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NCAA MEN'S REGIONALS SEMIFINALS & FINALS: ATLANTAMarch 22, 2012Quincy AcyScott DrewBrady HeslipPierre JacksonPerry JonesATLANTA, GEORGIA THE MODERATOR: We're joined by the Baylor student‑athletes. Q. This question is for Perry. Perry, it seems like you've had, as far as scoring, some ups and downs as far as the totals go. Can you tell me why. PERRY JONES: Sometimes my shot is not falling, and I shy away from keep shooting the ball if I feel like my shot ain't on in the game. Sometimes it's just my night, when I'm able to do anything I'm capable of doing. I mean, it doesn't bother me at all. If we're winning the game, I'm not bothered by it. I feel like I help my team in other ways. Q. What if the team is losing and your totals aren't there? PERRY JONES: The best thing I can do is try to get the ball to whoever's hot in the game. If my shot's not falling, I'd rather go 1 for 7 than 1 for 20‑something and then we lose. I just try to do something, just try to rebound, maybe get offensive rebounds, do whatever I can to help my team. Q. This is for Pierre. I understand you were at camp with Tu. He talked about it a little bit a few minutes ago. Just talk about him as a point guard. Why is he so tough to defend and that kind of thing. PIERRE JACKSON: Tu's a great player. He knows how to score, knows how to get the team involved. He's just‑‑ he's heartless. He goes out there and performs the best he can every game. That's why I think he's the best player on the team. Q. Were you at some kind of camp? PIERRE JACKSON: Yeah, the adidas Nations. I got a chance to play against him. Q. When was that? PIERRE JACKSON: It was the beginning of the summer. Q. Perry, you had a rough first couple of games there. How do you get past that? How do you turn the page? What did you do the last few days to put those games behind you? PERRY JONES: Just focus on the next game. Can't go back and start the game over. Can't redo the game. The best thing I do is move forward and just help our team break through for the next couple of games. Q. Brady, can you talk about those 3s you made against Colorado and kind of what confidence that gives you going into this game, and also how maybe it's a bit of liability because Xavier obviously knows you can make those shots. BRADY HESLIP: The 3s I only got because my teammates found me when I was open, they set great screens, and they allowed me to get the shots off. They make it easy for me. As Xavier, I know they labeled me as a shooter, most teams do, so I've just got to do a good job coming off screens and getting open. If they run me off the three‑point line, finding my teammate when's they're open if their attention's on me. Q. What kind of concerns do you have about Xavier? What challenges do you see with them coming into this game? QUINCY ACY: They got a great back court, and Kenny Frease, can't let him be going. He's had a couple of good games, wins, and he's playing well. We've just got to contain their guards, and we have to execute. Q. Quincy and Pierre, is Perry too unselfish? Do you want him to take control more of a game? QUINCY ACY: We want him to score more, but if we're winning, I think that's the most important thing. He contributes in so many ways, and he draws so much attention that it opens up things for everybody else. Since Perry's a great player down low, it opens up a lot of stuff for Brady and Pierre to operate and our other guards. So we would love for him to score more, but he's just‑‑ it doesn't happen like that all the time. We got other options. PIERRE JACKSON: I agree with Quincy. Being a great player like Perry is he knows how to contribute other than scoring. He got 11 rebounds in one of the games he didn't score. So that just shows how much Perry contributes other than scoring. Q. Quincy, you played in a big stadium like this two years ago. Will that help you coming in and maybe some of the other veterans? QUINCY ACY: Yeah. I don't think the court matters. It's just being here before, I guess I can tell the guys what to expect. I mean, they kind of know what to expect already. It's winner go home, and guys are going to come out with their "A" game. We have to match the other team's intensity and one up it really. Q. Perry, a lot of people have spoken about you since you got out of high school: This guy is going to be a great NBA player, great NBA player. Does that‑‑ is that a burden for you at all? Does that create pressure? PERRY JONES: It doesn't create pressure because I haven't been thinking about it. The last thing I've been thinking about is the NBA. I've just been trying to get my team to a National Championship. I know if‑‑ if they tell me, if I worry about the NBA, then everything will turn around, and it will just be worse. Just don't worry about it. Just need to focus on the games I'm playing right now. Q. You may have been asked this question already, but in general, what's your take on Xavier? Strengths, weaknesses, that kind of thing. QUINCY ACY: Like I said before, they have great guards. They have good role players also. Kenny Frease has been playing his behind off. So we have to contain our guards. We have to limit Kenny Frease's touches and transition also. They're very good in transition. So we have to do a good job of sticking to Coach's game plan, and it's the key to our offense and getting stops. Q. What's Quincy Miller's impact been for you guys? And with a young guy like that who's so impactful, has maturity ever been an issue? QUINCY ACY: Well, coming in he had a lot of hype. I mean, he's a freshman, and you've got to let him know it's not as easy as high school. He quickly realized that, and he's been working harder than any freshman I've ever seen. He's just‑‑ he's so important to our team, just in so many different ways. He's a 6'10" 3, and it's a matchup problem, either in the post, or if you put a big person on him, going out to the perimeter. He just provides so much for our team, and he's unselfish. He could easily get caught up in the hype and get to shooting a lot of shots and stuff. He's unselfish, and he sticks to what Coach has for us, and he listens to the upperclassmen. Q. This can be for Perry. Every team that starts the season would like to win a National Championship, but it's just not a realistic expectation for most teams. What I'm wondering from you guys is from the beginning of the season through now, is that definitely what you wanted to be your end goal? Are you guys playing for a National Championship? PERRY JONES: Yes, we are. We're playing for the National Championship even though we're not expected to even win one. We weren't expected to be here now. Baylor's been talked down upon, and we want to show everybody that we are a basketball team that's capable of winning the championship, capable of winning games. A lot of guys question our toughness, our toughness inside, our toughness outside, everything. We just want to show everybody we're a tough team, and we can play with the best. THE MODERATOR: Thank you, guys. Good luck tomorrow. We're joined by Baylor head coach Scott Drew. Coach, we'll have you start with an opening statement, and then we'll throw it out for questions. COACH DREW: I know our team is very excited to be here, as every team is. I know this time of year games usually come down to one or two possessions, and we've had outstanding leadership throughout the year, and they've done a tremendous job, and that's why we're able to have a chance at a Sweet 16, and hopefully that continues. Q. Coach, I understand that both your parents are battling cancer. I'm sorry to hear that. But I also heard your mom's going to be making her first trip to a game this year. Can you talk about that and how important it is for you. COACH DREW: We have a very close family, and normally my mom and dad make it to a game or two during the course of the year. This year they planned to make it to a lot more since my dad retired. Unfortunately, they weren't able to. My mom finished chemo, and she just finished radiation. So this is her first road trip, per se. They were going to take it easy and drive halfway and then come here. So it will be good to see her. Q. Just as a follow‑up, for you, how important is it to have your parents here for this game? COACH DREW: Oh, I think anytime you can have family and friends with you to celebrate big moments, I think that's exciting. I know with me, the great thing is not only are my parents here but then you get more words of wisdom, because my dad's still a coach. So I'm sure he'll be criticizing or critiquing practice today. Q. Coach, Perry mentioned that people have questioned your team's toughness throughout the season, which I didn't know. Is that warranted? Have you ever had a question about your team's toughness? COACH DREW: Well, I think I would just say statistically I like to look at the facts, and if you look‑‑ normally, when you judge toughness on your defensive rebounding, and rebounding‑wise we've been one of the top Big 12 teams pretty much all year long, we finished third in rebounding margin and top three in defensive field goal percentage, so I don't think the statistics would prove that we're not tough. But everybody's entitled to an opinion. Can't please everybody, as we know. So I'm sure someone said that at some point numerous times. Q. Coach, how realistic of a concern, in line with what you just said about rebounding, Perry's play last week and the front court's play? COACH DREW: I think that's the biggest strength of our team. What I mean by that is if people choose to take away the inside‑‑ and let's credit South Dakota State and let's credit Colorado for great interior defense, and I think they really helped out on our front line guys, which opened up the perimeter. If you're going to have a good team, you've got to have balance. Because of that, our guards had a big week. There's been other times where people have concentrated on the guards, and the front line has been able to put up big numbers. I think that's the strength of our team, as far as we have unselfish players. Perry Jones, last two games, for instance, wasn't making some shots that he normally does, but to his credit, a lot of times, because of the help side defense, he was making the hockey assist out which led to baskets. So statistically it doesn't show up, but at the end of the day, wins and losses are the most important thing. Without the front line play, we definitely don't get two wins. Q. Scott, with Perry, were there unrealistic expectations placed on him just because of the NBA hype, the potential that he has in the future there? COACH DREW: I think the NBA has it right, and what that is is they understand, when he's 25, that's going to be his best basketball, and they know how his potential‑‑ how exciting that's going to be. I don't think, because of that, though, everybody translated and assumed he would be scoring 25 points and 15 rebounds a game. Right now, young big guys are normally inconsistent, and I equate it to when Thomas Robinson was a sophomore at our place, he had two points, two rebounds, and four turnovers, I believe. As a junior, he's just more consistent. With Perry‑‑ I think every parent can relate to this. The younger your kids, the more inconsistent their behavior normally. When they're 22, 23, hopefully, they're a little more consistent than when they're 12 and 13. I think Perry is just somebody everybody knows, when he's 25, that's going to be his best basketball. Right now he's a good player and he does a lot of good things, but, again, he's young for his age, physically, mentally. To coach him, he couldn't ask for anything more, though. He is an unbelievable teammate. He only cares about winning. When he gets down is when he doesn't play well and the team loses.  If he doesn't play well and the team wins, he is the happiest guy in the locker room. That's just refreshing because that doesn't happen often nowadays. Q. Coach, do you consider this game sort of like a battle of contrasting styles? I mean, you have the guard play, but for Xavier, like that's their thing. Then, of course, you have great inside presence. Is that sort of how you're seeing that? COACH DREW: Actually, I see this game, a lot of similarities from the standpoint both teams like to get up and down, both teams are athletic. I think both teams have a more open offense, pick‑and‑roll offense. So I think fans are going to be in for a very exciting game. You have two teams that at the beginning of the year, I know people thought that both of us had chances for Final Fours, and I think both have had outstanding seasons. Q. The team has talked about kind of a meeting after the game with Iowa State prior to the Big 12. What was that about? Was it just to clear the air and understand the focus of what was coming up? COACH DREW: I think, as we conclude every part of our season, we talk about being nonconference and then conference and then Big 12 and then postseason. We say this is where we're at, this is what we need to do. I think from there the upperclassmen‑‑ normally, as we know, the important meetings take place when the coaches aren't in the locker room. We're blessed to have a great group of upperclassmen, and they've really done a great job of making sure that the players stay focused on the younger guys, on the task at hand, what's important, what messages need to be passed on, because they have a much better feel for each other than we do. Meaning like if someone's getting a little full of themselves or if they're not guarding like they need to do or have to do to win. So we're very fortunate to have great leadership. Q. Scott, is this the first game for both your mom and dad to attend this year? COACH DREW: Yes. Q. Just wanted to make sure of that. COACH DREW: Pressure's on them. Q. Coach, can you talk about you were in this kind of environment two years ago. Can this be a difficult situation for shooters? Just with no‑‑ the bigness, I guess, of the arena. COACH DREW: I think two years ago the only difference is there was a lot more green and gold than we'll see tomorrow. I think we've shot well in domes before. And every team that's here right now is here for a reason. I think everybody's going to play their best basketball. Q. Are you playing your best basketball right now? COACH DREW: I think we're executing better than we've executed all year long, and that means, from an assist‑to‑turnover standpoint, I think by now, hopefully, they know what plays we're running. Defensively, I think they've seen‑‑ pretty much every team you play for has different wrinkles, but there's only so many different offenses out there. I think, as we become more similar‑‑ or we played against more and more things. We're a younger team from the standpoint four out of five of our starters, this was their first NCAA experience, but I think we've gotten those jitters out in the first couple minutes of South Dakota State and played well since then. Q. Scott, do you feel like your guys see Xavier as one of those recognized basketball names because they've been in the tournament so much? COACH DREW: Most definitely. I think everyone across the nation recognizes Xavier and the excellence in which their program brings and has brought for years. So us playing them two years ago helped with that because at that point it was a one‑point game with under a minute to go, and it was two great teams fighting. Both teams had successful years. So our players that were part of that know just how good Xavier is. Q. Scott, Frease had the big game this last game, but does your defensive focus have to start on the guards? Or where do you begin that focus? COACH DREW: As every good team, you have balance, and Xavier has balance. Their back court does so many different things: score, defend, sets the tempo for their defensive end, but then they create shots for everybody else on the offensive end. So normally in March you don't last long or you don't even get to March if you don't have good guards. Xavier not only has good guards, but experienced guards, people that have done this for quite some time now. THE MODERATOR: Coach, thank you for your time. Good luck tomorrow. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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