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NCAA MEN'S REGIONAL SEMIFINALS & FINALS: SALT LAKE CITYMarch 24, 2010Gordon HaywardMatt HowardShelvin MackBrad StevensSALT LAKE CITY, UTAH THE MODERATOR: Welcome to the Sweet 16 interview sessions. We'll open it up to questions for Butler head coach Stevens. Q. People talk about it all the time, the "Syracuse Zone." What makes it unique, in your opinion? COACH STEVENS: Well, I think one of the things that makes it unique is how committed they are to it. Obviously very well-coached. You know, that goes without saying. Then the guys really play it together. They really play it hard and well. A lot of times when people mix up defenses, they don't ever get great at one thing. Obviously Syracuse's defense is a great thing for them and they've done great with it. Their length and athleticism on top of that adds to how good it is. Q. You talked about Syracuse becoming committed to the 2-3. How committed are you to the three-point shot? Do you imagine you're going to have to take a few more against Syracuse tomorrow? COACH STEVENS: We're going to try to, just like any other time, if you have a layup, you try to get a layup. I'm not committed to that over a layup by any means. I think every time we take the floor, we're just trying to figure out what's going to work best for us with our personnel versus the defense we're playing. We'll try to take advantage of whatever opportunity presents itself, not go in with a specific game plan of you have to heave, 60% of your shots have to be threes. We'll take advantage of what's there, while at the same time trying to get what we deem to be a great shot for Butler. Q. Butler has been in this situation several times in the last decade of, hitting this round or close to it, facing a 1 or 2 seed. Do you feel like this might be a crossroads moment for the Butler program, a chance to break through? COACH STEVENS: No, I don't look at it as that. I look at it as a game on Thursday night against a really good basketball team, and that's it. I know everybody wants to point to Sweet 16, Elite 8, the legacy of a team 30 years from now because of that. But I think it's more so we're playing a really good basketball team. This is our guys' opportunity to play against them. If we focus on anything else, we don't have a good shot. We have to focus on what we need to do to have a chance to win. I haven't thought about that at all. I don't think it's something we necessarily need to pay much attention to from our program's standpoint. I think what this program has been able to do has been quite an achievement. Certainly being on this stage again is another reminder of that. Q. Components of this particular team that makes them as well or better prepared than any of the other versions, '08, two other times to the Sweet 16? COACH STEVENS: I don't think there's any necessary advantages this team would have over anybody else. Again, it's just going to come down to the identity of a 40-minute game. I think we could really, really spin myself in circles trying to figure that out. It's more about, Hey, how does this team match up with Syracuse? How do we try to take advantage on both ends of what we think can be good for us and go from there. Q. With the success you've had in recent years, are you ready to leave behind this Hoosiers image, overachieving team type of thing? Do you think you have arrived as a legitimate squad or do you think until you really win big, you'll always kind of have that image? COACH STEVENS: Did you say a loser's image? Q. Hoosiers image, overachieving team. COACH STEVENS: I was like, Boy, that was direct (laughter). You know what, we don't really think about that. If people want to think that about our team, then that's okay. I think we respect every opponent that we play and we hope that we've earned the respect of the opponents that we play, so that they feel when they walk in the gym, they're going to have to beat us. We're not going to beat ourselves. We're going to do tough things. We're going to give for one another. Some of the things that you mentioned about that reputation, I think there's a belief in a team, there's a belief in tradition, valuing history that this group understands and appreciates. I think that's part of what makes them good. Q. In San Jose you didn't start very well in either game. You probably looked at that. Why was that and how do you change that against Syracuse? COACH STEVENS: I thought we started pretty well against Murray in the first seven minutes or so. I thought we were really moving it pretty well. I think we were up 12-3 or 12-5, whatever the case may be. I thought we came out fairly tentative against UTEP for whatever, being back in the tournament. Some teams play that way, some don't. In the second half of that UTEP game, I thought we played very well, as good of a half as we've played all year. I'm not going to overanalyze a couple of minutes in a game. What we need to do is adjust appropriately and then try to take advantage of what we think is going to be good to us. Sometimes you have a good idea going into the game. Sometimes you have a good idea that doesn't work going into the game. You have to scrap that and figure out what's going to work best based on what you've seen in the first 10 minutes. We have to start well. You can't start down 10 or 15 down to nothing against Syracuse. You're dead in the water if that happens. Q. Most of the teams left in the tournament have graduation rates below 65%. You are at about 90%. What do you do that gets your guys to graduate from school? COACH STEVENS: I don't think it's anything we do that's going to be earth shattering. I think first of all graduation rates also take into account whether or not people leave your program. So there's some skew to that. Somebody could transfer from Butler to Harvard, graduate with honors, and count against you from a graduation rate. But I do think this: I think our guys come; I think it's an enjoyable experience; Butler is a great place to be a student; Butler is a great place to be a student-athlete. We don't have that many people choose to leave. All of 'em with positive peer pressure I think at the school, with the students they're surrounded by, the other people in our locker room, people have a great opportunity to achieve and really are inspired to achieve. One of the things, the foundational piece of our program that was there long before I got there was we want guys that compete, not only on the court, but in the classroom. That's a big component. We want people that are prideful and ambitious. This is a great run. I don't want this to be the highlight of our guys' lives. We want them to move forward, have a chance to continue to have success after basketball career is over. Q. Some analysts in talking about going against zone claim you can't beat a zone by shooting over. Besides the obvious of making outside shots when you have them, what kind of things do teams do to attack any zone, much less Syracuse's zone? COACH STEVENS: I think anybody tries to attack any defense that anybody plays. I think an ideal scenario is to try to attack inside out. It's a lot easier said than done. Are you going to have to make shots over the top of that zone? Yeah, you have to. There's no doubt about that. At the same time I think you certainly want to attack and get it into the paint in different ways, whether it be by the bounce, the pass, the post, flashes, those kind of things. We've played against a lot of the zone last two years, probably more zone than we played in my first eight years combined. So I think our guys have some familiarity with it. I will say we probably haven't played against a zone this good. In fact, I don't think there's any doubt about that. But, you know, certainly our guys need to play within themselves, try to do the right things. Again, we'll see what areas are open and how we can best attack them. Q. In terms of rebounding the ball, how important do you think that will be tomorrow? COACH STEVENS: It's critical. It's really critical, rebounding on both ends of the floor. They're a top-25 team in the country on the offensive glass. We have to be great at getting them off the glass. We weren't very good in our last game rebounding. It's one of those deals where if the rebounding numbers are even at the end of the day, we have a pretty good shot. I don't think this is a team you're going to beat on the glass by 15 boards. At the same time we need to try to rebound against their zone a little bit. That being said, I think they're the best team in the country that I've seen, and I haven't seen everybody, at least haven't watched everybody this close, getting the ball off the rim and getting to the other end. I think in that zone, they fill their transition lanes unbelievably well. That's why they can take a close game and really separate very quickly. So that's a real challenge for us. There's no question about it. It presents a real dilemma. You certainly want to offensive rebound, but you better get back and defend or else they're going to score it. Q. You talked about the team aspect that you have. Can you talk about the success you've had over the years not having maybe an individual NBA prospect type player? By the same token, has that changed with Gordon Hayward? Is he maybe the first NBA prospect the school has had? COACH STEVENS: I hope that a few of our guys get opportunities in that regard. Even though we haven't had an NBA player in the last 10 years, we've had outstanding players. Oftentimes they were probably just too small at that time. You know, we've got guys that have played overseas for a number of years. We've got guys doing really well from recent teams over there as well. All of those guys have gotten their opportunities with regard to summer leagues and those type of things. In college, they were outstanding players. They continue to have outstanding careers. Certainly I think we've got guys that will have those opportunities down the road. Specifically to Gordon, certainly he will. He's a 6'9" guard, a guard for us, but he'll play one through five. He played five the other day against Murray State when we had to go small. The thing about Gordon, we've been talking a lot about him this week, just how tough he is. He's a tough, tough guy. Sometimes when you get a guy that I don't even want to call him skinny, but a wiry frame, people just automatically assume he wouldn't be. And that's not the case. Q. You talked about belief, these guys believing in tradition and history. You could get a chance to go back home again and play in the Final Four. Do you think these guys believe this is destiny or do we in the media overrate that stuff, the belief? COACH STEVENS: We've never won a game based on destiny. You win a game based on preparation. You win a game based on playing really well for 40 minutes. In this case, tomorrow, your chance of winning the game is decreasing your margin for error. So if you're thinking about anything but what you have to do on that one possession that's in front of you, you're going to be in trouble. I think it's certainly something that's been talked about a lot. It's never been mentioned in our locker room. It's kind of funny. I've never once heard our guys utter the phrase 'Final Four'. And my office is right next to the locker room. It's probably talked a lot more outside than it is within our team. Certainly it's a question we've had to answer. At least we're sitting up here still with a chance to answer it. Q. You won 30 games, won the league, the league tournament, you've won two games, played up to your seed. Any thought it's time to just relax and play with house money? COACH STEVENS: I don't really relax. I don't think our guys do either. I think one of the things, if you want to be really good, we don't ever -- you don't ever look at the seed or the number next to the team's name, otherwise you'll start to let that become a factor in your mind. We knew Murray state was excellent. We're going to have to play really going to beat them. We know Syracuse is excellent. I think they're as good a team as any team in the country. On any given night, they might be the best team in the country. Tomorrow night we're going to have to do certain things to give ourselves a chance. It has nothing to do with the 1 next to their name or the 5 next to our name. It has to do with what happens on that possession and that's what we'll focus on. THE MODERATOR: Thank you, coach. We'll have Butler student-athletes up momentarily. We welcome Butler student-athletes. We'll open it up for questions. Q. Shelvin and Gordon, Syracuse playes 2-3 zone. How important is it to make three-pointers against that zone? How much pressure is that as guys who are three-point shooters to feel comfortable enough to knock 'em down in a game like that? SHELVIN MACK: It's very important. But we're not too worried about it. Get a stop on the defensive end, shouldn't have to worry about shooting jump shots the whole game. GORDON HAYWARD: I think obviously if you can hit some three-point shots, you'll definitely open things up. They'll have to extend. If you can also get the ball to Matt inside, get him some looks, we can go inside out. Q. Matt, this is sort of a crossroads that Butler has hit several times over the last decade: done well in the tournament, got up to playing a No. 1 or 2 seed. Do you feel this is a crossroads or opportunity for you to move this team forward and the whole program forward? MATT HOWARD: Yeah, you know, obviously it's a great opportunity. That's what we're taking it as. You know, it's the same mindset that we've had for every game this year, you know, just thinking one possession at a time, one game at a time. It's nothing more than that. If you start getting caught up in, "It's a 1 seed, it's a 2 seed," your mind's not in the right place. Q. Shelvin, do you think people expect you to be more intimidated in a game like this than you actually are? SHELVIN MACK: Yeah, I know me and my teammates we're not very intimidated. We had a nice non-conference schedule that prepared us for something like this, playing different teams and different styles. Going to take it one game at a time, one play at a time. Q. Can you forget that it's Syracuse for a second. When you know another team is playing zone, do your eyes light up? SHELVIN MACK: Yeah, a little bit. I know they gonna be out pressuring me and Gordon and Zach on the perimeter, which should open up the inside a little bit. But just got to take it one play at a time, one shot at a time. GORDON HAYWARD: I think as a shooter, you feel that you do because you feel like you might get some more open looks. Obviously they're not going to try to let us get open looks. There's going to be different challenges with the zone. I mean, we practice for it, so we'll be ready to go against it. Q. Matt, every general story I read about Butler talks about the movie Hoosiers, that angle. Have you left that behind? Is this a legit college program with the success you have had this decade, or in people's eyes around the country do you really have to start maybe winning big ones to shed that stereotype? MATT HOWARD: Well, you would probably know as far as what people are thinking. But there's always gonna be a connection with us to Hoosiers, for maybe no other reason than we played Hinkle. The great tradition that gym has. I don't think we're ever going to get rid of that. Maybe we do. But that's not going to be the most pressing thing on our mind. I don't think it is anyways. Q. In your minds you've arrived as a legit college team that seems to be there every year now. MATT HOWARD: Yeah. What would you say we need to do to become a legit team? Do you have to get to Elite 8? I guess it's up for debate. But obviously somebody, and especially the coaches, think we're a pretty good team. Whether or not you have a certain label with you, mid-major or what, I guess it is what it is. Q. I'm curious about your experience on the U.S. team, how much that helps you in environments like this when you're facing something different. SHELVIN MACK: It helps out a lot. Game plan, different styles. Different people. But the most important thing I think I took from that is knowing that 10 feet in New Zealand is the same as 10 feet in Utah. We just got to go out there and play. GORDON HAYWARD: I think that just playing with all those great players, like Shelvin said, playing the different styles, you just get that experience. Then, of course, playing in a big game like we played in, I think, like I said, the experience just helps you out. But then like Shelvin said, it's just a basketball game. We've been playing it our whole lives. I'm sure all of us have been in big-time games with big-time plays that needed to be played. We're just going to go out there and play the sport we've been playing our whole life. Q. Could you elaborate what's it's like to grow up as a young boy in the state of Indiana, how important basketball is in the state. You see players and coaches connections all over the tournament. GORDON HAYWARD: I think that basketball, I think people are passionate about it in Indiana. For me growing up, it was always going to watch our high school team play almost every Friday night and going with my parents. Then you watch them through the Indiana High School tournament. Then after that, my parents both went to Purdue, so we always watched Purdue play. I think it was just something that I guess people in Indiana are really passionate about, especially with me and my family, too. MATT HOWARD: I think that's what people love. That's in our state. Really, like Gordon said, are passionate about it. I know from where I'm from in Connorsville, it was the thing to play basketball. It was sort of neat. We had a pretty big gym. It was almost full every night. That's what people love. That's what it's about in Indiana, I think. Q. Are you aware it's been like 50 years since Butler produced an NBA player? If you could be that guy to carry the school's name to the pros, what would that mean? Is there a chance you could leave the school early to go pro or do you think you're a four-year guy? GORDON HAYWARD: You know, I don't know about that question as of right now. Right now it's just focusing on Butler basketball. I'll leave that for after the season. I think it just kind of shows where the program's going, kind of like we were talking about earlier with I guess the mid-major level with four-year type players. We're starting to recruit some players that would maybe go to other bigger schools, and now they're realizing that Butler has a really great program. If you want to win basketball games, Butler is the right place to go. I think it shows where the program is moving. Q. Matt, nobody has scored against you this year or shot a very high percentage against you. What is it about your defensive philosophy that allows you to keep teams down in termsof offensive production? MATT HOWARD: I think that's one of the things that our coaches stress from day one. The first time we have our first practice, our first workouts, that's incorporated in there, part of our philosophy, mindset, every practice, every game, to make sure that we're there rotating, the way our defense works. I think everybody, our guys buy in. We've got the athletes to be able to guard and to be able to help each other out and make it work. THE MODERATOR: Thank you, guys. End of FastScripts |
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