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NCAA MEN'S 2ND & 3RD ROUNDS: DENVERMarch 17, 2011Jimmer FredetteLogan MagnussonDave RoseDENVER, COLORADO BYU – 74 THE MODERATOR: We're joined by BYU. Coach, if you want to begin with some comments on the game. COACH ROSE: Well, I am really pleased with the win. I thought that, you know, our team, we battled. We competed hard. I thought that we executed really well at times. Our ability to get to the free-throw line, make free throws, our ability to defend the three-point line of Wofford. They're a great three-point shooting team, I thought we put some pressure on them from that aspect. Then our ability to defensive rebound and not allow them to get a lot of second-chance points on offensive rebounds was a big key to the game. I'm really happy for our players and look forward to moving on. THE MODERATOR: Questions now for the student-athletes. Q. Jimmer, I know it's a win, but there's a lot of expectations on you being a No. 3 seed. Do you think you need to play better if you're going to make a deep tournament run or were you satisfied overall with the play? JIMMER FREDETTE: I was just satisfied that we won. That's the whole point in this tournament. You win and you advance. So I was excited that we won the game. We toughed it out. We played really hard. We scrapped. We got good play off of the bench, shot the ball pretty well when we were open, rebounded the ball pretty well. I'm just excited we're able to live another day, go out and play on Saturday. We'll see who our opponent is, but I'm excited for that. Q. Jimmer, especially in the second half, it seemed like you were taking it to the basket. Was that the game plan or is that what the defense was giving you at that point? JIMMER FREDETTE: Kind of just what they were giving me. They were trying to force me left, playing me like that. I just kept going left, kept getting to the basket. Jackson was on my side. They didn't really want to help off of him very much, because he's a deadly shooter. If they did I would kick it to him. He would make them. So they kind of stayed home. I was just able to get to the basket, make some layups, get the lead up a little bit, get a cushion, and continued to play well from there. Q. What do you want to do differently on Saturday, if anything? JIMMER FREDETTE: On Saturday, it's a totally different team. Whoever we play will be completely different. So we just have to go out and play as hard as we can. Rebound the basketball, make shots, just grind it out, find a way to win. However we can do it, just go out there and win the basketball game. We'll put a game plan together depending on who we play, but we don't know who we're going to play yet. Q. Jimmer, there was a breakaway basket after a turnover. You had a layup. It looked like for a fraction of a second, were you thinking of getting that first dunk? JIMMER FREDETTE: I've had dunks this season already. So, yeah, I don't have to prove to anybody that I can do that. I've already done that before. I was just worried about getting those two points and getting our team ready to go. I've been there, done that. But, you know, definitely thought about it. But I just figured two points is two points. Q. Were you happy with your night tonight? Some of the shots that usually go in weren't always going in tonight for you. JIMMER FREDETTE: Yeah, sometimes the shots just weren't falling. But I just kept battling, playing my game, being aggressive. They were double-teaming me a lot out top, especially ball screens. I was trying to get my teammates involved. They were making open shots. When I got into the lane, if they stepped up, hit the guys for layups or jump shots. I didn't shoot the ball great, but I still was pleased with my effort and how I was able to kind of control the game and get other guys involved. Q. Logan, when you woke up this morning, did you think you'd be sitting up there at the podium after the game tonight? LOGAN MAGNUSSON: Not at all. I was just hoping that we got a win this morning. That's all I was hoping for. We'll go from here. Q. Can you just talk about your mental makeup of not stepping back, stepping up and taking those three-pointers when you were open. LOGAN MAGNUSSON: That's how our offense is run. We've played that way all year. If you're open, you take the shot. The way they were playing Jimmer, he got me the ball. No one came over to help so I took 'em. That's credit to Jimmer for the nice pass. That's our offense. If we're open, we take shots. Q. Jimmer, it seemed to be a pretty pro-BYU crowd. Do you think that played a role? JIMMER FREDETTE: You know, the crowd was great. A lot of BYU fans, just being close to home. A lot more than they had obviously. It was great to have that kind of atmosphere for us. Hopefully they continue to support us on Saturday. But it was definitely a great atmosphere and it gave us a little bit of energy, I think. Q. Were you keeping up with developments early in the day? Were you a little bit apprehensive about what was going on in the building? JIMMER FREDETTE: I saw there was two upsets. We realized that. You always see what's going on. Being a basketball guy, I just love to watch basketball games. I was watching them all morning, seeing what was going on. That's what we wanted to be weary of. We knew there were a lot of upsets all over the country. Teams are going to come out and fight to the death, especially teams with seniors. They don't want to lose, they want to keep playing and keep their hopes alive. I was definitely aware of that. We wanted to come out and play hard and try to win. LOGAN MAGNUSSON: Yeah, I think we used it as motivation, too. I know a lot of the guys saw it, said, Let's not let that happen to us. There was a lot of upsets going on. That's why it's called March Madness. Teams come to play. Anything can happen. We had to come ready to play ourselves. Q. Logan, can you talk about the role as a minuteman. You got some guys in foul trouble. You were called to play defense. Talk about the mental aspect of that. Jimmer, talk about out of the corner of your eye seeing him. LOGAN MAGNUSSON: Yeah, I always need to be ready. Our substitutions are getting thinner and thinner. I always need to be ready to go, ready to step in and play at any moment, especially when foul trouble happens. Just got to go out there and do the same thing every night. Whether I get one minute, no minutes, however many minutes I played tonight, I just need to be ready to go, ready to play at all times. JIMMER FREDETTE: On that particular play, I just got into the lane, then they really collapsed on me. A lot of guys were right there, three or four guys there. I saw Logan out of the corner of my eye. Just kicked it out. I have confidence he would make that shot. He makes it a lot for this team in practice. And he works on it during the summer. I had confidence he was going to make it. THE MODERATOR: We'll dismiss the student-athletes and continue with questions for Coach Rose. Q. Any adjustments you're going to make going into the second round? COACH ROSE: Well, we'll see. We'll see who our opponent is. What I really liked tonight was our fight. I thought we were on the floor for loose balls, we rebounded hard defensively. I thought we took advantage of opportunities in transition. If I could right now off the top of my head make one adjustment, we wouldn't turn the ball over quite as much. I thought we had some plays that were really makeable for us. Maybe were in a little bit of a hurry or Wofford just made some good plays. It thought we turned the ball over a few too many times when we had opportunities to score. Q. What are your thoughts on the coming opponent, whether it be Gonzaga or St. John's? Have you seen them play, know much about them? COACH ROSE: Well, they both are big, physical teams. I think tonight the team, they were more where they spread you out and drive you. I think either one of these two teams that we play will probably pound the ball inside a little bit more. So we'll just see who wins this game and then we'll prepare for them. Q. Did you tell your guys to start taking it to the hole in the second half or is that just naturally what kind of happened? COACH ROSE: I think that's probably a natural progression. We have a lot of confidence in our guys to make shots. We were getting open looks. A couple guys had missed a few. They wanted to drive the ball to the basket because guys, defensively, they come and close really hard on you, so you have an opportunity to beat them. I thought they rotated well and brought a second defender. We had a couple offensive foul calls that, you know, I thought we learned from because they were early in the game. Then as the game progressed I thought we did a better job of avoiding that. But, you know, Jimmer had 32 points and 7 assists. Those assists come from those guys that are ready to make a play. Most of the time, you know, they have open shots. Tonight we got three or four guys who were able to knock 'em down. Q. Last year was such a huge win for the program. Can you contrast the feelings you had last year with the win as compared to this win today? COACH ROSE: Yeah, it was a little different in the locker room. I thought that last year was kind of a real euphoric atmosphere. Guys were jumping around. I think guys today were happy with the win and looking forward to our next challenge. I think that's all part of just growth and maturity in a team. This team is pretty businesslike. They are a team that understands that every night we expect each other to win. I think that we've been consistent throughout the year doing that with a few setbacks. But I think they were pleased with their accomplishment and we look forward to the next challenge. Q. The intentional fouls that were called on your team tonight, did you think those were fair? COACH ROSE: Well, the one thing that I'm really proud of our guys is because, you know, there were a couple calls in the last three or four games that have been frustrating. But our guys have kind of hung in there. I was a little disappointed tonight with James, when he showed some frustration and kicked the ball. But I've just always felt that players play really hard and they make mistakes. I think the same goes for officials sometimes. Q. Could you talk a little bit about Logan and what he did in this game. Charles kind of disappeared. He was in foul trouble. Then how he came in in the end and made some big plays. COACH ROSE: Logan brought us so much energy. In the first half, I thought he just brought us emotion and passion to the game. In the second half, he actually produced with a couple threes and quite a few rebounds. I think he had 10 and 7 on the night. Anytime you can get a player to come off the bench and not only bring energy, bring passion, but contribute on the stat sheet, it really helps your team in a lot of ways. Because we rely quite a bit on the starting five, our sixth man. When you get good quality play out of your seventh, eighth, ninth guy, it really helps. And Charles was terrific. I thought Charles, you know, he was playing hard, trying to make plays, got himself in foul trouble. But he didn't lose focus on helping his team win a game. Did a lot. Got a lot done with four fouls to help us down the stretch there. Kind of put the game away. THE MODERATOR: Thanks, coach. Congratulations. COACH ROSE: Thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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