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NCAA MEN'S 2ND & 3RD ROUNDS: LOUISVILLEMarch 15, 2012Chris AllenFred HoibergRoyce WhiteLOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY Iowa State – 77 THE MODERATOR: We'd like to begin our press conference with Iowa State with Coach Hoiberg. Opening remarks about the game. COACH HOIBERG: Well, first of all, I just want to say how proud I am of our guys for the effort that they came out with tonight. I really thought that we set the tone in the first ten minutes and frankly put in the best ten minutes, I think, all year. The ball was really moving around. I thought a big key to that was getting the rebound, pushing the ball up, having great spacing and playing very unselfishly. When we do that, we're a pretty good team. They made a run on us. I was proud of how we controlled ourself. I thought in the second half, when they cut it to four, we did a great job of coming back out and stopping that run. That's something we had struggled with this year, especially with the Texas game the previous game. So really proud of the guys. This team all year long has been very resilient. Every time after we played a tough game, we have responded. We have bounced back. That shows you the character of these guys. When we have a painful loss, we find a way to regroup. We come back with great focus and great practices, and we come back with a great effort. Again, this is a huge win for our program. Especially against a team like Connecticut, a coach like Jim Calhoun, who I know I have so much respect for, and all of our players do as well. So it's a great win for our guys. THE MODERATOR: We'll begin with questions for the student‑athletes. Q. Royce, you lead your team in points, assists, rebounding, steals, blocks. You're the only player in college who does that. Is there any one thing that you take specific pride in. Please don't answer I'm just happy to help the team in whatever way I can. ROYCE WHITE: Well, I don't know. I say I take pride in the assist thing only because I am a team guy, and the assist is not only a reflection of how I play the game and my basketball philosophy but also my teammates believing in me to have the ball in my hands and them knocking down shots. So the assisting is the most team stat, and that's the one I take the most pride in. Q. Chris, coach talked about the comeback. There was a point where you think you all were up by six, and you got a rebound, a layup, and an and one. In a situation like that, can you feel the momentum turn with just one basket like that, or seem to? CHRIS ALLEN: Definitely. Scoring in clutch situations always boosts your team's momentum. That's what I felt like it did and helped us just get back on track. Something simple as a layup. Q. Royce, can you talk about that exchange you had with Drummond early on in the game? It looks like you got a poke in the eye, and then right after that, this team went on an unbelievable run. Can you talk about that exchange? ROYCE WHITE: We just had some friendly words about our basketball development and competitive, just regular talk. It was more so about what he was planning to do after the season and stuff like that. It wasn't really anything about the game at all. Q. Both players, where do you think this game was won? CHRIS ALLEN: I feel like just we wanted it more. I felt like we was doing everything we needed to and played hard. When I say wanted it more, I mean rebounds. We out‑rebounded them by almost 20. That's a great stat line. ROYCE WHITE: I would say that rebounds definitely a factor, but number one thing is that we stayed together and we pulled together, and we showed a true bond out there, more than we ever have this year. It takes that bond to win a big‑time game like that against a big‑time team. Q. Royce, on that first possession where you grabbed the rebound and took it and then finished with a dunk that first play, how do you think that set the tone for the game for you guys? ROYCE WHITE: I think it kind of set the tone for us as a team. It didn't set the tone for the whole game because they still came back and cut it to within 6 from 22. So it wasn't a big statement. But it set the tone for the first half, I think. That's why we were very successful in the first half. Q. Royce, you have this wonderful victory. And as a reward, you get to play the Number 1 overall seed. Have you had a chance to watch them at all this season? If so, your thoughts on that? ROYCE WHITE: You see them every night on ESPN. My thoughts are that they're a good team, very talented, obviously. They're the Number 1 team for a reason. They've got a great coach and a great rich basketball tradition in Kentucky basketball in general. We got our work cut out for us, and I'm sure Coach is going to come up with a great game plan like he did for tonight and like he's done all year. We're going to go back and watch some film and figure out their weaknesses and strengths like every team has. THE MODERATOR: Thanks, guys. Let's open the floor up to questions about tonight's game for Coach Hoiberg. Q. I was going to ask you, is it more fun to win as a player or a coach, but I don't know that I want to know about fun. Can you just compare intellectually or emotionally the experience of winning as a player than as a coach. COACH HOIBERG: I thought it was fun. You enjoy both. It's totally different. When you're playing, you go out there, you have control over it. As a coach, you try to do everything you can to put your players in a position where they can go out and be successful on the floor. You hope they go out and execute the game plan you put together. Playing, it's probably more fun. Coaching is definitely more stressful, I'll say that. I was a part of three of these NCAA Tournaments as a player, and I talk to our guys all year long to try to get here because of the experience and how fun it is. Our guys bought into that, and they really came together. The biggest thing I saw with our guys is once conference season rolled around, the focus just went to a completely new level. And they like playing with each other. Everybody accepted their roles, and that gave us an opportunity to get to this point. It's very gratifying when you see your guys go out and play like they did tonight. That's the biggest thing I'll take out of this game is how well they followed the game plan. The big thing, we talked about it. If we can control the glass, we're at our best if we can get the defensive rebound and get out in transition and run. I thought Royce did set the tone with that first place, getting the rebound and going down, hammering it. Our guys got excited, and we got out and really scored in transition in that first half. We got the tempo where we wanted it. Q. So same question that was asked of Royce. What are the keys against Kentucky? COACH HOIBERG: Oh, man, where do I start with that one? Look, they're the number one seed in this thing for a reason. They're so talented. The biggest thing we're going to have to try to do is slow them down a little bit. Just watching that game today, when they can get out and use their athleticism on the break, they're impossible to stop. When they can get out, those bigs run to the rim, that sucks in the defense and opens up threes for them. So the biggest thing we have to do is get back and force them to beat you with tough, contested shots. And same thing we talked about tonight is trying to control the glass. If you can do that, it gives you a chance. If not, it could get ugly. The big thing about this game, it's a home game for them. They had 12,000 at their 40‑minute shootaround the other day. It's unbelievable to see the following that they've had. I scouted games at Rupp Arena when I was working at the NBA, and it's an unbelievable atmosphere, and the following is something like I've never seen. Big thing for us, we've got to come out and get off to a good start. First five minutes will be very important. Try to give ourselves a chance. If we don't do that, like I said, it could be a long night. Q. Fred, you talked yesterday about how your games with Kansas and Kansas State and Missouri and so forth, how you thought that might help you. How much did you think it helped you tonight, and how much could that help you Saturday against Kentucky? COACH HOIBERG: I think the Big 12 is as competitive a league as there is in all of college basketball. For us to have to play games like that‑‑ especially down the stretch. Our last three games were at Kansas State, at Missouri, and Baylor at home. We felt like we really needed to win one for sure to solidify our berth. When we went out and won two, almost three, we almost knocked off Missouri on the road. It prepares you for this setting. It prepares for you everything we're going to be going up against, certainly for tonight and also for this game on Saturday. It's an awesome league. It's fun to coach against the great coaches that we have, and it sets you up for players. I look at a guy like Chris Babb, and every night he's guarding a guy like Rodney McGruder, all the great players, and then goes up against Jeremy Lamb, and he's played against those types of players. So it definitely prepares us for what we're going through right now. THE MODERATOR: Thank you, Coach. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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