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NCAA MEN'S 2ND & 3RD ROUNDS: LEXINGTONMarch 20, 2013De'Mon BrooksNik CochranJake CohenJ.P. KuhlmanBob McKillopLEXINGTON, KENTUCKY THE MODERATOR: Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. We welcome Davidson student-athletes, De’Mon Brooks, Jake Cohen, Nik Cochran and JP Kuhlman. We'll open it up for questions. Q. This question is for the guards, Nik and JP. What do you know about these Marquette guards. It seems they're fairly quick and athletic, trying to get out and run. Do you guys know about them heading into tomorrow? JP KUHLMAN: They have a lot of great players and a great team. But all year long we've even been playing against great players and great teams. We'll keep doing what we're doing. NIK COCHRAN: Extremely quick. They play a lot of players. They're really deep. We've got to prepare for that, try and stop dribble penetration, yeah. Q. For De'Mon, if you just talk a little bit about just how this team is playing right now. Do you feel like y'all are playing the way you want to at this point to go far? DE'MON BROOKS: Yes, I feel like we're playing at our top level at a great time right now, just playing together and just staying focused. Everybody is clicking on all cylinders from the starters to our bench, so I feel like right now we're playing our best basketball at our best time. Q. For all four guys, can you describe your coach in one word, first word that pops into your mind, and have you ever heard him swear or curse? DE'MON BROOKS: I would say passion. JAKE COHEN: Intense. JP KUHLMAN: Just trust comes to mind. NIK COCHRAN: Definitely caring for me. Q. Have you ever heard him curse or swear? JAKE COHEN: I have. JP KUHLMAN: It's rare. JAKE COHEN: Happened more my freshman and sophomore year when we weren't quite as successful. Q. The Elite 8 run that the program went on, did that have an impact on how you viewed Davidson's program and did it have anything to do with the way that you saw it when you were recruited? JAKE COHEN: It did for me. To see Davidson on that national stage and be successful showed me that not only could Davidson provide me with a great academic situation but it could put me on a national stage in a place to do something where I could be really successful. So, when they were recruiting me, that was -- I think that was my junior year in high school, that was really nice to see them be able to do that and absolutely had an effect on the way I saw Davidson. Q. Anyone else? NIK COCHRAN: Yeah, definitely for me, too. That was right before we were coming in and see that on the national scale and a small school like this who might not get that attention normally like that, getting that sort of recognition and having that sort of success, definitely played a big part for me personally. Q. Jake, can you just talk about y'all were all together last year for the NCAA Tournament run and everybody is back, and just talk about that experience and is that something you feel like y'all can lean on this week? JAKE COHEN: We've been playing together, the four guys up here, for a long time now. I know one of the biggest assets of our team is that we all trust each other and that trust breeds confidence, I think so, as we're moving in. We're playing a really good team tomorrow. We're going to need stuff like that to help us, and when we have that kind bond that we do between my teammates, I think that can prove to be a game changer for us. Q. Jake, being in the SoCon when you compare the SoCon to Marquette and the Big East, obviously, Marquette has the kind of athlete across the board that maybe the SoCon team hasn't faced before. Is that something that you feel is -- how do you feel about that, that you guys haven't faced a team with the caliber of athlete like Marquette in a few months? JAKE COHEN: Well, I think -- that's what our non-conference schedule is for. We played really tough games earlier in the year and they prepared us for games like this. We knew we weren't going to win every game we played this year. So playing on the road at New Mexico, playing Duke in Charlotte, playing Gonzaga in Orlando, those are -- they're all top 3 seeds, I think. So playing those kind of teams, that's what prepares us for a game like tomorrow and you don't forget what it's like playing against those kind of guys. I think we'll be ready. Q. This is for De'Mon. Kind of following up on Roger's question, you were a local guy living in Charlotte. Did you find yourself getting wrapped up in the program's run in 2008? Did you pay closer attention to it because were you living so close to the school? DE'MON BROOKS: Yes. Like you said, I'm a pretty local guy. Seeing Davidson going on the '08 run shows how far the program, no matter how big or how small the conference and stuff is, as long as you come in and do the work and everything will pay off, and Davidson just showed me, just verified that with hard work and great teammates and discipline -- be able to trust the system, you can go anywhere you want. Q. Kind of a two-part question for Jake and JP. Being that the Big East tournament, the Atlantic 10 tournament, couple much coaches said if you want to see a well-coached team play, watch Davidson. What is it about Bob McKillop as a coach? How does he get his message across to you? JAKE COHEN: I think it's because he holds everyone accountable for every little thing he does and he gets us on the same page by leading by example. Every practice, every game, every team meeting, every film he's prepared at a hundred percent focused on the task at hand. And to see that time in and time out is what inspires us to try to do the same thing. JP KUHLMAN: Yeah, going off what Jake said, especially for us seniors, Clint Mann included, he's the fourth senior, coming in, you don't know what to expect. It's not like we run a whole lot of plays. The coach teaches how to play the game the right way, You know, helping each other on court and playing together. Every time in practice and games, you know, it shows. Q. Jake and De'Mon, can you talk specifically about Marquette, they've got some big guys in there. You guys are obviously skilled big guys as well. The importance of not getting in foul trouble of working together tomorrow in the post, the two of you. JAKE COHEN: We know it's going to be a battle tomorrow. Those guys are really big and really good. So De'Mon and I are going to have to work hard for 40 minutes to try to contain those guys. But we feel confident, like JP just said, that our defense is built around five guys, not around one or two. So Nik and JP can help us guarding the big guys just as much as me and De'Mon can. We're going to have to play together tomorrow, that's for sure. DE'MON BROOKS: Going off what Jake said, coming from the Big East, having the athletes and the talent in the Big East, me and Jake faced that countless times over and over. As long as we go in, do our job and it's going to take a team effort, but more than confident of the results if we go in there and do what we have to do. Q. Jake and JP, no disrespect at all to Davidson, but have you ever wondered or asked coach why he never left for a, quote, bigger job? JAKE COHEN: I've never asked him, probably because I didn't want to know the answer. I wanted him to stay. I just truly think he loves the place. I can't think of another situation where he would be able to live across the street from campus, be able to interact with fans after every game, truly know and be able to experience everything about the program the way he is. I don't know. I have never asked him, but for me, it looks like he's just the perfect fit for Davidson. JP KUHLMAN: Yeah, like what Jake said, Davidson loves Coach and I know Coach loves Davidson. He's such a big part of the community. I couldn't see him anywhere else. THE MODERATOR: This will be our last question here. Q. Even though y'all have been to the tournament and this program has been to the tournament many times, this is a different team from last year. At what point, how is this team transformed over last year and how has that made y'all confident of going a little bit deeper this year? NIK COCHRAN: I think coming back, we have everyone coming back from last year pretty much, so basically this year we've tried to build upon that and starting off with a tough early non-conference schedule and then building into the SoCon and getting on a bit of a win streak and building momentum from there, I think we're kind of peaking at the right time. Having all that experience, I think it's something we can lean back on and just build upon from last year. JAKE COHEN: There was a new experience for us coming and doing the media day from last year and all the bright lights and stuff like that. This year, we knew we had -- we knew what we had in front of us going in and it doesn't make our task of beating Marquette any easier, but it certainly helps knowing what to expect and that will help tomorrow as well. THE MODERATOR: Okay. Thank you, gentlemen, for being here with us today and in just a second we'll have Coach come up as well. Bob McKillop open for questions. Q. Coach, how important is the 3-point line going to be, not just for your team offensively but also defensively? Marquette is 312th in the nation from behind the arc but 17th in the nation from inside the arc. How important is it going to be to try and pack in that middle and try to force them to take 3s? COACH MCKILLOP: Buzz prides himself in paint touches and they've clearly got the people that can catch the ball in the paint. They've got the people who can penetrate the ball to the paint. So without a doubt, we're going to be relying upon team defense.  That's been the framework upon which we've structured all of our defensive schemes, group of five guys playing defense as one. So, off-the-ball defense as well as on-the-ball defense will be significant. Being in a stance on the ball is terrific, but you better be in your stance off the ball as well. Q. I asked your players to describe you in one word and here were the four words I got: Passion, intense, trust, and caring. COACH MCKILLOP: My wife would say the same thing. Q. Glad to hear that. Are you comfortable with that? Do you think that describes who are you as a person and a coach? COACH MCKILLOP: I think it describes the kind of approach I take towards these guys, towards our program, towards our college. It's a pretty good marriage. It's a darn good fit. It's a two-way street. And I think trust, commitment, and care, those are three words that are the framework upon which we have structured our program for the past 25 years. I think those things show their beautiful head quite frequently during the course of a season. Q. Bob, last week in New York the Archbishop Molloy High Cool coach, Jack Curran passed away. Can you tell us anything about any sort of relationship that you had with him or thoughts about him? COACH MCKILLOP: I was an 8th grader in 1962, and in those days the Catholic high school awarded five scholarships, and I went in there for a try out for a scholarship and I didn't get it. And Mr. Curran -- and to this day I still have called him Mr. Curran -- Mr. Curran ran told me, you're not good enough for a scholarship but you're good enough to play. We would love for you to come to Molloy. My brother was a sophomore at Molloy at the time. Jimmy Laranega got one of those scholarships, the Miami coach. Dick Zigler got one, Rory Goola got one, John Mathanet got one, and O'Neal got one. Those are the five guys that got them, and you knew it, you knew CYO back in those days. In my senior year, I was a Chaminade and we played against Malloy because we were in the City League at that time. On weekends I would go to Molloy with Kevin Joyce who was my closest friend, moved out to Long Island with me. We'd go and pick up games on Saturday and Sunday at Molloy. After about a month or so, Mr. Keren came up to me and said, where are you going to school next year? This is in late April. I said, well, probably going to go to Sienna. Did you get a scholarship? No, I plan to walk on. How would you like a scholarship? My eyes just flew out of my head, and within a day, I had a plane ticket and a scholarship offer at East Carolina University. Mr. Keren made one phone call and made that happen. To this day, before -- up until he passed away, I would speak to him once every month, once every two months, visit him anytime I had an opportunity to in New York. He was a very special coach and even a more special man. Q. Coach, your team, they played a very tough non-conference schedule. Got in the So Con, and they somewhat had a bit of a down year this year. Are you concerned at all that it's been awhile since this team has played against the elite athletes across the board that Marquette has? COACH MCKILLOP: We played against ourselves for quite a long period of time this year. The expectations that this team had upon its shoulders from the beginning of the season were extraordinary. This team never had those expectations last year. So that became another opponent for us, and as our winning streak continued, as our fight for the first seed continued, conference play, no matter how talented the conference is, conference play is difficult at any level and we faced the adversity of a winning streak and the pressure of that. We faced going into the conference tournament that is the top seed and the pressure of that repeating what we did last year and the pressure of that. We faced significant pressure. The emotional pressure that you're going to face tomorrow is significant as well. So, I think the emotional factor has been a big, big plus for us in terms of what we've achieved this year. Q. Coach, this year as a motivational tool, you're filling up the penny jar. Seemed like your players are surprised that you brought it out to the sideline in Asheville. Why did you decide to bring it out then and do you have one for tomorrow? COACH MCKILLOP: I believe we needed to always have an impetus at key moments, crucial moments, reminders. There are things I carry in my pocket on the bench that at their right time, at the appropriate time I'm ready to pull them out. I had the pennies in my back pocket for quite awhile. So it wasn't that I felt pressed to pull them out at any particular time, but having got that game, I felt it was very important that they saw little by little we got back into that game, and it was just lesson of the pennies all year long that brought us to victory against APP State. Q. Some of your players mentioned that one of the reasons they chose to go to Davidson was because the 2008 experience that you had in the Sweet 16 against Wisconsin. Did you bring that game up at any point in the last few days for perspective or motivation or anything? COACH MCKILLOP: No. Every team is different. At the beginning of the year I showed them a celebration in our arena in which Neal Diamond actually sang his Sweet Caroline song, which has kind of become a theme song of ours for ten years now. He performed it and dedicated it to Davidson and had a Davidson shirt on. I showed them that back in October as we started our season. That's about the only reference I've made to the 2007, 2008 year. Q. Bob, can you just kind of describe De'Mon's play of late? We talked about it in Asheville and how -- what the expectations and the preseason and kind of it weighed on him a little bit -- where is he now mentally as well as on the court? COACH MCKILLOP: De'Mon was Player of the Year last year, had people whispering in his ear and telling him how great he was or what he needed to accomplish and he needed to take that next step in his development. A lot of those people will measure that based upon statistics, and he would hear that well, geez, wasn't getting as many points as he did in his previous season, what's wrong? That can wear you down. And never once did he relent in his commitment to the team, never once did he try to do more than he was expected to do. Never once did he step outside of the role that was defined for him, but he was constantly fighting those demons. I guess the defining moment for him was when his mom was hospitalized and he still stayed with the focus throughout his mother's hospitalization and hearing all of these demons and he fought a great fight and, as a result, he's now achieving what he achieved last year and even a little bit more. I think he's weathered some very tough adverse situations and kind of shows you the maturity that he has. Q. Staying with your forwards Clint Mann, any update on him? COACH MCKILLOP: We'll practice today, and he's made progress in the last couple of days, but we're still uncertain about his availability for tomorrow. Q. What kind of personality has this team developed over the course of the season that maybe you didn't expect at the beginning? I guess it's one thing to return to the tournament, but have they developed more of an edge, have you kind of -- have they become a little bit meaner in some respects? COACH MCKILLOP: I think last year they were relieved to be in the tournament. I think this year they're excited to be in the tournament. There's a big difference between those two emotions. Last year they were relieved, because all year long they had the pressure of winning and 16-2 and first seed. I believe that they were on a mission from the beginning of this year and handled it very well despite the adversity of a 9-7 record back in early January and, as a result, there's excitement that hey, we've had a rhythm throughout the season. That must now become the rhythm of the post season. THE MODERATOR: Any further questions for Coach McKillop? Thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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