NCAA MEN'S FINAL FOUR

April 4, 2003

Kirk Hinrich

Aaron Miles

Roy Williams

AARON MILES: I don't know. I mean, I don't even know how to answer this question, man. But last year at Maryland, we all had a cool game. We could have played a lot better. We're a lot more focused this year as a team, myself. We're not satisfied with just getting here; we're trying to win it all.

KIRK HINRICH: I'm not really concerned. I think last year's team had a lot of strengths, where this team -- this year's team didn't. This year's team has a lot of strengths, where last year's team didn't. You know, we're going to play as the game goes. If we're making shots, we're going to continue shooting, continue making them. Our focus has been always to pound the ball inside, get the ball to Nick, let him impact the game. He's a load down there. We're going to try to give him the ball.

AARON MILES: Last year we have Jeff Boschee ^ and Kirk on the wing to shoot three. This year we have more penetrators, Keith Langford, myself. Like you said, Nick Collison, the load down there, he draws so much attention. You've got to give him the ball. He's an All-American. He can make plays.

AARON MILES: It really don't matter. You know, I mean, that's just people's opinions. I mean, at first we wasn't even favorites to get to the Final Four. I mean, it's just people's opinions. Don't really matter. You just got to go out and play your best game, regardless.

KIRK HINRICH: I'd like to know when we became the favorites (smiling). No. I mean, we're going to go out. It doesn't matter, you know, Dick Vitale, Digger Phelps, whoever they're going to say is going to win. What matters is to plays better on that day, that's the bottom line.

AARON MILES: Actually, I really haven't focused on that. I ain't worried about none of that right now. I guess I could worry about that in a couple of weeks or something. But right now my attention, everybody on this team's attention, is fully on Kansas basketball, playing against Marquette, trying to accomplish our goal.

KIRK HINRICH: Basically we're just focusing on this, like Aaron said. You can't think about that stuff. When you have such an opportunity, you can't let things that you don't have control of -- weigh on your mind. You just have to -- we're so excited to be here. We're into this. That's the bottom line. We're not thinking about, you know, any outside factors.

KIRK HINRICH: I think so. Aaron, you know, has done a great job of running this team. He does so many different things. He's real active defensively. Everybody's always on him, not being able to make shots. Before he's done, he's going to be a really good shooter.

AARON MILES: (Smiling).

KIRK HINRICH: He brought something to this team, you know, like a little swagger, a little confidence. He's always putting that out there for the last couple years.

AARON MILES: Thanks, man (smiling).

KIRK HINRICH: There are definitely, you know, similarities between Maryland's situation last year and our situation. But I think we're a completely different team. But as far as, you know, advantages, disadvantages, I think we might have a little bit of an advantage, but I'm not saying that's going to, you know, help us win games. We've been here. We know what the intensity is like in a Final Four game. Last year I just remember playing against Maryland. The intensity level -- you know, we had an intensity for two or three runs, and Maryland had it for 40 minutes. But I think that's just the main thing. You just learn and take things from your last year's experience.

KIRK HINRICH: From Day 1, Nick's always been, you know, a consistent, solid player. You can count the number of bad games he's had on one hand. When he came back, I think, you know, this fall from the summer thing, I think he just had a little bit more confidence. I think he had been there, you know, against some of the best players in the world, realized how good he is. I think he's just built on that and learned a lot, you know, made himself a better player from that experience.

AARON MILES: Kirk probably ain't going to care no more because he's leaving, but I'd like to get paid. Actually, you know, I think being at Kansas, you know, getting a scholarship is a lot for us. It's an opportunity that a lot of people, non-athletes, don't receive. So, you know, that's being paid in a sense. But, shoot, if I could get a couple extra dollars in my pocket, I don't mind (smiling).

KIRK HINRICH: Well, I would be kind of upset they made the rule next year that players got paid (laughter). No, I mean, playing college basketball, I think it's just a reward enough, going to school, getting that experience. You know, I think obviously if you ask any player, he wouldn't turn down, you know, getting paid. But I think it's good the way it is.

AARON MILES: I think it makes it a lot easier for us. I seen the last year, the first summer I got here, playing pick-up games. I mean, watching him on TV, I didn't know how quick he was, how strong he was. But playing up against him, I knew his capabilities, his abilities, whatever. Having him on the team is real great, man. I mean, I learned a lot from him. He might not say a lot, but just watching the things that he does on the court for his team is great for us. He makes hustle plays, he's an All-American, dives on the floor, takes the charge. One thing he don't get a lot of credit for is his defense. He plays hard on defense. He locks a lot of people up. He's a real big part of this team.

AARON MILES: I think what makes our transition work best is our defense. We pressure the ball, we deny, we play help defense. We try to force our opponents to take bad shots, outside bad shots, to help start the fast break. Nick, Jeff Graves, everybody that goes to the defensive boards, we pitch it ahead and try to run.

KIRK HINRICH: I think the main thing the team has been doing to try to slow us down is trying to make it tough, surround Nick, make us -- try to make us take outside shots, hope we miss, hope we take too many of them, try to slow us down maybe like against a Utah State, a little containment press, fall back into the zone. But, you know, what do teams need to do to slow us down? I'm not going to tell you that (smiling).

KIRK HINRICH: I remember watching him last year. I knew he was a great player. You know, I don't think I realized how good he was until I saw him this year. I think he improved a lot. But when I think of Dwyane Wade, a lot of times you get ready to play against somebody, you try to take something away from them, maybe he favors his right hand, he favors the jump shot. But, you know, I don't think you can say that about him. He's just so versatile. You know, I think that's what makes him great. We think of him as a scorer. Watching him, he makes a lot of great passes, too. He's just a great player. We're going to have to play well to contain him.

AARON MILES: Like Kirk said, he's just a versatile player. At 6'5", he's a big guard, a strong guard. He can get to the hole, he can shoot it. But the thing I think he does real well is creates for his teammates. He draws so much attention by opposing defenses, he's capable of finding the open man. But also on the defensive end, he plays good defense and he get to the boards.

AARON MILES: We ain't worried about that right now.

KIRK HINRICH: I really don't want to answer that.

JOHN GERDES: Thank you, gentlemen. We'll bring Coach Williams in. Thank you. We're joined by head coach Roy Williams. We'd ask that you make an opening comment, then we'll open it up to questions.

COACH WILLIAMS: It's not a big comment, because we need to be out on the practice court in about 15 minutes. We're quite excited. We have a huge challenge in front of us, watching the Marquette tapes, I'm extremely impressed with their basketball team. Even though I can say excited, there is a little bit of trepidation there, too. I'm not letting my team watch the Marquette-Kentucky game because it was scary and it provided me with some nightmares. I don't need any more nightmares. Other than that, we'll answer some questions.

COACH WILLIAMS: I hope it's a huge factor, but I really don't believe it's much of one. I would hope that it would be huge. You know, their team is a team, I'd describe them this way, they have no holes, there's not one factor the game you can aim at and say, "We have a huge advantage here." They can score outside with great shooters, score inside with Jackson and Wade, other guys can take it to the floor, take it to the basket. It really is a team with no holes. I do always think that if you can have experienced talent, that's better than just talent, or it's better than just experience. We do have that, particularly with Kirk and Nick after four years. I think it's probably overplayed, to myself.

COACH WILLIAMS: You know, if you watch the Kentucky game, I mean, I'm not trying to say this because you shouldn't compare anybody to Michael Jordan, but it was scary all the things he could do. I looked a couple times to make sure it was still No. 3 I was watching on tape and not No. 23. He was sensational in that game. I've seen two or three other games. Even when he's bad, he's still really, really good. I don't know that in our league we've played anybody this year that jumps out at me that I would say that was like him. He's a powerful guard. He can do some things inside and outside. He can shoot, defense, block shots. I mean, the Estill kid from Kentucky went up to lay it up, he came from 10 feet off and blocked the shot against the board. He really is a gifted, gifted young man who does make his teammates better.

COACH WILLIAMS: You know, I really thought that that would really help him so much, he'd work very hard over the surgery. He did, but yet he got off to a little bit of a slow start because he lost his focus on what he did well. You know, sort of trying to be somebody else. He was looking at some other things. What he did as a freshman, set such a high standard, it's been hard to even come close to that. But I thought he's had -- at times this year he's been absolutely sensational. There's been other times where he hasn't been as good. But you still look at those numbers. I know what he means to our club on the basis of the will to win, and that's what Aaron Miles does better than everything, is just trying to get his team to win.

COACH WILLIAMS: Well, I think Michael, first he was forced into it because we had to have somebody. But I think that I started getting more and more confidence with him even before we played at Oregon. I played him more in that game, not because he was from Portland, but because he had earned it during the practice time and during the games up to that moment. Then the Oregon game, he played really well. I think that gave him some confidence. He's probably -- you know, he didn't play very well in the tournament against Missouri. But other than that, down the stretch, the regular season and in the NCAA, he's played very well, really has earned his time now.

COACH WILLIAMS: It's hard because he does have a lot of things that he does, has the capabilities. We really try to make sure that we get him the ball. That is a big emphasis. But, you know, in the Arizona game, they chose to really pack it back in and get around him. It was the best decision for their club. Lute made that decision. At the same time they packed it back in so much, we didn't have to worry about them running out on the break. We outscored them fast break points 22-2. I think that he is a gifted youngster. We're going to try to get him the ball. Just because you put somebody around him doesn't mean that we're not going to try to throw him the ball because he is a huge positive for us. I've never been one to believe that you should just take what the defense gives you. I think you should try to get what you want. That's the way we're going to try to look at it again.

COACH WILLIAMS: Well, I think the success throughout the course of the tournament is a good barometer. I've used the word, it legitimizes our statements that we're really good. I think that it is important to have success throughout the course of the tournament. You know, it would be great if one of the -- it would be really great if one Big-12 team wins the whole thing (laughter). But itt would help your conference. You know, it's a crapshoot. Last year we got to the Final Four and we didn't play well. Maryland did. They had a lot to do with us not playing well. I think what you do during the course of the tournament does have that added significance of legitimizing what you've bragged about and what you've done during the regular season.

COACH WILLIAMS: I think it's important to them because it's the pinnacle of college basketball. This is what they dream about, going out and practicing with the people there this afternoon will be important to them, getting on the bus, and having the police escort to the hotel was, you know, something that they'll always remember. I do think, though, that when you have that invested minutes in the game, that perhaps it's a different level. I think that Kirk and Nick, Aaron and Keith, going through it last year, having those minutes invested, I think it is a different level of interest for them. But I think those three kids that you mentioned are still going to enjoy this and remember it for a long, long time.

COACH WILLIAMS: You know, I've seen a growth I think that started a lot longer ago. Again, we were 3-3. Things weren't as smooth as it appears to be now. I think the Oregon game, second half, we grew up quite a bit. Go down to Tulsa, and Tulsa was ranked 17th in the country at that time. The maturity of our team helped us win that game, and that gave them a little more confidence. Then I think that the farther you go and you win the conference regular season, that gives you some confidence. Going into the tournament, playing four different teams and having the success, I think that gives you confidence coming in. So I think the maturity level and the confidence level is something that is important. But I've never seen a team get to the Final Four that wasn't very confident, because they've all had to have that success to get there.

COACH WILLIAMS: Well, you know, I'd love that if it was because then I wouldn't have to answer all these questions. But I'm just answering them once, so it's not that big a deal anyway. I do think that the statement I made on Sunday, Monday, whenever it was, or Tuesday (laughter), whenever it was, that my team, my staff, our program, our school, everybody, we have the right to enjoy this week. I think we should have the right to smile and feel good and not have to answer some crazy things. I know for myself, as a coach, you work awfully hard. The great satisfaction you have is something that I'm not going to allow anybody to take away from me. So if somebody else can do that for me, so I didn't have to answer the questions, that would be great. I told my staff, "Today is the greatest day there is to be a college basketball coach, because you're going to go out on that floor and practice in front of the public, there's going to be a lot of coaches there, and they wish they were where you are." I think it's a shame that timing of someone else's scenario bothers that or raises these questions. But I understand you guys have to do your job, too.

COACH WILLIAMS: You're talking to a guy that I almost dislike all rules in that NCAA rule book. It's so big now, I need a weightlifter to carry the sucker. That would be fine with me.

COACH WILLIAMS: You know, the one thing that I've noticed that has made me concentrate even more. I've never been one to sleep a lot, but a lot of times in life when you wake up, you say, "I'll lay here a little longer, maybe I'll go to sleep." This week I haven't done that. This week when I wake up, I get up. There's something I can be reading about Marquette, some other tape I can be looking at. What it's done for me is made me focus even harder. When I go in that meeting room, those kids know I'm with them. When I go in there and stand in front of them, they know my mind is not elsewhere, my mind has never been elsewhere, that my mind is with them. I think that one thing I'd let you guys think about. If your son was playing for Kansas, you wouldn't have a lot of respect for a coach that wouldn't give them 100%. And I'll be darned if there's ever going to be a parent that thinks I haven't given my team everything I can possibly give them. I don't really understand why people can't stop with the first answer they get, I guess.

COACH WILLIAMS: Well, it's easy. Before you make every decision in your life, you ought to think about it. And, by God, I'm not going to think one second that's going to take me away from Nick Collison and Kirk Hinrich. Whether it's media, whether it's college presidents, whether it's anybody in the world, if they have a tough time with that, that's their problem. Because if I'm going to think about -- if I'm going to make any statement, any answer to anything, other than, "Jack, that putt's good," I don't have to think when it's six inches from the hole, that's good, pick it up. Any decision I've ever made in my life, I've thought about. By God, I am not going to cheat Kirk Hinrich, I am not going to cheat Nick Collison. Any of the talking heads have a problem with that, that's their problem. If their son was on my team, they'd have confidence I was giving them everything I had.

COACH WILLIAMS: Well, I like -- a hundred years ago when I played, I liked to play that way. As a fan, I like to watch that. Kids like to play that way. The only group left are coaches. I don't think the game is just meant for my enjoyment. I'm going to try to coach that way ourselves. We really do emphasize it. I emphasize that as much as Coach Lombardi used to emphasize that power sweep right or left, Coach Robinson at USC when it was USC right or left. We're going to do as hard as we can every single day. At the same time we can't let that be the only way we play. We understand that other teams are going to try to take that away, and they should. I don't know that I would go up to 70, but I know I've charted it at times before, and close to 60% of our offense comes from our primary break or secondary break.

COACH WILLIAMS: I think his game has changed a little. But some of it's out of necessity. You know, last year with Drew and Boschee we could score so much better because we also had Nick and Kirk. Then if something happened, we brought in Wayne or Keith, they could score also. We had six guys who could really flat-out score and Aaron could pass. This year we don't have that many guys who can really flat-out score, and no guys coming off the bench who can really flat-out score. Nick has been asked to do more. I even told he and Kirk both over the summer, they were in a great position, because their coach was going to want them to shoot more. Very seldom does that happen, and they better like that. He's doing a few more things out on the floor. Where his game is so great I think is that 15 to 16 feet on in because he has so many moves, is so fundamentally sound from there on in that it's very hard to guard him.

COACH WILLIAMS: There's no doubt in my mind they should be revised. I'll tell you the reason why. Jared Haase went to California, then transferred to Kansas, got his degree at Kansas, was an academic All-American at Kansas. He doesn't count at Kansas or at Cal. Paul Pierce leaves and goes to the NBA. Not a bad deal. He signed a $70 million contract. I think each and every one of you in here would quit your job today for $70 million. Maybe not. Maybe you'd think twice about it, okay (smiling)? I told Paul, he still needs his degree because he needs to know how to handle that much money. I think when somebody leaves in good academic standing, greats were in great shape, I think that should be considered, as well. If they're going to the NBA.

COACH WILLIAMS: You know, I never did. I was an assistant at North Carolina 10 years, went into the Final Four in '81, '82 when we played, and '86 when I was trying to talk somebody else into taking another job with a friend of mine. Never went to either one of the games. I went my first year at Kansas as a head coach. After that, I became a member of the (NABC) board of directors and had to come because of all the meetings. I've never been in a lobby and sat down in a lobby of a Final Four that I can ever remember. But I love the games. I love the pageantry. That was just not my game.