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NIT SEASON TIP-OFFNovember 24, 2006Julian BetkoA.J. GravesTodd LickliterNEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK Q. A.J., can you talk about what this means for the program that you guys beat a team from the BIG EAST, the SEC and Big-10 and you come in here and walk out of the Garden with a trophy like this; what does it mean to you guys? A.J. GRAVES: There's the man. TODD LICKLITER: You don't need me with these guys. A.J. GRAVES: It will give us some confidence. I mean, we've got a tough non-Conference schedule and a tough Conference schedule coming up. So being able to come in here and play and get some wins, it was nice. TODD LICKLITER: I'd just like to say I agree with you A.J. It was nice. Opening statement is that every game that we play, we've had tremendous respect for the opponent, and when you do that, you prepare well and you stay very in tune. It would be terrific if you always did it and we'd like to always do it, but when you know that you're playing Notre Dame, Indiana, Tennessee, Gonzaga, it's pretty imperative that you concentrate and try to execute and do all those things. So I would like to say that I appreciate those programs and the challenge they presented, because I think it really helped us as far as our concentration. I have tremendous respect for Gonzaga, tremendous respect. And for our guys to be in tune and to do what they have done, I have -- I've had tremendous respect for our guys, but now I guess I have appreciation for them, more appreciation; I've had appreciation, also. I believed in our team and they proved me right. I guess the problem is that I want to be a better team, and it's early, and I want to keep improving. And, you know, this is such a thrill that it's human nature to kind of possibly relax, but I'm hoping that we can demonstrate character as champions and continue to grow and improve. Q. You were the last team to arrive here I think because of some airplane troubles and you are the last team to leave here. What does this do for the confidence of the team going into what is always a long and difficult season? TODD LICKLITER: I think that it's always -- I mean, everybody would tell you, it's always a wonderful thing to be rewarded for your efforts. You keep score, and so you want to win and I think that that's a real plus. At the same time, I think these guys had confidence in what they do and one another. They are a very smart group, they are a very unselfish group and they try to play to their strengths, and they even try to help their teammates play to their strengths. I think this is such an honor to be here, and to be successful is very rewarding. I don't know about any of the other things. Q. Did the travel problems disrupt your routine or affect you? TODD LICKLITER: We don't have a routine. JULIAN BETKO: I can answer that question. Coach says, "Hit the curveball." That's what he used to tell us when something goes unexpected. TODD LICKLITER: When someone throws you a curveball, you've got to hit it. Q. How many hours were you late? JULIAN BETKO: Two or three. Just a little bit. TODD LICKLITER: No, they liked it. They didn't have to practice. They didn't have to listen to me. Just went and got something to eat; perfect. Q. Your last field goal in the game came with eight minutes to go, and then you guys just didn't miss down the stretch and A.J. and Michael Green combined to go 14 for 14 over the last three and a half minutes. TODD LICKLITER: They did that against Notre Dame at the end of the game. Well, you know, when you have good technique and you shoot a lot of free throws, you're pretty confident. And these guys should be confident they have earned that. They kept it in their hands. Guys are smart. You didn't see people out there doing things that wasn't to their strengths. We'll score -- we don't care how we score. If we score at the line, that's fine with us. We don't care. I thought we shot -- we shot a few threes down the stretch that were a little bit frightening, but that's who we are I guess. So, hey, they were open. I hate to tell guys who can make them not to shoot them. Q. You won't see a better fundamentally-played game in this building, even from the pro team. How rewarding is that to see the team execute and play the game the way it was meant to be played? TODD LICKLITER: For you to say that is quite a compliment; thank you. We think there's a right way to play the game, and we're never going to take that for granted. We're always going to try to protect it and appreciate it. I think the right way is to defend as a team and to share the basketball and to play to one another's strengths and to know one another and to understand that the game is played to be won by a team. And also, which maybe I shouldn't bring up in this building, but Bill Russell said you need to have a team ego. Your ego should revolve around the team. I'm very thankful that we have guys like that. Q. A.J., Butler is a small Indiana school and you're from a small Indiana town. Do you get sick of "Hoosiers" movie references; do you get sick of it or indifferent to it? A.J. GRAVES: Maybe a small part of me is excited about it but mainly I'm indifferent about it. It's the truth, it's a fact that we are a small school and we are from Indiana and we are in I guess what you guys would call a mid-major Conference. We are just going to go out and just play our game and see what happens. Q. What does it say about your team? I know everybody was happy and pleased after the Championship, but certainly not over-the-top ecstatic. Looks like you sensed that it was early in the season, even during the celebration. A.J. GRAVES: That's how we've been approaching the whole season. I'd like to say that's good because it's been working for us so far. We didn't take things too excited when we beat IU (Indiana University), we enjoyed the night and moved on. We've got games ahead of us. We've got the whole season ahead of us and we've just got to keep moving forward? Q. What did you do to overcome the size advantage of Gonzaga? TODD LICKLITER: I don't know if we overcame it. I'd have to look. But I will say this; that our guys are outsized height-wise and some weight, but there's other ways to measure individuals. You know, the other thing is, if our guys who are a little smaller can guard a little bigger, they have to guard our guys on the other end, and our guys handle the ball well and can spread the floor and do some things. So we just have to play to our strengths. Q. Julian, obviously you were a basketball star in your native country -- TODD LICKLITER: Who told you that? You been spreading that around? (Laughter). Q. You've obviously had some struggles with some injuries, what does something like this mean for you personally? JULIAN BETKO: Me personally, it kind of -- it's proving the point that my parents instilled in me when I was little, and that is that hard work pays off. During the injury time and times when I struggled, when I had pain, when I needed support from my friends, family and coaches, to work hard and keep working hard and not give up; the moments like this where my team can win the Championship, it's just the reward of the hard work that I put in and my team put in. So I just take it as, yes, my parents were right when I was little. Q. If each of the gentlemen could briefly comment, coming in here against three teams in the Top-25 and now winning this tournament, what are your expectations now about being listed possibly in the Top-25? TODD LICKLITER: You said, "gentlemen," were you -- me, too? Okay, okay. We don't really have any expectations. The game's played on the court and I think it's a lot of fun, it's so nice that there's so many interested people and people that rate and project. It's just the greatest game in my opinion. But whether they rate us or not rate us, we'll play tomorrow and we want to play better tomorrow. Q. A.J.? A.J. GRAVES: He just stole my words. Exactly the way I feel. It's nice to get honored. It's nice to get some press. But other than that, we're going to play tomorrow, we're going to play the next day and we're just going to keep moving on and see where we can go. Q. And Julian, for the national stage? JULIAN BETKO: One thing, I think as a group, as a team, we'll have to realize that we are not going to be overlooked anymore. We are going to be -- probably people are going to be coming after us. So I think the responsibility and approach for every game will have to be -- I'm not saying it's bad now, but we'll just have to focus. TODD LICKLITER: You afraid I was going to get mad at you (laughter)? JULIAN BETKO: We have to understand that people are going to come after us, so we have to be ready to play every game. Q. What does it mean to you to be adding to your family's legacy at Butler basketball? A.J. GRAVES: Well, I guess it would be a lot of pressure but I don't feel that. I think it was a great opportunity. I mean, my brothers probably paved the way for me and they got, I guess, our name out there. But, you know, when it comes down to it, the name is going to be taken away and it's just going to be me left out there and my team and our team. So, I mean, we've just got to play the best we can do and let the team speak for itself and see what happens. Q. I think related to something Julian mentioned, I know for several years, just a few years back, Butler was one of the first teams mentioned when we talked about well-known mid-major schools, and then there were a couple of years where some other teams and Conferences got a lot more mention. Is this maybe a way of saying now that Butler is back? TODD LICKLITER: We didn't go anywhere. (Laughter). You know, there's a lot of parity and a lot of great competition. We're just trying to uphold our tradition and play good basketball. We tried to do it all along, and what these guys have done is very difficult and should not be ever taken lightly or taken for granted. You know, it's just a situation where at our level, staying on top is pretty demanding. But we're trying. We're striving. End of FastScripts |
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