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NCAA MEN'S 2ND & 3RD ROUNDS: CHICAGO

March 19, 2011

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS

GREG GREENWELL: We have Purdue student-athletes Lewis Jackson, JaJuan Johnson, and E'Twaun Moore.

Q. I guess for E'Twaun and Lewis, if you'd both address this. This team has taken 823 threes. That's an inordinate amount of threes in the Big Ten. What impresses you about how they're able to be so effective from the perimeter like that.
LEWIS JACKSON: I think the style of play. I think they shoot the ball pretty well. It's not one guy who shoots the ball poorly and other guys take shots. They all shoot a decent percentage so you have to respect those guys when they take three-point shots.
E'TWAUN MOORE: That's one thing we noticed. They have three or four guys that shoot over 35, 36 percent. That's letting you know they're a great three-point shooting team. We've got to be ready to defend the three.

Q. For JaJuan, other than their outside shooting, what impresses you most about VCU?
JAJUAN JOHNSON: They really get after it defensively. They play hard. They press whenever they can really. They all crash the glass. They have a lot of athletes on this team. It's going to be a good game. They really play hard.

Q. Lewis, they have an energetic point guard, just like you, plays hard, a lot of emotion, and kind of stirs the drink like you do at both ends of the floor. Any comparison there between the two of you?
LEWIS JACKSON: I think so, to a certain extent. You watch his game. He really leads his team well. He knows when to take shots, when to get other guys involved. He plays hard on defense. So you can see the similarities.
I think it's going to be an interesting matchup between us both because whoever probably gets the best of each other probably affects the other team as well.

Q. For all the players, I'm just curious what do you guys do with your free time? Do you get bored easily? Is there time to sightsee? Do you like being in these kinds of environments where you have maybe a lot more time than usual to kill?
E'TWAUN MOORE: For real, we don't have a lot of free time. There's always something, if it's watching film, going to practice. I mean, but the little time we do get, we mostly just relax and just chill because don't get a lot of free time.
JAJUAN JOHNSON: I usually just kind of relax in my room, messing with the computer, watch a few movies here and there, play video games. That's about it really.
LEWIS JACKSON: Yeah, that basically sums it up. It's really more so a business trip. Maybe we get up here early, we might go out to a nice restaurant and eat. But we're together as a team, practice, film, having a little bit of fun in the hotel. But it's more so business.

Q. Lewis, in the Big Ten, you end up playing a lot of point guards who are bigger than you. Tomorrow you're going to see a guy more your size. How's that going to be?
LEWIS JACKSON: I think, honestly, it won't be too different because he's quick. Guards in the Big Ten are quick. A lot of guys, even though they have the size, they don't really post up.
You've just got to understand like a Kallin Lucas, Talor Battle, Michael Thompson, those guys are quick. They know how to get to the rim, get their bodies involved, and get in for the score.
So those guys that go to Virginia Commonwealth, people don't watch them much, but I've seen him since high school. So I know he can play with Big Ten guards.

Q. Any of you can answer this. Richmond plays a lot differently than most teams that you play. The only common opponent, I think, that the two of you share, did you watch the Richmond-VCU game? If so, can you derive anything from that even though you don't play anything like Richmond does?
JAJUAN JOHNSON: We didn't watch the Richmond film. We did watch the Old Dominion film, I think. We watched them play yesterday from our hotel room. That's all we've seen.
As we saw yesterday, they play hard, and they play together. It's going to be a tough opponent that we're going against tomorrow.

Q. To all the players, not many players in college basketball history get to say in their careers they make three Sweet 16 appearances. What would that accomplishment mean to each one of you, and how big of an accomplishment would it be?
E'TWAUN MOORE: I mean, it would definitely be a great accomplishment to have three Sweet 16s under our belt. But we're trying to go all the way to the final four. We're not trying to stop there.
JAJUAN JOHNSON: It's a big accomplishment just for all of us. Purdue, you know, getting Purdue back on the map where it's supposed to be. But that would be huge to advance to the Sweet 16.
LEWIS JACKSON: Like they said, I just think it speaks volumes just to put down on our resume. Like you said, not many kids get the experience of Sweet 16. So for us hopefully to get back, and we want to accomplish so much more, it would just speak volumes about this team and how hard we've worked all these years.

Q. Lewis, you said that you'd seen Rodriguez since high school. How did you first come in contact with him, and how is it you've been able to see him through all that time?
LEWIS JACKSON: My junior year in high school, we got to play in the Ft. Myers Classic, and he was there with his teammate Nick Calathes. And I remember everybody talking about Nick Calathes and how good he was but I got to watch him, really like his game. Once I found out what college he went to with Eric Maynor, he was on TV a couple times.
So every time he played I was just checking in, and I remember him from high school. I always kind of watched his game and just seen how he was doing.

Q. JaJuan, your opponent tomorrow a week ago didn't even know if they were going to get into the tournament. That wasn't a problem you guys had. You've been solidly in for a long time. Each of you faced your own challenges or demons, so to speak. You guys had to get your swagger back, your competitive nature back. But this team is trying to prove something as well. Are there any correlations between what the two teams have kind of had to face maybe recently?
JAJUAN JOHNSON: Both teams have dealt with adversity of late. If they're going to be in the tournament or not. They've responded pretty well, kind of like we did yesterday when we got our win against St. Peter's.
They're playing hard, and they're out to prove something that they belong, and they've been doing a good job of it so far.

Q. For E'Twaun and Lewis, I think last night's game was your first in the United Center. What was it like playing here and maybe talk about the shooting background.
E'TWAUN MOORE: It was definitely fun playing last night. We got a victory. So I'm pretty happy playing in the United Center. And shooting, it feels pretty good. Hopefully, the ball will fall for us tomorrow.
LEWIS JACKSON: Like he said, it just felt great, just finally playing in the United Center for the first time ever. Had a good shooting night and just getting that win was really special. So overall, it just was a great night just to play there.
GREG GREENWELL: We are joined by Purdue head coach Matt Painter.
COACH PAINTER: Obviously, pleased to be in the second round. Thought we did a good job yesterday of being ready to play, carrying out our defensive assignment, and then I thought we had a good rebounding effort. Going to do a better job of taking care of the basketball and making decisions.
I thought we had some opportunities to push the game out a little bit earlier and weren't able to do that. Just got to do a better job of playing under control and being able to attack and really just read the defense, see the defense.
We know tomorrow's game is going to be a very difficult game. I think VCU can hurt you in a lot of different ways. Normally, when you face a pressing team, a team that presses, that's what they do, and they stick with it. They'll battle you.
They will stick with their press at times, but other times -- yesterday it worked for them, and then they backed off and did a very good job in the half-court. I think they can hurt you in a lot of different ways. That press can generate points for them, but also their half-court defense, I thought, was very good.
Then after watching tape, especially the last couple games, last three, four games they've played, they've been very good defensively in the half-court. I think their offense speaks for itself. Any time you put that many shooters on the court, you've got to do a good job of staying out of rotations, containing the dribble because, once they get by you or once you get in the rotations, they move the basketball, and they make shots.
They got a handful of guys that all shoot threes and all shoot good percentages. But their toughness. They've got tough guys. They've got hard-nosed guys. You can see from just sitting down there and listening to them talk on the court. They're a team that's really gelled. They're playing hard. Just doing a lot of the little things necessary to advance in this tournament.

Q. When you look at tomorrow's game, does it all come down to matching their toughness, and is it all about effort tomorrow? The team with the best effort will probably be the team that wins.
COACH PAINTER: I think it's going to be very important. Getting those 50-50 balls, getting the long rebounds and the loose balls. Just trying to fight for those extra possessions. Any time you read a box score when two good teams face each other, the rebounds and the turnovers are very important. Yesterday they did a good job of taking care of the basketball, but they also did a good job of creating turnovers and making Georgetown rush some things.
It is going to be a very important part of the game. Us being able to handle the press and handle the pressure.

Q. Are you worried that their press might cause you to speed up and play too fast.
COACH PAINTER: I think it's something, any time somebody presses you, you've got to be able to attack when it's there and be under control and take good shots. And then when it's not there, be able to run half-court offense, but that is the theme of a pressing team. They're trying to get you to get at a speed you're not used to.
And you've got to play fast but under control. And just make good decisions. I thought yesterday, even though St. Peter's wasn't a pressing team, I thought we got ahead of ourselves a couple times. Just have to play fundamentally sound basketball.

Q. Do you kind of wish Jay Bilas hadn't taken any shots at VCU? How dangerous is a team that's playing angry and basically playing with house money at this point?
COACH PAINTER: I didn't know he took shots at them. So that just shows you. I'm in my own world. But they're a good team.
I think any time you get into a tournament, it makes for good discussion. This conference should have got this number of teams in or this team. There's always going to be a couple teams that they scrutinize. I think it's great for VCU. They took it. They probably had a chip on their shoulder anyway. They got a great win versus USC, and they got a great win versus Georgetown. They're a good basketball team. They've proven they belong.

Q. I just wanted to follow that up. They're playing third game in, whatever, six days. Does that enter into the way that you attack them at all?
COACH PAINTER: No, not at all. We'll play the same way that we always play.

Q. Does one game sort of right the ship? I mean, last night, obviously, sort of rectifying what you saw against Iowa and Michigan State?
COACH PAINTER: You hope so. Any time you have losses, you know, it makes you search for the answers as a coach and try to do what's best for your team. You know, you hope you can get a victory, and you can get on the -- back on the right path, so to speak.
We'll see today. It's a different opponent. They do some different things than some teams we've faced. So we have to be prepared for that. But it comes down to playing hard and giving a good effort. And making good decisions.

Q. How hard is it to scout when you've only got such a quick turnaround, 40 hours or maybe less. How hard is it to scout or really put a solid game plan together?
COACH PAINTER: I do think it's different in between your first and second game compared to the first game. It is the same for everybody. So they didn't put a whole lot of attention to Purdue. We didn't put a whole lot of attention to VCU because we were worried about the teams we were playing in the first round. For them in the first couple of rounds.
You have to talk to your guys and go through your walk-throughs and do your scouting reports and part about personnel tendencies and what they like to run. But you also can't lose your focus. We have to keep our focus on Purdue and doing the things that we do. Especially this time of year. You can get away and out think yourself. When it comes down to it, you have to be able to do the little things, and you have to be tougher than the guy in front of you.

Q. Matt, as a coach, you always hear college football coaches talk about bowl games and getting their players to enjoy the experience, the location they go to. Is that the same with this tournament as a coach? Or is it business 24/7? You know, very little sightseeing, very little enjoying for the players of where they actually are.
COACH PAINTER: Yeah, this is a business trip for everybody. I think it's obviously a different sport and a different setup. I mean, you get there early for the football tournaments, for the football games. When you're dealing with basketball, NCAA Tournament, you're getting there a couple days ahead and doing your media responsibilities and trying to get to the venue. You know, get some shots up and get used to the rims and the balls and everything. It's a little bit different.
So for us, we just dive into our opponent, and that's about it. Just try to keep our guys focused throughout.
You want your guys to have fun, but the fun's got to come on the court. The fun doesn't come off the court this time of the year.

Q. Last night during those -- a couple of those seven-minute time-outs that you referred to, noticed that Coach Lusk and Rob were kind of picking each other's brains off to the side while you were waiting to get ball action started again. Has Rob kind of been helpful in talking and suggesting things? He seems to be a very astute observer of the game.
COACH PAINTER: I think he does a good job, especially with the big guys, just trying to help them with the things that he sees during the course of the game with those guys, especially in the huddles.
I think it's important to have a lot of people in your huddle trying to help the guys that are sitting down when they leave. There's not a person that ever played who ever sat in the huddle when fatigue sets in and didn't hear a word the Coach said.
So kind of remind the divides when you walk out of the huddle, you have two time-outs. This is what we're running. This is what we're doing. It's always important to have guys like that.

Q. Sorry if you were asked this before I got in here. Your common opponent with them is Richmond, and Richmond is very different kind of team. Did you watch the Richmond tape? The kids said they hadn't watched it, but did you watch it?
COACH PAINTER: No.

Q. Because it doesn't really help you prepare?
COACH PAINTER: Correct.

Q. Which of their opponents did you watch? Who does help you prepare? And why did those opponents help you more than, say, Richmond would have?
COACH PAINTER: Richmond runs Princeton style offense, and obviously with their switching man to man, which you saw a lot of what Georgetown does. They can go to some different defense. We're just a man-to-man team. And we stay with man to man. Then obviously we run motion. So just trying to find some teams in there.
I just watched their last couple of games. I watched the USC game and watched Georgetown game live and watched two or three other games that I thought fit us.
Getting them at home, getting them on the road, getting neutral, there's a lot of things, a lot of variables that go into it because teams play a little different at home than they do on the road. Watching Old Dominion and watching, they've got a good lead. They have a very talented lead. They have good coaches.
Just trying to pick up the little things they do. There's no way we're going to be as knowledgeable and familiar with VCU as the teams I just mentioned. That's why you try to pay attention if there's some common themes. Just like in the Big Ten, we obviously know our opponents a lot better than someone who's facing them in the NCAA Tournament.
GREG GREENWELL: Thank you, Coach.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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