PAC-12 CONFERENCE MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP

March 16, 2024

Dana Altman

Jermaine Couisnard

Jadrian Tracey

Oregon Ducks

Postgame Press Conference

Oregon - 75, Colorado - 68

DANA ALTMAN: I'm really happy for the team. We had great leadership from Jermaine and Dante. And the rest of the guys picked it up, followed -- to be a great leader you have to have great followers. And our guys put away their egos and listened to Jermaine and Dante. And the freshmen followed them -- Bam and Kario and Brennan.

It's really a credit to Dante and Jermaine that they put this thing together. And as I mentioned yesterday, I think, every team reflects its best players. And I think our team is a reflection of those two guys and their resilience.

They both went through knee surgeries -- Dante, two, and Jermaine, one. They both missed a lot of games since they've been here. But their toughness and their resiliency is something that the guys respected and I think followed.

Q. Can you talk about the significance of Couisnard's play-making ability and Dante's ability on both ends of the floor this weekend?

DANA ALTMAN: Eight assists, one turnover. That's a great assist-to-turnover ratio. And I think all eight of them were probably for Dante. Dante, 12-for-12. Last two games against Colorado he went for 12-for-12 and 10-for-10. Probably ought to get him the ball more.

You look at the plus/minus, he got in that foul trouble, but when he was on the floor we were plus-21. He's a presence defensively and they have to pay so much attention to him -- their defense has to pay so much attention to him because they know if we get him the ball one-on-one he's shooting 68 -- now after this he'll be at 70 percent.

So he puts such pressure on defenses. And then he gives us a rim protector that people have to know where he's at.

He's a difference maker. Like I said, his resiliency over the years, to go through the two surgeries that he went through and just keep battling back, says a lot about his character.

Q. You guys haven't won three games in a row since early January. You were going up against teams that you were 1-5 against in the regular season. How did you make this run happen? And how confident were you coming in that you could do something like this?

JERMAINE COUISNARD: Belief. That's the word, belief. We knew what we had to do coming down here. And we knew we had to win three straight. Everybody had to just put everything aside and do whatever it takes for us to get the win.

JADRIAN TRACEY: Just trusting our coaches, too, knowing that they've been here before. They were preaching it to us and that made us believe some more. Like Coach said, we've got some great leaders, and we just made it happen.

Q. Coach, you've been to the NCAA Tournament before, but how was this one different for you, given the last couple of years and some of the ups and downs?

DANA ALTMAN: As a coach you get a lot of opportunities. These guys don't. So you never take it for granted because it could always be the last one. They're not that easy to make, and injuries and sickness and not hitting a shot dictate a lot of that.

But the reason this one is different is Dante was hurt in '21 when we went to the Sweet 16. And Jermaine came and wanted to go. And those guys, it's their last chance. Big Mo came here to hang out with Dante and its his last chance.

You want those guys to experience it. Really important for Dante, really important for Jermaine. Their intensity -- it's not like they didn't want it the whole year. It wasn't lack of effort.

But our attention to detail and communication, those things that we couldn't get across to him how important they were. But I thought our defensive connection was a lot better. I thought we made fewer mistakes against two really good offensive teams in Arizona and Colorado. You look at their KenPom and their statistics, they're two very good offensive teams and we hold one to the 60s and one to 59. We're not making as many mistakes defensively. And when we do make one it's obvious as all get out.

I thought we cut down on mistakes. Our rebounds tonight, we lost by two, but we were down six at half, I think five or six. It was a tie ball game or close ball game there with four minutes to go, I think 61-61. And the guys finished it off. And we've had trouble finishing. So we finished the last three games, which you gotta do this time of year.

Q. Pac-12 basketball is no longer. You will forever be remembered as the conference's last champion. How will you remember the Pac-12?

DANA ALTMAN: It hurts that we're not going to have a Pac-12. We won the first one here in 2013 when it moved to Vegas.

And we're winning the last one here in Vegas. Vegas has been really good to us. I'm going to miss that.

So part of me is really sad that this is not going to be here because like all the coaches in the league, I like to travel in the league. And those things are all going to change.

But change is exciting also, even at my age. I am kind of looking forward to it. It's going to be a different challenge. So I'm looking forward to that.

But I'm really going to miss the Pac-12. I'm really going to miss going to Arizona and playing; going to Colorado, even though they kicked us; Utah. You like competition. And Kyle's got it going at Washington State. So I am going to miss that, but I also am looking forward to a new challenge.

But to answer your question, Vegas has been great to us. I didn't know if anybody would show up tonight when Arizona's people left. And we had a good crowd.

And the travel for us -- our fans can't drive here, but they like coming to Vegas. You can see, like, Vegas, Arizona can drive, Utah can drive, L.A. can drive. They've got a big advantage. Our people have to fly. Washington gotta fly. Even Northern California and Colorado's got to fly.

But crowds are good. And I love the league. I am going to miss it. But, again, it's change and you've got to adapt just like we have to adapt to the NIL, we have to adapt to the transfer portal. Everything is different.

And I think it's great that guys get a little bit money that is available to them. I don't know why anybody would want to pay Bam, but look at that smile. (Laughter).

But anyway, if Oregon is not the right situation for them and they feel like going somewhere else is better, I understand that, too.

I want guys that want to be at Oregon. We want to take care of the guys that want to be at Oregon, that want to try to develop, go to class and get a degree. Dante's going to get a degree. Jermaine is finishing up his. Bam has got to get to work on his.

But I want those guys. Mo's in graduate school. I want guys that want to graduate. Those things are still really important. Getting a degree, wanting to be at a university, gotta fight through ups and downs. Nobody's career is going to go like this, you have to want to be there so you can fight through those downs.

Anyway, a lot of change coming. For the University of Oregon, our basketball program and travel, and we just gotta adapt and get ready for it.

Q. Feels like you guys went to zone quite a bit this week. Can you just explain the reason for that and how effective was it and your success?

DANA ALTMAN: Well, our communication was a lot better. To be real honest, I hate admitting this, but I had made some mistakes on how I was teaching it.

And I think we made some adjustments and the guys felt a lot more comfortable with it. And so it was more effective for us, especially yesterday. Today, Colorado has so many guys who can shoot the 3, percentage wise, it makes it a little tougher.

But, no, we made some adjustments with it. Dante's presence and freeing him up a little bit in it made a difference. Getting the wings up.

So it was more effective. And we did, we played it a lot more than we had.

Q. Just describe your feelings and your emotions when the clock was winding down, it settled on you that you had won this title and heading to the tournament?

JERMAINE COUISNARD: For me, it was just something I always dreamed of. Just winning. I feel like the guys who came together at the beginning of the year and we wrote this down on the board. One of the things that we wrote down on the board was winning the regular season, was 1-2, but we got the one that hurt the most. So I'm cool.

JADRIAN TRACEY: I feel ecstatic. I feel great. It feels good that all your hard work pays off. Getting into the gym by ourselves, working on stuff by ourselves, and great things by my coaching staff and my teammates, Jermaine, we go at it a lot, but that makes us better. And it feels great. Feels great.