson, our associate athletic director back there, was a great salesperson. There's no doubt about it. It was an easy sell, quite frankly. I loved Gonzaga. I absolutely loved it. My family and I would have been happy to stay there forever. But I think professionally, every coach wants to be challenged a little bit, and I knew going to the Pac-12 would be a challenge that I was ready for. We'd won 10 straight championships, and one of the things Lisa told me was, well, good luck winning your 11th, like is this what you really want? So there were some coaching colleagues that I relied on and talked to, and they all encouraged me to take that next step. You know, and my wife is born and raised in Portland. All her family lives in Portland. We have a vacation home about an hour and a half from Eugene that's our favorite spot on earth. It was seven hours from Spokane, but an hour and a half from Eugene so we were down in the area a lot. I have a lot of friends that live in the area. It was the only place I would have ever left for. Like I said, I loved Gonzaga. And how great was yesterday, for a Gonzaga/Duck fan to have two teams go to the Final Four? You know, and the pitch they made and the -- I'm trying to say the support that I knew we were going to get sold me on it. Like I said, I'm happy to be there. I'm happy to be a Duck, and privileged to be the coach there. Q. You never told me what their pitch was. KELLY GRAVES: Well, their pitch was to come home a little bit. We want to be a National Championship program. I mean, they threw all that, and it matched, because that's what I want, too. Not that you can't get there from Gonzaga, and the men are obviously showing that. However, it's different in the men's game than it is the women's game. The last so-called mid-major to go to the Final Four on the women's side was 2001 with Jackie Stiles, one of the preeminent players in the history of our game, and that's a long time ago. So it's a lot more difficult on the women's side to get there, and professionally I wanted that challenge to do it, and I think Oregon offered me that. Q. How could you watch film yesterday when Gonzaga's men and the Oregon men were playing for a chance to go to the Final Four? That's your two schools? How could you sit there and watch film when history could be made right there? And we talked the other day about Oregon basketball versus Oregon football and putting basketball on the map a little bit more. You guys have the big tournament next year, the Phil Knight thing for the mean and the women, which was really going to be the showcase, like, wow, Oregon basketball, all these teams coming here to play for Phil Knight. But now with the men in the Final Four and you guys a step away from the Final Four, that national picture is coming a little bit earlier than that I would think. KELLY GRAVES: Pretty cool. I mean, it's pretty cool. To answer the first part of your question, business before pleasure, all right. Business before pleasure. And you see these bags under the eyes? You can do both. You can watch and enjoy the games on TV and then watch your next opponent, too. You know, sleep is overrated, quite frankly. And then I have a great staff, who, they are on this thing, big-time. But yeah, I think we've been known as a track and field school and a football school. I think it's really special. You know, to me what's really, really cool is I go through a lot of our -- on Facebook, I get so many messages and texts and tweets and all that kind of stuff, like everybody does, but some of our past alums, who I never coached, have changed their Facebook profiles, pictures, to them in their Duck uniform. And they've reached out, some of our great players -- and there is a history, a tradition at the University of Oregon of good basketball, winning basketball, championship basketball. It's neat to see them kind of reconnect and be proud of their program and reach out, and I think that's something that Oregon has been waiting for. And now we just hope to follow the lead of our men. They just keep one-upping us. For crying out loud. But good for Dana and good for his guys. Q. I first met you when Gonzaga wasn't Gonzaga yet and you took a trip across the country to play St. Joseph's and then you were going home. I think I remember the motivation for that. KELLY GRAVES: We were really good. We were on the ascent, I guess I can say that. And somebody told me, a very wise person, told me you need to play on the East Coast so people can see how good you guys really are, so we started doing that. That trip was one of the first ones we took to the East Coast, and we tried to get back at least to the Midwest, sometimes to the South, and then the East Coast a lot, so people could see how good Gonzaga was. I remember that trip. We got them that morning. I think it was kids' day, too. Yeah, it was loud. Yeah, that was a fun trip, a really fun trip. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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