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NATIONAL INVITATION TOURNAMENTMarch 30, 2017Jamie DixonBrandon ParrishKenrich WilliamsNew York, New York TCU 88, Georgia Tech 56 COACH DIXON: Okay. Not a lot to see. Well, let the players talk. They did all the work. Fun game. Certainly loved how we played, especially defensively. It's a team that's gotten better defensively as the year's gone on and especially these last couple weeks. Made some adjustments but really they have just I think committed to it and understood it and saw the value of it. That's why we're where we're at. I told them, I wish we had a game tomorrow, the way we're playing right now. Otherwise I told them, 8:00 class tomorrow morning. So we'll get back. And certainly excited for our program. Excited for our school. Our turnout was unbelievable. I think we're starting something special and really looking forward to it. Q. Brandon, you've talked about it a lot, your journey, going 0-18. To cap it off like this, what does it mean in? BRANDON PARRISH: This moment in itself is a dream come true for me and everybody. I just know, thinking about this for the last, since we knew we were going to New York, I knew our team had championship potential. Went through the trenches, and seeing a lot of success early -- for me to stay the course and to continue to believe in this program and in the coaching staff and in my teammates and myself, man, it's so big for me to have this moment right now. Q. Kenrich, you're coming back next year. Can you elaborate, is this a momentum-builder for next year, to try to get into the NCAAs? KENRICH WILLIAMS: This is huge for us. This is huge for our program and our school. I think people are starting to realize that our basketball team is on the map, certainly by winning this tournament. And even next year, I think we'll be even better. Q. I know you really touted your seniors a lot. What's your feelings on their last game? You made a comment a couple of games ago, that they were like foundational. COACH DIXON: Yeah, I mean, I'll be quick on this, because these players got to talk. But yeah, just they have committed to it and they have sacrificed, and you know, you need your seniors and when you come to a program, it's hard. And they have been -- they have had a different coach, obviously challenges, and they had to buy in for us to be successful. And they bought in, and they believed, and they led, in so many ways. But that was the most important thing. And as I've said all throughout, you've been through so much to believe, and to have faith, is really even more impressive, given the situation. So I can't thank them enough. Q. Did you get a feeling at any point that you were breaking their will, because you gained a lot of fast break baskets, especially in the second half. Did you think they sagged at any point, maybe emotionally? KENRICH WILLIAMS: No, I just think we came out ready to play. The first five minutes for us was huge in the first half and I think that translated to the whole game. So I think the whole game, we were just ready to play defensively and in transition. Q. Can you talk about how you've really picked up your game these past three games in the tournament and how the team's leaned on you? KENRICH WILLIAMS: Well, it starts as a team, team sport. But I think with Jaylen being out, I really had to step up and be more aggressive. My teammates do a good job of playing hard. We all just played hard and played for each other, so I mean, that's the biggest thing. Q. Brandon, you had the trophy. You cut down the net and you have that pretty cool-looking necklace around your neck right now. What's been the best part tonight for you? BRANDON PARRISH: For me, the best part about it is just being here with my brothers. I mean, like knowing today, today was going to be my last game no matter what the outcome was. It's been really emotional for me. But for me to be able to have this moment with my brothers, and now we have something that's forever, and nobody can ever take this away from us. There was so many times that people said that we would never be able to do it; that the guys on our team weren't good enough; that our program wasn't good enough. Just the fact that we can silence all the doubters today, it's a dream come true. Q. For either of the players. TCU traditionally obviously prides itself on football and baseball. How are you guys been able to tell that basketball is now starting to work its way in, whether it's on campus among the students or just among kind of the TCU Nation in general? How can you tell that basketball is putting itself in that conversation? BRANDON PARRISH: When I first came in, we were in an old arena. It was kind of hard to bring fans in from time to time. Often times it was in a polo field arena, even if it was a home game and from then, we went to a high school gym where people would get lost trying to come to our games. And now we're in a situation where we have one the of top-of-the-line facilities in the country. Just having that right there on the campus can help you bring in fans. Coach Dixon has brought in a whole new energy to this program. There were times that I thought it would never be possible to have it like this. Now we have the city behind us and I mean, like I said, when they are behind us, who we got against us. Q. I have to ask you about your brother's dunk at the end. BRANDON PARRISH: Yeah, to be able to see my brother -- I've always known my brother was so bouncy. And then to be able to see him come off the bench after 39 minutes and be able to jump up there and do a windmill, it was just phenomenal for us to be able to share this moment. Q. I know it's been a few minutes, but can you gauge where this season ranks in your career, in your coaching career? COACH DIXON: I don't really do that with rankings. I guess I've got to start over when you're at a new place. I mean, I can give you descriptions or thoughts on it. Just like I said, I talked about it; if we had another game, the team just keeps getting better down the stretch here. We've won seven of the last eight. Only loss was Iowa State. We've beaten Kansas, one-up at Iowa; we've beaten Georgia Tech by 30. You talk about this team, how good are we, and you wonder. So we've got a lot of them coming back. You know, I mean, it's interesting, because you know, I came -- I took the job, and I'm one of those guys that says, I don't come into a place and say: You know, we don't have this; we don't have that; this guy can't play; I didn't recruit him. My thing has always been: There's no limitation. We can win. And so our goal is to get to the NCAA Tournament and win the conference. So in some sense, I have higher expectations, and so this is dramatic for our program. This is a step, as I like to say. I'm so happy to see our guys to happy. That's where I'm at right now, just to see them and hear Brandon talk. It was only the last couple months, last couple weeks, really, where I recognized how much, the struggle that they went playing-wise. I learned as the year went on. But I guess to see that, it ranks -- because I really think that I was a part of these seniors leaving their career feeling good about what they did for TCU. That, to me, is more important than wins or a championship. I mean, these four guys are going to feel proud about their experience. They came here to build a program and it maybe took a little longer than they thought. But they did, and now they can feel good about their four years, their commitment and their school. And they did something. And I've used the word a "foundation"; and I've used the word a "believer." But I just know now that these four guys are going to be celebrated for their commitment to a program that was -- no other school has done this. They have gone from a mountain -- a non-power five to a power five. We're the only one, I guess Utah to some degree, but they had a program and they had been in a National Championship game. I mean no, other one has done it and now here we are. And you know, we were at 34 in Ken Pom, and we probably made a -- that's a big, dramatic increase. I'm just -- those guys should be very proud of what they did, and I feel like they are now. Q. You hear so much from other coaches about the importance of defense not leading to offense. Looked like you guys racing out to the 18-3 lead was exactly textbook, exactly what other coaches talk about. COACH DIXON: Yeah, well, our defense has been coming along. It was interesting. I thought early on our defense, it was where it needed to be. It was getting better. And then we hit a lull where we weren't getting it done defensively. But as the year has gone on defensively these last seven games our defense has stepped up and it's improved. We made some adjustments, but I think it was just the young guys getting a little better understanding. But yeah no, question, our defense led to our offense. That's what we want to be. And we got turnovers; we got stops; we got transition the other way. And we've been pretty good in transition, and we're betting better at it, but the defense starts, no question. Q. Kenrich missed all much last season, so you probably didn't get a chance to see him. What was it about him that you had a lot of faith that when Jaylen went down these next three games, the offense seemed to go - COACH DIXON: Well, it's been interesting with Kenrich because like you said, he didn't play last year. But also, was hurt this summer and in the fall, and he missed the first three, four games. So we never even really saw him play as we practiced. So obviously we knew he was a good player but as the year's gone on, we've found better ways to use him in even better situations where we're even more comfortable and to be honest, he was out for about a year and a half. He's just now getting his legs under him and getting game like conditions. So you're seeing the numbers that he's putting up. His play down the stretch here has been unbelievable. I've talked to him late in the season about, I can't wait to work with him in the off-season. We have a foreign trip planned. His offensive numbers have gotten better, I think as we've gotten the understanding of where he needs to be and what positions to put him in, and then he's just getting his legs under him and getting game like conditions. I can't wait to see him next year, what we do this summer with him, and you know, his play has taken off. You know, he stepped up, yeah, maybe because of Jaylen, but I think it's just because he didn't start playing till December, really, of this year and being out for a year and a half. Q. You shoot 52 percent tonight and you get 16 offensive rebounds, 17 assists, do you think tonight was the most efficient offensive outing of the year? COACH DIXON: It was good. I mean, we didn't make threes early, so that hurt us. But I thought our shots were good. We were good. I thought we got a little bit stationary after we lost the lead in the halfcourt. But we attacked their zone pretty well. I think they got out of the zone. Their zone has been their best defense, but we hurt it early, and I think we hurt it again in the second half so they got out of it. It's interesting. I mean, my assistants make fun, joke about it, but we work on zone offense so much, and we just didn't see as much as I would have thought. And the few times we have run into it, Baylor and now there, we've attacked it well, and we've gotten out of it. So we're prepared for zone defenses. And you know, we got a little stationary, which we got up so much, but then we finished it well which was good to see. I'm proud of our guys and how they were able to stay on it with such a big lead it. Shows a lot of maturity. Q. You keep saying that your team is getting so much better. You're bringing a lot of people back next year. Obviously you want some carryover. Can you talk about the goal of making the NCAA next year? COACH DIXON: It was a goal this year. As I've said it a couple different times tonight, and I guess not in here but that was our goal and I know people laughed at me, that was our goal to get the NCAA Tournament. We were picked last in our conference by a substantial margin. We've been last every year. People probably frowned upon me or looked at me crazy, but I believed we could. I thought we were an NCAA Tournament team, but simply put, we didn't get it done down the stretch. We lost a number of close games. We were an eight-seed, nine-seed at one point late in the season, but we just didn't get it done. Maybe you have to be in that situation of big games and finding ways for these guys that had not been in that situation before. So hopefully this did it for us. I think it did, and it's just getting better and better as this tournament went on. But yeah, there's no question. This is a great, great accomplishment. It's hard to win five games. Hard to go on the road and win in the end of the year like this, and we did it. Yes, it would have been great to be in the Tournament and lose in the first game as half the teams did. But this made us better in the long term and I'm looking forward to again, as I joked about, coaching tomorrow, but we'll give them a little time off. Q. You talked many times about want to go make your alma mater proud of this program and take it to a different level. What went through your mind, you're up on the ladder, cutting down the net, you grab it, you look out, people cheering you. What's going through your mind in that moment? COACH DIXON: Well, this moment, I thought we were going to have to get a new writer for our local newspaper, our school newspaper, but he's okay up there. You know, I mean, as I said earlier, our goal is to get in the NCAA Tournament, go on runs in the NCAA Tournament. That's what I'm used to doing. That's always been our goal. But I guess you have to take steps. And this is a step and this is a huge step and yeah, the Richmond game, the fans, the crowd, the talk around the city; I feel like -- I feel like I wanted our players to be proud of our program, and I wanted our school to be proud of our program, and that's what I came to do. I thought I could be the guy to do it. I thought I had the background. I thought by coming -- and being a guy they took a chance on; when I was 17 years old, they gave me a scholarship when no one believed in a 6-1, 170-pound guy and then the Chancellor and Chris Del Conte giving me this chance. So this school has always given me a chance and given me an opportunity. So there's -- I won't stop until we win a Big 12 Championship and that's going to be the mentality going forward. But this is a good step in the right direction. Thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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