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DICK'S SPORTING GOODS NIT SEASON TIP-OFFNovember 24, 2010Corey FisherJay WrightMouphtaou YarouNEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK UCLA – 70 Q. Corey, this is the first time you guys have found adversity this season with the way you guys shot in the second half. How did you deal with it and overcome it? COREY FISHER: I think that was a great game for us. We just try to get better day by day. That's what we're trying to do, be the best team we can be. We played against a great team, UCLA. They came out hard, we came out hard. I think we played hard. It ain't about making shots; it's about getting stops on the defensive end. That's something we did today, like move. Like Mouph, came up with 16 rebounds. That was real big. We take pride in that, guys that do all the loose stuff. Q. They seemed to jam up the lane in the second half preventing you and Maalik (Wayns) from driving the lane; what did you do to overcome that? COREY FISHER: Nothing changes. Me and Maalik are going to be aggressive at all times. And if we don't got a shot, we're going to see the next guys. We have guys like stokes, (Dominic) Cheek and guys that can knock down shots. That's something we came out with. We knew they were going to be aggressive in the second half. We got in the lane and we just took what the defense gave us. Q. Corey, when you and Maalik are on the floor at the same time, how does that allow you to attack the defense having two point guards out there like that? COREY FISHER: It gives us a great opportunity on offense. We both do the same thing. Coach is always on us about staying on the attack. Even when we are tired, I'm out there, "Coach, I need a break." He's like, "attack, attack." That's -- if I'm down, Maalik picks me up. If Maalik is down, I pick him up. If we both down, (Corey) Stokes picks us up. We have a great team and we're trying to get better. Q. Corey, you guys get to play at the Garden all the time. Is there anything special about doing it now, this time of year, having people come out, Thanksgiving? COREY FISHER: Yeah. It's an honor just to go out and play some basketball at Thanksgiving weekend. And there's a lot of people that would give up their life to come play some basketball on a great weekend like this against a great team and a great tournament. Especially in a great arena, the Mecca of basketball. We came and we tried to stay focused on basketball and have a great week. Q. Did you have a crowd of your people here? COREY FISHER: Yeah. Family. We got a lot of family here. Support and -- we got a lot of alumni here. A lot of people take pride in Villanova basketball. Q. Mouphtaou, inside you were forced tonight; was that your mindset coming into the game, getting every rebound? MOUPHTAOU YAROU: Coach always says he want me to -- he want me -- Coach wants me to play hard. And we wanted to block the shot. That's what I was trying to do. Q. Last year you had some health issues. How does it feel to be healthy now and how much can you contribute all year if you're healthy? MOUPHTAOU YAROU: I feel great, actually. I just want to play hard. So I'm looking forward to play against great players and a great team. Q. Was that frustrating for you last year to miss time? MOUPHTAOU YAROU: Yes. THE MODERATOR: Thanks, gentlemen. JAY WRIGHT: Did you ever see a guy that big talk that sweet and nice? Did you see that? That's what we're dealing with: The nicest, smartest big man in the world. JAY WRIGHT: Good game for us. Just everything. Great to play in the Garden and get away from home, play not really a road game, but not a home game against a great team. You knew they were going to keep coming back at us. They are really good. I respect them. Ben Howland is one of the top defensive coaches in the game. It was great for us to see what he would do against us. He did a lot of good things. Second half, like Joe said, they really did a good job of icing our ball screens in the middle of the floor. And backing off our guards, making them shoot over them, which is something we can watch film and we have to make adjustments. So just a real good game for us. We still have room to improve too. Q. Did you think that maybe they should have drew the basket, that maybe they should have looked more for the guys spotting up on the perimeter as UCLA was sagging into the lane? JAY WRIGHT: Yes. In the second half a little bit more. They were having -- Maalik and Fish were having some success. I think that's something they can learn from this. I definitely think they can. I would always rather them be aggressive, though, and make mistakes on aggression rather than not looking for the shot. Which I think we made some tonight. A little bit too aggressive sometimes. But we'll learn from that. Q. Did you find out anything new about your team tonight? JAY WRIGHT: Mouph, 16 rebounds. We anticipated that when he came in last year. He really struggled last year. You guys don't need to hear all the drama. Last year was a brutal year for him. And now this is really his first year -- that was like a red-shirt year. That's what we expect from him. He can be a force inside. We never have a big guy that when he gets four fouls, we're trying to get him back in the game. We have a bunch of little guys, just keep rotating in. It's nice to have a big guy, you want to get him back in there. He was a great presence in the paint. Q. Coach, I know you have some scouting left to do. What did you see from Tennessee? What do you anticipate Friday? JAY WRIGHT: You know, they have a big athletic team. And kind of similar to UCLA, I think. My assistants have watched. I have to be honest, that was the first time I saw them this year was today. They've got big, long athletic players. We got to coach Scotty Hopson this summer, and really nice kid and very, very good player. He was on my team against the NBA guys. It was nice to have him on my side. Going against him is going to be tough. I think a defensive team is similar to UCLA. Q. Jay, you have had some teams, you take a look at where this club is at this point of the season, is it as far advanced as any of the team that you've coached for this time of year? JAY WRIGHT: This team -- that's a good point. This team -- I think that's one of the things we learned too, they're pretty mature. Having three seniors is really big. For this time of the year they are pretty mature. And they can get better too. But they're like a lot of our good teams, yeah. Q. How does having Fisher and Wayns make you more dangerous? JAY WRIGHT: As you can see there are times they drive the ball and they can be a little overaggressive, as Joe was saying, he cleans it up with an offensive rebound. They're really smaller guards. And we've always played with smaller guards. To have somebody behind them that can block some shots, makes them -- we can play them more defensively. So he helps them defensively. He covers offensively and he kind of cleans up around the basket for them. Q. Do you think opposing team gets a little surprised when they see Maalik out on the floor driving by on the lane initially? JAY WRIGHT: Maalik Wayns? I don't know. Last year he had a pretty good year. He was all-rookie BIG EAST. I think I'm more surprised with the big guy, to be honest. Q. 15 at the half. Were you surprised you couldn't put them up sooner or were you expecting UCLA to -- JAY WRIGHT: I was more surprised we were up 15 at the half. We've coached against them, I knew that team is not going to go away. They grinded it. They did a good job. They stuck with their stuff. They never lost their personality. That's a sign of Ben's teams. Great discipline, and they did a really good job. That's why I feel good about this win. I feel good about our team. Q. Jay, those of us who write in New York when the kids from the area come back, play at the Garden, we like to hit that thing. Is that a real thing for these guys? I know you guys play at the Garden all the time; is it still unique, great, special, anything, or is that malarkey? JAY WRIGHT: I know for me one of our biggest concerns every time we play here is it's the opponent and then it's our New York guys being in the Garden. Because they're overexcited. They want to do well. It's home for them. It's the Mecca. It's where they made their name. Some of them in high school -- I remember seeing Corey Fisher playing in a high school game against Rice High School that was unbelievable. I know they all think about it. They all do. We wound up talking about it before. It's not about playing in the Garden; it's about playing basketball. You hear them say that. It's a great challenge. It's a challenge for them. I was really happy for Fish and (Corey) Stokes. I know coming back here was big for him too. THE MODERATOR: Two more questions, please. Q. Who is better right now, Corey Fisher or Kemba Walker? JAY WRIGHT: Great question. We got to coach Kemba in the summer. They are similar. They have similar personalities too. I was surprised coaching Kem; he reminded me of Corey. Great kid. Real nice kid. You think tough Bronx kid, hard-headed. He's not. They're very close. Great kids. THE MODERATOR: Last question? JAY WRIGHT: Thanks, guys. Happy Thanksgiving. End of FastScripts |
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