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NCAA MEN'S REGIONALS SEMIFINALS & FINALS: NEW ORLEANSMarch 23, 2011Jackson EmeryJimmer FredetteDave RoseNEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA THE MODERATOR: How are things going as far as preparations for the regional? COACH ROSE: Well, we're excited to be here in New Orleans and looking forward to a very competitive game with Florida, playing a great team. I think that our players have done a really good job the last couple days in kind of putting the excitement behind them and focusing on our preparation. I've said this many times, that I think this team thrives on preparation. So we're kind of familiar, a little bit, with Florida, because we played them last year in the tournament. But right now I think our guys are in a good place. We need to come out and play one of our best games on Thursday in order to be successful and look forward to that. Q. Based on what you've seen, which of these two teams has taken a greater stride since last year's game? COACH ROSE: That's a good question. I think both teams have improved. I think that both teams rely a lot -- I think they're more comfortable in how they're going to close out games. That's the thing that impresses me the most about Florida is their ability late in games to get good shots from the players that are capable of making their shots. It's not like they're trying to just hope their way into a basket to win. And then defensively I think that they're a lot more engaged in their defensive game plan as a group. So they're not looking for as many individual plays to try to finish out games. Q. You've been dealing all year where one player gets all the attention, the other guys get very little attention. Have you talked -- has that gone magnified here since the two wins in Denver, and have you talked to Jimmer about that and have you talked to the other guys about how to handle that? COACH ROSE: Earlier in the year we had the issue sometime in the middle of late December, first of January, where it really started to become so much attention towards Jimmer, and the rest of our team became a group of guys that were just focused in on winning games, and how can we continue to win. And since then, it hasn't been much of an issue, and I think that as much as it seems like the attention to Jimmer continues to grow and grow and grow, I think it seems pretty normal for our team because it's been this way for quite a long time. One of our responsibilities as a staff has kind of changed as far as trying to manage his time off the floor and some of those commitments for local media, national media, and I think that the sports information department and our coaching staff and Jimmer has done a pretty good job of managing that and allowing him to continue to still be successful on the court. Q. I know you were only a youngster when Pete Maravich was in his playing days over at LSU. What do you remember about him, and is there any way that him and Jimmer could even be in the same conversation? COACH ROSE: Well, from what I remember and things that I've seen and studied is the two -- the common denominator between the two would be how relentless they are in scoring the ball. I mean, there are a lot of players, and I just think a lot of players can get to a certain point, and then they're a little bit -- maybe they might be satisfied or they're comfortable or they're in a position where they're going to take a different mindset towards the offensive approach. But I think the common denominator between Pete Maravich and Jimmer is they're relentless. If they have 30, they want another basket. If they have 40, they want another basket. I can vouch, in Jimmer's case, is it has nothing to do with points. What it has to do with is trying to get his team to win games. As the starting point guard here the last three years, I think he's went 25, 30, 32. He's just trying to help his team find a way to win games. Q. Has there ever been a point where you felt like you needed to talk to Jimmer about that attention and about the Jimmer Show and about all the stuff that comes along with that and settle him down? COACH ROSE: I haven't ever felt like I needed to settle him down because I don't think he's ever got to a point where he's become, quote, too full of himself. I mean, he is a very humble, approachable guy. We've had a lot of conversations throughout the year about how we're going to manage it and how he feels, and if it becomes overwhelming to him then he needs to tell me so that I can kind of manage it better this next week, because we had kind of a routine that we would get in, and then that routine got stretched a little bit because of some more national requests that he had. My conversations with him were, are you fine, is that too much, if you don't want to do it, you don't have to. He's been great all year. There's been a couple times when on a Monday morning he said, coach, I need a break, and we'd have to kind of shut things down for the week and just have him do the obligations that our team has locally. But for the most part we've never had a conversation like -- where I've needed to -- he's gotten so excited or I feel like it's out of control. It's all been kind of managed between the two of us. I'm telling you, he's as humble and approachable and as likable as a person today as he was the first day he stepped on campus. Q. Is Brandon making the trip? If so, why have you decided to let him travel with the team? And also, just reflecting back on that, how tough was that, and why couldn't you guys have just let him slide on that violation? COACH ROSE: Well, I think our players understand, our students understand, when they come to BYU. And I do understand this, and -- and I respect the fact that it's hard for others to understand. But our players and the students at BYU, they are committed. The issue with Brandon right now is that I think that the support of the team, him being able to travel with the team, is really good for him. And I think him being around our players is really good for us. And so that's why our administration and our staff have made the decision to have him with us. If that changes sometime, then we'll change. But right now we feel it's the best for our team, and we feel it's the best for Brandon. Q. Michael Lloyd, Jr. had a big game last year since Florida, 26 points. What made him decide to transfer and are there any other surprise guys you have off the bench this season? COACH ROSE: Well, we will need help off the bench. I mean, that's kind of been a trademark of this team. We've found somebody to come in and give us a lift. Last weekend in Denver, James Anderson gave us a great lift defensively. Logan Magnusson came in in the Wofford game and hit a couple big threes, had ten points and seven rebounds. Steven Rogers came in the first half of the Gonzaga game and hit a couple threes, some free throws, had 10 points in 11 minutes. So I believe that it's one of the strengths of our team is that we've had guys that have stepped up all year long, and we'll need that to happen on Thursday in order to be successful. Q. Just wanted to ask how much the familiarity of having played them last year and understanding their athleticism, how much will that help you this year, and does Boynton's injury, injured ankle, do you think affect the way they have to cover Jimmer? COACH ROSE: Well, we all believe that Kenny will play, and how effective he is will be the issue. But he is not only a great basketball player, but he's a terrific defender. So we'll see if that's the match-up. Kind of the way that our team has played the last two months or so is that first four minutes of the game is let's see what they're going to do, let's see how they're going to start, let's see what they'll do with Jimmer's ball screens. And then the rest of our team has to kind of respond and react to what's going to happen, if they're going to come off that ball screen and just trap him and make him get the ball out of his hands, then we're going to be playing with an advantage the whole night because we'll have four offensive players attacking three defensive players. And if they're going to go underneath that thing, then Jimmer is probably going to get a couple shots off. So we all know, the whole team understands what the first few minutes are. The familiarity, as far as playing them last year, I think what it does is our guys understand that it's going to take a great game from us to be able to come out with a win. We played one of our better games of the year last year and were able to win by one point in overtime or a basket or two in overtime -- double overtime, so we understand the challenge. Q. Do you remember do you find it ironic at all that two of the three places you've ended up are Vegas and New Orleans, places whose local cultures kind of clash with BYU's values? COACH ROSE: Well, I believe that our guys have been able to travel all over the country and win games this year. It's been terrific. We've been to Omaha, Nebraska; we've been to South Padre Island, Texas; we've been to Glens Falls, New York; we've been to Buffalo, New York. This group of guys has been resilient in their ability to travel. One told me the other day that outside of our building this year that we're 19 and 3, and I don't know -- you go to the teams that are left in the Sweet 16, how many teams have won 19 games outside of their building? It's a real compliment to our players. Q. Jimmer, I would wonder, I know you still have games to play in this tournament, but just overall, how do you think your game would translate to the next level? JIMMER FREDETTE: You know, I think it would translate very well. I'm able to get my shot off, off the dribble, and be able to use the pick-and-roll effectively. So it just depends on the system that I get to play in. It's all about situation, being able to get to the right system, and if I do that, I think I could be very successful. Q. Jimmer, have you seen as the season has gone on that teams are focusing more on trying to take your shot away or focusing more on letting you have what you can get and then keeping your teammates from scoring? And then Jackson, how you guys have to back him up if he has an off-night? JIMMER FREDETTE: I've seen both ways, both different types of defenses. Just depends on the team. Sometimes they'll try to let me get my points and then stop everybody else, or really double-team me hard and let the other guys beat them. So I've seen both, but it just depends on the situation. You've just got to go out there and read what they're doing and take what the defense gives you and see if you can win the game. JACKSON EMERY: Yeah, and I haven't seen Jimmer have an off-night yet really this year. I guess you can consider it an off-night if he doesn't score 30 or more. But I think the biggest thing that we have to realize is that we have to score points as a team. We know Jimmer is going to get his points, and we know at the same time if we score it's going to make it a lot easier for Jimmer to score, and if he scores it's going to make it a lot easier for us. It's a nice situation. But we kind of build off one another. Q. Jimmer, have you ever at all had a chance to see any type of video of Pete Maravich, who was a stand-out player here at LSU? Has his name ever come up in conversation? And if so, could you just talk -- can you even relate to the fact that you would need to make five more threes a game to equal what his scoring average was for a career? JIMMER FREDETTE: Yeah, I know, he's an unbelievable scorer in college. I've heard of him and I've watched some things on him, some documentaries, and some things that he did in practice. And he was a great story. He was a great player. He really kind of revolutionized the game to do some of the things that he did. But he was a great player, and I just hopefully can continue to work hard and get to his level someday. Q. Jimmer and Jackson, Coach Rose was in here and said there was a couple of Mondays where you came to him and said you need a break. Talk about all the hoopla and all the stuff you've had to deal with this year. For Jackson, can you talk about how it's affected the rest of the team? JIMMER FREDETTE: It's been a lot different this year. We've gotten a lot more national exposure and media exposure than we ever had here at BYU in my four years. It's just all about taking your time and taking it all in stride. You know, it's been a lot of fun, but it has been taxing at times, but we're here for a reason. We're here to play basketball and to get a good education and move forward in life. So we're looking forward to being able to come out here and play and handle all the media and get ready to go every single day, and that's what I've tried to do. JACKSON EMERY: It's been at times lots of fun. At the same time, it makes it a lot harder because you know you're in the spotlight and teams want to beat you even more. We know with Jimmer there's a lot of YouTube videos, Facebook pages, there's tee shirts, whatever. It makes it fun, but at the same time we realize that because of that, teams want to beat us even more and we have to come prepared, and it makes our preparation a lot harder. Q. Jimmer, how have you reacted to this Jimmer World thing where people have placards saying to vote for you for president, et cetera? What's the craziest thing you've heard of? Does it amuse you, flatter you, embarrass you at all? JIMMER FREDETTE: No, I mean, it's kind of flattering just to have people say that. I mean, I saw something that said Jimmer and Romney 2012, so that's kind of funny. And I just take it all in stride. Like I said, it's great to have people really like you and your teammates and your whole team. That's the position you want to be in. You'd rather have that than have them hate you. So it's been a lot of fun. I've had fun with it and enjoy seeing all the people that have supported us all year. We appreciate it. Q. For both of you, seems like all season long a recipe for a win for you guys has been shooting the ball well. You guys proved that against Gonzaga, as well. Is it as simple as that, that you just have to shoot the ball, or what else goes into it for you guys? JIMMER FREDETTE: You know, I don't think so. When we do shoot the ball that well, it makes it that much harder to beat us. That's what I have gotten out of it. But we've won a lot of games this year where we haven't shot the ball very well and we've grinded out victories. That's what you have to do. We have a 32-win year going on so far and hopefully it will continue. In order to win that many games you have to find different ways to win every single night. You're not always going to shoot the ball really well. But I think we've done a good job of doing whatever it takes to win, whether it's defense, rebounding, offensive rebounds, getting some steals at the end of the game, whatever it is. I think we've done a good job of doing that and I think that's why we've been so successful. JACKSON EMERY: I agree with Jimmer. When we shoot the ball well, it makes it a lot easier for us to win. But we know at times we're not going to shoot the ball well. I think a great trademark of our team is we always find ways to win, and we take a lot of pride in that. I thought the last game we shot the ball really well versus Gonzaga. They're size, they're a really big team and we fought really hard with the rebounds and I thought guys came in and gave us a huge lift, and I thought that's really important. Q. Two-part question for both of you. Do you think that the quality of competition you've played this year is sufficient for you to be prepared to make a big run in this tournament? And secondly, Jimmer, for you, is it more important for you to be successful in New Orleans to be a better passer or a better scorer? JIMMER FREDETTE: First part, I mean, I think we have. We made it to the Sweet 16 and not many teams do that. I think that our competition that we have played has been very good and the Mountain West Conference is a really good conference. We've played Top 10 teams, we've played Arizona, we've played Gonzaga now, we've played San Diego State twice. UNLV is a very good team, played a lot of good teams that have been in the tournament this year. So our schedule was very good, and I think you saw that our strength of schedule was pretty high this year, so I think we were fully prepared and ready to go for this tournament. JACKSON EMERY: Exactly. I agree with Jimmer. It's great to see teams like Arizona and San Diego State who we've played against and beat this year an advance so far in the tournament. And we know that we can compete with the best teams. It's not easy because these teams are terrific and on any given night they can beat you. But it gives us a lot of confidence going into every game that we can play against and compete with the best. JIMMER FREDETTE: The last part, it really doesn't matter. Whatever the defense is giving me, I'll be a willing passer if they're going to double-team me and try to take away my scoring, and then my teammates are going to go out and make plays. But if they're kind of single covering me and I see opportunities to score that's what I'll do. So it's going to be important to really just distinguish between the two on every single play, whatever they're giving you, you take that, and hopefully we can work out. Q. Jimmer, if you could talk about the daily age play in 1981. I think that was the last time BYU made it this far in the tournament, and just that play's place in BYU lore? COACH ROSE: I think it's the biggest play in BYU basketball history. He got the ball, went the full length of the court and behind the basket through guys and then getting to the last second and finger rolling and making it. I've seen it many times, and we've talked to Danny in July and he's a great guy and he's the best player that's ever played here, and his legacy will always be here. He's has the biggest shot of all time, so hopefully we can match that and make it to where they made it. Q. Jackson, can you just quickly talk about the interesting paradox of BYU being in New Orleans? It's not exactly like being in Provo. JACKSON EMERY: Yeah, I mean, it is a little different. We've kind of considered it a mini Las Vegas as far as the atmosphere and everything. But it's great. It's a great town, it's a great place. I have family that lived here years ago and they told me how much they loved it. We know New Orleans loves their sports, and we're happy to be here, and hopefully we get a pretty good fan turnout and keep this winning streak going. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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