|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
MOUNTAIN WEST CONFERENCE MEN'S TOURNAMENTMarch 13, 2014Bryce Dejean-JonesDave RiceRoscoe SmithLAS VEGAS, NEVADA UNLV – 71 THE MODERATOR: We're joined by UNLV. We'll ask coach to make a few opening remarks about tonight's game. COACH RICE: Well, I think the first thing is that Larry Shyatt has become one of my better friends in this league. He's become a mentor. As a team, as a staff, as a program, we knew what a difficult challenge it was going to be playing against Wyoming today. They lost one of the best players in the league in Larry Nance, Jr. Their last game against Colorado State was fantastic. Sobey and Adams picked up their games. They were already good players. We couldn't get Adams stopped in the first half. It speaks to the resiliency of our group. We all committed to each other on Monday that it was a new season. Certainly a lot of good things that happened for us this year. There was a lot of disappointment at various times. That's what March Madness, conference tournaments, are all about. Certainly we played without Roscoe Smith last week for the whole week, we played without Bryce on Saturday. You saw the lift both these guys gave us off the bench. It was a collaborative effort from the group. We tended to make things not as easy as they should have been at times. After the initial timeout we called, we battled and gave a great effort the rest of the game. Really proud of our group. We understand the challenge we're going to have tomorrow against a terrific San Diego State team. It's great to still be playing. I've always said that Friday night in the Mountain West Conference, it's an electric atmosphere. We're excited to be part of it. I'm really proud of these two guys and the other guys in our group. THE MODERATOR: We'll take questions for the student‑athletes. Q. Bryce, talk about what happened during that 14‑3 run in the second half. Did you feel the need at that point to make some plays? BRYCE DEJEAN‑JONES: I feel very good coming back today. We looked to have the guys ready for this upcoming game because we knew it was going to be a tough one. That stretch, we looked to stay together. We basically played together and kept getting stops. Things just started happening for us. Q. Roscoe, two games away, you're entering an elimination game. When it comes to tempo, getting back into the chemistry of what this team has had since you were away, what did you have to do mentally? ROSCOE SMITH: I definitely had to be mentally strong. My teammates throughout the two weeks that I was sitting out, they kept me confident. They continued to talk to me. They continued to encourage me. One thing about it, the games I did miss, I continued to watch the games, to stay in the loop of things as much as possible. Q. Khem Birch was noticeably hurt. Looks like Christian Wood will have a big responsibility tomorrow. How do you encourage him to take on that responsibility? ROSCOE SMITH: Just continue to talk to Chris. Defensive‑wise, Chris is an outstanding player. He have a lot of potential. He does a lot for our team. Playing against San Diego State, he's definitely going to be ready. I think Khem is going to be ready, as well. We a strong group. We extremely versatile. We have a lot of depth and a lot of numbers. Q. Can you talk about coming off the bench, what your mindset was as normal starters. ROSCOE SMITH: Coming off the bench, you know, I told Bryce when we come off, let's just be aggressive, lift the team up by any means. Whatever coach needed us to do, let's do it. I felt like we both brought that. Coach did an outstanding job. We had a 14‑3 run. Coach put in a great play. That was extremely effective, you know. We definitely just kept rolling after that. BRYCE DEJEAN‑JONES: I mean, like Roscoe said, we just looked to be aggressive. We try to do our best to keep the team lifted and create a spark. Coming off the bench today, that's what we looked to do. I think we did a great job of that. Guys just fed off of us and we just started getting rolling. Q. Bryce, having played San Diego State last week, what do you take away from that game, the first 37 minutes, versus the final three, that will benefit you tomorrow? BRYCE DEJEAN‑JONES: I think we did a great job until the last couple minutes of that game. I mean, we just have to basically be ready. They're a great team. We know that. I mean, that's basically all it's going to take. We just have to be ready and stay together. I think we'll do a great job of that. Q. Bryce, talk about some of the problems you had offensively in the first half against changing zone defenses that Wyoming threw at you. BRYCE DEJEAN‑JONES: I mean, it was kind of something new that we hadn't really seen before. I mean, coach put in a new set for us we started using, and it became efficient. Helped us move the ball, find open spots on the court. We just started executing after that. Q. You were ticked off the last time you lost to San Diego State. Looking forward to having another shot? BRYCE DEJEAN‑JONES: Absolutely. Losing never goes well with myself, nor does it with the team. We understand we have a tough challenge coming up tomorrow, but we're ready for it. Q. Roscoe, did you notice Khem Birch's injury and notice him hobbling? ROSCOE SMITH: Khem, he's a warrior, a big warrior on our team. When we seen him hobbling, you know, it definitely hurt us because we definitely don't want to see none of our guys hurt. He definitely battled for us. He did as much as he can. THE MODERATOR: We'll continue with questions for coach. Q. Talk about Khem Birch's injury, some of the challenges it might present for you. COACH RICE: It's a huge challenge if we can't have Khem in our lineup. When you think about the last two games, 15 points and 22 rebounds at Nevada‑Reno, and 9 rebounds tonight. He was a game‑time decision. He was cleared last night to play. It was sore this morning. But he's a warrior. Until told differently, I anticipate he'll be able to play. Biggest thing it's hard to take him out because it stiffens up. Then the problem is he had a couple fouls, I didn't have a choice. I thought our training staff did a good job of keeping him loose. I found a way to play him 34 minutes. That's not out very much. I'm proud of our group for answering their initial surge. They started the game in a triangle‑and‑two. Sometimes that's hard. They guarded Kevin Olekaibe and they guarded Deville Smith and they left Jelan Kendrick wide open and they left Bryce Dejean‑Jones wide open to start the game. Sometimes it's hard when you're that open. We wanted to continue to play inside out. The couple timeouts I called in the first half were as much about ball movement as defensive intensity. I thought our guys responded. I thought the 14‑3 run in the second half was huge for us in terms of our resiliency. There was a period of time in the first half that our guys were pretty down. I thought our older guys, particularly Roscoe, picked the guys up. I thought it was a collaborative effort today to get a win. We haven't even thought about San Diego State. That's the respect we have for Larry Shyatt and Wyoming. Last time they came in it was 48‑46. We fortunately got a stop at the end. We knew how difficult it was going to be because of how tough and resilient they are. Q. If one thing stands out, San Diego State probably finished better than you. What do you have to do this time to get over the hump? COACH RICE: We need to get to the free‑throw line more than we did down in SanDiego. There was a huge free throw disparity in terms of the number of free throws attempted in SanDiego. They're so aggressive, attacking the basket, getting to the offensive boards. I think they're the best offensive rebounding team in the country. The key for us all season long has been defensive rebounding. Not only does it prevent second and third opportunities, but it gets our transition game going and at times this year we certainly have struggled to shoot the ball. We need those easy baskets, those transition baskets. It makes such a difference for us. I thought the few transition baskets we got tonight were key in the game in helping break the game open. We went to a little weave to open up the floor and allowed Deville Smith and Bryce Dejean‑Jones, in particular, and even Jelan Kendrick an opportunity to make plays off the dribble and space the floor, then spot Kevin Olekaibe up. I thought our big guys did a good job in the weave in ball screening. We got a couple easy baskets and put‑backs. You see the energy that Roscoe Smith brings that we didn't have last week for the two games when he was out with a concussion. I mean, 18 points and 13 rebounds coming off the bench. He was that way in practice the last two days. I had no doubt Roscoe would play well today. Q. In this event, you are always perceived as the enemy to all the other schools. COACH RICE: We are (smiling)? Q. A little bit. Tomorrow night you'll get the underdog role, have all the other schools cheering for you. Is that a role you're relishing right now? COACH RICE: I just think we're happy to still be playing. Again, it's a situation where we have a group that is proud of a lot of things we've accomplished this year and is disappointed with some of the things we didn't. So going into this week, we knew that it was a new season for us. We wanted to use all the good things that happened for us this year but all the adversity to try to band us together, just continue to play hard. We talked about that a lot on Monday. We're excited to still be playing. Again, we understand the challenge. San Diego State is a terrific team. They offensive rebound the ball, they share the ball, Player of the Year in the conference, two fifth‑year seniors that comprise the leadership of their team in Josh Davis and Xavier Thames. I think we relish still playing 'cause our guys love to play basketball. We knew there was a chance we wouldn't get to keep playing because of Wyoming because they stood in the way. When Adams gets going like he did, made it an even tougher challenge. Q. Bringing Roscoe and Bryce off the bench, they brought you 40 points, you outscored 40‑0 on the bench. That said, with the way they played coming off the bench today, do you see them coming off the bench again tomorrow? COACH RICE: Yeah, that's probably a misleading statistic that we outscored them 40‑0 coming off the bench, when they both played 32 minutes. You know, I haven't made that decision yet. Bryce will definitely be coming off the bench tomorrow. I don't know, I haven't made those decisions yet. As soon as we get back and meet as a staff we'll figure that out. I do promise you they'll both play a lot of minutes. I'm not trying to be smart when I say that. You just see the experience they bring to our team and the importance of having a deep bench. It was evident last week and again, just like Wyoming without playing Larry Nance Jr. they're not the same. We were playing without Roscoe Smith, then Roscoe and Bryce on Saturday. You like having your team at full strength. Hopefully Khem will be good to go tomorrow. We would love to be at full strength playing a fantastic team like San Diego State. Q. How are you and the staff going to get Carlos López excited for tomorrow? COACH RICE: Carlos is always excited to play. He has been important. He started in the last San Diego State game. He started in Nevada‑Reno. He's been a leader for us all season long. There's no doubt that Carlos would have liked to play more minutes than he played this season. He helped our team make the transition. No one has helped Christian more than Carlos López. He's encouraged and taught him and helped him. Carlos López thus far has been the epitome of what I want a Runnin' Rebel to be. He's going to be important tomorrow. He's going to have an opportunity tomorrow, if Khem does or doesn't play, but Carlos has stayed ready all season long and brings five years of experience with him. Q. Have you been told on his injury that it just can't get any worse so you can play him or can it get worse and you have to take him out? COACH RICE: There was an MRI. We did a precautionary MRI last night. It was negative. It's just a pain tolerance situation. It's easy for me to say it because I'm not the one with the hip flexor injury. He's in a great deal of pain, yet he hates to lose. Khem Birch is as good of a teammate as I've ever been around as a coach or assistant coach. He doesn't care about his own personal statistics, but he likes being the defensive Player of the Year because of what that represents to the team. In terms of individual statistics, he's a fantastic young man to coach. It will be a situation where I haven't talked to our medical staff since the game. I know he was in a lot of pain. Hard to win games. Would have been hard to win today without Khem Birch and what he brought us. THE MODERATOR: Thank you, coach. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
About ASAP Sports •
FastScripts Archive •
Recent Interviews •
Captioning •
Upcoming Events •
Contact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links |
|
ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297
|