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SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE MEN'S TOURNAMENTMarch 9, 2011Malik CookeDarrin HornSam MuldrowATLANTA, GEORGIA THE MODERATOR: We're ready to continue on with South Carolina. We'll ask Coach Horn for just some general comments on his team. COACH HORN: Obviously it's March and it's an exciting time of year. Fresh start for everybody. Even though our team the last couple games hasn't gotten the wins that we would like to have. We feel like we're playing better and are in a good frame of mind heading into the game tomorrow, and we feel like our team, with the depth that we have and over the long-term, is built for this time of year. So the important thing is just to go out and find a way to make one more play than the other team makes. I think for this team, a big motivation is just continuing to try to finish on a strong note and get an opportunity to keep playing with this guy next to me here, who has had just a phenomenal career and has been a real pleasure for me to coach. Every time we can get another day with him, it is great. THE MODERATOR: Take questions. Q. Last two games you guys have gotten down I think by double digits in the last ten, but you cut it down to one shot. How do you keep that part of the game going into this first round tournament game? COACH HORN: I think that for us we have got to continue to defend and rebound in a way that keeps us in games that the offense is not what we want it to be. I think we have made some strides offensively, even this week and with this team, we wanted to continue to get better. And that was really hard for a stretch of time because you're without Lakeem Jackson, Bruce Ellington is not fully healthy. We really just kind of feel like ourselves in the last week to two weeks that way. And for our team, it's important that we keep making sure we do those things. The Mississippi State game and the season finale is a great example. They shoot 37 percent overall and threw in some threes, which we knew they would do and were willing to deal with. But overall defensively, we gave ourselves an opportunity because of how we guarded and rebounded the basketball. Q. You talked about how this team is built for tournaments, can you describe a little bit for folks, what does that mean? COACH HORN: Just I think that at tournament time, you got to have some depth and you got to have a team that plays in a way that if you come into a turn and you're tight, you're in trouble. And our belief in our style and system is built on making plays. We haven't been as good at it as we would like to be. Obviously a lot that have has been the amount of young guys that we're playing. We asked our team last night how many guys have even been in a dome. Only dudes that raised their hands were these two guys right next to me. But I think in terms of our athleticism, our versatility, our ability to trap and press if need be, and those kind of things are some things that give us some flexibility this time of year. Q. This being your third year, talk a little bit about, I guess, how the team is different this year than it was during the first two seasons. COACH HORN: As we talked about before, more locally than in a setting like this, it's really like our first year. Our first two years, we had a lot of veteran guys, weren't able to recruit a ton of scholarships, didn't sign anybody. This spring we got the job. This is the first year we have had sort of a full roster of makeovers. So really, in terms of building on the first two years, the only thing we have been able to build on have been establishing a work ethic and some program things. How we approach things academically and just how hard we want to work and some of those things. But in terms of overall style and building year after year, we have got a completely revamped roster this year, and we have been approaching it that year. Q. Only Sam and Malik have been in a dome. What concern might you have that a lot of guys will get caught up in the whole aura and thing of being in this dome? COACH HORN: Not a lot. Because they don't know any better (Laughter). Especially in a first round game. I think if anything it will lead to excitement for our young team and being in this environment and having the opportunity to play in a facility like this, in this setting and on this stage, I think if anything it's going to be a positive for us. Q. Last time you played Ole Miss, Chris Warren had 33 points against you. How do you guys plan to defend him and kind of knock him off his game this time. SAM MULDROW: We just got to know where he at on the defensive end, have high hands on the catch, whenever he catch the ball just have each other's backs. MALIK COOKE: We just got to know where he is at all times and just be aware of him. Q. Can you talk about what your thoughts are on Billy Donovan being named coach of the year. First time in 15 years is the SEC coach of the year? COACH HORN: I think it's more a testament to post-season awards in general. That a guy of Billy Donovan's caliber and production has been in this league this long, had the success he had, and somehow has only been named coach of the year one time. I think it's unbelievably well deserved. Did a tremendous job this year with his team. I think what goes overlooked so many times, especially when you talk about post-season awards and individual honors, is that sometimes the hardest thing to do is have a veteran team and have expectations and still go out and do the things that you need to do. The thing I was so impressed about from a coaching perspective, and he certainly doesn't need my approval, but was that I thought their team got better. They continually got better individually, fit into roles better. As the year moved on, their team improved and I thought billy did a tremendous job and is well deserving. But it's almost unthinkable that he would be in this league 15 years and never be named coach of the year. Q. Talk about your reaction to being named the defensive Player of the Year. SAM MULDROW: It's a great honor. It's a great honor for our school. I didn't know that I would get it. Q. Can you talk about Chris Warren and whether he's kind of an X-factor kind of guy that can kind of change the game almost by himself. COACH HORN: There's no question. I think especially at this time of year it's nice to have one of those guys in your back pocket. As we all know, sometimes tournament games, teams can play great and it comes down to who makes the most shots or who gets hot, all things aside. And Ole Miss definitely has a guy in Chris Warren that is capable of that. And as our guys said, you got to know where he is, you have to be aware of him at all times, you got to limit his touches and his easy looks. But he's going to shoot enough and he's going to create enough that he's definitely capable of big nights. So you just got to kind of try to do the best that you can. And I think that's true for -- we have got a handful of other guys in our league like that. John Jenkins and some others like that, that they're capable, regardless of the job you do, of having a night like that and that's definitely a dangerous thing come tournament time. Q. For all three, how are the freshmen handling all of this their first trip to Atlanta? COACH HORN: I think so far so good. We have got some guys that are from some small places and haven't spent a lot of time in towns of this nature and that kind of thing. But again, that's all part of the experience which I think is good. I know we'll get a chance here in a minute to get out and get a feel for the dome and shoot in there. But the one thing about this group is that we have recruited, by design, guys that we think want to be in this moment and want to help build what it is that we're building, and we have shown great resiliency. I think that we have gotten better in the last few weeks now that we got our full team back and are healthy with the number of close games we have had. And some of the challenges that we have had, this team's continued to come out and work hard every day, have a great attitude and done that with only one guy that's been in our system and played in this league for a couple years, and then only two that have any real college experience in these two guys here, and I think they're excited about it. SAM MULDROW: I think the guys are having a great time. They're excited, ready to play. MALIK COOKE: They're just excited and enjoying the moment and ready to play. Q. Malik, you've really risen to the top in these past few games, taken over the scoring lead. Was that something that you felt like you really had to do with Bruce being on the mend or did it kind of all fall together for you in these last few weeks? MALIK COOKE: I just tried to do what I could to help my team and that's what I'm going to continue to do. I don't know if it was just -- it was just something that happened, I guess. There wasn't really too much thought put into it. THE MODERATOR: All right. Thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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