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NCAA MEN'S REGIONAL SEMIFINALS & FINALS: SALT LAKE CITYMarch 27, 2010Gordon HaywardShelvin MackRonald NoredBrad StevensSALT LAKE CITY, UTAH Butler – 63 THE MODERATOR: We have Butler representatives on the stage. We'll ask Coach Stevens to make a brief opening statement. Coach. COACH STEVENS: Well, you know, it's hard to put into words. But it has always been a team thing at Butler. And these guys continued on that path today. You know, I'm sitting up here with three sophomores. They played great. But I think that, you know, just as big of minutes, these guys do what they do, but just as big of minutes came off the bench with a senior and a freshman filling in at the void with five when Matt was out with fouls. You look at what these guys did today, we turned it over 20 times, which is almost as much as our three games combined. But we won the possession battle because we out-rebounded them by 12. And we turned it over seven more times than they did, so we had five more. You just got to figure out a way to do that. You got to figure it out. If you would of told me we would have out-rebounded these guys by 12, I probably would have questioned you. I'm very proud of these guys and thankful to be a part of this ride and the fact that it's continuing. THE MODERATOR: We'll take questions for the student-athletes. Q. Gordon, at times it seemed you had as many critics as points in this season despite everything that you done during the season. You seemed very assertive down the stretch. Did you feel like you were in a good position or confident that you could run what the coaches were designing? How do you explain the last eight minutes? GORDON HAYWARD: I mean, obviously the coaches and my teammates got me in position to where I could do something with the ball. They really kind of flustered us there towards the end with 20 turnovers, which definitely is going to have to get better. Like I said, it was a lot of my teammates getting me into positions where I could score. Q. For a kid who grew up around Indianapolis and going home for a Final Four, have you even processed what this would mean to the Indy community and Brownsburg? GORDON HAYWARD: I mean, it's just very special. It's special for all of us here. It will be special anywhere we went. The fact we get to play in front of our home crowd, they've just been tremendous all year supporting us, kind of makes it a little more special. I'm excited just for all the guys next to me, all 15 of us. Q. Can you talk about the excitement of going to the Final Four, going home, if this is what you dreamed about at the beginning of the season. RONALD NORED: I think this is what we expected at the beginning of the season. We're not here to just go back to Indy and go to the Final Four and, you know, celebrate that way. We want to win the whole thing. But this is probably the coolest thing that's ever happened in my life. I'm just so thankful to God, my family, my friends, these guys, my coach to get us to this point. SHELVIN MACK: This is a very special moment in our life. We all believed in each other. That's the main thing that kept us focused throughout the whole tournament. When we was down by one with three minutes left in the game, we still believed in each other. Settled down, ready to go. GORDON HAYWARD: I think they both kind of covered it a little bit. But Ron said, our dreams definitely didn't stop at getting to the Final Four. We want to win the whole thing. Q. Do you have any idea what awaits you this week? RONALD NORED: You know, we were in the holding room asking coach about what we do for tickets. Coach said, I don't know. I don't know what to tell you. I haven't been here before. We haven't been here before either. I think this is going to be something that we're going to cherish for a while. I have no idea what it's going to be like when we get back to Indianapolis tonight. It was crazy after we got back from the first two rounds. So it's probably going to be a little wild when we get back. It's something we can embrace and then move on. SHELVIN MACK: No, we never been here before. It's a great thing. It's an experience I like to share with all my teammates. We're just going to enjoy the moment, take it one day at a time. Q. In the Syracuse game, you had a double-digit lead, they made a comeback, same here. Is that a testament to this team, staying in there? You were underdogs in both games. SHELVIN MACK: Yes, it's a 40-minute game. We got to play each possession like it's our last. I think playing together for two straight years, we all know we've been in situations like this. Just got to keep nagging at it and keep nagging at it. Q. What did the stage feel like during the game? It was a big stage, a lot of attention. How does this compare or contrast to high school state championship games, Gold Medal game? Were those games anything like this one? Did you feel, Another championship game, here we go? GORDON HAYWARD: Well, I think that any game like this, I mean, they're all special and unique in their own way. Playing for my high school is something I'll always remember. Can't take anything away from that or the guys I played with. Love all those guys. Playing for the USA is not something many people get to be able to do, to get to represent your country, and be with Shelvin is something that's special in its own right. But I think playing here, every single game we play here with this team is very special for me just 'cause of all the guys that have put in all this work, just started two years ago. Like I said, just don't want to let this run end. SHELVIN MACK: It really didn't hit me till like the end of the game when I shot my free throw. I was like my first time ever shaking, realizing we were going to the Final Four when I missed the first free throw. That's when it hit me, we had an opportunity to go to the Final Four and compete for the national championship. RONALD NORED: This game's obviously pretty special. We had the opportunity to do something pretty special. I think for us we just prepared the same way. We did what we do. We just had to come in and get the job done. You know, we couldn't celebrate at halftime down 10. We're playing good teams right now. We just had to come back and keep fighting. But after the game, best feeling ever. Q. Gordon, Coach Martin talked about the problems he had matching up with you. Can you talk about the versatility in your game offensively, just how you become such a threat both ways, as a big guy. GORDON HAYWARD: I think a lot of that is just a blessing from God. I was always shorter growing up. So I had to play guard. Kind of grew. My guard skills continue with me. So, like I said, both my parents are 5'10", so when you look at our family pictures, you're kind of like, Who is that tall kid in the back and what's he doing in that picture? Like I said earlier, a lot of it is my teammates putting me in places where I can do things to help the team win. If they need me to go in and play the four, I'll play that, or if they need me to play the guard, I can play that as well. Q. How many times have you each seen the movie Hoosiers and when was the last time? GORDON HAYWARD: I can't really tell you how many times I've watched that movie. I think everyone growing up in Indiana watches that movie. I've lost count. Last time I can't remember either. It's always on TV, I feel like. So whenever it's on, love basketball, love watching that movie. SHELVIN MACK: I never seen the movie. I'm sorry (laughter). RONALD NORED: I definitely can remember the last time I watched Hoosiers. Our annual, you know, Brad Stevens' Butler Basketball Camp, we have the movie room. For some reason, every week we go four weeks straight, four days, every day for every week, kids want to watch Hoosiers. It's the most annoying thing I've ever experienced in my life. I saw Hoosiers in July, was the last time and I saw it, you do the math, 16 times-ish. SHELVIN MACK: Yeah, I never seen it. People getting on me to watch the movie, but I haven't found time to fit it into my schedule (smiling). Q. When you see Andrew Smith go out there and get the kind of minutes you got from him, how can you not be inspired? RONALD NORED: You know, I'm so proud of Andrew for coming in there. Probably the biggest game he's ever played. This is the biggest game we've played in, as well, but probably the biggest game he's ever played in. Andrew came in, he guarded, he boxed out, you know, he finished. I'm so proud of Andrew. That just shows our team. That just shows how tough we are. Andrew has to go up against Matt Howard every day. He's playing tough guys every day in practice. But he came in and did a great job today. I think the first half he kind of kept us going. Q. Gordon, can you talk us through those two key plays, the alley-oop and the driving layup on the left side? How big were they there at the end of the game? GORDON HAYWARD: Well, I mean, the alley-oop play was a play drawn up by coach. We just executed that very well. Ron made a good pass. I was able to find the ball and finish. At the end, I think it was just playing basketball. I've said it already lots of times, but coach and my teammates put me in that position and sometimes you just got to make a play, and I was lucky enough to hit it. THE MODERATOR: Thank you, guys. We'll dismiss the Butler student-athletes and continue with questions for Coach Stevens. Q. Butler's program has always been all about action, not much talk. Was there a feeling all along that at some point Butler could win four consecutive tournament games and make a Final Four? It's not something that's very openly talked about in the program. Was there a feeling that this was achievable? COACH STEVENS: If you don't believe it, you can't achieve it. It's that old saying. One of the things that these guys have been very good, you asked a good question, what's it going to be like when we get back to Indianapolis. One of the things that these guys will do a good job of is preparing. I think we talked about it. We talked about it in the locker room when we got back in. We always say this, and you know that, I don't want this to be the highlight of their lives. What you're trying to do is help them get to the point where there are bigger and better things. Certainly this is going to be a highlight for all of us. But you're always moving to the next thing. This program has been built on that foundation of, Hey, where you're at's great, but a good friend of mine in coaching had a great line, I don't know where he got it, but success is having and excellence is being. You have success, but if you want to continue to have it at a high level, you better be excellent. Q. Can you talk about the job you did defensively against K State's guards the first half, how that set the tone. COACH STEVENS: Well, I think I'm sure you noticed, we paid a lot of attention to them. Every ball screen we tried to trap, which is a little bit different than our normal. However, we've done that some in league. So it was a pretty easy thing to discuss and talk about. And then, you know, we wanted to try to make their bigs take jump shots. I think the first eight minutes, that was really proving itself to be happening. But, you know, Kelly is a hard guy for us to guard. They tried to duck him in a couple times late. Gordon did a great job taking the position. I thought for the most part we did an unbelievable job on the defensive glass. My biggest concern going into the game was when they set those ball screens up high, was rotating back into block-outs, because I knew that they were going to get some penetration because we were playing so much attention to Clemente and Pullen, would we be able to block out. Our guys did a good job of that. Andrew Smith did a great job when he came in. The Indianapolis Colts are a tremendous resource as far as learning from them. You speak to why a guy like Andrew can come and play the way he plays, it's because every day he prepares for his time. He wants the team to do well. He's ambitious himself, but he won't put himself above the team. When it's his time, he needs to come in and do that. One of the things I enjoyed listening to was that we were going to be too small to play against them, kind of thought that Andrew would have a role in this game. And he did a wonderful job. Q. Could you talk about what the message was like in the timeout when you led the whole game, then you gave up the lead, what you said to your team. COACH STEVENS: It's what we've done the last two games. We did it against Murray, too. Murray took a lead late, under four minutes. Syracuse took a lead late at five minutes. These guys took a lead. But, you know, you play 40 minutes. Butler basketball, while we're on the floor, it's based on a lot of values off of it, but while we're on the floor, it's based on winning the next possession. That's been something that we've done for a long, long time. You know, the thing that really gets me thinking about it is all the people that have put all that sweat into that. These guys deserve to enjoy it, but so do the people that were here for the last 15 years or so. Q. There have been so many upsets in this tournament where two No. 1 seeds falling to teams outside the traditional power conferences. Can you talk about your thoughts on the gap shrinking between the conferences and why that is? COACH STEVENS: It's okay to call us a mid-major, by the way, Cinderella, whatever you want to call us, still get to play. That's good. You know, I don't know. I've never really thought of it as a gap. I think you run into some teams where your margin for error shrinks. Last year, I thought we played a really good LSU team and we had a small margin for error with youth and inexperience. Even though we have the game guys this year, it's a different thing. It's just a different thing to participate in when you're mostly freshmen out on the floor, especially to start the game. But I think it becomes more about matchups than perception of league affiliation probably. I think it's who you're playing. Murray State gave us as big of a fit as anybody else. I think the bottom line is, they're a good basketball team. There's a lot of good basketball teams. Q. At a moment like this, do you ever flashback to the big life decision that you made with Lilly? Did you ever have fun, like, with at Eli Lilly? COACH STEVENS: I do every time we lose. I hate losing. I don't handle it well. It affects my day till we get back on the practice floor. I don't think I'm any different than any other coach or competitor or athlete in that regard. Yeah, you know one thing that I really, really enjoy, and I'm not going to be able to respond to all of them, but all the text messages and emails that I've gotten from the people that I worked with there. It just proves that those people were invested in me. That means a lot because I didn't have to be because I was only there 10 months. Q. You seem like a very pragmatic kind of guy. You talk about planning and believing. Before the season started, you know the Final Four is going to be in Indianapolis. Did you have one of those moments where you said, Sure would be fun to walk into Lucas? COACH STEVENS: No. The only time I've ever thought about that, and I didn't tell our guys this, I told my wife, and that was it, was when we were driving on the bus back on the from the Murray State game and we passed the Lucas Oil Stadium. That hit a little bit. That was the first time I even thought about it. When we first met as a team back during our pre-season workouts, we said we need to prepare to win the next game and we need to try our best to win the next game. If you do that enough times, you end up winning the whole thing. That was the way we discussed it. We never talked about a goal or a Final Four or a national championship or anything else after that. But that was what we said. One thing that I really appreciate about our players is, they believe in one another and they trust the system. My staff does such a great job of all working together, staying on the same page. We're all trying to get them ready. Q. Do you recall what you said to your wife? COACH STEVENS: It was 2:30 in the morning. No. I don't remember what I said to my wife. Yeah, write whatever you want. Whatever sounds best (smiling). No, I think probably like, That would be pretty cool. I think it would be just as cool if we moved it to Hinkle, though. I'd be all for that right now. Q. During the middle portion of the second half, you had close to a 10-point lead, some turnovers, missed a couple front ends. Did you ever allow it to creep into your head, We're missing a chance to blow the game wide open? COACH STEVENS: You think about that. But the game is so long and there's so many possessions. When you really go back and analyze it as a coach, you have so many opportunities that you missed. But the team that plays and stays together and tries to execute the best, oftentimes win. The team that lets a run against them, oftentimes lose. We let one bad run go against us. That was when we went down one. But those guys believe in each other. You know, they're a tough team for us to play, especially on one-day turnaround, because they're so physical and so long and they make it difficult to execute. Q. You would have been 10 years old when the movie Hoosiers came out. COACH STEVENS: I was. I've seen it quite a bit, obviously. Shelvin, since he's from Kentucky, that must not be something he watched. Maybe he's holding his ground. I've seen it quite a bit. You always get Hoosiers quotes. I got an e-mail from a good friend of mine the other day that said, One more, Ollie. It was fun. It was fun to get those. You know, not a week goes by where somebody who hasn't seen the Field House doesn't walk into the Field House and the least mouth 'Hickory.' Q. How big in your mind were the two plays of Gordon at the end? COACH STEVENS: I think it was big because we got a lead and we were able to extend that lead. Then I thought a huge play was Ron's driving layup to put us up, I believe, six, although I don't really remember. We made big plays. Our guys made big plays. Again, these guys are barely 20 making those plays on this stage. That's pretty neat. The power of 'we.' Those guys are really good players, but how well they like each other, how well they get along, how much they believe in each other makes them better. Q. That first half, what your guards did defensively against a couple great guards, can you just talk about the effort they had to give to be able to do that. Then coming towards the end of the game, do you think that paid off, how hard the Kansas State guards had to work in the first half? COACH STEVENS: It did. We tell our guys all the time, You got to make it as difficult as possible on great players so when they get an opening somehow, they've had a rough day up to that point. It's harder to make shots when you're open if you haven't gotten a clean look for 30 minutes. Our guys, you know, one thing about our team, you got Willie, Ron, Shawn. We got guys you can put on guards that can really score and play. And Shelvin and Gordon. You saw everybody guard 'em. What probably should be talked about, though, is not only the job those guys individually did, but the way our bigs controlled and were able to help on ball screens. That was the biggest part of the game coming in, from my opinion, from a coaching standpoint. THE MODERATOR: Thank you. COACH STEVENS: Thank you. End of FastScripts |
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