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NCAA MEN'S REGIONAL SEMIFINALS AND FINALS: ANAHEIMMarch 29, 2019Mark FewJosh PerkinsZach Norvell, Jr.Corey KispertRui HachimuraBrandon ClarkeAnaheim, California THE MODERATOR: All right. Welcome the Bulldogs. Coach, we will start off with a statement. MARK FEW: We're thrilled to still be alive and playing in the tournament. Actually probably more so than that to still be together and practicing and have the opportunity to play another game against a very, very worthy opponent. So we feel great about getting by the one last night and looking forward to a great battle tomorrow night. Q. I would like to ask all of you a two-part question: How has Rui Hachimura improved on and off court from last season to this season, what specific areas? And secondly, how would you describe his personality? BRANDON CLARKE: Yeah, I would say this year he's playing like a lot more physical, I would say. He has a lot more trust in his game, so I feel like the game has come to him more easy than it did last year. Also he's just like a really, really funny guy, really goofy, too. So always fun to chill with him and play basketball with him. COREY KISPERT: I would say he's a much more confident leader for us, and he's learned how to use his voice. He's learned how to echo calls and be a vocal leader on the floor, and to relate that to off the floor his English is so much better than it was last year and makes him that much more fun to be around and we enjoy hanging out with each other. ZACH NORVELL, JR.: Just pretty much his confidence. We came here as freshmen together, so understanding English and understanding the plays and stuff like that and off the court a really good guy, really funny and humble. Doesn't talk too much about basketball, just day-to-day life stuff. JOSH PERKINS: These guys tackled everything. When I first met Rui he was a passive guy letting me sit in the front seat. I have no idea why, no reason. But I was like, Rui, you're 6'8". I don't need to sit in the front and now he's a confident dude who believes in himself and he's an animal and it shows on and off court and he's one of our brothers, somebody you can talk to about anything, and a fun dude, quality teammate, quality guy. MARK FEW: I think he's worse now that he got here! (Laughter.) No, he's been great. He's been so coachable, and just a diligent, diligent, hard worker. The amount of work both in the classroom and learning English and then the basketball that was laid upon his shoulders was epic, and he always handled it with a smile and such grace. He's a wonderful teammate. He's an awesome role model. My kids are young and they hang out around the program. So it's been an absolute joy to watch his development and watch him grow. Q. Josh, can you describe the challenges of learning to be a point guard in Coach Few's system where there is a pretty intricate offense with a lot of movement to it? JOSH PERKINS: Challenge, is that the word, Coach? MARK FEW: I think that's a fair word. JOSH PERKINS: It's difficult, you know? A lot of different reads, a lot of different personnel, a lot of different players that you play with, but my hat goes off to Coach from day one he's been somebody I could ask questions to about the game of how I can be more comfortable running the team and from the get-go he said I could run it. And he's believed in me since day one. I don't know if challenging was the word, but I know throughout this whole process he has been somebody who has been supportive and really my confidence thrives through him. Q. Zach and then Brandon, about Culver I'm assuming you will take the challenge to start off defending him. What makes him dangerous and what are the ways you can slow him down? ZACH NORVELL, JR.: He's a weapon. When he crosses half court understanding that he can handle it, shoot it, make plays for others and stuff like that. The biggest thing is to try to change up, different defensive schemes and try to challenge him and challenge his shots and make things tough for him. BRANDON CLARKE: I've watched him play lots of games this year and he has a quick first step. He can shoot it pretty well and obviously he's pretty bouncy, too. So definitely going to demand the best out of our bigs in the paint. It's going to be a fun team effort playing against him tomorrow. Q. Corey, I don't know if you remember, but yesterday after your dunk in the second half you kissed your hands or your smelled your hand. I'm curious, was that a celebration? COREY KISPERT: It's a team inside joke. It's like, I don't know, James Harden does when he dunks on somebody. You're up so high that your nose starts to bleed a little bit. The altitude, I was checking to see if my nose was bleeding a little bit, copying James Harden. Q. Was it? COREY KISPERT: No, clean nose, we're good. (Laughter.) Q. Zach, Josh was talking about the challenges being a point guard here. What about his personality and his skill set make him the perfect point guard for this team and this offense? ZACH NORVELL, JR.: He's a people person. He can get along with everybody. When he walks in a room he's confident with himself, and I think that helps the team out a lot understanding that we have a leader who is confident in his abilities and everybody here who sees him put in work day-in and day-out. So having trust and belief in this guy, seeing the work he puts in you have no choice but to follow his lead. I think he takes all the media and the stuff that comes with it right on the chin. He doesn't shy away from it at all, understanding that he's leading a top program every day, day-in and day-out. So he's handled it pretty well. Q. Brandon, I don't know how much you guys saw of the Michigan-Texas Tech game yesterday. Clearly their defense gave Michigan fits. I'm wondering how you break through and make sure they aren't able to do the same thing against you guys? BRANDON CLARKE: I watched most of the second half. It was a really, really physical game in the paint. I feel like Michigan lagged running in transition which is something we're going to want to do tomorrow. I just feel like they couldn't really score on their late touches in the paint either and they weren't shooting well from three. They were struggling to find ways to score. But I feel like that's stuff that we're great at as a team, so we should be fine tomorrow. JOSH PERKINS: B.C., you nailed it. Good job. Q. Rui, you've got a lot of media here watching you. There's a lot of people back home rooting for you, even though basketball isn't that huge of a sport in Japan. How does it feel to be the center of attention maybe not here but back home? RUI HACHIMURA: I'm blessed to be here. I'm so happy at this point I'm still playing basketball with these great people and I'm just enjoying this moment, and, yeah. Q. Coach, tell us about the process that you and the team go through after a game like last night. You're used to playing a game, having a day, but does it change at all at this level? MARK FEW: I mean, I think it was similar to maybe what we do in our league. This is similar to how our league is. We will play a game on a Thursday and then, you know, usually get back to the hotel and have a film session or at least an information session. Then get 'em up the next day, couple of film sessions and head out and practice. Then these guys will go out to dinner tonight together and then we will have one more film session tonight and that will be it. This has been an unbelievable group. I've been blessed with some extraordinary groups, but these guys have been unbelievable about assimilating the amount of information we're giving to them and taking it out into action out on the floor. They all have, not just these guys, but the rest of the guys in the locker room, too, have a really good understanding of basketball and feel for the game and that makes our job, the coaches' jobs easier and allows us to do more things and try some more things. It's been great in that regard. Q. Brandon, did you have any doubts that your game would translate to this level or did you have to make any adjustments for your game to adjust so well to this level? BRANDON CLARKE: I wouldn't say doubts, really, no. There were times when I was, like, I would say nervous, I guess, because it was just different playing for a team that was, you know, trying to play for something bigger than I was used to at the time. But, you know, after not playing last year and just having lots of days to practice and to work out, it was fine after like the first couple of months. I was just, you know, really, really hungry to play on the court again, and I'm just glad that it's here and it's been such a great season for us. Q. Coach, Josh has played in more games than pretty much everyone in the country now. When you have a guy like that, that experience on the floor, what luxury does that give you as a head coach? MARK FEW: Is that true? Q. It is. MARK FEW: Okay. Hey, listen, Josh has pretty much at this point in his career seen everything and experienced everything. I mean, you start a point guard in a national championship game and log a bunch of minutes and I think he had 13 or 15 at half, under the brightest of lights. That's obviously quite a luxury to have as a coach and then also as teammates. So, again, it's just about getting him right and ready for the moment and understanding the plan and then him going out and executing it. Q. Mark, Josh is the only one up there who played in the Final Four games two years ago. How do you explain what that feeling is to be able to? MARK FEW: I thought I put you in, you did not get in? RUI HACHIMURA: No. Q. How do you explain it to the rest of the guys what it feels like to get to that point? MARK FEW: We're not explaining anything. We're just explaining how to beat Texas Tech right now. That's 100% what we're dialed into, just figuring out ways to attack this defense that's, I think, ranked No. 1 in the country. Also, how to defend in a short time of preparation, a motion offense that you just don't see much. That's 100% what we're focused in on is just the task at hand. We're not talking Final Fours or anything like that. Q. Has anyone talked to you about the experience of being in the Final Four before? Have any of your teammates spoken to you about the experience or what they can expect here and if you guys move on? JOSH PERKINS: Honestly, no, at the beginning of the year it was a goal we set for ourselves. So other than that not really. We're focused on each opponent and we're going to get every team's best in these tournaments throughout March. That's our sole focus right now and if we take care of our business tomorrow then we can have that talk and I'm looking forward to doing that. Q. Guys, Texas Tech has been able to hold most of the opposition the postseason close to 25 points under their average on the season. What do they do that kind of poses so many problems and how do you guys address that? ZACH NORVELL, JR.: I will just say, you know, just be confident in ourselves. We've been scoring at a high rate all year so do things that's been working for us, don't try to switch anything up or vary off, things get a little mucked up understanding that they do have a high-level defense, but understanding that there are a lot of plays in the game and staying the course, don't get too big headed or anything in a situation. Try to stay level headed and keep the same plan of attack that we came into the game with. Q. A lot of the media point at the number one offense but you guys have a better defense efficiency rating than both Michigan and Texas Tech. Do you have like you have to answer some doubts as to your defensive play and trying to reach the offense's level as well? COREY KISPERT: Our offense has been stellar all year long, but that hasn't been the case for our defense. We have had to work really hard to get our defense to the level we wanted to and it's been a slow process and a slow build up to this point. But I think all the guys sitting here and all the guys in our locker room are really confident in our defense and we think we can stop anybody in the country. MARK FEW: I would say our defense won the first three games so far in this tournament. That's been the one consistent thing. We've played pretty good offense, but our defense has been stellar in my opinion. Q. Is there any message that any of you gentlemen would like to give about the existence of Gonzaga? ZACH NORVELL, JR.: Come to Spokane. You will love it. THE MODERATOR: We will let the student-athletes head off. Thank you, gentlemen. Q. I know all those guys on Texas Tech can play defense, but specifically Matt Mooney, their grad transfer, what do you think he adds to their mix on that end of the floor? MARK FEW: First, he adds a shot maker and a crafty element to the team that is so necessary when you are playing five-man motion in a motion game. I've been so impressed with how handsy he is. He gets his hands on a lot of balls and knocks 'em loose or creates steals and it's remarkable how many turnovers they generate just in the half court. Q. Coach, we heard Brandon talking about working out and that year he had to go through. How rewarding is it to see him advance with this team after the hard work he's put in to get there? MARK FEW: It's great. It's kind of what it's supposed to be all about when you're coaching, right? Your goal is to make these guys, you know, as good as they can possibly be and help 'em to get, you know, where they can reach the goals that they set for themselves, whether it's being an elite player in college and moving on and playing in the NBA. So it's been awesome to be part of his development. There is still tons of room for growth in his development. He's still very much on an upward swing. The neat thing is he's been very coachable. The other interesting thing is both Rui and Brandon, here they are these incredible players. But they're so humble and so differential, sometimes too much even on the floor still. It's pretty cool to see in this day and age. Q. I'm curious if you could kind of detail the lineage of your offensive philosophy, where it first came from and then how it's progress and had changed over the years? MARK FEW: Wow, that's a great question. I would say it first came from maybe watching some of our older teams when I was at a young assistant at Gonzaga and we were pretty rigid, pretty tight, look at the bench a lot after a missed shot or mistake, and if I was every to become a head coach I wanted my guys to play with a bunch of confidence and a bunch of freedom and just drill 'em down in practice so they knew what to look for, what to expect and how to react. But once we got in games kind of let it rip. I think those are the hardest teams to guard. Obviously very, very into playing up-tempo and playing transition basketball. That's what I love to watch and love to coach. So all of our teams have been real good about that. Very, very concerned with taking care of the ball. That's a big stat for us. Shooting a high percentage shot. Technically it's went from flex early to some motion to a bunch of high-low through the Turiaf years when we were getting bigs like Ronny and people like that and eventually we got into ball screen action that we stuck with that's been very, very good for us, but all the while sticking with our high-low because that's been the bread and butter of our program for quite a while now. Q. Culver is obviously a really good talent. What are the things he does really well, and is there anything you can do to slow him down? Or do you have to mediate him? MARK FEW: He's tough to slow down because he does pretty much, I don't know that he has a weakness. He shoots from deep. He's got a really good mid-range game, much like Rui has, that's kind of rare in this day and age. He's big and athletic. He's a good finisher and in that regard his body and game reminds me of R.J. Barrett a little bit who we have played against. Excellent passer, sets his teammates up and he's got a huge usage rate on the offensive end, so the ball is in his hands a lot and it's leading to baskets or free throws or things like that. They surround him with a lot of skill. So it's hard to help from different spots. Chris does a good job of getting him the ball in different spots and places where, you know, you can't just key in on it. So it's tough. We kind of went over and over about maybe some things we could do but he's definitely a tough, tough guard and a tough match-up. Q. Not many coaches get a 20th tournament as you are in this time. I was just wondering, the first one, when you were a head coach and you're going I think to Albuquerque and you're up against Denny Crum, royalty. MARK FEW: Yeah. Q. And you had just been an assistant in the Elite Eight. What do you remember about that and how might you critique that coach from back then? MARK FEW: Should have called a timeout at altitude. I think we played Purdue, maybe, and we were winning at the time and running up and down, but we only had six guys and we had one of those runs where there was no stoppage of play and then by the time they get to the bench they were just out of gas. So I kind of always remember that especially when we play at a high altitude. I would just say I remember feeling a lot of pressure in our conference tournament back then because in those days, you know, I don't know that we would have made the NCAA Tournament to keep this streak going if we didn't win our conference tournament. We beat an amazing Pepperdine team that year that went on and handed Bobby Knight his last loss at Indiana by 30. I think we won in overtime and it was just a war. That was, you know, that's kinda what got this whole thing going. A little bit like this group, once we got in the tournament, we had experience of what to expect, the Santangelos and Frahms and Calvarys, and played really well, made it to the Sweet 16. So that was something. Q. What would he say back to you? MARK FEW: Who? That guy? Good question. He would probably admit, yeah, I screwed up. I should have called a timeout and you were right! Q. I assume that Zach would be taking the first assignment on Culver. Is that the case? MARK FEW: Yeah, I mean, again, it depends. They play a small lineup. They play a big lineup. So we will have different coverages in different match-ups based on that. But, yeah, Snacks has done a nice job thus far. Q. What can Zach bring to the defensive end against Culver? What can he do that might help your defense against him? MARK FEW: Again, it's hard to guard Culver one-on-one and literally this is a coaching cliché. We're going to have to guard him as a team. We switch a lot, too. Zach is a bigger guard. He's moving his feet better. He became so much better at attention to detail with scouting reports and our coverages. So that's why we trust him so much on guarding so many of these good players. Q. Mark, you've had international players now for so long. Are there things that you do as a coaching staff or as a school to try to make guys that are coming from different cultures, different countries feel a little bit more at home? MARK FEW: Yeah, I think we first of all there is a trust involved there with just the track record of all the success, all our players from other countries have had, so they can look up there and just see how well those other players' careers went. I think there is definitely an understanding within our staff and actually within our school about, you know, this is different. These guys are thousands and thousands of miles away from home, immersed in a totally different culture. So everybody understands that and really reaches out and makes them feel at home and part of a family. Then, you know, we're always very, very cooperative with the national teams and don't demand that. I would just as soon these guys not go to summer school and play on their national teams and not stay at Gonzaga and work out with us. I would rather see them, again, with my involvement in USA Basketball I think that's a really, really valuable development piece is getting out there and competing in those international tournaments and it also means so much to those kids and the players to play for their home country. So we're cooperative with that. Our school is cooperative with, if they have to miss a week or so of school coming back in September because of those things, too. Q. Last night when the score got to 60-56 and you missed two front ends right before that seemed scary to a witness, anyway. I was wondering if you knew your team had in it what it showed right after that or if you wondered slightly? MARK FEW: No, I knew they had it in 'em, but I don't know if they were going to show it. I knew they had it in 'em. They have weathered many a storms over the years. You go way back with how long Perk has been here and those other guys played significantly last year, obviously even this year we've had. Baylor made a great run at us in the second game of the tournament. Duke made a legendary run at us over in Maui at the end of a game where we missed a bunch of free throws and they came roaring back and we tried to hold them off and you try to put them in the right spots with what we're doing defensively and offensively and believe in them. They made a lot of big plays down the stretch because Florida State is not an easy team to try to close out. There is no rhythm on offense because they take you out of everything and they're so dangerous with their athleticism and length on the glass and around the hoop on the offensive end. Q. I was wondering if you could maybe just describe some of the defensive teams you're going to be playing and what the differences are between Florida State and Texas Tech. MARK FEW: Yeah, again, I think the one question came up about how they hold points gone and all that. This is not going to be a high-scoring game tomorrow. Usually it takes two to tango in pace of play and things like that. So we understand that. We've played many games this year where the tempo probably hasn't been at the speed we like to. Florida State likes to run up and down. They're more than happy to run up and down, but their defense is every bit as good in a full court essence. They're going to press you, trap you, deny every pass, so long, so athletic. Texas Tech's is just tough as nails, don't make a mistake, don't miss an assignment, gap oriented, with all their help built in and a real conviction to guard you as a team, and it's tough. They don't give you any easy shots and like I said earlier they're very handsy and they attempt to take a lot of charges, too, they jump up and fall down on all the drives and all that and you just gotta kinda navigate your way through that. Q. Could you talk a bit about Donny Daniels and what he's meant to this team and your staff since coming on board? MARK FEW: Donny has been great, man. I wish somebody would do a story on Donny. He's got enough experiences to write a book. Are you kidding me? I mean, he was down here in the LA area, played at Cal State Fullerton and worked for Rick Majerus all those years, that should take up the majority of the book right there. Then went on from Rick Majerus to work for Ben Howland with all the Final Fours at UCLA. His number of Final Fours he's be been involved in as an assistant, I don't know how anybody else can have any more. So he's got an incredible winning kharma about him, unbelievable person, makes everybody feel good about him. His experience, again, he's seen so many things and been a part of so many things, he's been huge. Q. You used to go head-to-head with him in recruiting so what's it been like to add him to your staff? MARK FEW: It was good. When he was at Utah we were knocking heads time and time again because at that time they really targeted the same kind of people we targeted back, those Utah teams. They were tough to beat. Man, they were tough to beat in recruiting. They were so diligent and so hard working. Seemed like they were everywhere all the time. So that's been good to not have to run into him on the road and finally have him on our team. Q. Mark, I think last week it might have been Boeheim who said nobody's every going to the NBA based on their defense. It was when they were asking him about recruiting to play defense. Not to make you dis on Boeheim, but do you agree with that? MARK FEW: First of all, he has more NBA experience than any of us here, been around the NBA guys and has a lot of experience. I think that's a pretty valid point that you're probably going to get drafted more on your offensive expertise and what you can do on that end of the floor. But I think you can eliminate yourself from being drafted and not moving on by not being able to play on the defensive end of the floor. So, I would say, you know, yes to most of it. But probably no to part of it because I think it's something that can easily keep you out of the league if you don't. Q. Coach, you've been in 20 of these. Has this time had a few more distractions? How have you guys been able to handle the extra media attention that you've received? MARK FEW: I would say having done it so many times that it's great for the staff, for the players like Perkins and even Zach Norvell, Jr. and Rui to a certain extent. They're very used to it. So the shock of the NCAA Tournament and the amount of media attention and the amount of time devoted to that is kinda old hat to everybody. Gonzaga, the administration is so used to it and our SID, Barry, and everybody, they understand how to keep it as best to a minimum for our guys and even for me in many cases where those first years, whoever was asking me about that, it was, we were like kids in a candy store. We were eating it up and saying yes to every interview, and now we're a little more selective and probably better at saying no. THE MODERATOR: Anything you want to say to close things out? MARK FEW: Listen, it's going to be a really tough game. We knew when the bracket popped up two weeks ago Sunday that this was just going to be one of those brackets where you're going to have to fight like crazy. It's not going to be pretty, but we've got to enjoy the fight and embrace it and to be sitting here forty minutes away from another Final Four is, you know, an awesome feeling and an awesome space to be in and it's going to require our best. I think the guys are ready and excited. THE MODERATOR: Thank you, Coach. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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