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NCAA MEN'S 2ND & 3RD ROUNDS: AUSTINMarch 23, 2013Julian GambleKenny KadjiJim LarranagaTrey McKinney JonesAUSTIN, TEXAS THE MODERATOR: We'll get started with the Miami student‑athletes. Open it up for questions. Q. Guys, when you're practice was interrupted today, what were you thinking? TREY MCKINNEY JONES: We didn't really know whether to leave or not. Until one of the security guards told us we had to evacuate the building. But then we made the most out of it. Julian was out there rapping, we were just having fun. Being brothers like we really are. JULIAN GAMBLE: It's an unexpected in any event, but you have to know that you always have adversity, whether it be now have the court and you have to be able to handle that. So I think it's a little bump in the road for us. And just being able to make the most of it and have fun outside with your teammates, like we always do. KENNY KADJI: Whatever they both said. (Laughter.) Q. Considering how the so‑called experts had you in the middle of the pack in the ACC in the pre‑season, you go on to win the out right conference title, to be one game away from the Sweet 16, which would be the first appearance for Miami in more than 10 years, in the Sweet 16, what does that mean to this program? KENNY KADJI: It means a lot. But we know that it's just another game. We have to play against Illinois and they're a pretty good team. We don't want to look ahead of them. Making it to the Sweet 16 would be great but we got a battle in front of us and everyone will be ready for tomorrow first. JULIAN GAMBLE: We try not to think about the past too much. We have to worry about the present and take care of the things we can control. Because we know there are very little things in the grand scheme of things that we can control. So just going out there and just playing the game, not getting caught up in the hype and playing to the best of our ability and giving Illinois our best punch. TREY MCKINNEY JONES: We're a really confident team. We understand how deep we are. All the players and coaches have a lot of confidence in each other. I feel like that really helps us. Q. Illinois, what do you see from them? What makes them dangerous? JULIAN GAMBLE: They're a very good 3‑point shooting team. That's one of their strengths. Along with that, they have a lot of experience. They have a lot of seniors and red shirt juniors and they have very good coach as well. They're very battle tested. Playing in a league like the Big‑10, they have been battle tested every night. So we don't expect for them to be intimidated at all. We know we have a target on our back and we know we have to play have to go out there and play our best basketball. Q. Trey, can you talk about Illinois' defense and what sort of schemes you're expecting from them? TREY MCKINNEY JONES: At the end of practice just now we worked on their little what was that? JULIAN GAMBLE: Zone. TREY MCKINNEY JONES: Zone, trap, out of the sideline out of bounds. And other than that, we pretty much just talked about them playing man‑to‑man and being ready for them to play zone as well. Q. For Julian and Kenny, I know your guards get a lot of headlines and they get the big stats, but you guys are very deep as far as big guys are concerned. How do you set the tone in the trenches to make things easier for your guards? JULIAN GAMBLE: First off, every headline and all the attention our guards are getting is well deserved. They're all very hard working guys. As for us to be able to really control the boards and just be physical with those guys and really try and help our guards get open. They get so much attention offensively and people try to attack them defensively, so also be able to just help them and kind of take the load off their shoulders a little bit. KENNY KADJI: I think we got a pretty big team. We have four big men and we want to control the paint all the time. We're worrying about foul trouble and things like that. We know that Reggie and Tonye is coming off the bench and we got guys who can come and play well. So we just want to control the paint and be enforcers down there. Our guards are going to do a bunch of the scoring and controlling the game and all we want to do is be physical and not let anybody come in the paint. Q. For everyone, you guys have a win over Michigan State already, given the hype surrounding the Big‑10 and you've already played a Big‑10 opponent, you know what that's about. What can you kind of take from that game into this one? TREY MCKINNEY JONES: I think what it really comes down to is us doing what we do best and that's locking down defensively. I feel like if we play the Miami defense and take away the 3‑point shot I think that we'll do great. JULIAN GAMBLE: I think that having played a team from the Big‑10 kind of gives you a little bit of experience, but league‑wide they're just very tough. Teams that are going to rebound and really test you defensively. Illinois' a team that forces lot of turnovers, but they also foul a lot and in these games you never know what's going to happen. So you have to really be strong with the ball and not be able to turn the ball over and really handle their pressure. KENNY KADJI: The Big‑10 is a big conference, a physical conference and we know that. We won against Michigan State this year, but we lost to Minnesota last year by like 20. So we know that we have to come and be physical, played hard down in the paint and expect to win too. Q. Julian, you're a rapper and Kenny, you're a dancer, Trey's kind of quiet over here. How would you describe Trey? JULIAN GAMBLE: Trey is the cerebral assassin. He's the Swiss army knife. Anything you ask of him he can do. And Trey can rap a little bit too. People don't know that though. But I live with him, so that's confidential. KENNY KADJI: Trey does everything. Everything you ask for he gets on the court and does it. I think that he's the same off the court. You can ask him anything and he'll come and surprise you and do whatever you want him to do. JULIAN GAMBLE: Kenny is also not much of a dancer. KENNY KADJI: Yes I am. JULIAN GAMBLE: I'm a dancer, Zinger, rapper, anything you need, I got you. KENNY KADJI: They have videos of me dancing, so. Q. I was going to ask you if any of you guys‑‑ did you guys get to watch the Illinois game and what did you think when you watched the flows and weird ebbs of that game? KENNY KADJI: A lot of scoring drought. They went on a run, and then for a couple minutes they couldn't score and then they went on a run. So you never know. They shoot a lot of threes, I think they shot 31 threes yesterday. So you can't be surprised. They shoot the ball sometimes, they won't make any, sometimes they make everything. So you got to be just keep playing your defense and try to stop them. Q. For each of you, could you talk about when Coach Larranaga came in what his approach was, what he's done to kind of get this thing turned around so quickly with you guys. KENNY KADJI: I was very surprised. For a guy his age, he's so energized. He came in and I think the first day we had individuals work out, strength and conditioning coach and then we went and ran a mile the same day. So we were exhausted. He knew that we had a pretty good team and we could do some great things and he came and gave us a plan and he told us what to do to execute it. And that's what we did. JULIAN GAMBLE: I think it was just a beginning it was a culture change. That's something that he wanted to focus on, just changing the culture and what people thought about Miami basketball. So really just getting back to the fundamentals of the game and throughout the game having that toughness about us, toughness that teams really remember us for. And then down the stretch it's been being very poised and I think it's just kind of stuck so much better because we have so many veterans and it's a lot easier for us to buy into what he's saying, because we just want to win. TREY MCKINNEY JONES: He wouldn't have left a good George Mason team if he didn't have, didn't think we had a lot of potential. And when he came in, he knew how to relate to us on and off the court. And I feel like that's why we have been so successful. Q. Seems pretty clear you guys aren't just teammates you're also friends. Talk about how that's important and how that's helped you support each other during this run. TREY MCKINNEY JONES: You hear it so often that teams are a tight knit family, but I can honestly say that Julian's my roommate, I knew about Kenny before I even got here. So we are really all like brothers and we have fun on and off the court and when we're having fun on the court, I think that's when we're really tough to beat. JULIAN GAMBLE: I think it just kind of speaks to the bond that you have and how that off the court bond really translates to on the court. If you think about how much we really have each other's back and even when a guy makes a mistake to really be there and pick him up or all just cheering for each other the same way. We want to, we want each other to be equally successful and it all comes from team success. So I think that on the court and off the court bond that we share really helps us out and it shows how much we love to be around each others. Not only the players, but the coaching staff as well, that we love each other very much? KENNY KADJI: And I also think that we can relate to each other. There's a lot of five year, six year seniors on this team. Guys who have been through a lot. I played Trey when I was at Florida, I mean I knew Durand Scott, knew a couple guys on the team and I just think that we have been through so much that we could relate to each other. We knew what we had to do to be successful and we wanted to win. Q. For Trey and for Julian, I know you guys are focused on the next game, but the whole country seems to have discovered another one of the schools in your state in the last 24 hours in Florida Gulf Coast. I know that you guys were familiar with them long before any of us were, what can you tell us about those guys and were you surprised to see the upset yesterday? TREY MCKINNEY JONES: I wasn't surprised, just because of how they put it on us early in the season. They're a great team and as you saw yesterday they're very confident. They weren't ready to back down at all. And they put the pedal to the metal and they didn't stop. JULIAN GAMBLE: They're a little bit similar to us in that they play with a chip on their shoulder even when we played them at their police they played with a chip on their shoulder. Actually one of their players on the team, Eric McKnight, I grew up with in North Carolina as well, so I kind of know the type of person that he is and the struggles that he's gone through to be able to get to that moment. So I wasn't surprised at all. They just went out there and played basketball. It just goes to show in these tournaments you have to come in and play and seeding doesn't matter and you can't go into these games and take any of these teams for granted. KENNY KADJI: I just know that everybody on our team picked them to win that game. We knew how Florida Gulf Coast was and they're a pretty good team and the way they played against us at their place was unbelievable. Everybody was saying we didn't have Durand Scott back, I knew that that was not a fluke and they were a pretty good team. So, you know, just good job to them. I think that they will go far in this tournament. THE MODERATOR: Okay, gentlemen, we'll let you go. Thank you for your time. We'll take questions for coach after his opening statement. COACH LARRANAGA: Well we have had a lot of firsts this year and today we had another first. We arrived here for our practice time and the fire alarm went off and we had to be escorted out of the building for about 20 minutes to a half hour. But the neat part about our Miami players is they kept everything in stride and had a good time outside, just hanging out with each other and talking and getting ready. Kind of following the ticker to see who was playing and who was playing well and who was winning. But we had a very good practice and getting ready to play a very fine Illinois team that shoots a ton of threes. THE MODERATOR: Take questions for coach. Q. You just mentioned that they shoot a lot of threes. How does this affect your big guys having to close out? There are going to be times when they're not going to be able to pack it into the lane, they're going to have to do a little bit more than just play rebound defense? COACH LARRANAGA: Yeah, I think it's very challenging any time you play a team like Illinois that shoots a lot of threes. It puts a lot of pressure on your defense. You have got to be aware of who the 3‑point shooters are, whether you're a guard or a big guy, it takes a team effort to defend those kinds of shots. Our guards are very well aware of how good those players are for Illinois. And our big guys are very well aware of their big guys. So we feel like we'll be well prepared, we have got one more session tomorrow to review. Q. What do you take from Illinois when you watch a game like they had yesterday when they the weird ebbs and flows of the game they had? COACH LARRANAGA: Well I think the first thing is the confidence they show in their 3‑point shooting ability. Because it's very easy for a 3‑point shooter to get discourages if he misses a couple and quits shooting. But I believe their confidence kept them shooting the ball and eventually they went back and hit a number of key 3‑pointers. And I think that when you are committed to that style, it gives your players a lot of freedom and you've got to play great defense for the entire game, because at any time you let up, they could drain four or five threes in a row. Q. Can you talk about the chemistry and relationship that Larkin and Scott have really developed, where it was and how it's reached this point. COACH LARRANAGA: Well, the first thing is they're both point guards. Durand Scott, until Shane came, was really the starting point guard. And last year we played those two guys a lot together because we felt like they were a great combination, because one of the things that's a little bit rare is they both are very committed to playing great defense. They're both highly competitive at the defensive end of the floor, they both made the all ACC first team all defense and Durand Scott was defensive Player of the Year. I think that they have tremendous respect for each other because of the effort they put at the defensive end of the floor. But they're also very skilled offensive players.  They both can play the one, they both can play the two, they both handle the ball very well, they both drive very well, they both can shoot the three, and they're both big time free throw makers. So the combination of having Shane and Durand in the back court is a luxury that I think few coaches have. And we're very, very lucky to have both of them. Q. Obviously you have a senior group that's hooking forward to the opportunity that they have got right now, but you look at Illinois, that's not a team that looks like they're going to be intimidated of your number two seed considering the teams they beat in Gonzaga and Indiana previously. COACH LARRANAGA: Well I wouldn't think anybody's intimidated by anybody you play. You won your way into this tournament and you won a lot of games prior to the one you're going play tomorrow. So I would believe we both have mutual respect for each other and know that we know they have got a lot of very good players and we feel like we have got a lot of very good players and a good team as well. Q. Several of your players talked about how when you came in you made it clear that you weren't going to try to change the culture, but you also tried to assimilate yourself a little bit and get to know them each individually. Can you just talk about your approach when you came in, what you tried to do and basically how you've kind of gotten it turned around to what seems so quickly. COACH LARRANAGA: Well, we began the very first meeting, I told the players about a book I read many many years ago, called the Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. And how important it is to develop the right habits if you want to be successful. And if we develop those right habits as a basketball team, we would enjoy more success than they could possible imagine. And I wrote those seven habits on the board, explained to them what they meant, and how they should embrace it. And as we begin practice each year, we begin with an expression that's in the book, it's called, well the book is written by Doctor Stephen Covey, and the quote is, begin with the end in mind. And what we were telling our players is, before you can be truly successful, you got to dream it. You got to visualize it. You got see yourself being successful. You got to know what it takes. You got to know what sacrifices you have to make. But then every day in practice you got to live that dream. You got to prepare yourself knowing that, hey, tomorrow in order for to us play great, we got to prepare very well today. They embraced that philosophy and that attitude and we have been two years in the making. Q. In 2006 obviously you had that great tournament run with George Mason. John Groce at Ohio also became fairly known for taking a smaller program deep into the tournament. How much does that experience help now that you're at a bigger program? COACH LARRANAGA: Well, I think that experience, good or bad, is something you can look back on to help you make future decisions. So things that we did poorly, we try to avoid. Things that we did well in the past, we try to repeat. We try to explain to the players why we're doing this. And we do that through a series of stories. So we have told our Miami players a lot of stories about things we have done that worked, things that we did that didn't work so well, and why we avoid doing certain things and why we repeat certain things over and over again. So I think that experience is very important. Q. Illinois has a lot more fans in town than anyone else, quite a few more, it seems. And I've spoken to a lot of Minnesota fans who are all going to get behind Illinois as well. Is that a Big‑10 type thing? COACH LARRANAGA: Tell them I said thanks. I got a brother who lives in Minnesota, will that help? (Laughter.) Q. So the question is, does this have the feel maybe like a road game for you guys? Will you talk to the players about that at all and do you play any differently on the road? COACH LARRANAGA: Well, last week in the ACC tournament we played in Greensboro, North Carolina in the semi‑finals we played North Carolina State. And I don't know how many seats are in the Greensboro Coliseum, but it was a sea of red and like a pinch of orange. And then the next day we played at North Carolina. There was a sea of Carolina blue, and a pinch of orange. What I would say is the same thing I tell the players all the time, it's not who we play, it's not where we play, it's how we play. And whether we're at home or on the road, we got to play well. We'll have to play well tomorrow night if we want to move on. I think fans can be a tremendous help, but I think that the most important thing is we have had success on the road. We won those games in the ACC tournament. We're not going to be uncomfortable in any environment. Q. You mentioned earlier when you had the fire drill and the players went out and just how they reacted and they talked about that in the locker room as well, the close knit group that you have, the bond that they have, how much has that played into the success that they have had this season? COACH LARRANAGA: I think it's huge. We refer to it as chemistry, bonding, I think it's very important that you like your teammates. That you get along with them on and off the court. It makes it easier to get along with them on the court if you're good friends off the court. Because you trust each other. And trust is a major factor in being successful. I think these guys have developed that trust over a period of time and I also think it's great to have great leadership. We have that in our senior class and we also have that in a young man like Shane Larkin. Q. You talked about how your players reacted to the delay, how did you do? I know sometimes coaches get a little uptight the day before a game. How did you handle that break that you guys had? COACH LARRANAGA: Well, I told the players before the tournament began that I was going to have more fun than any other head coach and I wanted them to have more fun than any other team. Nothing was going to bother me. There would be no complaining, whatever happens, happens. We'll control the things we can control and not worry about the things we can't. So I looked at that as, okay, our guys are out there having a good time with each other, we'll get back to work as soon as we get cleared to go back into the arena. Q. Following up on an earlier question that you said, have you ever noticed a similar thing with the ACC teams and fans where they kind of back each other like the Big‑10 does? In previous tournaments? COACH LARRANAGA: Well, I think that all leagues have a tremendous loyalty to each other. And you like to see your league do well. It's about earning respect and we're very, very proud of being members of the Atlantic Coast Conference. We think we have got the best basketball league in the country and I'm sure there are a lot of other leagues, including the Big‑10 that think they have the best. So when we're watching an ACC team play against another outside opponent, we cheer for the ACC team as well. Q. I know you played Florida Gulf Coast early on, what were your thoughts about what they did last night? COACH LARRANAGA: Well, we played Florida Gulf Coast in November and after the game everybody was appalled that an Atlantic Coast Conference team would lose to a Florida Gulf Coast team. And first thing I told them is, hey, they played great, they had the largest crowd in school history, they have got a very good team, we didn't play that well that night. So watching them play yesterday was not a surprise to us, we know they're very, very capable. They're a team that flies under the radar screen because they're not on TV as much as other programs. But they got, they have a lot of good players. THE MODERATOR: Okay. Thank you, coach. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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