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NCAA MEN'S 1ST ROUND: DAYTONMarch 13, 2012George FantDerrick GordonRay HarperT.J. PriceDAYTON, OHIO Western Kentucky – 59 THE MODERATOR: We're joined by student‑athletes T.J. Price, George Fant, Derrick Gordon, and Coach Ray Harper. Coach, an opening comment. COACH HARPER: Wow. I don't know where to begin. I keep saying about these young men, they're resilient; they won't quit. They were ready to play some more basketball. I told them after the game that we played totally out of character for about 34, 35minutes of the game. We could never‑‑ and give Mississippi Valley credit, their defense had a lot to do with that. But we just weren't the same basketball team. We were too much one‑on‑one. We weren't making extra passes. Panicked against some of their pressure. But the one thing we never did was quit. And we just kept playing. And you could see that look in their eye: We're going to do this. And I'm just happy that we're going to move on, play another basketball game. THE MODERATOR: Questions for the student‑athletes. Q. Derrick, can you talk about another big run that you guys have had that's probably three in a row now, if you count the Sunbelt tournament, you guys come back from a double‑digit lead to take a win towards the end of the game? DERRICK GORDON: We're used to doing it. We did it all throughout the Sunbelt tournament. No matter how much we was losing by, we were just going to keep on fighting until the buzzer went off. That's something that teams don't know about us: We're going to keep fighting no matter what's the score. And that's what we kept doing. Q. George, does this one even surprise you a little bit? GEORGE FANT: No, not really. Q. Seriously, honestly? GEORGE FANT: Honestly. I knew my team was going to keep fighting. Even when we was down. I don't know how much we was down, but we were down about a lot. We kept fighting. So the rest of my teammates keep fighting, keep fighting, we're going to come back; that's what happened. Q. T.J., how disappointing would it have been if your season ended like the first 35minutes of the game if you all played that way for the last five minutes and went home 15‑point losers? T.J. PRICE: It wouldn't have felt too good. It would have been bad. Personally I know I would have cried, personally, that's just how much I love the game. And I just didn't want to be one and done. That wouldn't have been a good feeling. Q. George, can you look back two months ago, Coach's fired. You guys start that tough start. Just talk about going from there to where you all are right now tonight? GEORGE FANT: Like I've been saying for the longest, we lost our coach. My team, they stepped up. We got a new coach. He stepped up for the job. And we played hard. We've been playing hard. And we're going to fight, be a tough team. Rebound. Defend. And just the‑‑ we're going to defend the whole game. That's our goal. So we're just trying to play hard, keep advancing. Q. This touches on his question a little bit, what are some of the differences in you gentlemen tonight and the way you played tonight at the very end compared to the way you played early in the season? What was going wrong then and what is going right now? DERRICK GORDON: This is something new for us. This is our first NCAA Tournament. I mean, the lights is on. I mean, we just was rushing a lot at the beginning of the game, doing things that we're not normally used to doing. But at the end of the second half, about five minutes left to go, I mean, we all just turned that switch on. We just decided that we're just not ready to go home. We're just going to keep fighting and turn this thing around. GEORGE FANT: I think our biggest thing in change was toughness. We're a lot tougher team, as you've seen these last few games. We make smart decisions lately. And I have to say we're going to defend you. That's probably the second biggest thing, we're going to defend you the whole game. T.J. PRICE: I'd say what George said, the main thing that was different was defense. The first practice, with Coach, was the backup coach, first thing he said: What we're going to do is we're going to play defense. Previously before the games we was losing. It was close games that came down the stretch, and we had mistakes come down, bad mistakes on defense, and that's how we lost. But now we're playing defense now, and other teams, it's hard for them to score now. That's the biggest difference. Defense wins games, so that's how we're winning now. Q. Derrick, could you sense, then, losing their, I guess, composure down the stretch, and how much confidence did that give you to come back? DERRICK GORDON: Gave us a lot of confidence. Once my teammate O'Karo had a big steal, went down for the dunk, that all just energized us and gave us a lot of motivation and got us hyped into the game, and then we got another turnover and another turnover after that. I mean, that's just something that we like to do. I mean, O'Karo, he came‑‑ he did that a lot in past games, made huge plays and other players made huge plays after that. That's just something that we do very well and a lot of people don't know about. Q. George, what are your thoughts on playing Kentucky next, and from being a Kentucky guy and probably haven't seen them a lot over the years? GEORGE FANT: We won. We're going to advance and we're going to play. We're going to play defense. We're going to rebound. It doesn't matter what the name says on the jersey. I mean, even if they're the No.1 team, we're going to keep playing the way we've been playing. We have a game plan, we're going to execute it. Q. Coach said you played out of character for 35minutes. You had the president sitting on the baseline. If you threw a bad pass, you probably could hit him. How much was that and just the whole NCAA Tournament‑‑ how much was all that part of that being out of character maybe? GEORGE FANT: Like you said, the president was in the house. Being in the tournament the first time with all of our freshmen, it was just a hard adjustment for us. Once we started getting used to it and just forgetting about everything and playing our game, then it looked up for us. Obviously we turned them over a few times and got a few big rebounds and blocks and just played hard, and it worked out for our advantage. Q. Derrick, how much are you looking forward to seeing your buddy Michael Kidd‑Gilchrist, and are you going to be talking in the days to come? DERRICK GORDON: We'll eventually say something to each other while we're on the court, because, I mean, I haven't seen him in person since I graduated. I was only able to talk to him on the phone and stuff. But at the end of the day we gotta handle our business. They're a great basketball program. They're No.1 seed. I mean, it's going to be real good to see them, but when the ball's thrown in the air, that's my enemy right there. Q. T.J. and maybe you guys can do it, too, just what do you think of President Obama was watching you all tonight and how it felt or if you noticed him and just it's not an everyday fan there? T.J. PRICE: Well, to me, it really wasn't no different from‑‑ I know he's the president and everything, but I was just really too focused. To me it was I know the president was in the house, but he was another fan watching the two basketball teams going and it had no effect on me. I wanted to play hard and play for my teammates and make sure we get a win. GEORGE FANT: It was a great feeling him being in the house. But just like T.J. said, once the ball was thrown up, that pretty much went out the window. We were here to win. That's what we did. DERRICK GORDON: I mean, for him to be in the house, it's a crazy feeling. That's the President of the United States coming to watch our game. But I really didn't look at him as much while the game was going on because we had to worry about taking care of our business. But we wanted to put on a show. I mean, things didn't work out our way in 35minutes, but it came out the W. I'm sure he liked what he saw. Q. Derrick, how did you stay focused after missing four free throws and the shot that could have taken the lead? How did you stay focused in the end? DERRICK GORDON: This is not my first time being in that situation. So, I mean, I can't get down on myself. I mean, this is the NCAA Tournament. It's either win or go home. So I couldn't dwell on that. I missed four free throws. That could have been a big changing moment in the game. But I wasn't really worrying about it. I kept fighting and I knew we would be keep fighting as a team we would come away with the victory. Q. George, have you thought at all about shooting over Anthony Davis? GEORGE FANT: No, I just am really ready to play. He's a great player. And I'm just going to try to be physical and play as hard as I can against him, see what happens. But as far as worrying about him blocking my shot it's not a big deal for me. You're not a good player if you don't get blocked sometimes. THE MODERATOR: Thank you. Questions for Coach. Q. Coach, you guys are known now for these comebacks, but can you afford to do that against a team like the No.1 team in the country? COACH HARPER: No, we need to get ahead on the opening tip. And the shot clock break, and we can hold the ball the rest of the game. We have it down, get down 13 with about seven minutes to go, and turn the engines on go play. But hopefully we won't get down that much Thursday evening. Q. Just some thoughts about the team that you inherited a few weeks ago. What did you see in these guys that you've been able to make such a dramatic turnaround in such a short period of time? COACH HARPER: Well, we talked about from day one to not worry about wins and losses. That will take care of itself. Let's worry about getting better each day. And anyone that‑‑ these guys, I think they said it as soon as you asked a question, we really went to work on the defensive end. If we practiced two hours, an hour and 15minutes of it spent on the defensive end, we must‑‑ we had to become a good defensive team. If you're going to win this time of year, you must be able to defend. And fortunately those guys bought in. They decided that this is how we're going to do it. And they've had plenty of chances to quit. They've had plenty of opportunities to say this is too hard, your practices are too hard, you're too tough on us, but they didn't. You could see them starting to believe. And there's been times where‑‑ when we took the timeout and we were down 13, I said, guys‑‑ trust me, I didn't say we're okay, but I did tell them: We're going to win this basketball game. And you could see the look in those kids' eyes; they believed it. They really believed they were going to come back and win. And I think anyone that's in that huddle knew we were going to make a run at them. Now, whether we're going to get over the hump, who knows. But I knew we were going to make a run at them. When I looked down the bench and O'Karo Akamune is like, Coach, give me one shot, that's how smart I am, oh, go get‑‑ I don't know who he took out, 18, and he's the guy who turned the game around. Q. You were down 16 with five minutes left. You really thought you could win? COACH HARPER: Absolutely. The final horn hadn't gone off. We're going to believe until the bitter end. And I think if you're a coach or you're a player that doesn't believe that, you're in the wrong profession. You need to find something else to do. Because if I don't believe that we have a chance, I'm not giving those kids my very best effort. And I'll go down with them fighting. Win or lose. Q. The game on Thursday, kind of two parts, what do you feel like the atmosphere will be like as far as how many fans you'll have versus Kentucky? And then second part, just what kind of‑‑ what does that mean for the state to kind of have that matchup? COACH HARPER: Well, I think it's great. I think we are‑‑ we pride ourselves on being the best basketball state in the country. We think‑‑ we always say the best basketball in the country is played in the state of Kentucky. And obviously it will be a great crowd. And it's two storied basketball programs playing against each other. We're happy to move along, have an opportunity to play again on Thursday evening. Q. You talk about your team's resiliency, but what is it about your team when they're down by that much late in the game? Does a light click on with them? Or what is it about them that they can come back like that? COACH HARPER: They don't quit. They still believe. We were in one of our presses, and everybody was in tune. Everybody was rotating at the right time. And, again, O'Karo was the guy. I thought he was the one that the light‑‑ that flipped it. And you could see everyone feeding off of his energy, and fortunate to make a play at the end to win the game. Q. Can you talk about the decision a little bit to switch up to a more full court press there in about the past five minutes of the game, and seemed like you got one steal and got flustered and kept snowballing at the end? COACH HARPER: We were out of options. We tried our zone press two or three times. I probably didn't have the right lineups in there. They threw over the top. We helped up when we should have protected the basket. They got a dunk. So we've been a better zone pressing team than the man‑to‑man lately. But we thought this is it. We've got to throw it here and see what happens. We knew we had to have O'Karo in the game to make it work. And guys did a good job. We did a good job of keeping the ball out of 25's hands, and when he did get it, really doing a good job of trapping him. I think we got a couple of turnovers on him late as well. Q. You guys rebounded really well tonight. How much of that is a part of your normal modus operandi? COACH HARPER: That's been something that we really pride ourselves on, that we talk about. There's only two things we write on the board before every game, and it's defense and rebounding. And this time of year it's how you win in advance. We turned the basketball over way too much to be able to advance and be playing. We said one of the keys, handle their pressure and our transition defense. And we were terrible in both of those areas. But thank goodness we were pretty good on the glass and we did an okay job with our half court defense. We must be much better taking care of the basketball in about 48hours. Q. Obviously everybody knows that a 16 has never beaten a No.1. Will you challenge your team with that or will you not just deal with that at all? COACH HARPER: Guys, for right now, we've talked about briefly in the hallway of how good Kentucky is, and of course we've seen them on television. They may have the top two picks in the draft. Everyone's picking them to cut down the nets in New Orleans. So, hey, we're going to roll in there, see what happens. We're playing the best basketball team in the country. And I'm just happy that our kids are going to have that opportunity. Q. You guys are a No.16 seed. And it's really fortunate for you all to have two locations that are so close to Bowling Green. Can you speak on just how fortunate you guys are to be able to play so close to home? COACH HARPER: I'm just happy that our fans are able to watch us play. I think it's important that the last time we were in Portland, Oregon, and it's tough for the fans to get there. But I think it's great for us. We were excited about tonight. And I think you saw a lot of red in the arena this evening. And I think you'll see a lot of red in the arena at the Yum Center on Thursday. Q. You mentioned Western's got tradition. It's used to going to the tournament and doing things in the tournament. But what does it mean for the program for this group of guys to do this right now and for them being young, just to have this experience? COACH HARPER: I think it's huge. It's invaluable. Haven't really talked about it publicly. But in the confines of the coaches and some mentors, I've really discussed how much this may mean to these young men in the future. Because anyone that watched us play could tell we were out of character. That's not the basketball team that we've been. I think they got caught up in the moment. The first time in the NCAA Tournament. Hopefully they'll have this opportunity again. We've got something to build on. And I've been a part of some really good things. Some things are really special. And one of the most important things I thought was you had to have those guys returning to explain to those new guys how hard you have to work on those days when I'm really pushing them in practice; that they see the light at the end of the tunnel. Next year Derrick Gordon, George Fant, and those guys can tell these guys: We need to go harder because we're playing for something come March. So I think it could be invaluable to us in the future. Q. Just to comment maybe a little on what do you think this game coming up will be like for Vinny Zollo, who for a long time was kind of known as a guy who used to be committed to Kentucky and kind of maybe changing his identity now for you guys and contributing for you guys? COACH HARPER: I don't know. I'm sure he's a Kentucky kid for‑‑ all of our guys are going to be excited, just because we're moving on and continuing to play in the NCAA Tournament. What we don't want to get caught up in is the hype of the one‑on‑one matchups or Vinny, this guy. But anytime you've got a kid from Kentucky, you've got Western Kentucky University versus Kentucky, it's going to be a big night for them. Q. I asked the players the other day maybe this game might be a benefit getting the jitters out of the way. Do you think given how the team started off this game that that might be even more true given they seemed a little nervous or tentative at the beginning of the game? COACH HARPER: I'm glad it's out of the way and we won, because, like I said, we need to play flawless basketball Thursday night. That means about 28 less turnovers than we had tonight. Rebounded just like we rebounded it tonight. Defend better. Shoot it much better than we did and not miss any free throws. So, yes, I'm glad we were able to get this one out of the way. THE MODERATOR: Thank you, Coach. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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