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PACIFIC-12 CONFERENCE MEN'S TOURNAMENTMarch 7, 2012Aaron BrightJohnny DawkinsChasson RandleLOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA Stanford – 85 THE MODERATOR: Coach, some opening remarks, please? COACH DAWKINS: Well, I thought it was a terrific game. I thought our guys played really, really well against a good Arizona State team, a team that's been playing very well as of late. I thought our guys really prepared well this week and were up for the challenge. We give their kids a lot of credit, because going to the game and studying them, they have a lot of threats out there. I thought our kids did a good job of focusing, especially in the first half, and defending very well. Q. Johnny, can you talk a little about Randle's first half? He had the most points that's ever been scored in the first half of this tournament, I believe. Is that something that was reminiscent of his high school games that you saw? COACH DAWKINS: Well, I thought Chasson had one of those‑‑ it was an incredible moment, his first half. He came out focused. I thought his teammates were terrific. They did a great job of finding him, recognizing he had it going, and they delivered the ball to him in some excellent places and he completed the plays. But I definitely thought it was a team effort, and Chasson was able to capitalize on that, and he was ready for his shots. He had one of those nights that he'll remember for a long time. Q. Can you describe what it feels like when you're having a half like that? CHASSON RANDLE: Really, I was just focused in on trying to complete plays like Coach said. Teammates found me in the right spots. I didn't know what was going on. I was just playing basketball. Q. I was curious. Did you know you had 27 at halftime? I know you said you were really just kind of playing out there, but did somebody tell you how many points you had at the break or anything? CHASSON RANDLE: No, I didn't know what I ended up with until the end of the game. Q. For a quarterfinal you get to take on your rival Cal who has a projected lock in the tournament. First question, are you excited to take on Cal? And if you beat them, do you think that should be enough to get new the tournament? COACH DAWKINS: Well, for us, we're just excited to still be playing, first of all. Cal's had a terrific season, and we've just played them of course a few days ago. So we have to prepare ourselves to get ready to compete against them again. We know it will be a challenge, but it's one that we're looking forward to continue to competing, and our seniors are excited about continuing their career. Q. Chasson, did playing in Madison Square Garden early in the year help you adjust to playing in a venue like this? CHASSON RANDLE: I don't know. I'm sorry. I just play basketball. I was getting loose in warm‑ups. You know, just playing basketball. I can't really answer that. Q. What about you, Aaron? AARON BRIGHT: I don't think so. I think just because, like Chasson said, you're just playing basketball. Doesn't matter if you're playing outdoors or in a venue like Staples Center, it's the same game. Yeah, it's just basketball. Q. What are the biggest differences in your team between the time that you played Cal before until now and the fact that you just beat them a few days ago? What are the biggest differences in your team between the two games? COACH DAWKINS: Well, I think we've gotten better. Our kids are growing into‑‑ they're still in the process of becoming, like we mentioned early in the season. We rely on a lot of young players. They're starting to gain chemistry. They're starting to get a feel for one another. On the offensive end defensively we've gotten better, which has helped our offense. I think the combination of two has led us to being able to continue to improve as the season has progressed. Q. Can you talk about the challenges of playing Cal again just four days after you beat them? AARON BRIGHT: Yeah, it's definitely going to be a tough game. They've had a great year. They're a great team. But they're our rivals and we can expect it to be a physical and chippy game tomorrow. We're looking forward to it. It's a great opportunity for our team to keep building, and it's another game. It's another step. Q. Your depth is something that's kind of rare in the conference this year. How important is that to make a tournament run for potentially four games in four days? COACH DAWKINS: We've utilized our depth all year. I have a lot of confidence in all of my players coming in and contributing. As you saw again tonight, we were able to do that. I think it does help us. I think the fact that our players have confidence that we as a staff have confidence in them enables them to go out there and do what they were able to do tonight, hopefully as we continue to play. We have a big challenge tomorrow, and for us, we have to prepare for them as best we can. Q. On that same theme, did you consciously try to limit minutes tonight given that you had a big lead and knowing you had at least one more maybe two, three more games? COACH DAWKINS: We tried to take some guys out and hold them out as long as we could. As long as we had the lead, we wanted to make sure we were able to rest some of our players. We were fortunate because Arizona State's a good team. They made a great run, cut to 13, and we were able to build it back up and maybe take Chasson out some, take Aaron out some, and able to maybe try to save their legs for later. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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