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NCAA MEN'S 2ND & 3RD ROUNDS: TAMPAMarch 16, 2011Orlando JohnsonJames NunnallyJaime SernaBob WilliamsTAMPA, FLORIDA Q. Orlando, can you talk about your upbringing and just what you went through and how everybody goes to that fork in the road and you go right or left and you went the right way? ORLANDO JOHNSON: Well, that all starts with my family and the support I got growing up as a kid. You know, I didn't have my mother and my father to raise me, so my grandma was the next person in line to take care of me until she died when I was 11. And then from there, then my brothers really had to take on a big responsibility, as in raising me and just really showing me what it takes to be a man and what it takes to survive in this world. I mean, all the praise and stuff goes to them. Q. Just wondering, Orlando, what kind of mentality does it take to go into a match-up where you're a heavy underdog on paper or otherwise and just not let that be a factor for you mentally? I mean, what type of makeup do you have to have mentally to just sort of look past that? ORLANDO JOHNSON: I think for us, we've just got to be going -- we have the same: just believe. We've been having this on our wall just like the whole season, just talking about believing in what we do and each other. We've had some ups and downs this year, we know that, but we've never given up, and we've always had this like animal come out inside of us which was calling at the last game. As long as we have that inside and we bring that out on Thursday, then we'll be ready. Q. James, even though it's a neutral site game, does it feel like you're coming in to play as the road team? JAMES NUNNALLY: Yeah, most definitely, because we're out here in Florida, and they have a lot of their fans here. We know it's a road game, pretty much a road game for us. We traveled all this way, and we're just going to go out there and play like we've been playing all of our lives. Q. James, I know you guys didn't have the regular season that you expected, but you got yourself here, you peaked at the right time. What happened? What were the bumps in the road? And do you think maybe you're a more deceptive 15 seed because you're a little downgraded; you didn't have the season you wanted? JAMES NUNNALLY: You know, we struggled, had some struggles this year. I think that just helps us to get better. Overcoming those hard times, we lost Jaimé for a month this season, I think that really hurt our chemistry. We had our guys stepping in trying to replace him, but that's hard. We didn't get the regular season title, but we came together at the right time, the conference tourney, and we got that done, and I think we're going in here as a 15 seed, we're big underdogs, I know that. I've heard, that's the word around it, but we're coming in to play because we don't feel like we're that big of underdogs. We feel we can play with anybody. Q. Jaimé, they have a pretty big front line, pretty athletic players. You've done the scout on them. How are you approaching this game now that you feel like you're healthy? JAIMÉ SERNA: Just the same as any other game, just go out there, high intensity, be physical, just ride the game, just feed off our emotion. Nothing great, nothing different. Q. How does this year differ from last year in coming to the tournament and your approach to how you go into the games? JAMES NUNNALLY: It's different because we've been here before. I think last year we were just kind of content with making it to the tournament because our school hadn't been there in a while. But this year we're in it to win it, hands down. Q. Orlando, before this game did you have any kind of impression of Florida? Did you see them much or know much about them? It's such a great distance, different conferences obviously, but what did you know about them? ORLANDO JOHNSON: We didn't really know too much about them. We've seen them on TV a few times because they play in the SEC and they get a lot of televised games, so we seen that they -- we've played against these players before on the AAU circuit growing up. They're not that different, they just play on a bigger stage. I think once we get out there, our players will be able to do the talking. Q. Orlando, you credited your brothers and your family for getting you through those hard times and that tragedy. Where do you think you might be if no one had stepped up and been there for you? Have you ever maybe imagined where you might be today? ORLANDO JOHNSON: That's a real tough question. Without those guys, I just -- man, I probably see myself bouncing around from foster home and just doing the wrong things. Growing up at a time where I was living in Seaside, it wasn't really good out there. Like the people I was growing up around got into the wrong things and a lot of them are not even living today. That's a real tough question because I don't think I'd be the same person. Q. With what you just said, is any basketball game -- how could it be that big of a deal or that big of a challenge with what you've been through, no matter who you're playing? ORLANDO JOHNSON: That's what it comes down to really. I just take this game as a great opportunity that I've been blessed with. Basketball has given me these great opportunities to just play and enjoy. My brothers both play sports, one was a football player and another was a basketball player, and I think that's where I just got my competitive edge from. It just kept me away from doing things that I shouldn't be and just gave me opportunity to meet some great people along the lines and give me a chance to make something of my life. Q. Two questions, one for Orlando or just for all three of you guys. People make a big deal about having to fly across the country. Is there any fatigue factor for you guys? And Orlando, did anybody from your family make it here? ORLANDO JOHNSON: No, the travel didn't make too much of a difference. You get off the plane, we all know we're a little tired and stuff like that, but we know what we're here for. We're ready to play and ready to get after it. JAMES NUNNALLY: Yeah, it definitely is not that big of a deal. You know, we've done it before. You get off the plane, take a little nap and get ready to go. JAIMÉ SERNA: Yeah, I mean, you've just got to get over the traveling part pretty quick because most teams would probably kill to be here, so we can't start feeling sorry for ourselves or anything like that, start making excuses. ORLANDO JOHNSON: My brothers will probably be in here later on today. I know they're coming with my uncle and I think another cousin. Q. James, could you step back and look at who is here at this field, not only the ones you're playing, but Kentucky, UCLA, Michigan State, Florida? What do you think of this collection of basketball teams that's on one site? JAMES NUNNALLY: You know, these teams have great history, great historical programs, but we're all basketball, we're all the same. We all lace up our shoes the same way. We all have to play. That's how I feel about it. Q. Jaimé, I know this is a long time ago, but you guys had a pretty nice win at Las Vegas when you were healthy and then I think you got hurt the very next game at San Diego State. Having won that game at Thomas and Mack Center, does that help you guys coming into an arena like this against what will probably be a hostile crowd or was that just so long ago that a lot has happened since then? JAIMÉ SERNA: No, I definitely remember that game, and it helps us a lot, gives us a mental edge that it is possible and it's possible to upset someone like that, especially in a crowd like UNLV's. That was a pretty impressive game and one of the most memorable games of my life. I think that could definitely help us in this game. Q. Could you tell me what you think needs to happen tomorrow to pull the upset? ORLANDO JOHNSON: We just all have to come and, like I said, believing in each other and taking the execution and game plan that coach has drew up for us and do it to the best of our abilities. I think once we go out there and we get the first few minutes and the first media time-out out of the way, then we'll be ready to go. JAMES NUNNALLY: Speaking on what Orlando said, we just have to trust what coach is doing. He's made a couple game plans the last four games for us, and I know the coaching staff is putting together a good one. We just have to believe in ourselves, our teammate, the guy going to war next to us, and I think it can be done. JAIMÉ SERNA: Along with what they said, execute all that, give it our all and fine details, every stop on defense possible, every block-out, and I think it's possible. Q. It seemed like at the Big West tournament you guys kind of found a little bit of magic that sometimes you can take that a long way. Is that something you feel you can keep riding right here in Tampa, that kind of magic feeling when you feel like things finally came together? JAMES NUNNALLY: Yeah, you know, I think we just caught a rhythm. We struggled so much during the season, we just figured out ways to win games and ways to grind. I feel like it can be done, you know. COACH WILLIAMS: Well, it's a joy to be back here in Tampa, back in the NCAA Tournament. People commented to me that, boy, I think you got a good draw with Florida, and I'm not really sure what film they've been watching or what games they've been watching, but we're excited about the opportunity. I'm excited for our players, excited for our coaching staff and our fans and administration and the people that worked so hard to help you get here. And we're looking forward to playing Coach Donovan, and Associate Coach Larry Shyatt at is a friend, so there's a connection there, and we look forward to that and have been awfully impressed watching Florida as much as we've watched them for three days on film. They do a very nice job, and they have a very good basketball team. Q. I know you didn't have the regular season a lot of people would have thought. How did you get from there to here? What were the holes in the road and how did you get it together at the end? COACH WILLIAMS: Yeah, they might have been bigger than holes. It might have been like the Grand Canyon was in the road somewhere that we dropped into. Yeah, it was an interesting season, no doubt. We actually felt like mid-December we were playing really good basketball, and we went -- what ended up being a very good Santa Clara team at Santa Clara and we beat them badly. We beat a very good UNLV team at UNLV and we were playing well and then we lost Jaimé Serna. With that came a whole bunch of problems, and not only did Jaimé not recover very quickly, started to recover, got hurt again, the team didn't get along, our expectations, I think, weighed too heavy on us. I'm not sure if the win at UNLV was a good thing for us. Like one of my assistants said, it might have been helium for the ego. It got us feeling a little too good about ourselves. It took a long time for us to right the ship. Well, part of it got righted; Jaimé got healthy. And when Jaimé was starting to get more productive, we started getting a little better. The players took it upon themselves, and they deserve an awful lot of credit in a player-only meeting, and then they turned themselves to where they just -- we got rid of all the bad karma that we had in the program, all the bad thoughts about an underachieving season and started a fresh page going into our last league game, and we came out and played really hard in that league game which was a real improvement, didn't shoot well. Played really hard, though, and won the game. And luckily when we got into the league tournament the ball started dropping, also. So not only playing hard and tough defensively, but then shots dropping, we played our best basketball of the year through that league tournament. We took apart a very good ULP team, we took apart a North Ridge that was playing its best basketball of the year and was a No. 3 seed. It wasn't even a game. We were up 21 at half. And then we played very, very well against a very good championship of our league, which was Long Beach. I'm very, very proud of the guys for righting the ship, but it was a very rocky road this year. Q. In your limited viewing of Florida that you've done the last few days, what really stands out to you about Chandler Parsons' game? COACH WILLIAMS: Well, he's so versatile. When you're a coach and you like versatile players like I do, he's one of those guys that you honestly could see him playing the two through the four, and he could be an All-League player at the two, three or the four. He shoots it, he passes it, he's got great instincts, he's a lot quicker than he looks. When you watch him really close, boy, his first step is tremendous. He gets by people. He has great instincts for the game, and he's really, really good at crashing from anywhere on the floor, he gets to the boards out of that three spot and is dynamic for them. He's definitely a key for them. Q. There's been a lot of talk down here about Florida and the No. 2 seed, are they over-seeded. When you look at you guys and where you are now, do you think maybe you're a little under-seeded and do you think you might be better than that indicates? COACH WILLIAMS: No, I don't think we're under-seeded. I think that us getting the 15 seed is probably exactly what we deserved after the way we played in January and February. So I wouldn't be critical of our seeding at all. And is Florida over-seeded? I certainly don't think so. You're 13 and 3 in the SEC and you lose in the league championship game, and you play the way they have -- now they've had some ups and downs when they didn't shoot the ball particularly well, they've struggled at times, but I don't think that they're over-seeded. Boy, someone said, what a great draw. I said, yeah, that would be a little bit like sitting in the doctor's office and someone telling you you have cancer, but it's a good cancer. No. Playing Florida in the second round is a great draw? It's not a great draw. They're really talented. There's just no comparison on this thing. Physically, they're a No. 2 seed, you could stretch it and say they're a No. 1 seed. I don't think physically they're going to be overmatched against anybody they play. They're a talented basketball team. Q. The momentum you have from your last couple of wins, is that something that is easy to keep going, or is it really difficult to maintain that? A lot has -- it's been a week, and you know your players best. How are you reading them right now? COACH WILLIAMS: I actually think we're in a great spot. I like the energy, I like the confidence level. I like the attitude. This week's approach has been phenomenal. At the same time, we could play with that same confidence and not have the same results. You're not playing ULP and we're not playing North Ridge or Long Beach. So it's a different animal. We could go out and play better and maybe not have the same result. It's going to be a hard thing to see when you get out on the floor. In practice we have sustained it, and I think they've even upped it. They've raised the ante here, and I like where we are, I like our confidence level. I like the fact that I think we're built for postseason play. We didn't play very well this year, but I think the way we're playing right now, we're kind of built for it. Greg Somogyi gives us something that it takes a while for people to adjust to. We saw that last year with Ohio State how much he affected the game. We know Orlando can play in these type of games. I thought James Nunnally played his best basketball of his career at Santa Barbara in the Big West tournament in terms of how he approached the game and how he played. We know J.J. can play. So we feel good about that factor that we have some guys that can play in this magnitude, this level of game, and we have the one-year experience. So I think our confidence going into this will be good and our momentum that we're carrying forth is really positive. Q. When you look at the eight teams that are in this field, not even the ones you're playing but overall, you've got two of the storied of all time, Kentucky, UCLA, Michigan State, and Florida, a lot of Final Fours in the last decade. Do people like that bring some intangibles because of their experience to an event like this, or is it just kind of basketball, the body of work doesn't necessarily translate to anything once you get on the floor? COACH WILLIAMS: Well, I think when you're looking at programs that have the historic aspect that they bring to the game, what they bring to the game, there's a reason they bring that to the game. A, they have great coaches. They have coaches that have been to Final Fours and won Final Fours, at least three out of four of them do. They understand what it takes, and they recruit the top players in the country. So that's a great combination. When you have people that have been there, understand what it takes, and you can recruit the top players in the country, you have a chance to repeat every year. Everyone is going, Michigan State is done. Michigan State is not done. Coach Izzo, are you kidding me? Look at his track record, look at what he's been able to get kids to do and believe in? You understand at this time of the year, every guy in that locker room is going to believe in what Coach Izzo is saying. Don't be surprised by any of those groups if they end up being in the Final Four, including UCLA. UCLA is not quite as physical and tough as maybe what Ben had going a few years ago, but Ben will have them ready to play, and they though what it takes to be successful at this level, and that's hard to replace that or substitute for that type of confidence level knowing what it takes to march forward in this tournament. Q. There's been a prominent member of the media who's an alum, who all week has been basically predicting the upset. Comments like that, is that something that you use to motivate your players, or are you worried that might put your undue pressure on them? COACH WILLIAMS: Are you talking about Josh or are you talking about Jim Rome? Which one are you talking about? Rome Is Burning? No, it doesn't put pressure on our guys at all. It's actually something that our University loves. We love Jim Rome, we love the fact that he throws our name out and he puts it out there, and we think it's great. At the same time our guys, there's nothing that puts pressure on our guys. The pressure on our guys is when you walk out and you see Florida at the other end of the floor and you've got to play against those guys. Guarding those two little guards who are the best backcourt tandem in the country in terms of off the dribble and using ball screens, that puts pressure on your guys, not Jim Rome saying that we're going to beat somebody. Q. Can you talk about what Orlando has been through, just that you know adversity is not going to really bother him? COACH WILLIAMS: Yeah, I mean, I think that's a good point. And I'll make the other side of that point. Orlando has had a phenomenal life. His brothers are unbelievable. And if you look at that family and you go, Orlando has had a tough life, if you talk to Orlando, he has not had a tough -- he has a great relationship with those brothers. Those brothers have done everything for him. Yeah, he doesn't have a traditional life. He didn't have mom and dad there taking care of him and all that. He had two brothers that love him dearly and have been like parents to him and have been like best friends to him. Orlando has a support system that's second to none in terms of that. So I mean, he's had a really good life. And yet I don't think Orlando gets fazed. Orlando actually is -- the bigger the game, the better he has played in his career at Santa Barbara, whether it's Big West games, last year against Ohio State, the bigger the game, the better he's played. He likes the big stage and he likes that challenge and he likes that opportunity. Q. A big thing that happened with your team this year is when you kind of tweaked your defense going out of that match-up zone. Do you have to do some tweaking again for a team like Florida because personnel-wise they present kind of a different animal for you than you've really seen, or do you stay with what you had at the Big West tournament? COACH WILLIAMS: That's a great question. You're playing somebody like Florida, I thought a lot about going back to Walt Hazzard's old defense that he used at UCLA when he was doing the one-one-three-one and he used that to beat Stanford one time and was really proud of that. We've thought about putting that into play. That might help against Florida. I don't know how much tweaking one person can do in four days to get ready for Florida, but we will make some adjustments. But what it will be, and our tweaking that we did, it just became a switching man to man, so we went in and out of the match-up to a switching man to man. We have to find ways to use portions of what we already do. We can't put something new in at this stage, so we have to find ways to use our pure match-up, we have to find ways to use our switching man to man, we have to find ways to get them off balance. If we just let them play, we're going to be in trouble. So the tweaking that goes on is just how do you combine -- how do you make the cocktail. That's the only tweaking that can go on at this time. Q. It looked like you were successful to control tempo in the title game and dictate kind of a half court. Do you have to do that against Florida? COACH WILLIAMS: Yeah, I mean, I think you have to be opportunistic. When you get an opportunity to run and you have numbers, you'd better take that because it's -- you need to get easy buckets. You need to have opportunities where you knock down the early open threes, you need to have opportunities if you can get hard drives to the rim and take early buckets in transition. Out of that we're probably going to have to find ways to get Walker off of J.J. at times and not make J.J. have to grind and bring the ball up like we did with Casper, where we can use Orlando to bring it up and then find ways to get in some offense and find ways to find some match-up advantages. They're so much bigger than us, if we go small, maybe there's a few quickness advantages that go our direction and we have to find ways to take advantage of that. So we definitely don't -- I don't know that we could beat them in the 50s. We're going to have to have one of those nights where we shoot it really well, but we also can't have it just being up and down the floor game with those guards. I mean, they're two of the quickest guards in the country. You watch Walker go end to end; he's a jet. I'm not sure that we can outrun Walker when he's dribbling it and we don't even have the ball if you put us in a sprint. We definitely don't want the game wide open with him. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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