|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
NCAA MEN'S 1ST ROUND: DAYTONMarch 19, 2014Peter JokFran McCafferyAdam WoodburyDAYTON, OHIO Tennessee – 78 THE MODERATOR: We're being joined by the head coach of Iowa, Fran McCaffery, student‑athletes Adam Woodbury and Peter Jok. Questions for the student‑athletes. Q. Adam, I'm sure you know what Coach is going through. What are you guys thinking as players, his players, trying to support him, as you're trying to win this big game? ADAM WOODBURY: We're a big family. And we were trying to rally around him, get the win for him and his family and came up just a little short tonight. Q. Adam, you were able to get a lot of points inside tonight. What was it you were able to do to get open and get the points that you got? ADAM WOODBURY: They got a great big man combo, tandem down there. And I was fortunate enough to get the shots to go early and kind of stayed through it the whole game. My teammates really looked for me. I was very fortunate in that sense. And I was able to put it in the hole a couple times. Peter, what was this like for you tonight to be in an NCAA Tournament game? You didn't seem to be afraid at all, how big was it to hit a couple of early shots and how much confidence did you get from that? PETER JOK: It was big. Devyn was sick all week. So my mindset was come in, try to help out on offense. And I felt comfortable in the beginning. So I just kept shooting. Q. For either player, just sort of ran out of gas there in overtime. Explain from your vantage point. PETER JOK: I‑‑ I‑‑ ADAM WOODBURY: I don't think we ran out of gas. I think we made some key mistakes down the stretch to hurt us. And they put the ball in the hoop. I felt we played hard throughout the whole game. Started out really good, rebounding on both ends. And they're a good team, very good, talented team, and just came up short tonight. Feel terrible for the seniors. Couldn't get them a win but we'll be ready next year. THE MODERATOR: We'll open up the floor for questions for Coach McCaffery. Q. How important was it to get off to a good start tonight after the last few games and get that energy going? COACH MCCAFFERY: Well, I thought it was important on both ends. I think when you think of good start, you think, well, we got a lead, and we did. But our defense was very much a part of our ability to get that lead. I thought our energy level, our rebounding, our transition, our execution, it was really good. Our execution was good all night. We only had six turnovers. Three of them were offensive fouls. So we gave ourselves a chance. But in the second half they got us on the glass, which is always your concern when you play this team, in particular, with how they rebound the ball. Q. Fran, what is this like for you? How was your focus during the game? COACH MCCAFFERY: Focus during the game was fine. It was a day that, needless to say, has been very difficult. You know, I got up at 5:00a.m. and we had Patrick at the hospital at 6:00. He's getting prepped for surgery on his neck to remove a tumor, and you're talking about potential malignancy and things of that nature and you're saying to yourself: Wow, it puts wins and losses in perspective. Once he came out of surgery and he was in good shape, I talked with the physician. He was great. We felt really good. I got on a plane, and at that point my job was to focus on the game and to be there in every way that I could be for my guys. So I don't think at any point in time‑‑ I think we were locked in with our play sets when we ran them, our defensive game plan was good. We were changing defenses. They're a hard team to guard, especially when they start making jumpers. Because now they've got you spread out a little bit more. McRae's a handful, but he's not the only one. And, of course, in the post they're as physical as strong a team as we've played. And that says a lot when you think of the league we play in. So I just want to say this: I want to congratulate Tennessee on a great season, a great game. And Cuonzo has exhibited an unbelievable amount of class. I know him‑‑ I don't know him that well, but the way he responded to my personal situation and then after the game to have the Tennessee players hug me and tell me that they're thinking about me, you know, most kids, they just want to run and jump on top of each other in the locker room. I was really impressed with those guys and the program that Cuonzo has built there. Q. Fran, maybe comment on Peter and Adam's play, in terms of your outstanding scorers tonight, and neither of them have been in that position much during the year. COACH MCCAFFERY: Starting with Peter, he's been coming. And I've wanted to give him a few more minutes as the season came down to the second part of the Big Ten season and obviously postseason play, and he's responded. When you go from playing a lot to not playing, there's two ways to go. You can keep working. You can lock in and get better and force me to play you or you can finger point and blame and go in the other direction. And he's a young man with great character. He worked, and he made me play him. And he kept producing. And obviously a key component of our program as we move forward. With regard to Adam Woodbury, he's been great all year long. To see him do it offensively tonight with that level of comfortability, his ability to finish and his ability to create angles and recognize when he didn't have angles and get rid of it, and to offensive rebound the way he did and post defend the way he did, I mean, here's a guy that I think we all recognize had a chance to be special when he came to Iowa, and we're seeing that now. Q. When does Patrick go home? Is he home? COACH MCCAFFERY: He's not home. He'll spend tonight in the hospital. He has a drain in his neck. We'll see how he gets through the night, see how he feels in the morning. And if there's not too much fluid build up and they can take the drain out, he will go home tomorrow. If there's still some issues with regard to pain and nausea and fluid buildup, he'll probably stay another night. But I would think either tomorrow afternoon or Friday morning he'll be heading home. Q. Any idea when you'll know the test results? COACH MCCAFFERY: We're hoping by Friday. But the schedule says Monday. By Monday for sure. But it might be Friday. THE MODERATOR: Fran, thank you. 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
|