|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
NCAA MEN'S 1ST AND 2ND ROUNDS: HARTFORDMarch 20, 2019Eric PaschallCollin GillespiePhil BoothHartford, Connecticut Q. For Phil and Eric, how do you feel your young players handled the pressure of the Big East Tournament and how do you think that will help them coming into this week? PHIL BOOTH: I feel they've done a great job all season. They come in, made big impacts all season. Especially in the Big East Tournament. They've won a lot of games for us. Done a lot of great things. It's no surprise they played so well. ERIC PASCHALL: I definitely feel like they did a great job. Especially with three tough-it-out games, I mean, being all very close games, I feel like the young guys are doing a great job and continuing to get better in practice, just learning how to play Villanova basketball every second. Q. Phil, then Eric, what added responsibility and expectations did you put on yourself as veterans who have been through this multiple times here for Villanova up this season. PHIL BOOTH: I'm just trying to be a more vocal leader, make sure we're on the same page of the team. Talking, communicating. With so many new guys, there's a lot they need to learn, and teaching, making sure we're on the same page on court. Make sure when we're out on the court the group of five is always on the same page and locked in. ERIC PASCHALL: Also leading by example; being a leader means a lot. I think me and Phil have to do that every day. In practice, in games, any way we can even off the court. Q. For Phil and Eric, getting back to the young guys, did you give them any specific pieces of advice how to handle this next step into the NCAA Tournament? PHIL BOOTH: Just try to tell them to try to stay focused, and stay locked in. When we get to the NCAA Tournament, there's a lot of distraction going on, a lot of things that can get in your head. If you focus on the opponent in front of you, take it one game at a time and lock in on that, that's the best you can really do. ERIC PASCHALL: I'd probably say the same thing, just one game at a time, don't look too far ahead. But also just stay 94 by 50 feet. Just worry about what's happening on the court and worry about your brothers and your coaches. Q. Phil and Eric, for both of you again, you've experienced just about everything you can in the NCAA Tournament going to two Final Fours in different settings and all that. Does this feel kind of weird for you to be back to the starting point in Hartford, Connecticut as a 6-seed? I mean, last time you were on an NCAA floor, you were hoisting the trophy, confetti is coming down. There's 70,000 people in the building. Is this different for you starting over again? PHIL BOOTH: Everything's different about this season. It's a totally different team. So looking at last year, this team is totally different. So the journey for this team has been different this whole year. Every place we've been top, us being in Connecticut, whatever seed, it wouldn't matter. Because if we were a four, two, or one, it still felt different because it's a completely different team, a completely different approach we have. ERIC PASCHALL: I'll say the same thing. I mean, it's a completely different team. We got a lot of young guys and it's their first time. Just going out there and competing is what we're trying to do. Q. Collin, going from a reserve player to a star and more major contributor can be a huge jump for some players. How have you been able to navigate that to become such an effective contributor here coming into the tournament? COLLIN GILLESPIE: Just with the help of these guys. Last year, learned a lot from these two guys and also the four guys that left, they taught me a lot, how to handle starting and help these guys teach the younger guys, including myself. Just learning every day, trying to get better every day, even in practice, creating habits. So just trying to become the best team that we can possibly be. Q. Hey, Collin, from last year's NCAA to this -- your experience in last year's NCAAs, what will you take from that to help you this week deal with just the pressure and the expectations and all? COLLIN GILLESPIE: I mean, there's a lot of distractions that comes with it, so I think last year it really helped going as far as we did, getting a feel for everything. And now just coming in this year, knowing what it's like, and just taking it one game at a time like they said, focusing on our opponent and worrying about them. Q. For all three of you, you guys have been down this road plenty of times before, Phil and Eric, especially. What are some things you guys do during this week, during the downtime to kind of refocus yourself, kind of take your mind off things and just kind of recharge? What are some of the things that you guys do in weeks like this. PHIL BOOTH: I mean, we're always watching film of the next game, the team we're playing. I guess maybe take a nap, I don't know. That may be the only thing I can think of. We've always focusing on the next team, watching film, and trying to think of how we can better as a team and watch film from our older games. It's kind of always focusing on the next opponent. ERIC PASCHALL: I feel it's the same thing we do throughout the year through the first game to now. We just watch film, rest up, hydrate, and that's pretty much our day every day. COLLIN GILLESPIE: Like those two said, they do a great job. Our coaching staff does a great job making sure we're resting and we're hydrating. Whatever we need, we're always making sure everything's available for us. Q. (No microphone.) ERIC PASCHALL: Not allowed to do that on the road. COLLIN GILLESPIE: Not on the road. Q. For any of the three, St. Mary's has two very impressive players, Hunter and Ford. Wondering what you saw from them on film and are you prepared to deal with St. Mary's slower tempo? ERIC PASCHALL: Those two are very great. We watched film on them already. We know they're very dynamic players and get their team going. And as far as pace, we just go out there and play, just make the adjustments as we go. We know -- but they can also push the ball, so, they're a very good team, very well balanced and just going to be a battle. COLLIN GILLESPIE: Yeah. Those two are very great players. The rest of -- they are a very balanced team overall. Whether it's inside the post or outside, they do a great job. They're very well coached. So, we just have to do what we do and do what we've been doing all year. Q. You guys were talking about how this is a different team, a different year, and it just all kind of feels different from the first game. I think -- it seemed like Coach Wright kind of struggled with that a bit himself at the beginning of the season. What did you notice, whoever wants to talk about this, about the adjustments he had to make back to a younger team and then how did the rest of the season kind of fall in place? ERIC PASCHALL: I feel like me and Phil actually had to kind of be assistant coaches as well. I mean -- and Collin. We just all had to teach the younger guys what it's all about because they never really been in this position or played Villanova basketball. Because Villanova basketball is what we pride ourselves on. I feel like me, Phil, and Collin are taking big steps and being with the coaches and trying to teach them what to do when playing for Villanova. Q. Did you sense that yourself, or did Jay have to come to you and say, I need your help? ERIC PASCHALL: No, we sensed that ourself. It was kind of both of us. We sensed it ourselves because we're the oldest. Collin got playing time this year. Me and Phil have been here the longest. We had to take that role on ourselves and embrace it. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
About ASAP Sports •
FastScripts Archive •
Recent Interviews •
Captioning •
Upcoming Events •
Contact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links |
|
ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297
|