	products recent interviews FastScripts archive about ASAP Sports

Our Clients:

Browse by Sport

Find us on

Subscribe to RSS

Click to go to
Asaptext.com

View our
e-Brochure

BIG TEN CONFERENCE MEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT

March 15, 2019

Tim Miles

United Center - Chicago, Illinois

Wisconsin - 66, Nebraska - 62

COACH MILES: Well, I'm extremely proud of this group. I'm proud to be their coach. I thought that they fought as hard as they could. And we were in a great situation, late even, chance to tie, go ahead. And we missed on a few plays. And credit to Wisconsin; they did an excellent job all night.

Q. Do you think fatigue played a role in the last five to 10 minutes?
COACH MILES: Wisconsin makes it look tough anyway. I thought Glynn's legs looked good, and he was the guy we were riding, had a hop in his step all night. Maybe. But our hearts are bigger than that.

Q. You played six guys in the game. Given the fact they played so many minutes the past two days, what was the thinking behind shortening your bench even further?
COACH MILES: There was no real design. We'd only subbed out of necessity earlier. They were playing smaller. So we were able to play smaller. And that's why we did it.

Q. Job status, do you think you've earned more time at Nebraska?
COACH MILES: That's out of my hands. I know Bill, addressing that one time hopefully, Bill will make a statement in 45 minutes. I don't know what it is. So, I'm sure it's just he's going to wait and see what's going on with postseason or whatever.

Q. Thomas Allen warmed up with the team before, and then he didn't come out and close --
COACH MILES: We haven't been able to get him on a court and put a ball in his hand. Seemed like a good opportunity to do that, test the ankle a little bit. Really had trouble cutting right now. And so the only way -- there's no other gym availability. So this was the best one to be at.

Q. You guys made Happ look fairly ordinary tonight. Was that one of your main focuses going in?
COACH MILES: Yeah, Ethan was double circled on the scouting report. I told him in the handshake line, I told him, "E, I'm not going to miss you, brother." And he's such a good player. He does so many good things that you have to attack him. I thought we did a really good job of it. We held him down in points. We turned him over. They actually played around him, it appeared to me, for a while. So I thought we did a very good job. But we have to. I thought that's what kept us around. Because he can take over a game, and then those other guys get loose on you. And they're tough enough anyway. I thought the key to the game was Iverson. He was making outside shots. When he makes outside shots -- you know Weaver is going to make a few. You know Trice is going to make a few. And Trice is very good end game, end clock. We've done a really good job on him. Johnny ended up kind of gambling. And we ended up switching Glynn off of him and he hit Johnny late. But that's what he can do. But I thought Iverson was the big key to the win for them.

Q. And if this was your last game with this team, how proud of you --
COACH MILES: I'm proud of this group beyond belief, because as a Coach -- you guys trying to get me to cry, are you? As a coach, you look at what they went through and what they tried to overcome, and to go out and try to beat ranked teams in back-to-back nights and probably Quad 1 -- or three Quad 1 games in a week or whatever, pretty impressive stuff. I don't know where Iowa was. Maybe they're a Quad 2. But all the same, I just -- I told them, I'm proud to be your coach.

Q. On the lighter side of things, you always seem to have, fun no matter what you do. In this stodgy, buttoned-down world, you don't take yourself too seriously. It rubs off on your players, even us media guys, we enjoy it. Talk a little bit about your personality. I know it's tough right now.
COACH MILES: Right now, it's not very fun. But, you know, I think in life you just have to enjoy who you're working with and everything. And I work with -- you guys aren't as invested in the team. If it sucks for us, it sucks for you, and I know that. And the same thing with the kids. So you want to be a mentor. You want them to -- you want to lead them and teach them. But at the same time you want to be able to have a relationship with them so they know you're with them. I don't think you can be afraid to be just yourself. And I was granted a great deal of independence as a little kid where I could do what I wanted when I wanted as the youngest of five. That's what we do now. Even as an NAIA coach, a D-II coach, a Division I independent, Mountain West coach or a Big Ten coach. So we just feel strong that we're going to put our teams out there and they're going to compete like heck and want to have a chance to be successful. We have a disappointed team, but that doesn't mean that we have to walk around like Pig-Pen. And that's no -- I don't mean to offend Pig-Pen.

Q. Given the health of the team, have you thought about the NIT and what that looks like?
COACH MILES: I'll go anywhere. If they take us, we're going. And hopefully we can get some guys healthier. Tom Allen would be the only guy I think we could conceivably add to the roster.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297