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NCAA MEN'S 1ST & 2ND ROUNDS REGIONALS: PORTLANDMarch 18, 2009Travis BrownBen JacobsonAdam KochPORTLAND, OREGON COACH JACOBSON: We've had a good week and a half coming out of St. Louis. We were able to get some rest on Monday and Tuesday and able to take Saturday off last week, as well. So our guys are rested. Had a very good week in workouts this week, before getting on the plane yesterday. So I like how we've worked out this week. Certainly excited to play tomorrow. We know we've got a tremendous challenge in Purdue. I'm extremely impressed with how hard they play and how tough they are. There's a lot of challenges at both ends of the floor, but just extremely impressed with how hard they play and how tough they are, and obviously no surprise knowing Coach Painter from a few years ago and playing against his team. No surprise there. Our guys are excited. We know we've got a great challenge on our hands. Q. Adam, you guys have had, like coach referenced, ten days off. Purdue is coming back after winning the Big Ten. Got some research with the Iowa Hawkeyes. They laid eggs in the first round of the NCAA tournament, most notably a few years back, lost to Northwestern State up in Auburn Hills. Does that give you guys confidence knowing the history that tournament winners from major conferences have been big victims in the first round of this tournament? ADAM KOCH: We can understand that, coming off with less time to prepare, having that many games in a few days, it can make it more challenging mentally. I'm sure they'll be ready to go. But I know we're definitely happy to have a little bit more time off. Q. You've gotten to see tape now of Robbie Hummel, and body-wise you're similar, talk about the comparison of you two. ADAM KOCH: We've watched a lot of Purdue tape the last couple of days, and just watching him you can tell he's a really good player. He can do a lot of stuff at his size, being able to shoot the ball on the floor. He does so many things well. It makes him a good player. It will be a challenge. It will be a match-up that I'm looking forward to. It's nice -- it's tough knowing that it's not an area of the game you can give him and he'll shoot a 3 or whatever. He's going to be able to do all that. It will be a challenge. Q. Again, for Adam, you know, Purdue defends really well on the perimeter. Coach talked about their toughness, is that something you can pick up, watching them on tape, can you tell how tough-minded they are defensively on the perimeter? ADAM KOCH: Yeah, you can definitely tell just from watching the film. They really get after it and are aggressive on the defensive end of the floor. I think one of the nice things for us is some of the teams we played this year and in the past, they played a similar style. So it's something we've gone up against, but at the same time we know they're going to go after you on the defensive end. Q. How would you, Adam and Travis, both, describe how your team made a turnaround midway through the season? What happened with your team? TRAVIS BROWN: I think we had -- we started off 6-6 and then we lost our first opening Valley game and it was kind of a downer. And I think the guys just kind of rallied behind each other and really got confidence from a win at Southern Illinois. And I think that carried us throughout the regular season. Q. Talk a little bit about the guy who's been here before a few years ago. What makes this different than just a typical tournament or typical regular season game, atmosphere, arenas? What makes this a different event? TRAVIS BROWN: Basically at the start of the year, this is what every team dreams of, postseason play, this is the highest level you can go for college for postseason play, and that's what makes it special. You want to be on the highest stage. We're excited about this opportunity. Q. Coach, the New York Times today wrote a piece about upsets, Cinderella stories, and your team was not included. Not even going back to 1990 and Eldon Miller. Will you play that type of card, where you're not getting respect. And can you talk about the fact that you're a conference champion, you've had a chance to get that out of your system where Purdue is coming back, and you know what that's like for the Iowa team, coming back from getting picked off. The Cinderella story and then the layoff factor? COACH JACOBSON: You know, in terms of the Cinderella story, that isn't a card, if you will, that I play with our guys. Our guys know what they're about, and they know what they're made of. They don't need me to remind them what we're up against. They've done such a good job of getting better all year and just knowing who they are. This is no different for us from that standpoint. And if I heard you correctly, referring to the article, we weren't picked as one of the upsets, that's because we're playing a really good team. Purdue, they're really good. And some people have asked me about the 5-12, and I said it, in one of the articles, it doesn't mean that we just get the win because we're the 12, and people like to talk about it. We're going to have to play a very good basketball game and we know what we're up against. Q. Can you talk about the layoff, Coach? COACH JACOBSON: As I mentioned in the opening, I think it's been really good for our team to have Monday and Tuesday off. And as much physically, mentally, for the guys to be able to get away a little bit. We worked out a little bit Wednesday, Thursday and Friday and then took Saturday off. And now we've had some real good workouts, practiced the way we had for the majority of January, February. But I do think that the rest, physically, is good. And maybe more important the rest mentally, for the guys, especially the two weeks we were coming off. We had to play our best at Illinois State. We had to play a great game against Evansville to get a share of the conference title. And then three great games to get us here. That rest was good for our team. Q. Could you tell me about Lucas O'Rear, how you got on to him, what he has meant for you, et cetera? COACH JACOBSON: Luke's dad, Mike, and Ron Smith, go way, way back. So the relationship started with Ron Smith when he and I were assistant coaches along with Jeff Rudder for Greg McDermott. And that relationship, as I mentioned, with Ron Smith and with Mike O'Rear goes a long ways back. Obviously Mac and Ron went to Iowa State three years ago, and we were fortunate to be able to maintain that relationship and Luke was at our camp the summer before his senior year and was really good. Just loved how hard he played, loved his toughness, has a great feel for how to play. And as good as he is on the floor, he's that good off the floor and in the locker room and with the guys in terms of helping them with their confidence and their toughness and keeping them loose. So his presence has been very good for our team and it starts with his toughness? Q. About Moran, could you trace how he wound up here, did you expect him to start all year, and now has he hit a freshman wall, and how he's gotten through that. COACH JACOBSON: Yeah, Kyle Green, one of my assistant coaches saw Johnny first, and really liked him and got us going on Johnny and then we worked hard from that point to see if we couldn't find a way to get him. And the thing we like most about him was his toughness. He really could shoot the basketball. He's got a very good feel for how to play. He's played the point guard position. He's played the 2. But the thing we like the most was his toughness. And I thought he'd have an opportunity to start for us. I didn't know that he would for sure. I thought he would, because he was so tough and because he had some versatility on offense. I did not know that he would have games like he had at Drake where he was 6 of 8 for three. And Creighton where he goes for 20 or 22. He had some big time games for a freshman. I didn't know he would have some games like that. And he did. He was banged up a little bit in February and playing almost 30 minutes a game for a true freshman. And then the type of year that we've had, winning 11 straight games, being in the hunt for a conference title, those, obviously, are very intense basketball games. That's a long two and a half months for a true freshman. He's played very good basketball. Hasn't shot it quite as well the last two or three weeks, but he's continued to play great basketball. Q. Talk a little bit about the importance of not getting caught up in the situation or the atmosphere of an NCAA tournament game and maintaining aggressiveness, attacking the basket the way you might in a February game. COACH JACOBSON: You know, I think that's certainly a big part of this for every team, all the teams left or all the teams that are in the NCAA tournament, to be able to play the way that you've played. For us, our last five basketball games we played very, very well. I think the key for our team, and I've talked to them about it, is to approach this the same way. Now, that's easier said than done sometimes. But the thing I like about the team that we have right now is we were 6-6 and found a way to rally and win a couple of games and gain some confidence. And throughout that 11-game winning streak obviously there's -- I don't like the word pressure -- the expectations, obviously get cranked up a little bit. And the guys handled themselves very well through that. We lost a couple of basketball games and they rallied and bounced back. These guys have been in a number of different situations, they've been in a number of different late-game situations, overtime, double-overtime. They have been in a lot of different places this year and responded very well, largely because of the approach they've taken and we'll take that same approach tomorrow. Q. Could you talk about your personality and getting the team ready for a pressure-cooker like this. Your kids were really prepared at St. Louis, they had a swagger about them, they had the bullseye on their back. Talk about your personality, your approach inside that locker room a minute before tip off when obviously they're on a big stage and trying to pull off an upset. What will they draw from you moments before tip off? COACH JACOBSON: It will be very similar to the way I've been all year. This team hasn't needed a lot from me in the way of motivation or great stories or whatever it might be. I haven't had to try to trick these guys into playing hard. And that, I think, is the key, and what's been a lot of fun for me. To be able to 100 percent be myself at practice every day, not have to try to manufacture effort out of our guys. Not have to try to help them understand the importance of approaching each game in a consistent manner. They've been terrific about those things. And it will be no different tomorrow. We'll talk about some things tonight and some experiences I have from being here at the NCAA tournament and Travis, as well. But these guys will be ready. And I look forward to tomorrow. Q. Have you guys seen the type of pressure that you're going to get from Lewis Jackson, Purdue's point guard. He jams the whole game and really starts their defense. COACH JACOBSON: Not very often. He's really good that way. He does it every possession. I think there's guys out there that will do it in spurts, not a lot of guys out there that will do it as Jackson does, every possession, where he's really pressing up on you and making things difficult. We have seen it some. We've got some guys in our league that have done it. We played Marquette in a non-conference, obviously when James was healthy, and Marquette with their three guards. That was a long time ago, but a great learning experience for our team. But there are teams in our league that get out there and pressure you, not to the extent that Jackson can, not very often, he's very good at it. End of FastScripts |
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