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NCAA MEN'S 2ND & 3RD ROUNDS: TULSAMarch 18, 2011Keith BensonReggie HamiltonGreg KampeTULSA, OKLAHOMA Texas – 85 THE MODERATOR: Coach, an opening statement and then questions for the student-athletes. COACH KAMPE: I'm really not sure what to say. In 2005 we played Carolina who won the National Championship and made a joke about we picked a bad day to play Carolina, you know, like that old airplane movie. Last year I was upset about the way we finished against Pitt, and I watch coaches at these things and how they look like they're going to cry and die and all that. And it is a tough business. But I'm going to tell you something, I love this basketball team. It was a great year for Oakland University, just a great year. So I guess I'm going to cry too, because I hate that it's over, because this is a really good basketball team. It's a team that I thought could have done something in this tournament, and we just got a bad draw. We play everybody in the country. I know who is good, and I know who isn't. And that Texas team is as good as anybody. Texas can win a National Championship, and I don't put that on Rick that way. I think Texas is good because of him. He's one of the best coaches there is. They defend like unbelievable. But we've played those teams. And Ohio State and them, they're right there neck and neck. And I think Ohio State is the No. 1 pick or seed in this tournament. We've played them both, and they're a great team. What can I say? We played a team that can win the National Championship, and we did everything we thought we could do. We didn't make enough shots. Q. You and Tristan had a nice little match-up out there to today. Talk about how that went and what in his game did you admire? KEITH BENSON: He's a really athletic player. He has long arms and he goes hard to the offensive boards. So as a team we really had to focus on him a lot. He had some good shot blocking skills. So I just tried to battle with him and keep him off the boards. Q. I know you saw Thompson on tape, but did he surprise you when he was blocking your own shots, not just blocking guys off the ball? KEITH BENSON: Well, I knew about his shot blocking ability, but I don't think it surprised me. It just happened, I guess. Q. Can you tell me your emotions when that three rimmed in and out? Did you feel down the stretch that you all had Texas? REGGIE HAMILTON: All throughout the game you've got to have the confidence that every shot's going in. That's how the ball rolls sometimes, either it's going to go in or it's going to go out. Unfortunately, that ball rimmed out. Q. How do you feel like Texas defended the three compared to some of the other top teams you've played? REGGIE HAMILTON: I think they did a good job as far as containing the three. But like I just said, we had some balls that's go in and out, so I just think it's up to us whether we make those shots or not some of the shots that went up tonight. Q. Did it seem like you just ran out of time at the end, guys? It seemed like you were making your run, but looking at the time on the clock it seemed like it was going too quickly away it seemed like for you guys? REGGIE HAMILTON: Yeah, Texas is a tough, great team. We knew we had to do our work earlier. It all started in the first half, you know you make runs. Everyone's going to make their run. Unfortunately, our run came too late. Q. Obviously Reggie just said in the first half you were down 17 early in the second half. What were you thinking at that point? Were you discouraged? What was the team's attitude there? KEITH BENSON: I don't think we were discouraged. We knew they were going to make their runs, so we had to keep playing and trying to chip away at that lead and make our own run because we're a good offensive team. We knew that our runs were going to come eventually. Q. I'm sure you guys have been in the situation of protecting leads all year. When a team does that, do they sometimes lose offensive flow? Were you glad to see Texas maybe slow the pace a little bit in the last five minutes? REGGIE HAMILTON: I think it all depends on the type of team caliber that you're going against. We've seen guys do it to us all year and we've handled it well, that's why we were in this position in the first place. And I think Texas did a great job, and that's what successful teams do, they handle that type of situations throughout the game. That's why their ballclub is moving on. Q. Talk about your career here at Oakland University. When people look at the record books, 15, 20 years down the road, your name is still going to be at the top of a lot of those numbers. KEITH BENSON: I think I've had a good career and I've tried to improve every year. It feels good to know that my name's going to be in the record books to come. Hopefully we'll get some other top recruits and they will beat my records in the future. THE MODERATOR: Questions for Coach Kampe. Q. (No microphone). COACH KAMPE: I knew the night. I actually happened to see the video of my expression because everybody was making fun of it, so I went and watched it. And when Texas came up at a 4, we hadn't been announced yet. And they came up and I went, "What?" And then I went, "Oh, oh, no, no, no." And sure enough, Bam, Oakland. You know, it is what it is. They say they were probably a 3, but they wanted them in Tulsa, so they move them. They say you can move a line either way for home site. And unfortunately for us, this is a team that could win games. If anybody here thinks I'm wrong, come talk to me afterwards. This is a team that could win games in this tournament; and for Oakland and for our fan base and that, you know -- we've got Carolina, Pitt and Texas on our three trips. Q. You can't play that many more major teams than you guys play on your schedule. What do you do differently? COACH KAMPE: I don't know that. A guy from ESPN, I'm going to write him a note, dot com said it's criminal that they're a 13 seed. I like that. I'm going to send him a note that says I agree with you. But those people, I am in Oakland's world, so I think about Oakland. They're thinking about 68 teams and I'm sure they do a great job. It's easy to sit here after you lose. But I'm so happy to be here that we're just glad to be here. Q. You knew that Tristan Thompson was a great rebounder. Was it Jordan Hamilton's length being a little bit taller and not just Drew, but some of the other guards that killed you on the offensive glass? COACH KAMPE: If you would have told me that we were going to hold them to 85 points and we'd have 17 offensive rebounds and they'd have 15, I would tell you that we were going to win. We just didn't make shots. And I think we might not have made shots because of their defense. Reggie didn't want to say that, but every shot we took was contested. We had two or three go in and come out, but they really contested the three, and they can do that because if you get by them they can block shots, similar to at our level how we contest teams in our league. If they get by us, Benson's there to block shots. So, no, we had more offensive rebounds than they did. Will Hudson had six, and Tristan had five. Q. Talk about the career of Keith Benson and Will Hudson and Larry Wright and the mark that they've left on Oakland basketball? COACH KAMPE: Well, our university owes them a great debt. They're all graduated. Benson and Hudson have already graduated. Larry's done. He's got one class he had to take this semester. They're great people. They represent the university. If you could go to the great schools around our campus where they go in and read to the kids and all the community service they do, that's why Oakland basketball has grown. We sell out games, and we turn people away at games now because the kids are such great kids and the community's gotten to know the kids and they're really good. So I'm so thankful to them for that. I'm so fortunate to have coached them. To see a kid like Benson come through and when David Stern yells his name with the whatever pick in the first round, I'm going to be the happiest Oakland University employee in America because these guys have done great things for our university. Q. Just wanted to ask you about the Thompson match-up against Benson and what Tristan was able to do against them. COACH KAMPE: I thought that they kind of wiped each other out. We kind of thought that would happen going in. I think they're both really good and long and athletic. I think Tristan's a better defender than Keith, and I think Keith's a better offensive player than he is. And I think they wiped each other out. Actually, when Keith got that first foul, we took him off him for a little bit and let Will guard him because we didn't want to get in foul trouble, and in the second half went back to it. If I'm a fan watching that game, I'm watching two future NBA players battling each other. You have to enjoy watching that a. Q. How much did Bader's struggles from the three-point shooting affect you guys? COACH KAMPE: Well, it does. He's a freshman. He had 92 threes coming in at 46%. That's why I'm saying I think it was Texas defense. Travis doesn't miss. He's unflappable. He had a couple rattle in and come out. And I, personally, you're not supposed to criticize anything, I think he got hit on a couple of them and they just didn't call them. He had one that he shot a 24-footer that went 18 feet. So he probably got hit, but there were lots of people that got hit. I'm not complaining, I'm just thinking for him. I think it hurt us. Again, I think making shots was the key difference in the game. I think everything went the way I thought it would go, we didn't make shots. For us to win, we would have had to make shots. Q. I guess in this tournament we're not used to hearing the level of disappointment from mid-major type programs after a loss like this. I'm just a little surprised by that. You said a little while ago you were just happy to be here, but it doesn't sound like that? COACH KAMPE: No, because this is my 33rd year. I was an assistant at the University of Toledo. We went to a Sweet 16. I know what that's like. Ten years we've been eligible for this tournament. Who knows if I'm going to have a pro again in the middle. Who knows? This is a team that we thought could get to the Sweet 16. This is a team that -- our league's gotten so much better. Our league's good. People don't know it. And the way they're going to find out is if a team like Oakland goes and wins in this tournament. That's where the disappointment comes from. If you had been in my locker room, these guys believe in themselves. We beat Tennessee. We lost by one to Michigan State. We've played these teams and we know they're good. Q. What do you think staying close means for the imagery, of the programs, and can you talk about peel who aren't as familiar with the effect on recruiting that all this has? COACH KAMPE: I think what Pat wrote during the week and people said on TV, that this is a team that can win is very beneficial to Oakland University. They know we're in Michigan and not in California. And I think they know we have a heck of a basketball program, and that's got to help us in recruiting. We write everything down we said and send it out to the kids. Winning would have been better though. Winning is the greatest deodorant in the world. Q. Much to the same question that was just asked. You didn't perform well against Pittsburgh last year. It seemed that you ran out of time this year. Is this another step? Are we watching the growth of a program? I know you wanted that next step to win, but is this another step? COACH KAMPE: I beg to differ with you on the Pittsburgh thing. We had a 5 point lead with 7 minutes to go in the first half. When the MVP of the Summit League tournament got a Gary McGhee elbow across the head and had to get 13 stitches. By the time he came back, we were down 15. Then we didn't play well, yes, but we were in it. Is it another step? Yes, yes, it is. Yes, it is. But right now it doesn't feel like it. Right now it feels like I've got to say goodbye to Keith Benson. How am I going to say goodbye? It's like losing your wife or something (laughing). Q. Two parts, one, why didn't Travis play more in the second half? Do you feel like he lost a little confidence from the threes that didn't fall? And as far as Texas' vulnerability, is there anything they don't have that the Ohio State, Duke, Kansas, Pitt 1 seeds do? COACH KAMPE: You know, Ohio State's really good, and they talk about depth. Well, in this tournament I'm not sure how much depth you really need with all the timeouts. You really get a chance to rest. What is their vulnerability? We thought it was free throw shooting, and they shot 80% when they had to. Somebody asked the question earlier about did they slow -- you know, the key is to win, and their coach knew how to win. He made the tempo so that we ran out of time. He's not thinking like that. He's thinking they won. So what is their vulnerability? On paper, free throw shooting. I kept hearing how Gary Johnson is not playing good. At halftime I looked at the stat sheet and he's 4 for 5. I heard how they weren't playing good, yet they were in the finals of the Big 12 Championship game. Like I said in the pre-thing, that Kansas could beat some pro teams. So I don't know if they have a vulnerability. As far as Bader's concerned, the ball wasn't going in for him. And Larry Wright, the ball was going in for him. And I had to have Reggie on the floor, and the only reason Bader didn't play much -- he played 29 minutes -- but the reason he didn't play much in the last 7 minutes is because we couldn't guard Jordan Hamilton unless Drew Valentine was on the floor. So Drew had to be out there to guard Hamilton, and so I left Travis. He's a freshman. Maybe it will came him come in on the off-season and be better and get ready for next year. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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