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NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: FINAL FOURMarch 29, 2018Jay WrightSan Antonio, Texas THE MODERATOR: We're joined by the head coach of Villanova, Jay Wright. COACH WRIGHT: We are thrilled to be here in San Antonio and fired up about this matchup. I would also like to throw a shoutout to a good friend, Jim O'Connell, who is not here -- "Ock." Didn't see him at the Big East Tournament, didn't see him here, it's not the same without him. We miss him. But we are fired up about this challenge. Kansas is really explosive team, scary team. It should be a great game. THE MODERATOR: Questions? Q. You're going to play your third straight Big 12 opponent. And in the first two they had terrific point guards, as does Kansas. I'm just wondering if there's something about Devonte' Graham that separates him a little bit from those you played? And talk about the matchup between him and Jalen. COACH WRIGHT: It's incredible, the point guards in that league. And I feel like we have -- well, they're probably the three best teams in the league and we've probably taken a step up with each team and point guard. They're all very close. But I think Devonte' clearly is the best combination of scorer and distributor of probably any point guard -- I think he and Jalen are the two best in the country. They both have the ability to take over a game scoring, and they both have the ability to set up their teammates and distribute to win a game. Great leaders, and you can tell their teammates really respect them. Q. Jalen is kind of an old-school player. He loves to back people down, get them in the post, shot fakes really well. Reminds me a little bit of Andre Miller. First time you saw him was he like that, that skill set? Or is that something that he's developed at Nova? COACH WRIGHT: He was as complete a player as I've ever seen in high school. And I commented to our assistant watching him, I've never seen such a refined player in high school. I think he's brought a lot -- I think he's brought a lot of it to Villanova. The footwork he has in the post, he brought with him. He really did. I think what we did is probably utilize his post play a little bit more. But I'd have to say his dad did a great job with him, his high school coach. And we received a pretty finished product. Q. You recall you did not have your full roster from like early December until like mid-February. I wondered how you kept everything together during that time. And what were the improvements you saw once Phil came back and things were all whole once again? COACH WRIGHT: I thought that our leadership -- Phil Booth, Mikal Bridges and Jalen -- during that time we had to make some adjustments, even game by game, when those guys were out. I thought their experience, their intelligence allowed us to change how we played. There was a couple games we were playing with seven guys and we had to change on the fly, those guys kept everybody on the floor in tune into what we were doing. We were able to change things one day in between games when we had injuries because of those guys. I just thought the leadership and intelligence of those three were the key. Q. You talked earlier about how at the beginning of the season you weren't necessarily pleased with the team's defensive efforts, but obviously last weekend was pretty top-notch. How do you get a team to go from not being very good at defense to that good in the span of a couple of weeks? COACH WRIGHT: Not easy. It takes time. It was a constant dialogue between the staff and the players about evaluating how we played in games. We were winning some games, just outscoring people, and trying to get the guys to understand that later in the season when you're playing better teams and the games are more meaningful, that that's not going to get it done for us. And, again, I go back to the leadership where Mikal and Jalen were having great years, and they could have been satisfied with, hey, I'm All-American, I'm getting my points, I'm not going to change and get this team to be focused on defense. And Phil Booth, who was probably the most focused in that area was out and hurt. So when we got to work with the other guys defensively, and when Phil came back, it was he had it. He had it. So he was an infusion that kind of finished it off for us because he was the intelligent one out there defensively that kept everybody together. Q. Talking about that leadership, did you see that kind of quality in Jalen even back when he was a freshman, in the way that he took on the role that you put him in? COACH WRIGHT: Definitely. I saw in high school and I saw when he came in as a freshman, and I think the greatest challenge for him probably in his college career was learning how to take a back seat to Ryan Arcidiacono in his freshman year, not ego wise, just playing wise. He was used to being the guy that everybody looked to, being the guy that talked to everybody on the floor, but we had Ryan. And I think it was a great challenge for him. And I still say it was one of the keys to us winning the championship was his ability to take on that role because I know how difficult it was for him. The next year it was easier for him being the point guard, ball's in his hands. But he still had to play under Josh and Chris and Darryl. This year's probably been the easiest year for him. Q. Phil Booth scores 20 in a national title game, easily could have been the MVP. How did you get him to kind of just believe in waiting his turn and being patient to where it's kind of like we forget about him on this year's team, but as you mentioned he's an important cog? COACH WRIGHT: Phil is really -- he's really the glue on this team. Personality-wise, he lights up a room. Everybody on the team loves him. And on the court, he's got an intelligence and experience level and respect that they all migrate to. And I really didn't have to do anything. It was amazing, his father played college basketball at Coppin State, and when we recruited him he said, when he comes to you you've got him four years; you're not going to hear from me. We'll be at the games, but he's yours. And after his freshman year, he scored 20 in the championship game, excuse me, his freshman year, he had a great year and we lost to NC State. He had a great game in that game, and I didn't play him in the end. I went with an older guy. Never heard a word from his dad. At the end of the year I said to his dad, I said, man, you're right every game I never heard from you. He has old-school parents, who just say you go there, you commit, you earn your time, you fill your role on the team. And I think everybody on our team really benefits from that. Q. You got two freshmen, Collin and Dada playing significant roles for you this year. What are you saying to them about playing in this kind of atmosphere, since they've never been here before? And what do you need out of them this game or the potential two games if you get out of here with what you want? COACH WRIGHT: Dada and Collin obviously are a big part of our depth, a big part. Depending on the game, if we need to go bigger, like we did in the Texas Tech game, Dada is really important. And they have to know it could be different in different games, and it could be different in different parts of the game. And that's easy to say, but it's hard when you're the player that has to be prepared. I thought Dada in the first half of the Texas Tech game was amazing. And even when we can put Collin in at the end of the first half he makes a great play defensively, great play offensively in the last play. Just being ready at any possession any time, that's the key for those two. And that's what we're always telling them and they've been amazing. Q. I know a lot of questions about Jalen and his leadership style. I'm going to put you on the spot. Is there one story about him, about the way that he's led this specific team that jumps out to you? COACH WRIGHT: I can't think of one specifically, but I think the -- towards the end of the year there was a lot of talk about him possibly being player of the year and Trae Young -- Trae Young was putting up numbers. And you gotta think a kid hears that. Now, I would talk to him about it and say, just keep playing your game. He'd say, "I'm good, I'm good." But there were games toward the end of the year where I actually had to say to him at the end of the game: Stay aggressive; keep looking to score. Where you could tell at the end of games we had leads and he was just trying to get everybody else involved. He was almost going out of his way to show that he was playing for his teammates. And then I remember specifically, a game at Xavier where he had a shot at the end, he didn't take it. He gave it to Eric Paschall for a dunk. And he really should have shot it. But I showed the team afterwards, I said, look at this kid. If anybody had a chance of player of the year, and you had that shot, to pass it up is really showing you how much he cares about his teammates. He's pretty -- I think he went out of his way to show his teammates he was not interested in individual accolades this year. Q. Of course it's rewarding to see your guys develop on the court, but how much does it mean to you to see them develop off the court? COACH WRIGHT: It's really important to us. Because we really believe if they grow as men and they grow as students, it's really going to give them the best chance to be the best players they can be. Our guys want to be great players. They want to win championships. They want to go to the NBA. And what we try to teach them is if you're only trying to be a good basketball player you're not going to be the best basketball player you can be. You've got to care about what kind of student you are, what kind of person you are. And I think our guys understand that. And so we really spend probably more time in that area than we do on basketball because the basketball part is easy. And we do take great pride in their development as men, as students. Q. Talk to me about Kansas and how much they've changed with the emergence of Malik Newman as a major scorer in the last three weeks. COACH WRIGHT: It's amazing what Bill has done with this team. Azubuike playing really well early, getting hurt. And you look at De Sousa coming in mid-year and developing him into this team, and keeping this team going and continuing to get better. And I think Newman is the final piece now towards the end of the year. And I think it's a year playing under Bill. He's become arguably as scary as Graham. And that's why they're here. That's why they're still playing, because Graham has been Graham, but everybody else is getting better and better at this time, and I think they're playing their best basketball. Q. I can't remember another player who redshirted then becoming a projected lottery pick by his junior year. I was wondering when you first recognized what you had in Bridges? COACH WRIGHT: I've got to research that too. I've got to see if that ever happened. I don't remember any either. I figured you guys are good at that stuff. I count on my Philly guys here (indiscernible); they come up with stats for me. He's one of those kids when you go recruit him, when you do this with all your kids, you always envision, what is the best he could be. He was about 175 pounds, long arms. And you just said, hey, if this kid fills out, if he gets stronger, if he's a good kid and he's coachable and he's patient, he could be a pro. I don't think we ever thought lottery pick. But the way he accepted his redshirt year and how hard he worked in his redshirt year, and the way he started playing in his freshman year -- in his freshman year we started saying, especially towards the end, if he continues at this pace, he could be a first-round pick. Again I don't think we ever said lottery pick. But this year during the year, probably the Gonzaga game, you just said, wow. Because lottery pick is really based on what the NBA guys think. Doesn't matter what we think. But they started talking about it. So when they started talking about it that's when we realized. Q. My question is about transfers. Those rules are in the process of being changed. There's the thought that players will get at least a little more freedom -- maybe there will be a few less restrictions. Do you think that's a good thing? And generally speaking do you look at transfers as a problem? In other words is it a problem in college basketball or is it just something that sort of you have to sort of deal with? COACH WRIGHT: I think it's something we're all going to have to learn to deal with. I really don't have the answers. We don't get involved in it a lot. So I don't think I know enough about it to give you an intelligent answer. But it is definitely something we've got to deal with. Even if you're not taking transfers, everyone else is always putting it into your players' minds, so you're dealing with it. I mentioned Phil Booth. In his freshman year, he was a really good player and was coming off the bench. Looked like his sophomore year he might be a sixth man. Most guys that good are going to say, hey, I'm going somewhere else to start. And most people are being told that. You should get out of there. As opposed to, hey, stick with it there. So we're all dealing with it. I think that's the best answer I can give you. And we're going to have to continue to deal with it. Q. The Final Four bracket kind of turned out weird with two 1 seeds here and other here. So aside from the real-life implications of that, do you ever think about any way this thing could get re-seeded at any point in the tournament so you didn't end up with this? COACH WRIGHT: You know, someone asked our assistants about that and they said, you know, could you imagine, you know, winning a game and thinking you get (indiscernible) for the next game. And all of a sudden, no, you're playing Kansas. I don't think you can do it because the way you prepare, especially when you have the two -- you know you have the two-game weekend, the way you prepare is you're looking at one coach is taking the current game and then two are taking the next. That would really throw you off if you had to try to figure out what the seedings would be. I think it would become even more unfair because somebody would, you know, not be prepared or get shocked by a matchup. I don't think you can do it. Q. Collin told me that Jalen's the best post player on the team because he has the most post moves. Do you agree with that? COACH WRIGHT: Definitely, I do. We had, a couple of summers ago, we had a drill where we were practicing defending guards in the post. And when it was Jalen -- someone had to play offense in there; we just gave guys different chances. So we put Jalen in there and everybody, coaches started looking at each other like, wow, his post moves are incredible. And so then after that we're like, we're going with this, we're using this. But then as he's continued to develop, he loves it. And he loves to work at it. And his footwork is incredible. THE MODERATOR: Thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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