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BIG 12 CONFERENCE MEN'S TOURNAMENTMarch 9, 2012Quincy AcyScott DrewPierre JacksonPerry Jones IIIKANSAS CITY, MISSOURI Baylor – 81 THE MODERATOR: We're ready to begin with the Baylor Bears. We have Coach Scott Drew. The student‑athletes will be here shortly. Comments on tonight's victory. COACH DREW: First of all, very pleased with our guys from the standpoint we've been successful against Kansas before in spurts, and then they would have a spurt that we wouldn't be able to answer a run. And tonight you knew they were going to make a run. When they took the lead, I was really pleased with the poise our guys had and the togetherness, character, we didn't have to call timeouts, and those guys just played through it and really did a great job in reestablishing and getting us the lead back. And for three first‑year‑college guys and one second‑year, I think they grew up a little bit tonight. That's the great thing about playing in the 12, if you don't have that during the regular season, you're not seasoned and ready when postseason comes. So that's the great thing about this league. THE MODERATOR: Question for Coach. Q. Scott, Brady had a couple of big 3s out there. Can you tell how y'all set those up? COACH DREW: I think one of them was a play. Another one I think his teammates created an opportunity. He did a great job moving without the basketball. And at the end of the day 16 assists, nine turnovers, that can win you a lot of games. I think we took really good care of the basketball, and because of that found the open guys. We had six in double figures. I thought just a great team effort. THE MODERATOR: We're joined by the student‑athletes Perry Jones III, Pierre Jackson, and Quincy Acy. Questions for student‑athletes. Q. Quincy, can you talk about the offensive rebound off the missed free throw, how big was that, and how were you able to get inside there? QUINCY ACY: Never assume a miss. It's been cases in the regular season where I've done the same thing. I just never assume a miss and I always try to outwork the person that's trying to guard me. Q. Pierre, you guys go 0‑4 against Kansas, Missouri in the regular season, looked like a different team tonight. What did you feel like was the difference between those games and what you're doing now? PIERRE JACKSON: I think we're just all more focused and playing as a team. Once we all are clicking like that, we're hard to beat. We know what time of the year it is. So just trying to get a Big 12 Championship. Q. Pierre or Quincy, are you guys‑‑ there's some presumption in this question, but if Missouri wins this next game, are you guys ready for the rest of the Big 12 to be rooting for you tomorrow? QUINCY ACY: I mean, we're ready for an away game. We're in their state, we know it's going to be tough. But that's the same with all the teams we've played so far. So it's the same, really. Q. For any of you, was it motivation that this final in this tournament was supposed to be KU versus Missouri according to most everybody? QUINCY ACY: Well, yeah. I mean, we had‑‑ to ourselves we had a disappointing conference. We felt we should have did a lot better. I mean, we knew that was going to be it. But you never want to get disrespected. So we came in with an axe to grind and with the mindset to win every game. Q. Perry, can you talk about‑‑ Coach mentioned it‑‑ the way you all responded. I think Kansas had like an 18‑3 run. Finally took the lead. Can you talk about the way you all responded down the stretch? PERRY JONES III: Just trying to defend a lot better. They're a great team. When they get on runs, it's hard to stop them. So just trying to get rebounds and trying to get second‑chance points. And just trying to keep them out of the paint as much as possible. Because they're one of the best in the country at getting to the paint. Q. Perry, it seemed like they were switching between Robinson and Withey on you. Were you surprised to see Withey on you a bunch down the stretch? PERRY JONES III: No, I wasn't. That's the way they run their defense. They felt like they needed to switch back and forth, and that's what they did. But not at all. Q. Did you feel more comfortable going against Withey? PERRY JONES III: I mean, I felt the same. He's one of the top shot blockers in the nation. And he's a shot blocker in the nation because he blocked shots. That's what he does best. But, I mean‑‑ COACH DREW: It's that Baylor education. PERRY JONES III: I'm not sure. I don't know how to answer it. Q. Pierre and Quincy, can you guys just talk a little bit about what A.J. brought, it's two games in a row he's really stepped up pretty big for you guys, double figures and other issues. PIERRE JACKSON: A.J.'s‑‑ y'all know this, he's a great defender, but he can also score the ball. He's showing that. And he has a lot to prove, and he's just coming up big for us. And he decided to keep his confidence up, and he helps us out on the other end too, keeping everybody's confidence up and staying positive. Q. Pierre or Perry, could you talk about 3‑pointers can change momentum a lot. But just the three that Brady hit and a couple off the scrambles, just what kind of feeling was it like on the court, what kind of lift did that give you guys? PIERRE JACKSON: A big lift. Whenever Brady puts a shot up, we all think it's going in. So I'm glad he had the confidence to take it. I'm glad he hit both of those big 3s. We needed them. THE MODERATOR: Thank you. Questions for Coach. Q. Scott, is there a story about how you found Brady up in Canada? COACH DREW: Actually, no. Just he was transferring and somebody that wasn't really highly touted and came to Baylor, lost 24pounds. Worked really hard. Got an unbelievable work ethic. His uncle is Jay Triano, the former coach of the Raptors, so he's got some basketball in his family. His uncle is supposedly the Bob Cousy of Canadian basketball. Good bloodline and a very hard worker. He's by the hometown of our athletic director, Ian McCaw, so that probably sealed the deal. Q. You guys pretty much put the nail in the coffin of the Mizzou‑Kansas rivalry tonight. Curious, how does that feel? I'm curious, what do you think college basketball is missing now that that's gone away? COACH DREW: I think it's unfortunate that a lot of rivalries have disappeared because of realignment, and I think every fan should be saddened. And I think from a personal standpoint I think people make decisions thinking they're going to keep rivalries and get to do other things, and sometimes that doesn't work out. So I feel bad for the fans. Q. Talk about after the subs you put Quincy Miller on Jeff Withey and then either rotated Perry or Quincy to guard Robinson. Talk about the decision to have Miller guard Withey. COACH DREW: I think no matter who you guard you're in for a tough assignment, and both of them played extremely well against us. I thought Quincy Miller was extremely efficient tonight, 18minutes, 13 and 8. So I thought he did a great job. Q. Between Robert Griffin and Kim Mulkey's team and yours, is there just something in the water this year or the uniforms, or what the heck is it for Baylor? COACH DREW: I think, first of all, we're blessed. We have outstanding Christian leadership from Ian McCaw, President Starr, they've upgraded the facilities. One thing about Baylor is‑‑ people ask how you get kids. And whenever they come on campus, like most places, everyone's got good people, but I think Baylor, for some reason, people just feel part of the family. It's made recruiting a lot easier. Once you get some good players, as we all know, players want to play with players, and we're blessed because we not only have good players, but they're good people. So now people want to come be teammates with them. Q. (Question off microphone)? COACH DREW: We'll find out. I like them right now. Q. Two parts. One, Kansas took the lead late, 58‑56. Just talk about how your team responded to that. And then, secondly, Quincy scored to go up 13 and you called a quick timeout. I wonder what that was about. That was earlier in the second half. COACH DREW: Right. I think we had some tired people. And normally players give up more on the defensive end when they're tired than they do on the offensive end. They seem to get fresher when they've got the ball in their hands. So I just wanted to try to regroup, make sure we could get back to focus and try to get some defensive stops. And then I thought that this was really a night that helped us grow up. We've won close games all year long against KU and Missouri, and I think they've made runs that we haven't had answers for. And I think tonight when the crowd was going and Kansas was going, again, when you got three first‑year‑college guys and one second‑year, talented, yes, but experience is something that you can't replace. And I think, again, playing in the Big 12 during the year has helped prepare us and make us better. Earlier in the year we never had a game of 16 assists, nine turnovers. Q. Scott, these last two games, are they the best two games you think your team's played this season? COACH DREW: They would be up there, but we've played some really good teams in the non‑conference, and we had some really good games. And those teams might have even played better basketball. Our West Virginia game at that time they were playing really well. I mean, I put them up there, but I can't say they're our best as far as‑‑ actually, you know what, execution‑wise it's definitely the best as far as the guts that‑‑ that ‑‑ to get wins early in the year is tough to do with a young team. So that's why it makes it kind of hard to say it was better execution‑wise. No question. Our best execution the last two games was much better than earlier this year. THE MODERATOR: Thank you, Coach. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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