|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
NCAA MEN'S 1ST & 2ND ROUNDS REGIONALS: RALEIGHMarch 20, 2008Armon BassettDan DakicEric GordonD.J. WhiteRALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA Q. DJ, now that you guys have had a chance to see some film of Arkansas, talk about that matchup, especially on the front line that you'll have to face. D.J. WHITE: Well, reviewing the tape, we found out it's a team that loves to get up and down the court. Like you said, they are very big up front. We are aware of that. So, you know, we are just going to try to come in and execute our game plan and try to get organized on offense and things like that. Q. You touched on it that they like to run. For all three of you, does that light your eyes up? You've been playing the Big Ten and grinding it out for the last two months; and now there's a chance to pin your ears back at it and go full speed. D.J. WHITE: I think so. We have four good guards on our team. We like to get up and down the court when the opportunity presents itself and hopefully get in transition sometimes and see what we can do. ARMON BASSETT: Yeah, I think that will be a plus playing up and down a little bit. A lot of teams in the Big Ten, they don't shoot the ball until about six, seven seconds on the clock. We can play up and down but we have to push it on transition, miss or make. ERIC GORDON: Think we can play up-tempo, too. We just have to slow them down a little bit, and I think we are prepared for their strategy. Q. How much did losing Kelvin (ph) six games take out of the season, whether it's focus, fun, whatever? What has it done to you guys? ERIC GORDON: Well, it took it out of us, our whole team, and what we had to do those six games is stay together and play together as a team and don't let the season go down. So far, we have our ups and downs and we still think we can play well throughout this tournament. Q. Eric, have you been surprised at how you've been able to come in and produce immediately? And if so, how is your game progressing since the beginning of the season? ERIC GORDON: I would say it's a big compliment of my teammates to give me the ball and let me do basically whatever I want. It's been fun to play with these guys this season. We've had a lot of success, won 25 games, and not too many games can do that. So it's a big compliment to my teammates. Q. All three of you guys, you've struggled the last three weeks, and what is to make anyone think that what is going to happen tomorrow against Arkansas is going to be any different? Is there a renewed sense of urgency? What do you guys think coming in here? D.J. WHITE: We look at it like it's a new season, new beginning. We struggled a little bit in the past but there's nothing we can do about it. We can't dwell on what happened behind us. All we can do now is just try to get better. We reviewed the things that we had not been doing so well on in the beginning, and just try to get better. You know, like I said, we're excited to be in the NCAA Tournament, so anything can happen. Q. During the month of February, you guys played a lot of games in a short amount of time. Now you've played one game over the past two weeks. For all three of you, do you feel fresher now than you did maybe a couple of weeks ago? ARMON BASSETT: Not necessarily. But you know, it's the NCAA Tournament, and it's going to get some energy, some adrenaline pumping out of players that we didn't have in the season. So I don't necessarily think we feel any better or not as tired because we only played one game, one game per week. You know, I think it would be a different sense of urgency. ERIC GORDON: Well, like D.J. said, this is a new season. We only had a week of rest, and it's toward the end of the season. So we really can't worry about that. We have to just come out and play. It's like a game every other day now to this point, so we've just got to come out and play. Q. For all three players, just what's the single biggest adjustment you've had to make since the coaching change? D.J. WHITE: I think probably just get used to not having him around, that was the main thing. Of course, all of us, used to Coach being around and just the adjustment. It's a big transition, especially the time frame that it was. We've past that stage now and it's just about playing. ARMON BASSETT: Echo what D.J. said, just get used to not having Coach Sampson around, and I don't think it's really anything towards Coach Dakich, even though he's coaching pretty much the same. We just had to get used to not having Coach Sampson as our coach and we try to take the tame approach to every game. ERIC GORDON: Obviously same thing, coach's presence in practice and during the game. But Coach Dakich, he's been around and he's coached just like Coach Sampson has too, so I go with what the other guys say. Q. Tomorrow night will be the last game all three of you play with Indiana for various different reasons. Has that crossed your mind and how will you prepare differently for this game? D.J. WHITE: We'll go into the game not thinking about anything but winning the game. You know, we're really not thinking about, I mean, of course you think about it, me, it could be my last game, but I don't think that will be a factor. I'll go out there and play like I've been playing all year and try to win. ARMON BASSETT: Yeah, I'm just concentrating on trying to win this game and then hopefully play the winner of the name game. ERIC GORDON: We don't concentrate on losing on any game, and we just come out and try to play hard each game. Our main focus is winning. Q. Have you tried to do anything different style-wise on the court under Coach Dakich that maybe you were not doing under Coach Sampson? D.J. WHITE: Not really. I think we're still doing pretty much the same thing. Haven't changed our approach to the game plan. It's pretty much the same, all the players, I think we can speak for, I think we are comfortable with what Coach Dakich has done. He's come in and done another good job. You know, he really has not changed in addition and we are still doing the same things. Q. When you came into the season, what were your hopes for what could happen this year and how frustrated are you by what has happened? D.J. WHITE: Well, the season isn't over. My expectations I still have a chance to do. We have a game tomorrow night. Hopefully we can advance and keep advancing. Expectations coming into the year, me as my teammates I think we can speak for, we want to win a championship, and we still have an opportunity right now. Q. Are you looking at this tournament as a way of redefining what's been a very tumultuous season? D.J. WHITE: I think so. As everyone knows, we had a lot of transition this year. We have a chance to end the year special. You know, it starts tomorrow night. ARMON BASSETT: What was the question again? Q. Are you seeing this as a chance to redefine what's been a tumultuous season in Indiana? ARMON BASSETT: This is a new beginning and hopefully we can get some momentum going in the tournament. We got seeded at No. 8, but we feel like we're a team that if we're playing good, we can beat anybody in the country. Hopefully we can get it back rolling and get some jump shots falling in for us and get it back on track. ERIC GORDON: Thought we had a good season and it has been up and down towards the end of the season. Like I said before, this is a new season, and it's just like a new beginning for us. Q. I think it's easy for people outside the program, when you guys have gone through losses, especially some of the last few games here, and to say with all that you've gone through, people can say, their head is not in it, their heart is not in it. When you hear stuff like that, how do you respond and how do you show what this team is all about? D.J. WHITE: First of all, we try not to listen to the negative and the things that are being said. One thing about this team, even though we struggled, we lost our last two, our experience never has been down. We come to practice and keep working. It's a new season and we try hard every time we're on the court. Some things have short started off slow in some games and that's kinds of hurt us, but that's something we are going to try to correct tomorrow night. Q. For each of you the way the game ended against Minnesota, how anxious are you to get out on the floor and put that in the past? D.J. WHITE: Very anxious. That's the second time this year we lost on the buzzer beat the shot; it hurts, but there's nothing we can do about that but move on. We're anxious, especially to start this tournament. ARMON BASSETT: Any time you lose, not only by a last-second shot, you just want to get that bad taste out of your mouth, so I think everybody is ready to play. ERIC GORDON: Yeah, towards that point of the season, that being our last game of the tournament before this NCAA Tournament, that desperation shot, it was just something different for us and we wanted it kept on but there's nothing you can do about it but just reach for the next game and we are very, very excited for it. Q. D.J., can you hit on your relationship with Charles Thomas and Steven Hill, how you know them? And also, how you guys will matchup with Arkansas's big men? And Eric, can you follow-up with how you will matchup with their guard play? D.J. WHITE: I knew Charles and Stephen through high school and some in college, just playing each other at different camps. I was a roommate with Stephen this past summer. That's how I know those guys. I think it will be an interesting matchup. They are very long and very talented. We have a lot of quickness up front and we have a big guy in Thomas, and got some shooters that can stretch out the defense. So it will be an interesting matchup to see how that plays out tomorrow night. ERIC GORDON: Well, they have a very quick backcourt. Obviously the good thing about that is that we have a very good backcourt, too. That will be a very good matchup. Q. Can you talk about just what your reaction was or how you felt when you found out Eric was definitely coming to Indiana and how big a part of it were you in trying to get him to come there? D.J. WHITE: I was very happy that he decided to come here. I think over his recruitment, he came down to campus and I hosted him. He made a decision to come and I was very happy. He's been a lot for this team. Last year, you know, we had two guards in Armon and with Eric coming in, just made our offense more dynamic, made it easier for me this year not getting double and triple teamed as much because they had to respect his game. So it's been great having him on our team. Q. How would you evaluate the way you've played the season? I know the shots have not been falling so much lately but just overall how would you evaluate your year? ERIC GORDON: I think I had a good freshman year and obviously down the end of the stretch I haven't shot that well but overall I think I did pretty good. I'm just worried about our team's success and you can tell just by our record how good we have been playing. Q. You were having fun out there earlier. Talk about that and stress reliever, just enjoying the crowd. COACH DAKICH: Well, that's kind of how I live my life. I have a lot of fun doing what I'm doing, whatever it is. You know, it looked like people were sitting around obviously waiting for the next team and they looked like they were bored. So that was a contest that I never lose, because I cheat, quite frankly. If I miss the first free throw, it's a practice one, and then I make them. It's about the only thing I can do in basketball fairly well is still shoot free throws. That was a lot of fun, and like I said, looked around at people and looked like they were getting bored waiting. No security to keep us off of there, so went ahead and played a few contests, which was great. Q. How have the last couple of days of practice gone, and how do you feel like these guys are heading into tomorrow night? COACH DAKICH: Well, you know, I think -- try to figure the time frame, but I thought the last couple of days of practice were really good. I thought today was really good. We are just going to shoot a little bit in here. You know, I have had no problems with their mind frame going into games. They have prepared. They have put themselves in positions to win every basketball game that I've been the head coach of -- 25 seconds here, other than the Michigan State game, 25 seconds here, you know, is a difference between 5-1 and 3-3. But that's the fine line of winning and losing. I think we haven't shot the ball well. I heard somebody ask a question about that earlier in the day whenever that was and we have to shoot the basketball better obviously. But they have worked really hard for me, these kids have. You know, defensively, I think our last three games, as I've said, people in the 40 minutes that we've played, two of the 3, or actually all three, have not scored 60 against us and as a result of their work and their efforts; I think they are excited to play basketball here in Raleigh and they are excited to play in the NCAA Tournament. Q. Just since the coaching change, what's been the biggest adjustment for you in taking over, and what do you feel the biggest adjustment for the team has been? COACH DAKICH: For me, not really a whole lot of an adjustment. I've done this for ten years as the head coach. You know, so not a whole lot. I think the players, and I think any time you get in -- I don't know about any time, because it's really the only time this has kind of happened. But you go 20-some games into the season and all of the sudden what happened, happened, then I think it's a huge adjustment in a number of ways to the players. And I always try to equate what I would have done had it happened to me with coach knight while I played here. And it would have been very difficult for me. It would have been something that I would not have liked. It would have been something that I would have taken time to get used to. But you know, these players jumped right into it. We've talked a number of times individually, collectively, and in a number of different ways. You know, so their adjustment is a different voice. Their adjustment is the person that brought them here not being here. But my adjustment as a coach, you know, it's what I've been doing for ten years, so it's not that big of a deal to me. Q. This team played a lot of games in a short amount of time in the month of February, and now they have only played one game over the past two weeks. Is it a chance for them to kind of recharge their batteries and maybe get a little bit fresher for this game tomorrow? COACH DAKICH: I hope so. We have tried to keep practice short but intense. To play Arkansas, you have to go up and down the floor, and we took an hour and ten, an hour and 15 today. We did play a lot of games. My sense, again, from my experience as both a player, assistant coach and head coach, kids like to play games. You ask a kid, do you want to play a game or you want to practice; I'm thinking I'm going to be batting a hundred here would rather play games than practice, no matter what the practice situation was. As you go through seasons, the schedule is what it is. We have certainly given them ample opportunity to recharge, I guess is what I would say. You know, we played Sunday -- or, excuse me, Friday, real late, didn't really do anything on Saturday at all. Sunday, very little. Monday, some; Tuesday, no. Now we're here. So they certainly have had the opportunity to recharge. Q. After staying up in Arkansas all week, your overview of them and especially their big guys and the depth, the numbers of big guys they have? COACH DAKICH: Well, they have so many big guys -- let me put it this way. They have more big guys,6-10, seven foot, than anybody in our league. They all are athletic. They all are long. Charles Thomas really being the only guy that's not long, and I think they are very good. I have numerous friends as I found out in the SEC going through who should I call, who can I ask; and they all said the same thing about the each of the kids, very good kids, very capable players, a very well-coached team, a team that you have to rebound against. And you can block out, but you've still got to rebound. Some teams you block out, you're going to rebound. This team, you've got to block out and you've got to rebound because they are very capable of using their length, getting over the top of you and getting the basketball. You know, I think they are a very good basketball team that's playing very well right now, and their big guys are certainly a big part of that. Q. You've seen Eric 31 games now. Has he met your expectations or exceeded them? And if he were to seek your counsel regarding the NBA next year, what do you tell a kid like that? COACH DAKICH: I tell him, ask somebody who has a little better feel for the NBA, first off. What the NCAA does a great job of, and in conjunction with the NBA, of getting information on what you should do. I think that for the future -- I don't -- when I talk to Eric, we talk on a number of levels, basketball levels, what he should do to play better here; personal level, because he's just enjoyable to be around; humorous level, because he's one of the few people that gets my humor. Has he met my expectations? He's exceeded my expectations. I'll tell you why. When you come Indiana and you are as publicized as Eric Gordon, I've only seen that with Terry Bailey when he came here on the green back (ph) and I thought he handled that better than any adult than I know or have ever known, and Eric's been the same thing. Eric has not let anything going around him either positive or negative affect him. Eric has worked. Eric is aware of his importance to the team, not only shooting the basketball, scoring the basketball, defending the other team's best opponent, essentially for 40 minutes, rebounding, cooking, cleaning, whatever else we want him to do, he's done it. He has exceeded my expectations for him. Q. You and the guys have all talked about Arkansas liking to go up and down the floor. One, how do you prepare for speed, and two, what do you hope to do against it? COACH DAKICH: We hope to defend it and we have to score against it. But you have to -- you know, you've got to be organized, and let's take defense first. You've got to be organized in your transition defense. And the kid, Townes, does a great job of running the floor; not good, great. And you have to know where the shooters are, Ervin, Welsh, when he comes into the basketball, and when you're doing that, you have to be able to take away the drive. So that has to be organized, and that's something we have worked very hard on. Now, on the offensive end of things, decision making factors in. You have to make good decisions as you're going at a fast pace. You have to take the ball where it needs to go and you have to be able to deliver the ball, and you have to be able to not get fed up. We played Penn State, and Penn State was playing a zone, and basically, they were, you know, for lack of a better way to put it, double-teaming D.J. White, Armon and Eric had a lot of wide-open 3s, which my point of thinking is, great shots, in rhythm, shoot the ball. Well, you can get the same kind of shots, but if you are sped up, they are not good shots. So you can't allow their speed to quicken your pace to the point where you're uncomfortable doing the things that you would normally do; meaning you get the ball and you shoot it too quickly, as opposed to in rhythm. And that's a big deal any time you play a team that likes to get up and down and likes to play fast. Q. People here have long memories, and they do talk -- COACH DAKICH: That's good or bad relative to me. Q. That's part of the question. Is it good that you're practicing at North Carolina State and you're playing at North Carolina State's home arena, as opposed to maybe having a game down at the RBC Center with a different shade of blue? COACH DAKICH: I don't know. I think it's good that we're here. It's great that I'm here. (Chuckling). You know, they don't allow teams to play on home sites, and if this was going to be a home site game -- I wish they did because if this was going to be a home site game with a lower seed, we would be in Bloomington. I know people in this area are very passionate about basketball, and people in this area like Indiana, Kentucky, states like that, love their state team. But I'm not really worried about where the game is, I'm worried about how we're going to play and who we are going to play, which is Arkansas in this particular ballgame. Q. A lot of people have tried to compare Eric Gordon's game to other people, you mentioned Isaiah Thompson and so forth is there anyone that Eric's game reminds you of? Anyone that he's reminiscent of? COACH DAKICH: That's a good question. You know, he's got a burst that very few players have, and he's a pretty good athlete, really good athlete and can shoot the basketball. I haven't really thought of it. You know, at first, there's a kid -- not a kid, I mean, a guy who is a really, really good player in the NBA for a long time named Mitch Richmond. Mitch Richmond was a strong-built guy that could go to the rim and shoot the basketball. You know, but I don't know that Richmond had Eric's change. I don't know enough about it. But in terms of build, stuff like, that, you know, Dwyane Wade and the size and strength and build that he has is somebody that I would compare him to. Hopefully he'll just be Eric tomorrow. Q. What are your emotions on your first NCAA Tournament game as a head coach? COACH DAKICH: I haven't really had any. I guess I need to go get some but I haven't really had any. I just try to prepare our team like I would after the selection show, and we talked to the media, went back and watched film and got going like I had previous. So I really have not -- throughout this whole process, throughout this month or whatever it's been, I haven't really thought of myself in those kind of terms. You know, ask me tomorrow win or lose and I'll give you some emotions, that's how I am, either way. But right now, I'm just trying to get our team ready and do the best we can to play a very good basketball team I guess. You know, people sometimes have a hard time believing that given my history at Indiana and all that, but just trying to get these guys as ready to play as I can, and it's not a matter of -- it's not about me. End of FastScripts |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
About ASAP Sports •
FastScripts Archive •
Recent Interviews •
Captioning •
Upcoming Events •
Contact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links |
|
ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297
|