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NCAA MEN'S 1ST & 2ND ROUNDS REGIONALS: PORTLANDMarch 18, 2009Ken McDonaldOrlando Mendez-ValdezA.J. SlaughterPORTLAND, OREGON Q. A.J., I don't know if you heard this today but the President of the United States picked you guys to lose this game. Do you have any feelings on that? A.J. SLAUGHTER: Actually I did see that. I saw that he picked Illinois, which is his home state, so I see where I can't blame him. But it was a fun little fact to throw out. But I did see that, though. Q. Well, that aside a lot of other people are picking you to win. Do you feel even though you're the 12 seed that you are, indeed, the favorite? A.J. SLAUGHTER: We try not to get caught up in that, just try to come out and do what we do on the court. It's a good match-up. But we try not to get caught up in what everybody is saying, just go out and play the game. Q. Just with having been here last year, how much have you used from the whole experience last year and applying that to get ready for the game tomorrow? ORLANDO MENDEZ-VALDEZ: This is different feeling. Last year we were more of role players. We've been asked to come on and step out of our comfort zone and feel in the shoes that were left behind. It's exciting but yet we feel confident. We've been here before. We know what to expect. The main thing is just to keep our composure out there and just know that it's a game of runs. COACH MCDONALD: This is my first opening statement in an NCAA tournament. Obviously very excited about the opportunity to be here. I think it's going to be a terrific ballgame between two terrific basketball programs with a lot of tradition. Similar styles of play. And hope it doesn't come down to coaching in the end. Hope the players can make the plays. Coach Weber has done a good job. And excited about the opportunity tomorrow to play 40 minutes. Q. Can you talk about the match-up with Illinois and what concerns you most about that team? COACH MCDONALD: Well, I think they do a terrific job fundamentally. I think they really are efficient on the offensive end. I think they move the ball really well. They scare me shooting. Their statistics might not be the best in terms of shooting the three point shot, but I see some guys that have the ability to do that. So you don't want to let those guys get hot. They have some length inside that I would imagine they're going to try to take advantage of that, because we're not the tallest team. And then defensively their statistics defensively are just terrific. They defend the three well. We shoot the three well. They battle on the glass. They do a good job just taking care of the fundamentals. So I think we have to work together as a unit like we have all year long. We're going to have to break them down some. I hope to run and get some easy opportunities and I think we have to rebound the basketball to give us a chance. Different fronts we'll try to attack and we'll have to defend them inside. I'm sure they'll try to go to match-ups early. Q. Chester Frazier being out has changed dynamic of that team, and how are you prepared for that? COACH MCDONALD: First we prepare as if he's playing. I'm not sure what -- depends what article you read on whether he had surgery or not. There's always a little bit of anticipation. We have to prepare as if he's playing. He's a terrific defender, and obviously a leader for their basketball team. So anytime you take one of those guys off the unit the other guys have to step up, which I think their other players have stepped up. We'll prepare as if he's playing. If he's not I don't know if we'll change our game plan a whole lot, other than they're not quite as deep and maybe they don't have quite the defensive unit they had with Frazier. Small adjustments in game. Q. Going into your first practice here, what are some things -- you talked about wanting to keep your guys focused and under control. What are you going to go over with them? I know it's open, but you can't go over a lot with them, but to keep them focused on your first game. COACH MCDONALD: I think there's a lot of excitement. There's a lot of new players on the team that are experiencing this for the first time. I think there's some returning guys that obviously know what it's about a little bit. You have to break it down to a 40 minute basketball game. And you have to channel the excitement that we've got going on right now. We don't want to lose focus and we need that energy tomorrow. So it's important to understand that today we had a really good workout, energy was great. Tonight we'll shoot around a little bit and get used to the rims and the back drops. Those are the things we're going to focus on. We're not going to do a whole lot scout-wise on the floor tonight. Getting used to the rims. Understanding we have to get our rest and be focused. And we've wanted to be here for an while. We want to advance. We want to give our best shot to Illinois, and make sure that after 40 minutes we have no regrets. That's our biggest focus for our coaching staff with this team. Q. Can you talk a little bit about Orlando and his skill set and what really sticks out to you? COACH MCDONALD: Orlando is -- he's a throwback player. He doesn't -- first of all he doesn't look like a player. He's not the quickest guy. He doesn't jump the highest, but he really knows the game. And if you watch him play over time you see that he sees the game almost in slow motion, and knows how to read defenses. He plays really hard on the defensive end. You give a scouting report, he knows every detail of the scouting report. So he's mature. His approach is one that's impressive. You hope that rubs off on the young guys. And he knows how to play. He can shoot. He can drive. He can rebound. To have the first triple double in the history of Western Kentucky University at his size is just mind boggling. If you get a chance, stand near him, you'll be even more impressed. I. Really like his approach. But he knows the game. He almost plays the game almost if you watch Steve Nash a little bit and you see him play and how things develop and he takes advantage of defense. I'm excited to be able to coach him for a year, I wish he was around a little bit longer. Q. You talked about leaning on some of your guys who have been experienced and helping some of the younger guys out, how have you seen them so far help the guys that haven't been here before? What do you think about your senior leadership and just the experience factor? COACH MCDONALD: Well, I think it's been good all year long. As the season's gone on I think A.J. and Orlando in particular have really stepped up vocally. I could see them the last two or three weeks as we were getting ready to make a run at a Sun Belt Conference regular season championship in a Sun Belt Conference tournament championship, I could see them talking more in the huddles, a little more serious tone at the beginning of practice, at the end of practice. And going into this tournament I think they've been the same way, trying to help the young guys understand, it's not about the show, it's not about the hype, it's really just about two teams going out and putting their best foot forward and understanding that if we do what we do at a high level we're going to have a chance to win the basketball game. So that approach has been going on at a more intense level at the end of the year, and that's what senior leadership is all about. I expect that to be the same for Illinois. Those guys don't want to stop playing, the seniors and the juniors that have been there. We need to continue with that leadership in order for us to advance. Q. Coach Weber mentioned that since all the national media practically is picking the upset in this game, and he's used that to motivate his players, do you see that as part of the gamesmanship, have you kept the guys in lockdown away from the papers and the media? COACH MCDONALD: Well, that's a veteran call by coach. Not everybody has picked the Hilltoppers. I don't know about virtually, either. The only guy I've heard of -- I don't know, there's a couple, but the bottom line is it gets down to one basketball game. It gets down to us being a 12 seed and obviously they're a higher seed. Two basketball teams that are going to go at it. I think it's two basketball programs that are rich in tradition. I think we have incredible fan bases. And I've had an opportunity to see the Illinois fan base, as well as ours, and I expect it to be a great basketball game. And it's up to me to talk to the team about expectations on ourselves. I think we're here to advance and we have to treat it with the same approach we had in our conference tournament, knowing that really now you lose and you go home. And the biggest encouragement we can give to our team is how far do we want to go with this thing? And as great a year we've had, we don't want this ride to end, and we want to continue to gain respect by advancing. End of FastScripts |
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