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NCAA MEN'S 1ST & 2ND ROUNDS REGIONALS: SPOKANE

March 17, 2007

SPOKANE, WASHINGTON

THE MODERATOR: We'll get started with the USC players. We have Gabe Pruitt and Lodrick Stewart. And we'll open it up for questions.

Q. For both you guys, you guys have your top four players are two juniors, a senior and a 21 year old freshman. Texas has four freshmen starters and a sophomore, does that give you an advantage at all having a little more maturity, having played together for a longer period of time?
LODRICK STEWART: I don't really think so. They're a great team. They have mature players on their team that's out standing players. And they're a great team all the way around. Offensively and defensively.
So it's going to be a tough task for us. I don't think it neither team have an advantage.
GABE PRUITT: I don't think it will matter too much. They have been gelling together all year. They have won big games even the games that against good teams. They're a closer. It's going to be, even though they're young, we don't look at that. We're still coming in that they're looking to fight us.

Q. Gabe, did you tweak your hamstring yesterday and what's your status today?
GABE PRUITT: Yeah, it's a little tweaked, but I'm fine. I did a lot of stretching today with the trainers. And I'm fine right now.

Q. Both you guys, how profound was the NBA influence that Coach Floyd brought to USC?
GABE PRUITT: I think what Coach Floyd's brought to us really helped us because he's been where we're trying to go. We really respect him. And he's brought kind of that man's mentality to our college level. And he's kind of forced us to mature. He's put a lot on us. And we had nothing to do but to respond to him to be successful.
LODRICK STEWART: I feel the same way. We run a few NBA sets and stuff like that. He's just a great coach just to be around. Not just because he coached in the NBA. Yes, we all have dreams to go to the next level and play at that level, and he give us tips and pointers of how hard we need to play to even get a chance. But it's just about him being a great person, a great individual that helped us to see this year come together.

Q. Could you tell me a little bit about your, what Texas poses defensively and offensively that you guys are going to have to do or try to do both on your offense and defense against a team like that?
LODRICK STEWART: Well, I'm not going to give our game plan away, but they're a physical team. They're very fast getting up and down the court. So I think what we need to do is just get back. That's probably the only thing I can really say. We just need to get back and just play hard.
GABE PRUITT: They're quick, they're fast. They're long. I guess I can treat Augustin just like Ervin, so they're pretty similar. So I don't think it will change too much. But just like Lod said, get back and stop their second chance baskets.

Q. You guys almost have to guard against over committing to Durant and putting too much emphasis on him in this game?
LODRICK STEWART: Not really, we're just going to keep doing what we have been doing. We have a game plan that coach gave us and we're going to execute whatever he say do. Not just going to focus on one player, it's about us getting a win. Whatever we can do to get the win. So we just got to focus on the whole team because it's just not him as a standout player, it's the whole starting five. They're very deep, all the bench players, they're great too, so we have to focus on every one.
GABE PRUITT: We can't put too much emphasis on Durant. Obviously he's a great player, but there's other guys around him that can also play. We can't put too much attention on him and allow the guys to go off.
So we got guys on our team that can accept that challenge and do a job on Durant and then we just can't forget about the other guys as well.

Q. On that again, he is kind of a unique player, so is it team defense in order to contain him? Can you just elaborate on that a little bit?
LODRICK STEWART: It's just about doing what we have been doing. Help side, just denying the wings the balls, just getting up. When your man get the ball, face up and be a man and take that challenge that you have to keep him from getting in the lane. Not just Kevin Durant it's the whole team. They have great perimeter players that can break you down and shoot it and get to the foul line.
It's going to be a challenge for all of us, but it's going to take a team effort. And it's from me all the way to the Tim Floyd it's going to be a team effort to beat this team, because they're a great team.

Q. Is there a Pac-10 team that you can compare them to then or that you guys have played in the Pac-10?
LODRICK STEWART: I think that's a unique team right there.
GABE PRUITT: It's a pretty unique team. No, there's not a team I can think of.
LODRICK STEWART: They have great quick guards like Oregon, I can say that. But with Kevin Durant in the lineup, it's just a different matchup and we have to just take a different approach to this game. We're going to come out and fight. We're excited to be able to get this opportunity to play against Texas because they're a great team. And I feel we're a great team too and as long as we execute our stuff and just go at it the way we have been going, stay in our routine that we have been doing every day, I think we'll be all right.

Q. In Pac-10 play you guys are pretty familiar with who you're going against, guys you played against in high school. In the tournament setting how much more important is the other scout team guys for giving you a good look for a team you haven't seen before?
GABE PRUITT: It's really important. We don't have too many days to prepare. It's kind of like when we go on the road and you play one game, you have a day to prepare. So we're kind of used to it. Our scouting team, they do a real good job of really getting in and doing what they do and having us prepared or whatever, but it's real important. But we'll treat it as -- we'll treat it like a road game where we have one day and do our preparation for that game.

Q. Lodrick, you touched on it briefly, everybody talks about Kevin when they're getting ready to play Texas, how important are Augustin and Abrams to their overall success?
LODRICK STEWART: They're a great team because I know he get a lot of pressure and stuff because he is like one of the greatest college players that ever played the game, I mean stat-wise, and you really don't see many six-ten wing players like that.
But them two guards are great. They shoot well, break people down, get to the basket. And I think they really helped him and opened up his game. Because it's hard, like the film we watched, it's hard for a player to stay between them, keeping them from getting to the basket. So they play a major role in their success this year too.

Q. Is there an excitement level in the challenge of facing a player who could be the first pick in the NBA draft?
GABE PRUITT: Yes, it's very exciting. We see Texas all the time on ESPN. You hear Kevin Durant's name and whenever you talk about college basketball and we have an opportunity to play against him. And we have been doing a lot this year, we have been successful, and we just are getting another opportunity to show how good we are. And I think this is a perfect opportunity for us to do that.
LODRICK STEWART: Man, he's a great player, but like I said before, and Gabe said, we're not just focusing on one player how to stop one player. We want to stop the team. And just be able to walk out of here with a win. We're going to have to go at this game and watch a lot of film tonight and just prepare for this game. And our scout team has really helped us out this year just running through all the plays and stuff like that. That's been really a major part in our success this year.

Q. Football is one of the few games here and there at USC and they have won like a gazillion baseball championships. Where does basketball rank in the pecking order on sports on campus right now? You guys getting recognized all the time and is the culture changing?
LODRICK STEWART: I really don't know where we rank. We don't really think about that. We just focus a game at a time and just we really can't say where we rank because it's not over yet. We're just going to keep playing and hope we can go very far in this great conference, great tournament.
GABE PRUITT: We're starting to turn heads. We got our good share of compliments around campus. But we feel we still have more work to do. Football team, baseball team, they have been winning championships and we have yet to win a championship. So I don't think people would look at us as them until we win a championship. And we still got a lot of work to do to be put in that category with them. But we're turning heads right now.

Q. Do either of you guys feel like you have to avenge what happened in the Rose Bowl a year and a half ago when Texas defeated Southern California in the last second with Vince Young? Has anybody said, come on, you guys got to beat those guys and avenge that?
LODRICK STEWART: People have said that, but we're not looking at that. We play basketball they play football. So we're just trying to get the win. Just, it's not really about because they beat us in football, we just have to come out and play and just focus on the game and just go in our same routine and just try to get this win.
GABE PRUITT: People have said it, brought it up, with the football game, but we don't look at it as that. Like he said, we're basketball and they're football. We just have an opportunity to play against a good team with a couple good players. But we don't look at it as getting revenge for the football team.

Q. As a follow-up, when you guys go on the road a lot though particularly like maybe against UCLA or that they wear the Vince Young stuff and say "Hook-em Horns" and do stuff when you play against other teams, right?
GABE PRUITT: I seen that, if we play Oregon or whatever I see people around with Vince Young jerseys, just to try to get back at us. But, no, we just try to get the win. That's our, that's us getting back at them. It's getting the win.

Q. With the new arena, with the recruiting class you guys have coming in, should UCLA be afraid of what's going on at USC?
LODRICK STEWART: Man, any team that get the opportunity to be coached by Tim Floyd, I think should be afraid. He's a great coach and he turn programs around. He's going to make this into a powerhouse.
So I mean, he's a great coach. He's going to turn it around. I'm happy for him what he have done with USC basketball. Because people over the years have forgot about USC basketball. Because I remember last year it was funny we were on the road and people looked at our stuff our warmups and said USC, they thought it was the University of South Carolina. And that was kind of funny. And we were like, dang, they really don't know who we are. So I think we're kind of earning a name for our self and people are starting to recognize who had we are.
GABE PRUITT: I don't think not just UCLA, but I think anybody who has to face us should be worried. We're a young people, obviously Lod's leaving and that, but we just have a lot coming back and we got people that's going to be added on to it, so I think any team that we play should be kind of afraid to matchup against us.
THE MODERATOR: I'm anxious to know who Kevin Durant is on your scout team.
LODRICK STEWART: We we're about to do that right now. We're about to go to practice right now so we'll see.
THE MODERATOR: All right. Any more questions? All right. Thanks, gentlemen. We'll go ahead and talk questions for coach.

Q. Wanted to be the guy to say if it hasn't already been said, welcome back on behalf of the media and what's it like two decades later to be going in for the Sweet 16 here on this court?
COACH TIM FLOYD: Well, it's great to be back in this region. It's special area for me. This is where I got my start as ahead coach.
Bill Belknap gave me a chance at the University of Idaho and got some great memories from being back here. And we have had a chance to see some old friends and that part's always great.

Q. Did you see kind of a rejuvenated Taj Gibson yesterday and how prominently does he factor in tomorrow I know you don't tell us your game plan but he's obviously going to be in the mix with Durant, it seems like.
COACH TIM FLOYD: You know, I wouldn't say rejuvenated, I thought he was the one guy that really played in the Oregon game. I thought he really played there. And I thought he played exceptionally well against Stanford. And Washington State. In the tournament. I think he's benefited from his experiences. He was, he played last night like he did the first two months of the season. He had an adjustment to size and length in our league affect Oregon, Oregon State series, early in the season. When you saw Hawes again, when he saw Stanford for the first time.
And we're getting to where we expect that from him, night in, night out. He's a great competitor. Taj is going to give you an effort every night. And he'll have obviously a prominent role for us. I'm not saying towards Durant, I'm just saying he's going to have a prominent role, because he's a guy we play through offensively and he's a guy we rely on on the boards and defensively.

Q. A follow-up on Taj. Given that his age and as you say his experiences that he's gone through, does he play like a freshman at all? Does he seem like he's already an upperclassman?
COACH TIM FLOYD: Well, he does. I think the adjustment that freshmen go through are how hard you have to play. And Hackett hasn't experienced that. Nor has Dwight Lewis. Those guys all play hard. And that's why they're playing significant minutes for us.

Q. Watching tape, is there any team that you think that is best in defending Durant?
COACH TIM FLOYD: Well, if I answered that then they would know how we're going to try to defend him. So we have watched a lot of tape. And I wouldn't say that we necessarily have a plan in place. We're going to work on some things that we think are basic to the game today. Watch some film tonight, have a little walk through again tomorrow and talk about specific coverages. He's gotten his points in a lot of different ways, but thing that jumps out at me is his great ability to offensive rebound. And he gets it as far as scoring in that he understands that guys that score get to the foul line. And teams have talked about playing him physical, teams have talked about playing him soft. I know that I probably would rather see him shoot threes than get to the foul line all night long. Because he shot 92 percent from the foul line over his last four games.

Q. Rick Barnes likes to show clips sometimes to his players to motivate them. Do you, one, do you show clips to your players and if you would, if you do, would you show them USC versus Texas in the Rose Bowl from last year where Vince Young scored late to beat the Trojans?
COACH TIM FLOYD: I doubt we would show them that one. No. I don't think it has any impact on this game whatsoever. No. No, I don't really show them clips. I don't. But that's a good idea. Maybe we can come up with one before tomorrow. But I don't think it will be Vince.
(Laughter.)

Q. You guys have, key player-wise, a couple juniors, a senior, and a 21 year old freshman. They have four freshmen and a sophomore in the starting lineup. Does that give you any advantage of having guys that have played and been together?
COACH TIM FLOYD: They have one game of NCAA tournament experience, we have one game of NCAA tournament experience. I think that they lost in their conference finals, right? We lost in our conference finals. I don't think there's any real advantage. I don't. Not this time of the year. Their freshmen aren't freshmen any more. Taj isn't a freshman any more. Daniel is not a freshman any more. These guys have had enough game experience that you figure that they understand what they have to do, when they have to do it, and how they have to do it and we're going to have to play hard both teams are going to play exceptionally hard and try to play together. Try to play smart and play together.

Q. Is it harder to win at an established program or at a remote place like Idaho or Iowa State, or a place like USC where it's really not part of the culture or history?
COACH TIM FLOYD: They're all hard. The hardest job is the one that you have. And that's because of expectations. It doesn't matter if you're at Idaho or New Orleans or Iowa State or USC. You have expectations the second you take the job. This job has been the easiest recruiting job that I've ever had. I think it's because of the great marketing that our football program has given us. I think there's a mystique about our football program. I think kids pay attention to it regardless if they're basketballers or footballers, it's provided us great recruiting weekends. But in addition we have a new arena, and we're in an area with 18 million people that has served us well in our recruiting. And that will be the real key to our future success is the recruiting base that we have.
We didn't necessarily have one in the Palouse. Although that has changed a great deal in the last 20 years. There's some outstanding players in this part of the country now. We didn't necessarily have that in the State of Iowa. Where, oh, about 40 percent of the state was with the cyclones and 60 percent was with the Hawkeyes. And of the two Division-I players it was a flip of the coin what birthright you had and whether or not you were going to have a shot at the kid.
And you go outside the area, go into Chicago they grew up wanting to play in the Big-10. Go down to St. Louis, Kansas or Missouri. And we had to think nationally. And down at New Orleans, although there were players, they all grew up and wanted to play in the SEC. So, but this is a job that has great potential because of the recruiting base, the academic reputation and the marketing that we're getting from our football program, and the new arena.

Q. How much more important are the scout players in a NCAA tournament setting where the players aren't necessarily familiar with the players they're going up against they have never seen Texas on the court before.
COACH TIM FLOYD: You know, I think you just talk in terms of the whole. Things that we have to work on in terms of concepts that we have done throughout the course of the year. The change from game to game depending on who you're playing. And we will give them an idea about their personnel, what we think their personnel likes in terms of the where they like to get their shots, how they like to go get them, what shoulder they like to turn over, etcetera. But with 24 hours in a turn around, it's very difficult as we have learned in the Pac-10. And our league is a Thursday, Saturday league. And you don't have a chance for that repeat practice to make sure that it's instilled in your players. And a lot of it is just going to be on instinct and playing hard. You don't want to make them think this time of the year. They just got to go play.

Q. Did you enjoy coaching in the NBA?
COACH TIM FLOYD: Well, I think to enjoy anything in our business regardless of if it's junior high basketball to the NBA, you have to win. Because that's the essence of what we do. So take a quick glimpse at my record and tell me how much we enjoyed it.
(Laughter.).

Q. Following up on the scout team question, who plays Durant on your scout team?
COACH TIM FLOYD: Oh, I guess Kyle Austin. We expect him to be Durant a year from now.
(Laughter.)

Q. When he's red shirting?
COACH TIM FLOYD: He might. He might. He might.

Q. Are you ahead of schedule or do you believe in schedules doing so well in your second year?
COACH TIM FLOYD: Well, I was asked this question last week and these guys, if y'all don't mind repeating it, my schedule was to try to get here before my contract ended. Which is three years from now. So with that being said, we'll have to regroup and reestablish where we want to go from here, but we have an administration that at some point wants to try to win a national championship. We all want that. Do we have the pieces in place to do that one day? Yes. I think it can happen at some point.
We had no idea what to expect this year but I think Gabe Pruitt's played the point guard spot, Daniel Hackett has played at the point guard spot, those were our real questions going into this year and I think they have handled that situation terrifically. Both of them. And I think Lewis and Taj Gibson have been outstanding and we expected Nick's play, we expected Lodrick Stewart's play. Weren't sure about the other four guys that we talked about. We knew Gabe was a great player. But we didn't know how he would play with the ball in his hands at the point. And he's just gotten better and better every game.

Q. Would being picked six in the Pac-10 was that a slap or did you use that as motivation?
COACH TIM FLOYD: We didn't know really what to expect to be quite honest with you. We have always believed that college basketball's about guard play and typically you go as far as your guards allow you to go. That's why Washington State's been outstanding, I think it's why Oregon's been outstanding, why UCLA has been outstanding. Certainly Texas, their back court, teams that are playing this time of the year have great back courts. We didn't know what our back Court was going to be like with the loss of Ryan Francis with Gabe's ineligibility, the fact he couldn't practice with us the first semester and now to go try to convert to a point guard and he's gotten better and better every game. That's been the real key is our perimeter play. And Taj's addition.

Q. Talking about perimeter play, you talk a little bit about what you see out of D.J. Augustin and A.J. and the challenges they present?
COACH TIM FLOYD: Yeah, D.J. has got a lot of savvy, a lot of poise, I haven't seen him take a bad shot in the films that I've watched. He gets it. He understands where the ball needs to go. Last ten minutes of the game. It seems like it's in Durant's hands. He does that unselfishly. I talked to six coaches, three of them said you got to force him right, the other three said you got to force him left. Which all that tells me is he can go either way with it. So I think he's terrific. I think he's absolutely terrific.
And Abrams, he's got unbelievable range. And great quickness. And a great ability to get it off quickly. The two big guys, when they rebound it they're pretty darn hard to beat and that will be a real key in the game.
THE MODERATOR: We'll let Coach Floyd go to practice.
COACH TIM FLOYD: All right. Thank you.

End of FastScripts

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