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NCAA MEN'S 2ND & 3RD ROUNDS: CLEVELANDMarch 17, 2011Kenny FreaseTu HollowayDante JacksonMark LyonsChris MackJamel McLeanCLEVELAND, OHIO THE MODERATOR: We're joined by Xavier student-athletes Mark Lyons, Kenny Frease, Tu Holloway, Jamel McLean, and Danté Jackson. Questions for the student-athletes. Q. Tu, you've been likened to Kemba Walker quite a bit already, and this tournament hasn't even started. I remember you telling me a month or two ago that you and he played together frequently in New York in the summertime. Can you give me some recollections, if you have any, of those games and what it was like to play either with him or against him? TU HOLLOWAY: Well, you know, New York is full of great point guards every year. And I was fortunate enough to play against and with Kemba. And it's not new to me what he's doing in the college basketball world. I watched him do it firsthand in the back court. He never had a game like that against me, I'll say. But what he's doing now, I just sit back and watch and it's exciting to see him take over games the way he is. Q. Jamel, Coach Williams said a game within the game is going to be offensive rebounding. And can you talk about kind of the importance of getting it to the glass tomorrow and also maybe what your size advantage might have in store for the game? JAMEL MCLEAN: You know, I think we just have to continue to do what we've been doing all year, and that's crashing the glass with me and Kenny. And I know they like to go with a smaller lineup. Sometimes they try to be quicker. So me and Kenny and A-Tay and Jeff will have to use our size to try to gain the offensive rebounds and force them to do something else and play to our strengths. Q. Some of the George Mason -- some of the other players mentioned -- not George Mason, sorry -- mentioned that Tu would be mentioned as one of the premiere players in college basketball if he played in a bigger conference. Do you guys feel maybe he doesn't get the attention he deserves? And maybe for those who are just coming around to noticing him, what is it about him that's kind of standing out? DANTÉ JACKSON: I think Tu's proven over this entire year that he's one of the best players in the country. I'm not sure where our team would be without him. He does so many things for us. He gets his teammates involved. He scores the basketball. And I think Tu, along with our entire program, don't get the respect that we deserve. But we're just fighting to gain that respect. And in order to gain that respect, we have to win games in the NCAA Tournament. And Tu's going to try to lead us to do that tomorrow night. JAMEL MCLEAN: I think Tu gets -- he gets a lot of recognition. I think the A-10 did a good job this year of recognizing him as the A-10 Player of the Year, First-Team All-Conference, and also he's in the Defense Team. If you watch any of the sports channels, they're talking about Terrell -- Tu Holloway is one of the best guards. I know he's top three in the country averaging 25. And I think a lot of people know who he is, and he's getting a lot of respect out there as one of the premier guards in the country. Q. How much pride do you guys take in the fact you've been so deep in the tournament the last few years and how -- what's been the key to that? Is there any kind of like March Madness key to this program to have that kind of success? KENNY FREASE: I think we play our best basketball in March. Sticking with our system, doing the things that we've been working on all year, and really playing as a team, trying not to change anything up from the regular season. I think that really helps us. And with the guys on our team, we have a lot of experience in the NCAA Tournament. And I think that will really help us coming down the stretch here. Q. Mark, are there any lessons learned in your last game which was the loss to Dayton in the A-10 tournament, in terms of having a strong start? And how much will that play in tomorrow's game, do you think? MARK LYONS: Starting out strong has a big part to do with the game. If you start out sluggish, it's really hard to come back and regain your composure at the end of the day. Because when we played Dayton the last game, we started off so slow, it took us kind of a long time to regather ourselves and regroup and stay together. So it's a big part to start off strong and don't come out sluggish and be ready to play from the jump. Q. Do you guys even consider this, the fact that you lost so early in the A-10 as sort of an advantage given that it gave you some time to rest the legs up and get ready for this? TU HOLLOWAY: No. Whenever you lose, it's never an advantage. We were disappointed that we lost that game to Dayton. You have people say, oh, well at least you can sit back and rest your legs and see who you play. But every time you lose I believe that takes a little away from your team. But it also shows what kind of guys you have on your team if you can bounce back after a loss like that. MARK LYONS: And to further that up, we're competitors. So we went to the A-10 tournament we went there to win it. We didn't go there to lose thinking let's get home early. That's not what our program is about and that's not what we're about as players. So when you lose a game like that, especially to a rival like Dayton, it's hard to swallow. So practice we've been going hard and we've just been trying to win this game. THE MODERATOR: Thank you. We're joined now by Xavier head coach Chris Mack. Coach, an opening statement. COACH MACK: Well, our guys are really excited to play. Who wouldn't be this time of year? I think we really earned the right to play in the NCAA Tournament. We thought our Atlantic 10 regular season, I was really proud of our kids. We battled a lot of adversity; it's been well documented. And to be at this point, our kids feel a sense of accomplishment, but a lot of basketball to be played against an excellent Marquette team tomorrow night. THE MODERATOR: Questions. Q. Coach, when you look at the film of Marquette, what do you see as problems, maybe, for your team that you're going to have to really stress to your players? COACH MACK: Well, we stressed for the last four days, they lead the Big East in free throws attempted. And it's odd in a way, because they don't necessarily have Shaquille O'Neal in the low post that's drawing fouls left and right, they do it by committee. They do it by driving the basketball, at times being very undersized especially when Jimmy Butler goes to the four. So their ability to get to the foul line has been really entrenched in our players' heads over the last several days. I think they're excellent in transition. And we played those guys a year ago, so we certainly understand that they like to pressure the ball. Our offense was run way too far away from the basket a year ago at this time, and that's something that we have to correct in tomorrow night's game. Q. Coach, what kinds of problems does Jimmy Butler present to your team with his ability to guard multiple positions? COACH MACK: You know, I don't necessarily worry about who he guards. Our offense won't change, necessarily, because of the personnel that they use to defend our players. I worry about the mismatch on the other end. And he has the ability as a 3-man to post up, to offensive rebound, to use his size. And as a 4-man he has the ability to use his quickness, craftiness and ball handling to get to the basket when he's facing a power forward. From that standpoint that's what I worry about most. Do I recognize that he guards some of the best guards in the country, Kemba Walker? Yes. But our offense is our offense, and we just need to run it closer to the basket than we did a year ago. Q. Several of the Marquette players and Coach Buzz, one of them said that Tu didn't get some of the attention that a Kemba Walker did and that he's just in that elite level as any of the other elite players in college basketball. Do you feel maybe he's gone a little unrecognized? And, if he has, what are people missing? COACH MACK: Well, I think that in fairness to you guys, Tu didn't start off with a lot of fanfare. I think the biggest story of our season coming in was the fact that we had lost Jordan Crawford to the NBA early. We lost Jason Love, a four-year starter, the all-time winningest player in program's our history. So I think much more was made of who we lost rather than who we had. Tu certainly was an excellent player, but he didn't make an All-Conference team last year. I think when you talk about a Jimmer Fredette or Kemba Walker, they had far more accolades than Tu did coming into the year. Having said that, I think Tu has had every bit as good of a season as any All-American candidate. I really believe that. I think he's been a focal point of our team. He's done a great job of striking the balance of running our team, getting the ball to our bigs, and also taking over at times with the scoring that he can provide. So I think it all translates or comes down to the fact that he really wasn't recognized going into the year as much. Q. Given that Tu wasn't an All-Conference player last year, kind of in the shadow of Jordan Crawford, did he even surprise you a little bit this year with the way he played? COACH MACK: The jump he made from sophomore year to junior year, he did. I knew he would be the backbone of our team, one of the best players in the conference. But to say that I knew he was going to be the A-10 Player of the Year, an All-American candidate, one of the most clutch players in NCAA play this year, I couldn't have said that, to be honest with you. But Terrell has worked harder than any other player I've coached, and I've coached a lot of really good ones. He has such a work ethic. Basketball is so important to him. And to those that work the hardest, usually they're rewarded the most. Q. Home court advantage, there usually isn't one at this time of the year, but how well do you think your fans will follow and make an impact on this game for your players? COACH MACK: I think Xavier will travel well. It's four hours away. We have a great alumni base here in Cleveland. It's an easy drive. It's a Friday night game. So you can skirt out from work at lunch hour and tell the boss you'll be back at 3:00. So I think we're going to have a great crowd. And hopefully one that stays with us throughout the entire game and one that brings home a victory tomorrow night. Q. I wanted to ask if it's true you really are not a John Elway and LeBron fan, if you think that's going to bring any fans to the -- COACH MACK: If it helps sway the Clevelanders to come to the game, absolutely. Drew Carey, forever; Art Modell, never. THE MODERATOR: Do you care to share your connections to Cleveland? COACH MACK: Born in Cleveland. Spent many a weekend up here with my grandparents, who are no longer here. But a lot of fond memories going to Higbees and Christmastime with the lights. Again, I was really small so I don't remember a lot of the stuff. But, yeah, a lot of weekends here in Cleveland. THE MODERATOR: Thank you, Coach. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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