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PACIFIC-12 CONFERENCE MEN'S TOURNAMENTMarch 13, 2013Tad BoyleSpencer DinwiddieXavier JohnsonLAS VEGAS, NEVADA Colorado – 74 THE MODERATOR: Coach, some opening remarks, please. COACH BOYLE: Just briefly, before I get these guys' comments. But sometimes in tournament basketball you've got to win ugly; and today, offensively, we didn't have our best game. I'm not sure I remember the last time we shot better from behind the arc than we did inside the arc. But shot 39% for the game and 43% from the field. And we made just enough free throws to put it away. Not our best performance offensively, but I told these guys in the locker room, our program is predicated on defensive rebounding and the reason it is, is for games like this. You've got to be able to grind them out. Whether it's early in March or early in November, and these guys have, for the most part, done that this year. Q. Craig Robinson was asked what he thought the difference was between the two games. And he said, did you not see André Roberson on the floor? Did you think that was the main difference? COACH BOYLE: André brings a lot to our team. There is no question about it. He was a little rusty today. But in terms of his defense and clogging up the lane and changing shots, André was terrific. It wasn't his best outing, but we're certainly a better team with him than we are without him. So I think he's got a lot of respect around the league, obviously, with being named Defensive Player of the Year and First Team All-Conference, so it's good to have him back. Q. You guys were in this spot last year and found a way to cut down the net at the Staples Center. Did you talk about following that same road map to Las Vegas? SPENCER DINWIDDIE: No, we didn't. We just listened to what Coach Boyle says. He says, win the next game. So that's really our only focus. Like he says in pregame, we came here with one goal in mind, and that was to beat OSU and survive and advance. So we did that little first step, and we're going to continue to just try to move forward. Our next opponent is Arizona, and they have our 100% focus. Q. I want to follow up. If that was the case last year, did you guys not talk about trying to win four games in a row, because I wasn't here last year? COACH BOYLE: Neither was Xavier, so... Q. So can you talk to that, Tad? COACH BOYLE: Yeah, Spencer answered it exactly right. We don't talk about winning four games in four days. It's not on our mind. Last year coming into the tournament, we had lost three out of four. We were kind of limping in, and we were looking for our 20th win against Utah. That was our focus. We got that one, and you move on. You can't come in with the big‑picture mentality. We said that before the game. We're saying it after the game. That's just our approach and our mentality. These guys have bought in. And guys like Spencer who were here last year understand the importance of every single game. Really, when it comes down to tournament play, every single possession. Q. Coach, were you relieved to see how this game went, especially considering the way it went the last time you played them, and did that maybe help your guys not understatement the kind of team Oregon State was? COACH BOYLE: Having them come into our building and beat us on Senior Day I think got these guys' attention. We've got respect for Oregon State. You put their record aside and you look at their players, they've got good players. They've got talented basketball players on that team. I don't know what's missing, but their record is not reflective of their talent, I can tell you that. They've got a lot of respect for Joe Burton, Eric Moreland, another double double against us. Roberto Nelson led the league in scoring. Ahmad Starks, we had 17 on us in the first half at their place. So we have respect for those guys. So to get this win against a talented team and be able to live for another day, have an opportunity to play Arizona, we're excited about that. Q. Xavier, last game against Oregon State you seemed a little bit frustrated and it kind of got you out of your game. Did you find yourself at a better comfort level today? XAVIER JOHNSON: I did, but that's something I'm going to have to work on myself, pretty much, my mental focus. Coach has helped me a lot with that, and I'm getting better. COACH BOYLE: He was much better today. Better. Q. Craig Robinson said they had to start fouling so early just because they were that far behind, and you guys were looking at about 3 minutes where you were going to be sent to the free throw line just about every trip. What did you guys discuss what it was like to close out the game from the line? Tad said you had just enough. SPENCER DINWIDDIE: Clearly, the game got kind of close so we did‑‑ hey, hey‑‑ the game got kind of close, so we didn't do as good a job as we could have. But like Coach said, we hit just enough and survived an advanced‑type basketball in this tournament. I mean, you just said it with the last question, Oregon State has some of the best talent in the league. Roberto Nelson is a very respected scorer around the league. And Moreland is another guy just like André. And Burton's probably the best passer out of everybody, and he's definitely the best passing big man. So they have a ton of talent. We just had to get by. Q. Spencer, can you take us through that shot at the end of the half, and what you thought that did for the game? SPENCER DINWIDDIE: I just think it gave us momentum going into halftime, because they had just scored, and we were only up by three. We had kind of given up a couple leads. There was a point we were up 23‑16, and then they came back. So that shot pretty much gave us momentum. The whole time it was just get open and get one off. I told everybody else‑‑ at the end of every pregame practice the whole team just kind of takes their shot at a half‑court shot. This time it was Jeremy Adams who hit it. But we kind of always shoot that type of shot at the end just kind of for fun. And that practice kind of paid off in a way this game. Q. Coach, I asked a couple of your players this, but I was curious your thoughts on this rivalry with Arizona, and how the game has played out, and it seemed there was a lot of emotion there last month in Boulder. What is your thought on that? COACH BOYLE: Absolutely. I think there is a lot of mutual respect between the programs, and I respect their coach and their coaching staff. I respect their players and their program, what it means to college basketball in the Pac‑12. I think what we did last year, and this year and these young men sitting here beside me, I think we've earned some respect as well. So I look for a heck of a game. They're talented. We're talented. Again, they're very solid defensively. When you prepare for Arizona in terms of ball screen defense and their philosophical approach to the game is much like ours, so that helps in preparation. And we've played them twice. They've played us twice, that helps. Familiarity helps, for sure. Q. Could you guys talk about the third meeting between the two and what issues Arizona presents to you guys? XAVIER JOHNSON: Pretty much they're a bigger team than us. We all know this. Talent‑wise, I think we match up pretty good with them. They have Solomon Hill, great player, but we have André Roberson who is just as good. So I don't see any problem with us handling them. Q. (No Microphone)? SPENCER DINWIDDIE: Yes, we do. We don't go back and we don't cry over spilled milk. We know it goes in the record book as a loss. But a lot of people around the country have the same feeling that we do. Even some of their players do because we kind of talked about it on the floor last time. So we do feel like we're 2‑0, but we don't take that for granted because they're a great and talented team, like X said. They have McDonald's All‑Americans. They have great senior leadership in Lyons and Hill, they've got first‑team all league type players and they can put the ball in the basket. So it's going to be a fight, and we have to come prepared. Q. I think Askia was 0 for 8 before he hit that three to give you a little separation. What gives you unwavering confidence to call plays for him in that position? COACH BOYLE: That was kind of a transition‑type play. I mentioned to our staff in the locker room, I said, he was 1 for 9, but the one he hit was a big time shot. I've got confidence with Askia because of his work ethic. I know he's in the gym. I see him shoot in practice. I know what he's capable of. As long as he's taking good shots, that's the biggest thing. I don't think anybody's more frustrated than Ski is with his shooting percentage. I thought Jeremy Adams tonight gave us great minutes in the first half. Made some shots. He's a lockdown‑type defender. I think I'd put him in there with Sab and Spencer and André. In terms of his understanding of our defensive concept. So Ski's going to be fine. We need him, we count on him. And one of these days he's going to break out of it. Q. I was going to ask you about Jeremy. How important is he going forward for you guys? Really seems like ever since he started getting ac acupuncture he hit his stride? COACH BOYLE: Really important. Jeremy's got a physical body. He's strong. He's an extra perimeter defender. He's got experience. He's a fourth‑year player now at the collegiate level. I'll be honest with you, I don't know much about Arizona because we played them so long ago. But from what Coach Prioleau has told me, they're playing more small now. I think they're starting Parrom and Solomon Hill at the 4. So if they go with a small lineup away from their bigs, Jeremy Adams is going to be critical for us. We've got to be able to match up with them. When they go big, we've got to be able to match up with them when they go small. We've got to keep André on Solomon Hill as much as we can. I'll mention Xavier Johnson, I think he's gotten much better since the last Arizona game defensively in terms of his mindset and what he expects. So everybody on deck, because Arizona is so talented, because they have so many weapons at different positions, everybody's got to be called upon to get stops. Q. Josh Scott had like eight rebounds in the first half. How big was that? COACH BOYLE: Big, really big. André got in foul trouble and he was a little rusty coming back. But we complimented Josh at halftime about his eight rebounds and he finished up with ten, but he was big. Josh, again, inside people know that he's looking to score when he gets in there. So the next advancement in his game has to be making the pass, making the extra pass because when he does get it in there, he got some big put backs for us. And we need Josh to play well, much like we need Ski to play well for us to be as good as we are capable of being. But I was proud of his rebounding effort tonight. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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