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MOUNTAIN WEST CONFERENCE MEN'S TOURNAMENT

March 14, 2008

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA

THE MODERATOR: Coach, if you want to just begin with some comments on the game.
COACH BOYLEN: Got to give UNLV credit. They made the plays. Proud of my team. Held them to 39% on their home floor. Played our hearts out. They created offense with the dribble. We have to generate offense. They did a better job of creating the offense in the second half. They made the plays.
THE MODERATOR: Questions for the student-athletes.

Q. Could you talk about the possession where they got the couple offensive rebounds, took a ton of time off the clock near the end.
SHAUN GREEN: We were just guarding them. We had a plan where I was going to switch out on whoever was going out to set the screen.
They just shot tough shots, and we just couldn't find Rougeau. He had timely offensive rebounds. It was one of our keys going into the game, because we know he's a great offensive rebounder. He seems to get timely ones all the time. We just couldn't find them when we needed to and it cost us.
LUKE NEVILL: Along the same lines. We just -- I personally just couldn't get a body on him. He had a nice running start to get rebounds and I just wasn't able to hit him and cut him out, especially end of the game when, like Shaun said, ton of rebounds. He got them. Got them extra possessions at the end of the game and that was crucial for their win.

Q. Did either of you have a good look at the out of bounds play that they ruled went off of Lawrence? Thoughts on the call?
SHAUN GREEN: I was over there, but I couldn't tell whether it went off his leg or not. So I can't really comment whether it was a good call or not, so...
THE MODERATOR: Guys, thanks. Appreciate it.
Questions for coach Boylen.

Q. The possession at the end and the out of bounds call at the end.
COACH BOYLEN: That was A1 on our board, cutting Rougeau out. We didn't get it done. That's what he does. That's how he helps them win. He did it last night against TCU. He did it tonight against us.
It wasn't the volume of offensive rebounds they got. They got nine. But he got six of 'em, and he got three of 'em at the right time. Giving up nine offensive rebounds is not, you know, the end of the world. That happens in games. But they were so timely, we made stops, we played good defense. I thought the adjustments we made defensively from last Saturday to today were outstanding. I thought our defense was awesome.
But you got to cut people out to finish off the possession, and we didn't do that.
About the -- I don't know. Why do you ask me those questions. I can't comment on that.

Q. Now that you've been through a tournament here, do you have any thoughts on the tournament being in Las Vegas?
COACH BOYLEN: I love it. I love it here. What I try not to be is a hypocrite. When I got the job at Utah, I said to my AD, We'll play anybody, any time, anywhere. We played at Gonzaga, at Cal, at Washington, at Weber State. We have a tough league schedule. We played everybody we could that would play us to give us a home and home to prepare for this environment, to prepare for league play. I think it's great for the league.
This league is a league that needs a brand. We need to grow our brand. Being in Vegas is part of it and I believe in it. I think it's great. I love the environment. I think it's great that it's here. You're never going to hear me complain about it. It's where this league is at right now. It's what we need. It's good for everybody.
If it could move to a different building someday, I think it will. But right now this is the best building for our league and our situation. And I'm just thankful to be a part of it. I'm thankful to be the head coach at Utah. We'll be back here.

Q. Your team is growing. What pieces do you need to complete the puzzle?
COACH BOYLEN: What I said earlier is UNLV creates offense with dribble drive, with talent, with aggressive offensive players. We have to generate offense through sets, throwing the ball to the post, running pick-and-roll. I don't have quick guards.
I love my guys. I love my kids. Luka Drca is one of the toughest kids I've ever coached in my life, 20 years of coaching. Tough, competitive kid. I love him. But I have a developing team at the offensive end. I have a pretty damn good team at the defensive end. In one year we've gone from ninth and ninth to the top of the league. I'm proud of them for that.
But that's the difference. You know, I've said that all year, people have followed us. We've had a hard time guarding one-on-one dribble drive situations. We've tried to do the best we could. On the other side of it, we don't have a lot of guys that can do that. And when the game breaks down at the end of the clock and your sets break down, when you have guys like Terry and Adams who can create off the dribble and make plays and make guarded shots, which I think they made a ton of guarded shots in our three-game series with them, you have a great chance to win, great chance to win.
Again, they made the plays.

Q. You mentioned the sets offensively. Seemed like the offense struggled to get going. What was one or two things missing from that offense?
COACH BOYLEN: Well, I'm going to dispute that first part. Weren't we up at the start of the game? Weren't we rolling at the start of the game?

Q. Yes.
COACH BOYLEN: The other thing is, didn't we have better shots than them in the first half? I thought we had better shots than them. Their pressure picked up. They did a good job in the second half. I thought we had a hard time getting the ball where we wanted to get it to. And you have to give them credit for that.
But I'll take the shots we had all day long. Shaun Green is one for seven, 0-for-4. All four of his threes were wide open. There wasn't a guy 10 feet from him. I've said this all along in the Vegas series. We had more open shots than they did. You got to make 'em. You got to make 'em.
Were we stagnant at times? Did the pressure bother us at times? Hell, yeah, it did. You've got to give them credit for that.
Second question.

Q. Luka, his maturity this year, at one point in that second half he came over and grabbed you and gave you a hug, lightened the mood. Talk about your relationship with him, how that's grown.
COACH BOYLEN: He's my kind of guy. He's a tough guy who plays hurt. He practices every day. He cares about the team. He's not afraid to call somebody out. He takes ownership in his actions. He takes ownership in his mistakes. Utah across his chest means something. He's my kind of guy. He'll be my point guard and he'll be in my back court as long as I'm here.
He's a tough, tough kid. He's what, to me, we're trying to build, and that is ownership and accountability. When you put on that red and white, you're going to be a tough guy. And he's a tough guy.

Q. Can you talk about the possibilities of playing next week. It's early to talk about.
COACH BOYLEN: We'll play in any tournament we can. I think there's no better proving ground, there's no better place to grow than a one-game elimination tournament where you have to win to move on. My team needs that pressure. We need that development.
I'm hoping and praying that we get to play somewhere. We'll see how it goes. If not, we'll be in the weight room and we'll start next year. The day we find out whether we're going or not, if we're not going, we'll start next year that day. I've been asked to build a program. We're going to build this thing.
THE MODERATOR: Thank you, coach.

End of FastScripts

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MOUNTAIN WEST CONFERENCE MEN'S TOURNAMENT

March 14, 2008

Jim Boylen

Shaun Green

Luke Neville