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NCAA MEN'S 2ND & 3RD ROUNDS: DENVERMarch 16, 2011John JenkinsKevin StallingsJeffery TaylorDENVER, COLORADO THE MODERATOR: We're joined by Vanderbilt student-athletes. We'll go ahead and take questions for the student-athletes. Q. I know there's a couple Big East teams here. A lot gets made about the conferences. Do y'all feel like the SEC gets slighted when people talk about the power conferences, just the opportunity for y'all to come out and show your league can play with anybody? JOHN JENKINS: I would say so a little bit. The Big East is definitely a great conference. I watched them a lot this year. SEC was kind of down this year, maybe not like previous years. This is probably why. JEFFERY TAYLOR: Definitely the Big East and the ACC are definitely conferences. Also the Big Ten, they get a lot more of the attention. But I feel as though the SEC has a lot of great teams, especially in the East Division. So hopefully all of us can have great showings now in the NCAA tournament. Q. John, how is your foot? Do you get sick of answering questions about the tournament, what happened the last couple years? Does that get old? JOHN JENKINS: My toe is feeling a little bit better. It still bothers me a little bit. Something I have to fight through. I guess it doesn't get on our nerves too bad. It keeps us motivated in a way. We just want to change the way we're slated right now. This first game is real big for us. Q. A lot has been made of Richmond's history in the tournament, with wins as a 12, a 13, a 14, a 15. Now that they're in the Atlantic-10, they have the wins they have, they're not a Cinderella anymore, are they? JOHN JENKINS: I wouldn't say so. I've seen some tape. They're a tough team, play awkward style with their defense and the way they do offense. So it's going to be a tough challenge for us. Q. Jeff, can you talk about the last three games for you. What has been different? Mindset change? A little bit more aggressive? JEFFERY TAYLOR: Just tried to stay aggressive on a consistent basis. I feel like throughout the season, some games I didn't play very well, I wasn't really consistent in my aggressiveness. So I'll just try to change that. Obviously, things go well for you when your shot goes in, so... Q. John, you mentioned how awkward Richmond's defense is. How difficult is it to prepare for it on such short notice? JOHN JENKINS: Like I said, it's definitely awkward because we haven't seen a defense like that all year. We've seen zone a couple of times, but not like a matchup zone like they play. They know exactly what they want to do, exactly how they want to play it. It's really short notice for us. So we have to do the best we can to prepare for it. Q. John, a lot of talk about your speed up the floor, getting the ball through the transition game. Is that a big weapon for your team? JOHN JENKINS: I would say so. We have some athletes on the court that like to run a lot. Coach likes us to run. We do a good job of it, I would say. Our big man runs, too. In previous years, I know as a Vanderbilt fan we weren't known as a running team, so we're trying to change that. Q. John, guy from BYU I hear can shoot some threes here in Denver this week. Your thoughts on who the best three-point shooter is in Denver this week? JOHN JENKINS: That's a good question (smiling). I don't know. I guess we'll have to see during the tournament. Q. If you could talk a little bit about Richmond has made a lot about their transition defense, how important it is to get back and stop you guys from spotting up, getting the quick shots. Is that an area where you think you can take advantage? JOHN JENKINS: I think when any team plays a zone, it's tough to get back and get set sometimes. We have to do a good job of pushing the ball back up the court and take advantage of what they have on defense. JEFFERY TAYLOR: Really we just need to continue on what we've been trying to do all year: just push the ball up on offense, the shooters shoot, the people who drive drive. Stick to what has been our game plan all year. Q. When you look at the scoreboard, do you feel you have to play this game in the 60s at a minimum? JEFFERY TAYLOR: We're going to try to push the tempo. We like to run. We like to push the ball and get shots early on the shot clock. If they're the right shots for us, we're going to take them. Whatever the score ends up being, we're not shooting for a particular score, we're just trying to score as many points as possible. Q. Jeffrey, have your coaches at any point shown you any tape of Richmond's game in the NCAA last year against St. Mary's, which also featured a pretty good big man in Samhan, and a good shooter from the outside, similar to the way you guys operate? JEFFERY TAYLOR: I did not see that game, but I'm very familiar with Richmond. I've seen them play a couple of times. I mean, obviously they have a couple of players that are very offensively gifted. We're in for a real challenge, but I think we're up for it. Q. Jeff, 3-18 from three-point range in your last games. Talk about that a little bit. Just not feeling it from there? JEFFERY TAYLOR: I mean, if people will let me shoot it, it's the right shot for me, I'm going to take it. I'm going to keep on being aggressive and carrying on what I've been doing. Q. John, when you were a 5 seed, when you see that 12 come up, do you hope to see it maybe be a little lesser competition? When you look at Richmond on paper, it's pretty hard to believe they're slated in there as a 12. JOHN JENKINS: Right. I think we're just happy to be here no matter what seed we're playing against. We're happy to be playing against somebody. A lot of teams aren't fortunate enough to be here. It's just a heck of an opportunity. Q. Has the altitude been an issue? JOHN JENKINS: I couldn't really tell. But I think if I let it get to my mind, I can definitely tell it. I'm trying to block it out in that sense. I think our team is in really good shape so I think we should be all right. JEFFERY TAYLOR: I'm with John on that one. I feel it's more mental than physical really. So you can't let it get to your mind. You got to practice just as hard. That's what we've been doing. THE MODERATOR: Guys, we'll dismiss you. We're now joined by Vanderbilt head coach Kevin Stallings. Coach, if you want to begin with some opening remarks, we'll open it up to questions. COACH STALLINGS: Like all the other coaches, we're very excited to be here and honored to be a part of playing for the national championship. As a college basketball coach, as a college basketball player, as a college basketball fan, this has to be the most exciting time of year. We look forward to this every year. Again, we're fortunate to be a part of it and happy to be here. I feel great about my team. We've played well last weekend in our conference tournament. We've practiced well. I know they're very hungry to get out on the court and get started. We obviously have a very, very good opponent in Richmond, a very veteran, seasoned team with some terrific players and very well-coached. There are no easy games at this point in the year, though. We didn't expect an easy opponent. Sure, we would have loved one, but there weren't any in the 68 that were announced. We got a particularly difficult one, in my opinion. Again, we're excited to be here and we look forward to the contest tomorrow. Q. What makes Richmond particularly difficult, would you say? COACH STALLINGS: Well, I think a lot is made of their style of play because it's 40 minutes of matchup zone and Princeton offense, the like. But the thing that makes them very difficult and very good is the same thing that makes everybody else very difficult: they have very good players. They're very well-coached. But, again, most all these teams in this tournament are. But they just have extremely good players. They understand their system. They know how to play. They play with great effort and great energy and they stick with their plan. I think when it all comes down to it, they just have some really top-level players. Usually that's what makes anybody difficult. Q. Will this game largely be determined by who can set the pace? COACH STALLINGS: I wouldn't say that. Because I think both teams are capable of winning the game if it's low-scoring, and I think both teams are capable of winning if it's high-scoring. Don't be confused when you hear Princeton offense, because they like to run. They're very good in transition. This is not a one-way street game on the transition lane. We're not the only team that wants to push the tempo in this game. They want to push the tempo as well, and they're very good at it. Any misplaced belief that they want it slow and we want it fast, I think what you want as a coach, generally speaking, is you want to be able to play the game at your tempo and not necessarily allow them to play the game at theirs. I'm sure that's what they want and that's what we want. Hopefully we can do what we do. I heard some of Jeff's comments a little while ago. We're going to try to do what we've done all season long. We play the way we play and we're going to keep trying to do that, and do it as well as we can. Q. Can you talk about Jeffery Taylor's play the last three games. Is this the best ball you think you've seen him play offensively this season? And why do you think that is, if so? COACH STALLINGS: I think that Jeff is playing very, very well. I would say maybe it is the best he's played, especially from a consistency standpoint, because he's playing at a high level very consistently. That's really what we need from him. The reason why I think is simply because he's relaxed. He's relaxed himself a little bit, and being relaxed has given him more confidence. All those things start feeding together and that allows for more consistently. He's always played with great effort even when he's been inconsistent in his performance, his effort has always been consistent. He's more relaxed and is doing a much better job of picking his spots, when to attack. I mean, he was really great in the SEC tournament. Q. How much effect do you think a team's NCAA tournament experience has on the team for the next season, especially going into the NCAA tournament the next year? It tends to be sometimes a short experience, end of a season, how much carryover is there and how much do you draw on it? COACH STALLINGS: I think there's definite carryover. And I think the more success you have, the more beneficial that carryover is. I know both us and Richmond were eliminated last year in the first round. But I still think the experience was valuable for our team, to be there, to feel the pressure, to feel what we felt in that game. I think that will benefit our players tremendously this time around. Q. You were at Purdue when Richmond was earning their reputation as a giant killer. Your thoughts on that back then. Do you feel like they're a giant killer anymore? COACH STALLINGS: Yeah, that was back when there weren't nearly as many games on television and teams weren't as publicized. Everybody knows that Richmond's really good. They've earned the reputation. They've earned that credibility through beating good people and beating the good people in their league, having a record like whatever it is, 27-7 or something, something of that sort. But there's no sneaking up in the NCAA tournament because none of us are that foolish. Richmond is really good. You could go look at any of the five 12 games, and they're all going to be very, very competitive. So, yeah, I think that label, that giant killer thing, that went away a long time ago. They certainly knocked off some giants and I remember it. I remember them beating Indiana, and that was before you, or your time at least. But that's way in the past. Their program has elevated to a much higher level now. Q. Could you talk about Andre Walker's role in this tournament. Do you feel like you saw anything improvement-wise from the SEC tournament? Where do you see him heading into tomorrow's game? COACH STALLINGS: I don't know. I don't know. I don't know how much impact I expect Andre to have. He could have some and he could have not very much. That remains to be seen. Obviously he'll come off the bench. But he's had an unfortunate season. He got mono and was out for a month, and then he twisted his ankle three or four days later after he came back. There's no way that he's a hundred percent. So we just kind of learned to live with it. He may play. Just like anybody else that comes off the bench, how much he contributes will depend on how well he plays. THE MODERATOR: Coach, thank you. Good luck tomorrow. COACH STALLINGS: Thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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