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NCAA MEN'S 2ND & 3RD ROUNDS: DENVERMarch 18, 2011Marquise CarterMark FewSteven GrayRobert SacreDENVER, COLORADO THE MODERATOR: Joined now by Gonzaga student-athletes. We'll open it up for questions. Q. How many times have you heard Jimmer Fredette's name since you knew you were going to play him last night? Knowing he's going to get his points and you will be the primary guys defending him, how do you try to slow him down? STEVEN GRAY: We've probably heard his name just as much as everybody else. Just got to try to make him work as much as you can to get his shots off and try to make them as difficult as you can. He's going to get a ton of points. He's going to make some really amazing shots. You just got to try to make them tough. MARQUISE CARTER: Yeah, the same. We heard his name so much. Like Steve said, we're just going to try to make it difficult on him. We know that he's going to get his points. We're going to try to help be in the gaps like we did last night and make it hard for him, make him see a lot of eyes, see how he does with that. ROBERT SACRE: He's a good shooter. You just have to respect him. When he misses, go get those rebounds. Q. Can you talk a little bit about the balance that you are playing with right now. I know you said this is your best basketball of the season at the perfect time. STEVEN GRAY: I think one thing that's really helped is this team really buying into our defense. We take a lot of pride in it. I think that's gotten us a lot of wins up to this point. As far as offense goes, we've had so many different people step up in this streak that we've had where we've been racking up these wins. We realize there's anyone on the floor, anyone on this team can get it going any given night. Just having that ability I think's been one of our strongest attributes, so... MARQUISE CARTER: Yeah, I think we understood what we have to do on our defensive end. On offense, I think we all understand we're not selfish at all. We know who needs to get the ball. We know we're really strong on the inside with our big guys. Inside out, that's how we've been really successful. We're just doing what we do. We're just playing the way we know we need to play to be successful. ROBERT SACRE: I think in the past, Gonzaga has always been an offensive-oriented game. We've always focused on just getting buckets, getting scores as much as possible. But I think this year we've really focused in on defense and getting stops, getting stops in important moments of the game. I think that's been the big key part of us being successful. Q. You were just talking about defense. Could you be a little more specific. What has changed? What did you need to fix on the defensive end? STEVEN GRAY: Not letting guys be isolated. Really playing team defense. Taking a lot of pride in help. Not giving up easy shots. I know when we were struggling there early, we were giving up a lot of runs just because teams were in transition getting wide-open threes, easy lay-ins. We really focused in on playing team defense, as of leaving guys out on an island to try and guard one man by themself. ROBERT SACRE: I think we focused in on limiting second-chance shots. I think that was a huge part of us in the beginning getting our losing streak, where guys were just getting rebounds and going back. I think we limited their second-chance shots and it's helped us a lot. Q. You hit the three-game losing streak in January. Can you describe the mood around the team at that point in the locker room, at practices, and what served as a turning point for you guys? STEVEN GRAY: I think the mood after that was this sense of urgency. We realized we couldn't afford to drop any more games. We knew if we were going to put ourselves in an opportunity to win the league, get to the tournament, we were going to have to take it one day at a time. We couldn't look three games down the road. We couldn't look two games down the road. We had to look at the next practice. The coaches were telling us the game plan for the next game. I think that was that turning point, that sense of urgency, knowing we had to take it one day at a time and couldn't afford to look ahead. MARQUISE CARTER: He pretty much hit it on the head. Coach told us when we were 3-3 we needed to take a win each day. Starting with practice, we went in and worked hard in practice. Seems like ever since then we've been on a roll and playing really good basketball. Q. Being that you guys will be back next year and BYU will be a WCC opponent next year, you want to get to the Sweet 16 obviously, but is there something out there maybe trying to get a little leg up and show them who is the boss in the WCC? ROBERT SACRE: We just want to focus in on this game. We're not focused in on next year as much as everyone wants to think. We're just trying to have a good game, focus in on our boy Jimmer, focus in on the rest of the team. Again, we're not really focused in on next season. MARQUISE CARTER: Yeah, same thing. We're not focused on next season at all. We're just focused on this game. It's a really big game for us. We're just going to try to do our best, go out, play hard, get the W and advance to the Sweet 16. Q. A couple of the St. John's coaches today predicted that the southeast final is going to be you versus Pittsburgh. Your coach was obviously very pleased with the way you played last night. Do you feel in a way you kind of broke through and realized the level that this team can reach? Is that something you can sustain going ahead? ROBERT SACRE: Well, I'm just kind of sick of people doubting us all year. You think about it, people have been doubting us all year and they haven't really seen our true look. We showed them last night how we can really play. There's more to come. It's kind of getting old where people are doubting us the whole time. I think we just showed the world what Gonzaga really is. STEVEN GRAY: Yeah, I mean, I think this team realized early on how good we could be. Even when we were struggling there, we saw flashes. A lot of the games we were losing, we were losing in three-, four-minute spurts where teams would go on a 15-something run and we would be down, I think this team really understood how good we could be. We saw that coming together as the season went on. You know, we've been putting it together, getting better with each game each week. I think this team, you know, definitely realized it before the majority of the world, I guess, as Rob wants to put it. We're right where we want to be at this point. Q. I noticed last night and today, whenever you are asked about Jimmer, you all three have real big smiles on your faces. Are you not buying the hype? ROBERT SACRE: He's a great player. But we also had Adam Morrison with us before. We've seen great players. You know, we also saw Mickey McConnell, who could put up buckets. We've also seen great players around our league who can put up buckets. We've seen great players all throughout the season. It's just one of those things where we're happy to play, be in this tournament, have a good time and play a great player. MARQUISE CARTER: The reason why I smile every time I hear his name is because, like, everywhere I go, it's just about Jimmer Fredette, Jimmer Fredette. You can't doubt his skills. He's a really good player. He can put up a lot of points at any given night. So going into tomorrow's game, we know he's probably going to get whatever he's going to get. But we're just going to try to do our best to contain him and make others have to work. STEVEN GRAY: I mean, for a guy to do what he's done consistently all year, I think it would be kind of dumb to not buy into it, going into such a big game. He's been hitting just ridiculous shots. I feel like every time you watch him, you're like, He didn't just shoot that. Night in, night out, that's what he's doing. You definitely got to respect him and know that he's capable of putting it in from just about anywhere. Q. Something you said last night, Marquis, about trusting the coaches and the systems. Is there a difference in hearing what he's saying, then comprehending it and it clicking? Is there a point in the season when you completely trusted your coach's systems and executed it? MARQUISE CARTER: I think so. Towards the end of the season, I really started to trust everything that they say because it seemed like every time we actually took in what they said and followed what they told us to do, we've always been successful. Every time we try to do what we wanted to do instead of listening to them, that's when we kind of lost or kind of went on a losing streak or something like that. Against St. John's, we was well-prepared, watched a lot of film on them. It seemed like the coaching staff knew everything they were going to do, all the players, what they like to do and everything. We just followed the game plan and was really successful. Q. Every year obviously the goal is to get to the Final Four. Considering Demetri is a Houston guy, has that been a constant reminder? STEVEN GRAY: You know, I think we take it step by step. We have the Sweet 16 in New Orleans, get a chance to get Rob home. The step after that would be to get Meech home. It would be nice to get a couple guys home for the tournament. ROBERT SACRE: I just want to go to the Sweet 16 and get to New Orleans right now. That's right there (smiling). One game at a time, though. We're still in Denver. We can't overlook BYU. It will be a great treat to be in New Orleans and then go to Houston, which is not too far away from family either. I just want to just focus in on this one game. THE MODERATOR: Guys, thank you very much. Good luck tomorrow. We'll now continue with questions for Coach Few. Q. I know nobody's thinking about next year, but you've got BYU coming into your league. How does that change your league? COACH FEW: I mean, it changes our league dramatically. It adds another top-25 school to it, gives us another school much like ourselves with a national profile. I think it probably across the country enlightens some people to the level of play that's in our league. I think people will probably look at it as a three-bid potential league year in and year out. Q. There was a lot of talk earlier about the players buying into a better defensive focus. When did you see that out of them? What was the turning point for you this season? COACH FEW: Oh, you know, I think there were probably two significant turning points for us. We had that rough spot there at the end of November, then we kind of got it back on track with a big win at Baylor on the road in Dallas. We were able to, you know, get back home, beat a really good Xavier team and an Oklahoma State team. Actually, the night/morning after we dropped a really tough one at home to Saint Mary's on a buzzer-beater, we got together and just said, Hey, you know, let's just start anew here. We're starting over from day one. First day of the new season. Let's just kind of move forward from there. They really bought into that. A renewed focus, almost a renewed energy. We kind of put the bad feelings and taste behind us, kind of started hunkering down, just us in the locker room, 'cause there was quite a bit of noise out there in regards to where we were at in the league, where we were at in regards to the NCAA tournament. Just a phenomenal job by our guys. Q. Coach Rose described some conversations that you had where he asked you for some advice on how to deal with the attention that Jimmer has gotten because you had been through it before with Adam Morrison. Can you describe the challenge of that, that you faced with Adam, and what advice you gave to Dave for Jimmer? COACH FEW: Well, Dave's got it made dealing with Jimmer as opposed to dealing with Adam (laughter). Jimmer is a nice, smooth, paved road. As opposed to Adam, is like something you travel in the Baja 500 or whatever that race was called (laughter). They're both I think once-in-a-lifetime players. I think we talked about that. Their drive, their confidence, their ability to score, how clutch they are. I mean, Jimmer reminds me so much of Adam, he hits closely guarded shots. You know, you don't see that many guys that can consistently make closely guarded shots. I mean, we talked about how important the teammates are. I think those are the ones that get overlooked in this. Adam had remarkable teammates at Gonzaga, really talented ones, but ones that sacrificed their games for him and for the betterment of the team, kept our chemistry great. Just watching BYU, you have some talented kids. Jackson Emery could start for anybody in the country. They've made some sacrifices obviously. For a guy to shoot that many times, they deserve a lot of credit. The staff deserves a lot of credit, too, so... Q. As far as the way teams have guarded Jimmer, anything like the way teams would try and key on Adam? COACH FEW: Yeah. In fact, we've talked about that at length last night as a staff. The advantage that Jimmer had that Adam was never able to quite take advantage of is Jimmer gets to bring the ball up the floor. If Adam would have brought the ball up the floor, he probably would have had 10 more shot attempts per game. Derek Ravio and Jeremy Pargo, maybe even an off chance that we would throw the ball inside to JP Batista, shooting 60-something percent that year. So Jimmer's got the advantage of the ball in his hands which makes him even harder to guard than Adam was because, you know, teams would deny Adam, try hard to keep the ball out of his hands. That's difficult to do when Jimmer is bringing it in an open-court situation. Q. I don't know if you saw what Steve Lavin said after last night's game. You have had that underdog label. He said they're definitely a Final Four-capable team, national championship-potential team. What do you think when you hear something of that nature? COACH FEW: Throw it in with all the other 'Lavisims' that seem to roll off those lips so freely. God bless him. But, hey, we won a game. We played really good last night. We'll have to play even better tomorrow to win. Besides that, I don't think anything of it. Q. Obviously you guys have had great success in the last dozen or so years. How important is it for the program to maybe take even that next step, get back to the Elite 8, sprinkle a Final Four in there? How important is it to advance even further? COACH FEW: Again, I don't think about it. I think about just trying to get these guys ready to have as great a year as we possibly can. Here we are. We have an opportunity to advance to the Sweet 16 tomorrow. We need to take full advantage of it and play the best game of the year. I'm just not the kind of guy that looks for validation or anything like that. I think our success speaks for itself. It would be great. The reason it would be great is because it means we get to keep playing for another week and keep hanging out together, get another week with Steven Gray. That's my primary motivation I think, and our players' primary motivation, too. Q. Can you give us an idea how you plan to play Fredette and who might be assigned to guard him most of the time? COACH FEW: Well, I think we'll probably switch it around. Most of our perimeters are fairly versed. We've had a couple tough guards in our league. Mickey McConnell is a tough guard in our league, has a range of about 30, 35 feet. There's a real good scorer out of Santa Clara named Kevin Foster, who takes deep threes. None of them are on the level of Jimmer. Meech Goodson is a good on-ball defender. Steven Gray is a great defender. A guy off the bench, Mike Hart, is probably our best defender in the program. Even some of our bigs. Robert Sacre moves his feet well. Maybe we could even see him on him once in a while. Q. You had some praise for Jackson Emery earlier. What do you think makes him such a great player? COACH FEW: A lot of attributes. Great feel for the game, highly competitive, very tough. Much more athletic probably than people realize. He can really shoot the ball. To be able to shoot the ball with a good feel for the game, that's a great quality to have. Q. Coach Rose mentioned that the biggest thing that stood out to him from your conversation about Adam and Jimmer was you telling him to make sure he enjoyed the season and enjoy having a player of that caliber. Do you regret not doing that enough with Adam? COACH FEW: No. I don't want to give off the Baja comment to the papers. I loved Adam Morrison. I'd coach Adam Morrison every year if I could. I've never met a better competitor than Adam Morrison. I think Jimmer's out of that same mold. I enjoyed every second of Adam, wish we would have had one more year with him. One thing Adam gave us is the ability to compete with anybody in the country. Going back to that previous question, I mean, we were more than good enough to make a Final Four and probably compete for a national championship that year with Adam. Just didn't quite get her done. Q. How different of a team is that without Brandon Davies right now? COACH FEW: They're different. They're different. But they're still really good. Obviously we recruited Brandon. I mean, they've done a remarkable job developing him. He's really come on. I watched him in the San Diego State game. He had a great game that night against a great frontline. But, you know, they've adapted well. I think they got some nice players. Hartsock is a nice big who can go inside out, can pick and pop, facing up. They've got a nice mix. I think some of the other guys are coming in there, kind of their versatility is a little bit different. We had a similar situation with Josh Heytvelt when we lost him, very talented guy. We kind of morphed into more of a perimeter-oriented team that in some ways made us even harder to guard because we were less traditional. Q. How close have you and Coach Rose come to scheduling each other in the past? How would you project the nature of this future rivalry in the West Coast conference? COACH FEW: You know, there's been a couple instances where I think we looked at some situations, maybe playing in Vegas at one point, doing something in some neutral-court situations as I remember. They just kind of never came through. Obviously, you know, I think it will be a great, healthy rivalry in conference. Both teams with national-label programs, national aspirations, battling out. Both are used to winning their conference year in and year out. I think it will be a very good, healthy, but tough. I mean, we've got a string - gosh, I don't even know what it is - 11 straight conference championships just behind the UCLA teams. Obviously, adding BYU to the conference will make that even more difficult to keep going. THE MODERATOR: Thanks, coach. Good luck tomorrow. COACH FEW: Thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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