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

March 18, 2009

GREENSBORO, NORTH CAROLINA

THE MODERATOR: We are joined by Willie Veasley, and Matt Howard. Questions, please.

Q. Matt, since you played on the team last year, started, I'd just like you to talk a little about the difference of going from a team with so many seniors to one with three freshmen in the starting lineup? And how different the seasons have been? How that goes?
MATT HOWARD: Well, the main difference was sort of in the expectation level coming in this year. You know, I think a lot of people that didn't really expect us to be here. Last year was sort of the opposite situation. So, you know, it was a little bit different from last year in that regard.

Q. I meant more along how the team came together and what you had to do as the only returning star?
MATT HOWARD: Well, last year, like you said I was the only freshman, so, you know, it was a little different in the fact that I was learning the ropes. And the four seniors, they were helping. Or five seniors they were helping me along with that. And this year, it's sort of a different situation where I was trying to do that for all the freshmen that we had. And so, I think they did a really good job adjusting.

Q. You had a really good season this year. I know last year you the game against Tennessee, probably a tough performance for you. What did you learn from your NCAA Tournament experience last year? And how much did that Tennessee game kind of motivate you in getting ready for this year?
MATT HOWARD: Well, I think it motivated me quite a bit, because I realized that it wasn't really the performance that I wanted. And in some ways it felt like I let the team down.
So going into this year, just trying to make sure that, you know, I was a little better physically, and just a little more prepared, I think.
It really hurt, and that's what losses should do. So I tried to make sure that I did the right things this off-season, and just better prepare myself for this time around.

Q. What do you know about the match-ups as far as who you're going to be on and who is going to be on you? What do you know about the LSU player you're matched up with?
WILLIE VEASLEY: We watched film. I know that they've got a great group of guys, their starting five. You know, they've got Phil Turner who is a pretty good player. Tasmin Mitchell, he's a good player. The big guy, Johnson, he's athletic. You know, I think we both match-up, we're both physical. We both teams are athletic. So I think we match-up really well against them in those aspects.

Q. Who will be on you?
WILLIE VEASLEY: I'm not really sure who's going to be guarding me?

Q. And who are you guarding?
WILLIE VEASLEY: I think it's Mitchell.
MATT HOWARD: Well, I'm not real sure if we've completely said who we're guarding. But like Willy said, they're a really athletic team. And got a couple of guys that can really score the ball. So they provide a lot of match-up difficulties for a lot of teams. And, you know, like I said, I'm not real sure if we're set who we're guarding yet. But I'm sure we'll be ready for them.

Q. You guys don't get a lot of chances to play schools from the so-called power conferences, but you usually seem to thrive in those situations and often you're an underdog. Does that matter to you guys? Or do you find yourself almost subconsciously elevating your game when you go and play teams like Ohio State or Tennessee or LSU?
MATT HOWARD: Well, I feel like it's in the perception of what people think we should do is the main thing. So when they see us as a mid-major going up against them, people will assume that we're going to have to elevate our game.
In some regards, we may have to. But I think more than that it's just the fact that, you know, you have to play tough against those teams because you may be a little smaller. Or maybe a little more athletic. But as long as you're executing, that can go really far, executing. When the team's more athletic than you, you've got to do the things that you do to outwit them.
WILLIE VEASLEY: As far as like getting up more for these games because of the BCS conferences, I don't think we pay attention to the names on the jerseys. It's just another game that we know we have to come out and play for, because they're going to give us a good game.

Q. You have a really physical style of play. Could you talk about what your body feels like after a game and how exhausting it is, if it is exhausting?
MATT HOWARD: Yeah, it's a little exhausting because of the way I play. I try to make sure that I'm giving it everything I've got. And so, you know, you're going to get tired that way. The game takes a little bit of a toll on you that way.
But I feel like that's the only way to play. For me, especially, because I'm, and most of these games we're definitely going against somebody that's a little bigger, somebody more athletic. So if I'm not playing my hardest, then, you know, I'm going to get beat on a lot of possessions.

Q. I understand it's been a while since the conference tournament break, was that something that was needed for the team to rest up and get refocused for the tournament?
WILLIE VEASLEY: Yeah, the break, I think helped us. We got to work on a few things that we didn't do very well in our last game. We got to work on some execution. Just make sure that we got our sets down and stuff. Then we got to rest up, you know. We didn't have any games, so we just got to practice and relax and stuff.
MATT HOWARD: Like Willy said, we got time to work on some of the stuff that maybe we didn't do so well. At this time of the year, you want to be firing on all cylinders. And so, you know, just the coaches did a good job at looking at what we didn't do so well and working on those things this last week.

Q. Can you talk about Matt's sort of high-energy and physical-type play? And Matt, can you tell us what Willy's strengths are?
WILLIE VEASLEY: Matt being physical. He's just what we need, a big body down there, you know, to bang, to get the tough plays. He's somebody that we look towards during games to give us those -- get us some of those tough plays. That brings energy to us. It makes us want to work harder when we see him working like that.
MATT HOWARD: Well, Willy, he does a lot of stuff for us. A lot of things that go unnoticed, too, I think. A lot of times he'll be guarding one of the team's best players, and so he's done a great job all year guarding.
You know, he also he makes some of the tough plays, too. Like he was talking about just rebounding and, you know. But the main thing is when Willy's playing pretty well, I think our team plays pretty well, too. We feed off of him a lot, too.

Q. You had said earlier talked about how that Tennessee game kind of motivated you. Is there anything differently you did in the off-season to get ready for this season? Particularly, because I imagine you knew you were going to be, even as a sophomore, kind of one of the elder statesmen. Is there anything specifically you did to prepare this year that you hadn't done in previous seasons?
MATT HOWARD: Well, it may seem a little odd, but actually, I felt like I was a little overweight. My knees were a little banged up. Didn't feel so well. So one of the things I wanted to do was work on that, work on foot speed so I could guard out on the perimeter a little bit. Also, it's that I was a little wider, and I wasn't taking so much of a toll on my knees.

Q. Would you talk a little about what y'all want to do better? What y'all used that week specifically to focus on, individually and as a team?
MATT HOWARD: You mean the last week before that we've had? Well, I think Willy mentioned his execution. In the last game we played probably about as well as we could defensively, but, you know, offensively we struggled a little bit. Just working on execution.
Executing our plays and executing defensively, making sure we were doing our job. You know, that was pretty much the main thing we focused on.
WILLIE VEASLEY: Yeah, basically just what Matt said. The week was basically executing defensively, getting our sets down. Spacing, you know. Just so that getting back to playing, you know, our type of basketball.

Q. To follow that up, you say on our type of basketball. If you had to describe Butler's style of play in a basic way, how would you say it? When you guys are good, what's happening?
MATT HOWARD: I think when we're playing really well, we're moving the ball. We're spaced really well, and when you're not spaced really well, stuff becomes cluttered, and it's hard to get good shots. And so when we're playing well and executing and we're in the spots that we're supposed to be our offense flows a lot better, and that's a really big thing with our offense.
So we worked on spacing, and being in the right spots, and making sure we were setting the screens and setting screens in the right spots.

Q. Are either of you guys surprised that the SEC regular season champ is an 8 seed? Did that surprise either of you guys?
WILLIE VEASLEY: I'm not sure about if we were surprised. I guess every team in here is the best they picked. So seeding, I'm sure just like us, they didn't really worry about it. I'm sure it doesn't bother them that much.
MATT HOWARD: Well, I'm sure a lot of teams are not real happy with the seeds they got. And I know that's a power conference. I'm sure that they may have expected to get a little better.
To be honest, I can't really tell you what the committee thinks and what goes through their minds. So as far as we look at it as it is what it is, you know, there are six games, so it doesn't really matter where you're at.

THE MODERATOR: We're joined by Butler head coach Brad Stevens. An opening statement and questions.
COACH STEVENS: It's nice to get a chance to compete in the NCAA Tournament again. I don't know really what else to say but that. We're excited to have the opportunity. Obviously, the challenge is great. LSU is a great team. They've had a great season. Very well coached, very talented.
We're looking forward to having an opportunity tomorrow.

Q. Would you just talk a little about having watched tape of LSU, some of your impressions have been specifically what they do well and that match-up?
COACH STEVENS: Any time you have the combination of great coaching, so system, team plays with purpose. Team has an identity, those type of things. You combine that with exceptional athleticism and basketball ability, you've got a really good team. Ultimately an SEC champion. They've been really impressive on tape.
I can go through the individuals till the day is done. But, obviously, with Thornton being the SEC player of the year, and Mitchell being first team all SEC, and with all these guys' experience with Temple and Mitchell specifically. Having already started and played deep into the tournament in the past. You know, you've got a lot of guys who can do a lot of things. We're going to have to play very, very well tomorrow to compete.

Q. Talk a little about your style. You gave us LSU, can you break down your team a little bit and contrast it with what you had last year? Obviously you have younger players, but has it changed what you do? Are you saying things to different guys?
COACH STEVENS: I think every team you have, you treat differently from the standpoint you have to make tweaks to match and fit your strengths on that team. Obviously, Willie and Matt who are just sitting up here, are guys that have been here before. You know, we talked about being inexperienced, but between them, they played seven NCAA Tournament games. So those guys understand what this is all about.
The biggest challenge for us as we were going into the year was we really couldn't make any assumptions. We really didn't know in September or early October what we were going to do until we got on the practice floor on October 17th with regard to how we were going to attack specifically.
But that stuff ironed itself out fairly quickly, and we had an idea of what some of on our strengths would be as a group. You know, the starting three freshmen, sometimes that takes a little bit of time. These guys bought into what we were trying to do defensively. These guys bought into the concept of team, system, and it made for a pretty smooth transition.

Q. Y'all did as good a job defending Stephen Curry as just about anybody all season. Now you're going up against another high-scoring guard in Thornton. What sticks out from what you see of Thornton on tape, and can that performance against Curry give you confidence going against another high-scoring.
COACH STEVENS: Well, he's excellent, first of all. Thornton's a guy that can score it a number of different ways. I don't know how many guys there are in the country that can come off those baseline screens and post. Fake like they're coming off a baseline screen, sprint off or shoot it off either foot, score with the basketball. And do it all at 6'4", and do it all with great strength. He's an outstanding player. Certainly one of the better guards we've faced in the past couple of years.
So I don't know if we take necessarily anything from that Davidson game, other than the fact that we've got to play with the same sense of urgency that you did against Curry without question. Because Thornton is, to me, and I don't know. I don't rank them, I don't get into this. But to me I can't imagine him not being pro.

Q. What do you know about Garrett Temple as a defensive player? What do you tell your player about him as far as you think he might guard?
COACH STEVENS: I don't get into those match-ups. I heard you ask Willie that question as well. And the answer for Willie is he'll guard everybody on the team tomorrow. And that's what he's done all year. That's the way we play. We switch a lot, we have a lot of different guys guarding, and that is the strength in our team is the versatility.
As far as Garrett Temple, I think that's probably the word that best describes him, he's a terrific defender. I'm sure he can guard 1 through 5. I'm sure he can switch. He has obviously had great success.
You know, any time you're starting with that group as a freshman in the Final Four, I think that speaks to your not only -- not only your physical capabilities, but your mental toughness and your ability to be versatile and impact the game in a lot of different ways.

Q. Can you talk about Matt Howard's game? What he brings to the team? The sort of energy and effort out there?
COACH STEVENS: It's unbelievable. He's as good of a leader by example as I've ever been around. He really is. He's terrific. He plays as hard in the last minute of the game as he does in the first minute. He can fight through fatigue as well as any guy that I've ever been around. He's just got a great deal of mental toughness.
I just think at the start of this year with no seniors, knowing that he was the lone returning starter, although Willie, you know, played quite a bit, and Willie had 11 in the second round against Tennessee last year, he's been here before. That we were really going to have to lean on Matt as an example and role model for the rest of this group because of his effort, his energy, the way he does things on and off the court. He's an academic All-American as a sophomore. You can't ask for a better leader especially if you're young in general.

Q. I've probably asked you this before, but is there anything that Butler does regularly maybe that if a team hasn't played your style or your system before, it's a little deviation from maybe what LSU and other maybe SEC schools would be used to seeing?
COACH STEVENS: Well, if there is I don't necessarily want to go into them today. I think that every team has a unique system. All 65 teams that are still playing have found a way to have success in that system. And the bottom line is you have to do what you do really well to have success in this tournament.
Obviously, you have to know your opponent, you have to try your best to take away what they do well and make it as difficult as possible. But we can't have all our focus on them. We have to do what we do really well.

Q. Can you talk about Gordon's development, what he brings to the team and then sort of about halfway through the season?
COACH STEVENS: Well, I think we thought pretty highly. We felt pretty good about Gordon coming into the year. Last year he led his team to a High School State Championship in Indiana in the biggest class. He hit the game winner in front of however many people at Conseco Fieldhouse at the buzzer to win that state championship. He's 6' 8", he can handle pass and shoot. He can defend, he can move. He glides on the court. What is there not to like?
So early on in the year, I think it was the fourth or fifth practice, one of my assistant coaches came up to me after he had hit about three shots in a row to end practice and said a star is born. It's not a big surprise to us what he's done all year. I think that he could continue to get better. I think he's excited about getting better. He's extremely coachable.
You know, we talked about Matt earlier, I think he's a future academic All American as well, and just a guy that can really, really make everybody on the court better regardless of what he does from a scoring standpoint.

Q. What made you want to get out of your first career? You were in a marketing company? Did you just have a -- what led to you suddenly getting out of it?
COACH STEVENS: I was 22 or 23 years old, and had a lot of passion and a lot of desire to be around sports and in the game of basketball. You know, I was really fortunate at the time I didn't have anybody else that depended on me. So I just decided that that was as good of a time as any to try to take a jump and see if I couldn't get into coaching basketball.
And I didn't do it for necessarily anything more than being a part of a team. Having a chance to compete and being around a sport that I love. I told the story many times. But the best part about being at Butler was getting the key to Hinkle Fieldhouse, because I grew up 20 minutes away. So it's been an incredibly smooth transition for me. It's been really aided and advanced and enhanced by the people I've had a chance to work with and work for.

Q. How much do you worry about and how important do you think it is the seeding? Like Sunday morning, how much were you fretting over what seed you would be?
COACH STEVENS: I don't worry about it at all. Unless it means we're not in. I'd like to be in the tournament. I think it's something that we'll never take for granted. I've been one of the last few teams that didn't make it before early on in my coaching career, and just to have the opportunity to compete. You know, if you're looking for easy games. If you're looking to walk through a game in the NCAA Tournament, it just doesn't happen. So I don't care about seeding. Seeding is irrelevant from our point of view.
The committee does a great job. They do it with all the information they can. Nobody puts more time, effort and energy into that. And just to have a chance to compete in this is special for us. You know, we recognize whoever you're playing, the challenge is going to be huge.

Q. I'm sure this is a topic you've spoken about before, too. But when they gave you the job, you obviously had to show a lot of maturity beyond your years and what not to do that. What did they tell you that said Brad, we're confident. We know you can do this, and know you can have this responsibility?
COACH STEVENS: You know, I don't know that they ever said anything specifically to that. They did incredible working environment. Butler is an incredible place to work. You feel empowered every day you walk in there. We have a terrific administration.
But Barry Collier was the head coach for 11 years at Butler. He then went to Nebraska, was a head coach. So just him signing off and giving me that opportunity made me feel like for him to say that, meant a ton to me. And you felt like we're in a great situation.
I've got the head coaching job, we had five seniors that were going to be coming back. They were winners in every way. They had already been to a sweet sixteen. That made for a smooth transition for me.
It's been a great learning experience. But, again, when you work for -- I worked for Barry who is my A.D. now, and I worked for Coach Motta who is at Ohio State, and Coach Likliter who is at Iowa, you're not only working for great coaches, but you're working for great people. So every day is a terrific learning experience. You gain a lot of confidence from that.

End of FastScripts

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