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NCAA MEN'S 2ND & 3RD ROUNDS: PITTSBURGHMarch 14, 2012Maurice BoldenLarry EustachyAngelo JohnsonPITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA THE MODERATOR: Our first press conference today is with Southern Mississippi. Do you guys want to say anything to start off. MAURICE BOLDEN: We glad to be here. Very honored. It been a tough road. Me and Angelo, it's a very exciting moment. Hopefully everything will go well. ANGELO JOHNSON: Yeah, same thing like he said. I'm just excited to be here. Haven't been to the tournament in a long time, this school, this program. Wanted to be here and we got here. THE MODERATOR: We'll start taking questions now. Q. (Question about being the underdog.) ANGELO JOHNSON: Nobody gave us a chance all season. It's been like that all season. We're going to take one game at a time. We know Kansas is a good ballclub. We'll go out there and play hard. MAURICE BOLDEN: All through the season, everybody has been downing us, giving us a rough time. I think that made us stronger throughout the year. Q. When did you really realize that you had what it takes to get to this spot? MAURICE BOLDEN: Throughout the season we played pretty tough, had a couple tough games. At the end of the season we went 5‑5. It was kind of a scary moment. I wasn't sure. I didn't know how this thing worked. Coach kept telling me we would be in. I was really nervous about it. It came through, so I was pretty happy. ANGELO JOHNSON: I think I found out we was a good team when the great Alaska Shootout. Me being a leader of this team, I found out we had a talent level to take it to another level. Playing Murray State, that's when I thought we had a chance to make the tournament. Q. With everything your coach has been through since his last appearance in the NCAA tournament, what do you see this run mean to him? ANGELO JOHNSON: It's mean a lot to him. He's been there before. He's had a lot of coaching titles already. It's for us at this level for him now. I mean, coach has been successful at the Big 12. Really he's doing this for us now. He's excited for us. It's not for him. He tells us that every day. Q. What is it like playing for your coach? What kind of guy is he in practice? You mentioned you are here for him. What is he like every day? MAURICE BOLDEN: He's very determined. He wants the best for us. Like Angelo said, he's been here before during his past times and he understand what it takes to win, you know, and get to the next level. So he try to get us to understand, which is hard for kids now these days to understand, these coaches and what they've been through. Coach, he's a great guy on and off the court. But on the court he's very serious about his job. ANGELO JOHNSON: Coach is brutally honest with you. He's never going to lie to you. He's tough, he's hard on us because he loves us. He also made me a better player, also made me a better person. THE MODERATOR: You went on a great run in December, you didn't lose in that month. MAURICE BOLDEN: Yes, sir. THE MODERATOR: You knew you were capable of going on a run in the tournament? ANGELO JOHNSON: Yes, we had 11 game wins. That was the most in school history, so... Q. Angelo, you and LaShay have been through quite a bit personally. What has it been like in the locker room when you have been down, gone through those personal moments? How has your team reacted? ANGELO JOHNSON: University has been there for us. Southern Miss, we're all brothers. We all just got different ages. When something like that happens, everybody, they just gel together and everybody has our backs. Coach has always been there. Shay just losing his mother and all of that, I was there, because I lost my daughter this summer. Shay, everybody got a number, but you never know when it's going to be called. I'm just there for them mentally and physically. Mo, everybody helps everybody with this tragedy. It's not easy, but I think it's made us stronger. Q. You're a pretty physical team. Do you like playing teams that also play your style of play? ANGELO JOHNSON: We're exactly like Kansas State. We like playing physical. It's going to be a physical game Thursday. I think the tougher team is going to win. I know their coach is just as hard as our coach, so I know it's going to be a good game. Q. Angelo, your previous NCAA experience, can you talk about that? Does that make you wake up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat? ANGELO JOHNSON: I'm looking forward to this chance. I played Kansas State my first year, I lost. They just matched us on the glass. Michael Beasley, Bill Walker. It's going to be a different team. Our team wasn't as focused. Me and O.J. were freshmen. We had a lot of freshmen on that team. We got a lot of senior leadership this year. THE MODERATOR: Gentlemen, you'll be the first people played in this center. Have you seen the building yet, and how does iterate to the other facilities you played in. MAURICE BOLDEN: We kind of just got here and went straight to the locker room. As far as I know it's a hockey arena, it was pretty cold. Hopefully we can get our practice on the court and try to get better. ANGELO JOHNSON: It looks like a nice arena. The locker room was nice. I haven't really been on the floor yet. Looks like a nice arena, a nice city so far as I seen. THE MODERATOR: Gentlemen, thank you very much. Coach, welcome to Pittsburgh. Welcome back to the tournament, both for you and the team. COACH EUSTACHY: It's nice to be back. THE MODERATOR: Do you want to give a little opening statement here? COACH EUSTACHY: It's great to be here. I hope the story is about our team and not me. They deserve all the credit. They've been terrific. It's just nice. It's a good reward for a team that deserves it. THE MODERATOR: Questions for coach. Q. Nobody has really given y'all much of a chance this game. Has this team fed off the idea nobody expected anything out of y'all, even the start of the season? COACH EUSTACHY: You know, back to the start of the season, there was one magazine that picked us last. We have a lot of respect for Frank and his team and his players. I mean, I think the two teams kind of mirror each other in the way they play: hard and physical, take good shots. I'm sure our practices are similar. You know, I don't know where a lack of respect comes from if there is. But I think within the people that know, you know, there's a lot of respect. And I think they're looking for a really good game that hopefully comes down to the wire. I think it's going to come down to the tougher team's gonna win. Q. Obviously it's been a little bit over a decade since the last time you were in the NCAA tournament. A lot has changed and happened for you personally. Being here, has it given you the chance to reflect a little bit on everything you've gone through the last 10 years, the personal development that has happened for you? COACH EUSTACHY: You know, I did that a long time ago. After I was fired at Iowa State, I took a hard look at myself and realized I had to make some changes. I'm really proud of those changes. I've become better at everything I do: a dad, a son, a coach. So, you know, not really. 10 years is a long time. If it happened two years after that, maybe. But I've settled into a new way of life that is much more enjoyable than the old way. It's been a long haul here at Southern Miss, which I knew it would be. But I knew we could do this one day and stay with this one day. So our program has been slowly built, but built the right way with the right ethics and morals. I think our team's going to be really good next year. We've won 120‑something games in the last six years. It's not like this all of a sudden happened. It's been slowly and surely getting better and moving to this moment. Q. In light of what you just said, your entire story, were you apprehensive at all about your life and your story being put back in the spotlight on a stage this big 10 years later? COACH EUSTACHY: There's nobody that's got more scars on their fanny than me. I could do this blindfolded and backwards and every day. So I think my story's a neat story. I think it's a great story. I think it inspires people. So I welcome the opportunity to talk about it any moment, any chance I get. I think it's helped a lot of people. I think it's brought attention to a real problem. I opened up the paper today and you read about the issue of alcohol in our military. It's a real problem. But, again, I don't mind talking about it. If that's what we want to talk about, that's great. But, you know, I also have 11, 12 players in the locker room that are the reason why I'm sitting here. I understand why I'm sitting here. It's about the players. I've always said, I've never seen a jockey carry a horse across the finish line. It's about the horses, and we've got some good ones, and so does Frank. But to answer your question, you know, I'm proud of what's transpired the last 10 years. I'm proud of what I've addressed and what I've conquered, what I continue to conquer. So, no, not at all, not one bit. Q. With the news yesterday that Fab Melo of Syracuse is out for the tournament. How do you think that changes the east regional or the top part of the bracket at all? COACH EUSTACHY: As idiotic as this is going to sound, and I don't mean this in any way, shape or form, but I don't know who he is. I really don't. I don't know who he is. I know Coach Boeheim. When I had real issues, he was one of the first guys to come to my side. I know he's at the top of my list as far as integrity and how he goes about things and what kind of person he is. But I don't watch college basketball. I watch Law and Order. I love to watch the guy that catches the wild fish, goes everywhere. I love that one. But I get enough basketball in the gym. I don't mean that disrespectfully to the player. But I know that the guy in charge is all about integrity. We're just really kind of thinking about Kansas State right now. Q. Darnell Dodson is one of the horses you were referring to earlier, I assume. He's no stranger to Pittsburgh. I'm sure he's looking forward to playing here again. COACH EUSTACHY: Well, I remember Coach Dixon when I was a coach at Idaho, he was the assistant at Northern Arizona, I believe, if I've got it right. Believe me, I don't have it right much with my memory these days. But I know he originally signed here. Obviously Darnell's story is well‑documented. And he's had his issues. I've always said it's not if you fall in the gutter, it's whether you get up and try to do something about it. Darnell is a great example of that. He's addressed his issues. He's made amends for his mistakes. It's just too bad it's going to end too soon for him whenever it ends. He was only allowed to practice when the semester was over.  He's only been with us about eight weeks. He's quite a talent, really moving in the right direction more importantly as an individual. Q. What is your biggest concern in terms of Kansas State's personnel? I'd like to get your thoughts on what Angelo has been through. Played against Kansas State a few years ago, what he may mean to your program right now. COACH EUSTACHY: Well, my biggest concern is just the way Kansas State is coached and the way they play. I think Frank, I just love watching‑‑ I can just keep watching Kansas State all night because I think they play the right way. They play hard. They play physical. They do not take a play off. They take good shots. They try to go get it. When they don't, they get back. I think it's two similarities. What worries me most is the whole program, is the whole style of play. Like I say, I hope we're as tough as them because I think that's what it's going to come down to. And Angelo is my son. I mean, he bought into me. Angelo, when he left USC could have been gone to Kentucky and Baylor. Had faith in what I told him. We all know he lost his daughter too early, at the age of four this summer. I flew up there and spent a lot of time with him. He's the third son I've never had. We're extremely close and always will be close. You got to give that guy a ton of credit. You got to remember, on a drive‑by situation, he got shot the summer before. He's still got the bullet in his knee to prove it. So I've never been closer, admired a young man more than Angelo Johnson. Hopefully if I'm around long enough he'll be on my staff one day. Q. A best stretch of basketball for you during the season, when do you feel it was? Familiarity with K State, is that a factor tomorrow since you played them a couple years ago in Kansas City? COACH EUSTACHY: I'm big on one game doesn't affect the next. I'm very familiar with Kansas State now after watching their games when we got the draw. What was the other part of the question? Q. The best stretch of the season for you. COACH EUSTACHY: Really now. We're playing our best basketball now. We're just not scoring, you know. We're struggling to score. And also who we played has been an issue. You know, Marshall lost last night, but that makes sense. They had to go on the road, played four straight games, they were tired. But Marshall is a top‑50 team in the country and we lost to them twice out of our last three games, and that makes sense. We're really playing well, the way we want to play. If we could shoot it better, it would really help. Q. You mentioned your personal story, Angelo's personal story, Darnell's. LaShay went through his own personal struggles this year. What has that done having all these people in the program that have had struggles off the court? COACH EUSTACHY: Well, I've had some great teams. And this is the closest team I've ever had. And I don't know if it's because of the situations you just touched on or if it's just their high, high character, or both. But, you know, getting a team to get along on the court is called coaching. Getting a team to get along off the court is up to the players. And they go in groves to movies, out to eat. So they're a closely‑knit group of guys. Whenever I try to crack one of them, they surround that guy like, you know, they just seal him up. I mean, they got each other's back like I've never seen. It really is neat to see. Q. What are your thoughts about the seed lines that Conference USA got, Memphis, you, the teams in the NIT? COACH EUSTACHY: Our league, what I think has happened to our league, is that Memphis made such a mockery of it early on, you know, Final Four, probably should have won the national championship, that the teams below Memphis got no respect. They said, Oh, wait till John Calipari goes to Kentucky, he'll find out what it's really like. What has it been really like? It's the same thing in the SEC. So I don't think the teams below Memphis, because of the great talent of John, what he was able to put together, got the credit. And Josh is a terrific coach and is getting very good players. But they're not 1 or 2 in the country. So I think Memphis going backwards a little bit, if that makes sense, really put a light on the teams below them. Because we've always been there, we just haven't gotten the credit. So we're ninth seed, they're an eighth seed. I think St.Louis got a real tough draw. Obviously we did. But we're at least a two‑, three‑team bid every year. Our league is now breaking up, that's a different story. But it hasn't been intact as it is today, I mean a sixth‑place team is Marshall. Are you kidding me? Central Florida finished, they were six points from Syracuse. Our league is good. I've been in lot of them. PAC‑10, I grew up around. Big 12, I was in. I coached in the SEC. This league is strong basketball‑wise. Q. I wanted to ask about Neil Watson. Any philosophy you have? A big‑time scorer and leader of your ballclub. He comes off the bench. Talk about the philosophy you use with his play. COACH EUSTACHY: It's just been that way. I think Irving is a guy that could start for K State. Am I right? You guys know better. He comes off the bench. We tried starting him a couple times. I just think he feels more comfortable doing that. I think he plays better doing that. He's quite a surprise, to say the least. He was told when they made a coaching change at Toledo the new regime said, Here is a list of Division II schools, and that's your level. He said, No. He went to the junior college. The rest is history. He was runner‑up of the Bailey Howell award behind Moultrie from Mississippi State as a lottery pick. He's impacted our team as much as anybody as far as change. Great things come in small packages. He's terrific. When he struggles, we kind of struggle, if you notice that, in the game. We need him to come up very big tomorrow. Q. What has this experience of coming to the tournament been like for you as compared to the other time you've been here? COACH EUSTACHY: Well, they say when you start drinking you stop maturing. I had my first drink at 17. So basically at the old tournament I was a 17‑year‑old coming to tournaments. It's been quite a long time since I've had a drink. So I'm far more mature. I'd like to think I'm more humbled. It's hard to self analyze. Our players do it all the time, and they get it wrong. You're asking me about myself and I'm probably wrong. I'm much more appreciative, if that makes sense. Very grateful. Don't take it for granted. Look at it completely differently. To walk in there and see West Virginia sharing the same locker room, the one next to us, Bob Huggins is a great friend of mine. I used to take that for granted. I don't anymore. It's neat. This is a special, special deal ‑ unlike none other. It really isn't. Maybe the Super Bowl. But it's up there. This is a neat, neat, unbelievably well‑oiled machine when you talk about the NCAA tournament. So it's an honor to be here, and I didn't look at it that way. Q. What is your relationship with Darnell Dodson? Have you seen him grow as this season has gone by? COACH EUSTACHY: Yeah, we touched on that. He's really grown in a short period of time because he was not allowed to practice until the beginning of December, or second week in December. He's come leaps and bounds. If he had another year, it would be terrific. It's going to end too soon for him, like I said earlier. I'm as proud of him as anybody on our team. He's really bought in and made amends for his mistakes. I think there's a huge future for him in life, not just basketball. I'd like it if you keep asking questions because otherwise I have to go out there and coach, and the team will be upset because they like it when I'm not there (laughter). Thank you, folks. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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