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NCAA MEN'S 1ST AND 2ND ROUNDS: WICHITAMarch 14, 2018Lagerald VickDevonte' GrahamWichita, Kansas THE MODERATOR: We have student-athletes from Kansas University. We'll take questions at this time. Q. For either of you two guys, what have you heard about Penn? And there's a lot of talk that this could be a more competitive 1-16 game than usual. People think they were underseeded. Have you heard any of that talk, and what are your thoughts on them? LAGERALD VICK: Yeah. Been hearing a lot of talk about it. You know, they tied the league, won their conference championship. So that's all I got to say. DEVONTE' GRAHAM: Yeah. They're a pretty good team, well rounded. They can play inside and out. They made more threes than we do a game, so you know they can stretch the floor and shoot it. We just gotta come in focused like we do every game and try to jump on them from the start. And they play well without the ball, moving without the ball, backdoor cuts and things like that that we've been going over in practice. And if we come in focused, you know, we'll be good. Q. You've been a 1 seed a few years. Have you ever had in the middle of the night a nightmare about being that first 1 seed to lose to a 16? And, if so, how did that go? LAGERALD VICK: No. I don't think I ever had no nightmare like that. DEVONTE' GRAHAM: I mean, you don't really want to be that team that does it. You kind of have it in the back of your head. I feel like just thinking about being that first team to do it, kind of like being the team to break the streak, you know. It's just one of those things that you kind of think about in the back of your head, but hopefully that doesn't happen. Q. Devonte', could you take us through this week of preparation, how it's been for you guys, what the attitude is, coming off that big performance on Saturday? Do you want to play off of that, or do you want to just put it in the past and forget about it? How do you move on from that? DEVONTE' GRAHAM: We just try and take that momentum we had and confidence that everybody got from this weekend and try to keep it going. I felt like we had pretty good days of practice, including this morning, and everybody's just got that same confidence and Silvio and Mitch are still playing and practicing well, so we're just feeding off that energy and trying to bring it into this tournament. Q. Lagerald, could you share some thoughts about what your personal goals are for your performances in the tournament? What do you want to see from yourself? LAGERALD VICK: Just being more aggressive. You know, taking more responsibility, just being a huge effect on the court and bringing more energy. Just continue doing the smaller things. Q. Lagerald, you've been called the X factor because your ceiling is so high and what you can do. Just talk about what you think that means to you, and also if Devonte' would talk about Lagerald being an X factor for Kansas in the tournament. LAGERALD VICK: I would say I just feel like I do all the little things that people don't always see or can comment or congratulations me on. I just feel like I bring the energy, person that can bring a lot of energy, and just do a lot of different things for the team and help us be successful. DEVONTE' GRAHAM: He just do a lot of things that a lot of us can't do, basically. You know, his athleticism, guys like big Svi and Malik on the perimeter can't do, putbacks, lobs, getting to the offensive glass. He can defend multiple positions, 1 through 4. So just being the X factor, when he bring that energy, he's just kind of like a mismatch for a bigger guard, and then he kind of post up on little guards. So just when he energized and juiced up, he bring a lot to the table. Q. Devonte', you're the guy that puts the lobs up for the bigs, for Lagerald, for everybody. Can you just talk about in the back of your head what are you thinking? What kind of lob you throw up to Lagerald as opposed to Udoka, as opposed to any other guys, Svi, because you're doing all of them? DEVONTE' GRAHAM: You just gotta know your personnel. With Lagerald and Udoka, I feel like I can grow up anywhere and they'll go get it and with Svi sometimes you might have to throw it a certain way or certain height just because his arms are so short. But no, you just gotta know your personnel and about how high the guys can jump and the timing of the jump and stuff like that. Q. Devonte', how is Udoka moving around this week? DEVONTE' GRAHAM: He's been moving pretty good. His attitude has been great, getting treatment. Seen him running up and down this morning. He's been trying to get in with us a little bit. And he said he was feeling good. But he's been looking a lot better. Q. Just to follow up on that, after the performance of especially Silvio, if you get few minutes or no minutes from Udoka, do you guys feel more comfortable about the big situation after what you saw on Saturday? DEVONTE' GRAHAM: Definitely. I feel like this weekend just gave us a lot more confidence with Mitch and Silvio, and it gave them a lot more confidence in themselves. So if we have them, that'll be great, it'll be a plus. If not, we just got that confidence in the team that we just won the Big 12 Championship with. So either way it goes, we're going to have confidence in each other. Q. Devonte', you were named as a finalist for the Naismith Award yesterday. What is it like being up for a national honor, that type of thing? DEVONTE' GRAHAM: It's an honor, you know. I don't really know what to say right now, but it hasn't really hit me yet. And it's just, you know, you put in a lot of hard work, and it ended up paying off and people recognizing it. And I appreciate everybody who nominated me and voted for me and stuff like that. But that's an individual award. You know, I'm more of a team guy. So I focus on the team and trying to get past this first game. Q. Lagerald, could you kind of comment really quickly following up on that question, KU had a National Player of the Year last year in Frank, and KU has a First Team All-American candidate and Player of the Year candidate. What are their styles? Can you sort of offer some insights on their styles of leadership? LAGERALD VICK: Well, I came in as a freshman, and I had Frank and then -- well, I had both of them, but Frank was, you know, he was a leader. He didn't talk -- well, he didn't talk as much, but he talked to me, telling me things to do, you know, help us win, just the small things. And then just seeing him, you know, the growth in him and him telling me right from wrong, and now I got Devonte', another huge leader. Devonte', he talked more than Frank did, but the comparisons, I would say they're kind of similar. But, you know, it's just an honor playing with both of them. So I definitely appreciate, you know, playing with these two definitely. Q. This is for both of you. Of course, we know your fans travel well no matter where you play, but still, to be here in Wichita where there's a lot of support for KU basketball here, plus all your fans that are here, what's it like to be able to play here in Wichita this close to home? LAGERALD VICK: I kind of feel like it's close to home, so I feel like we'll have kind of home-court crowd. So it'll definitely probably feel good. DEVONTE' GRAHAM: It'll be great, you know. It's just like having a home-court game. And been getting a lot of tweets and Snapchats and stuff from fans saying they can't wait to see us practice. And it's just great for people in Wichita who really don't get to come out and see us. They get to come out and see us practice, and it's like we're playing right here at home for them. So it'll just be great for the fans. And that's the benefit of being a 1 seed, you get to play close to home. Q. Gentlemen, you just had your last hard practice today, this morning, and obviously you're going to have to work on defense because Penn limits your possession offensively and they shoot the ball pretty well. Philosophy going into this game, playing a structured team like Penn, who's very disciplined? LAGERALD VICK: Yeah, just moving the ball and, you know, carrying for others, and just continue playing Kansas basketball. DEVONTE' GRAHAM: Basically the same thing. Coach been emphasizing getting downhill. They pack it in, so you gotta have space and make plays for others. And they go under the screen, so everybody gotta be ready to shoot. And just play how we've been playing. Everybody gotta stay in attack mode. THE MODERATOR: If there are no other questions, best of luck tomorrow, guys. Thank you very much. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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