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NCAA MEN'S 2ND & 3RD ROUNDS: ST. LOUISMarch 22, 2014Johnny DawkinsJosh HuestisStefan NasticST. LOUIS, MISSOURI THE MODERATOR: Student‑athletes from the Stanford Cardinals are with us. Josh and Stefan. And they have a date at 11:15 tomorrow morning against Kansas. Q. Josh, you're playing one of sort of the glamour programs in college basketball historically. When you look at this game do you think you have to have one of those magical NCAA Tournament games to win, or do you think if you just play well you should be able to hang with them and beat them? JOSH HUESTIS: Like you said, Kansas is one of those perennial top teams every year in the entire country, so it's going to be a challenge. They're a really good team. But in terms of us having to have some miracle game, some NCAA Tournament magic moment, I don't believe that. I believe our team is talented enough that if we come out and just play to our potential that everything's going to work out for us. Q. Stef, I know Andrew Wiggins was several years behind you in Canada, but I am just wondering if you ever ran across him, what you knew about him from Canada. STEFAN NASTIC: Yeah, I knew Andrew since he was like grade 3. I play with his older brother, Nick, on our club team. So I know their entire family pretty well, from the same area. A great family. Definitely great players. Q. I know you're not going to be matched up against Andrew, but how would you describe him as a player? STEFAN NASTIC: High motor. A big‑time motor. Definitely talented and player with a great attitude. So you have to bring your best game whenever you play against someone like that. Q. Josh, can you just talk about Coach Dawkins a little bit and what it's like. You came in the first recruiting class, and just trying to get an idea how he coaches and just what kind of a coach he is. JOSH HUESTIS: Yeah, like you said, I was part of one of his original recruiting classes, the biggest one. And over the four years, you know, I have gotten to know Coach really well. And I really credit him in helping me with my development and with everybody on the team's development. He's a great guy. Very intense competitor. I mean, when you look at his highlight from back when he played you can see it. And he really carries that same kind of attitude towards coaching. And I think that's really helped us. It's helped us develop the same sort of attitude towards competition. And this fearless attitude we have every game we go into. So, you know, I love him. I mean, I love him as a coach, I love him as a person. And I've just been really blessed to be a part of his program for the past four years. Q. Josh, I actually watched you in Great Falls and going through the Montana state tournament. Obviously you were dominating that tournament. Now that you find yourself in another tournament, can you just describe the difference between the two in relation to where you were when you were in Montana and where you are now? JOSH HUESTIS: Well, yeah, it's a completely different world. I mean, Montana isn't exactly known for producing basketball talent. So like you said, when I was playing there it was a lot less talent and it was a lot easier to dominate over there. But when you get here you are playing against the best college players in the world, so it's a world's difference. And it's been an amazing four years and I have been able to develop and be able to compete at this level. So I've come a long ways. Q. Going along with that, your development from being a CMR Rustler to Stanford, what is the main difference I guess? JOSH HUESTIS: I mean, the biggest difference definitely was the fact that up until I got to Stanford I played center my entire life, so I never played anywhere on the perimeter. I was always a 5 going all the way up through senior in high school. So when I got here making that transition out on the perimeter, the long, frustrating process. But I definitely have taken a lot of steps forward. The 3 is mainly my position right now, so it's been a crazy ride. It's been a lot of hard work and I feel like I still have a lot of work to do and can get a lot better. Q. Guys, if you had to pick between‑‑this is for both of you guys, too‑‑experience or super talent, you guys seem to be the more experienced group compared to Kansas. Not saying that you are not talented, because you obviously are. But I am talking outrageous, top‑recruiting talent versus upperclassmen, which would you pick? STEFAN NASTIC: It's a pretty difficult question to answer. It depends on the team that you have. And in our case, we're an experienced team and I like our team. So in this case I would take experience. JOSH HUESTIS: And I'll just agree with Stefan on that. It's kind of a case‑by‑case basis in terms of this game. I am going with my team all the day because of the experience we have. We've been really up and down. We learned a lot of lessons throughout our time here and I think that will play to our favor. Q. How long does it take like when you develop? Before you are just like I get it, I am a much better player now than I was as a freshman and as a unit as well, when you guys sort of start to figure it out as juniors and seniors. JOSH HUESTIS: Again, a difficult question. I think it's, again, kind of on an individual basis. For me it was definitely once I hit junior year it kind of just kind of clicks. You start to get more comfortable in different situations. You're like, Oh, I have seen this exact situation before, I know how to handle it. And like I said before, the amount of different experiences we've had as a team, and we've been in so many different situations that it's prepared us for just about every one we can face. STEFAN NASTIC: I feel it is like an overtime thing. It is case by case. Everybody has their own race, difficult development stages. Let's say Josh maybe developed quicker than I did or another player, but everybody has their own rate of development. Q. Playing the 3 as you do, Josh, can you imagine there will be times in the game where you will defend Andrew Wiggins? When you watch him on tape what is it you need to do to slow him down a bit? JOSH HUESTIS: The way that we play, you have to be prepared to guard just about anybody on the floor at any given time. So yeah, there will definitely most likely be times that I am guarding him. So just from film and everything like that, I noticed he's a very good player, very athletic, high motor, like Stefan said. It is just going to be a matter of always being in a stance and being ready to defend him because he is a scorer and he is going to try to score every time he touches the ball. So you always have to be locked in. And it's a matter of just trying to match the energy that he comes with. Q. For both players. This Kansas team had 11 dunks yesterday. They regularly do alley‑oops, you know, all season. How do you try to counter that, a team with such range and such athleticism? I know you guys are long and tall and athletic yourselves, but this team has made a habit of it. JOSH HUESTIS: Yeah, like you said, they are very athletic. Just from watching film and watching them play through the season they are a team that likes to play above the rim. So it just comes down to us making defensive adjustments and realizing that that's something that they want to do. You know, they can get those things just off of defensive lapses that you may have. So it's a matter of us watching film and preparing for those types of things so we don't make the mistakes that could lead to plays like that. STEFAN NASTIC: Yeah, definitely agree with what Josh said. It is just us putting our best effort forward and playing our style of basketball and the type of basketball that we practice every day. Q. Stef, I think the other day you mentioned you don't have a lot of family coming to the games, but obviously Chasson has loads of people here from his family and friends. Can you talk a little bit about how he has been able to sort of channel his focus to the game and not be distracted by all of that, which can be difficult? STEFAN NASTIC: That definitely can be difficult for a lot of players, but Chasson is a guy who does it on a regular basis. He doesn't surprise us because he is always someone who brings a high level of focus every day. So family there, family's not there for him, he's going to bring the same level of intensity and focus each time he steps out on the court. Q. I apologize if this has been covered, but Chasson, I asked him about whether you guys ever play a 1‑3‑1. I know that frustrated Kansas a little bit yesterday and earlier in the year. And it's not part of the repertoire. Do you draw anything from seeing how they have struggled in different formations? JOSH HUESTIS: Absolutely. I mean, we watch‑‑us and our coaches watch so much film that we take into account what's frustrated the team we're about to play that other teams have done. So it's just a matter of us watching more of that and deciding which we can use to our benefit in tomorrow's game. So, you know, I'm not really sure what different defense we may throw at them. We have a variety of different ones, so it's just going to be kind of a game‑time decision. Q. You guys have probably been watching the tournament and how it's been going. Josh, the difference between a 2 and a 10 seed to you, is it as minimal as anybody can imagine right now? JOSH HUESTIS: Like you have seen, it is completely unpredictable out there. I have been keeping up with all of the games and you just read the reports of just how many perfect brackets there are left. I am pretty sure they are all done now, they are all gone. So you never know. Numbers you can't really rely on, it's just a matter of match‑ups, a lot of unpredictable things that can happen in games. It's a matter of in this tournament you have to ignore the number in front of your name and just got to be your guys against them on the court for 40 minutes. THE MODERATOR: Stef, your thoughts on the tournament so far from St. Louis, your viewing it. STEFAN NASTIC: It has been a great experience so far. Taking it one day at a time and just really grateful and fortunate to even have this opportunity for my teammates and coaches. Just enjoying every moment of it and looking forward to what the future brings. THE MODERATOR: Okay, gentlemen, thank you very much. Good luck tomorrow. And the head coach of Stanford is here, Johnny Dawkins. We're going to ask him to open up with a statement regarding tomorrow's game. John? COACH DAWKINS: We're excited for the match‑up. We're excited to still be playing. There are 32 teams remaining, and we're one of them. And we have an opportunity to play against a storied program with a great coach and it is an amazing opportunity. For our kids, we are looking forward and are preparing. Q. Johnny, you have obviously a lot of history behind you with games and so forth, this is your first term as a head coach. Describe the differences. You have been an assistant. COACH DAWKINS: The biggest difference is I'm not playing, you know. (Laughter.) I'm coaching, which is great. I've really enjoyed it. You can affect the games from the sidelines some. You don't have the same impact as you do a player out there. But fortunately, I have a great group of kids who are confident and believe in what we are doing. And they put us in position that we can compete with the teams that we have to face. Q. What about going from an assistant‑‑11 years as an assistant, 3 as a player. COACH DAWKINS: Eleven years as an assistant I think prepared me for this opportunity. Like I said earlier, I was very fortunate to work under CoachK. I think he taught me a great deal about what it takes to be successful in this profession. For me, it's a big difference moving over to this seat though. That 18 inches, people say, Well, you know, it's only 18 inches. Well, it's a lot longer than that when you have to go from making suggestions to making decisions. And you just don't realize the position requires just so many decisions, even during the course of a game, how many decisions you have to make as opposed when you're making those suggestions. So it's something you have to adjust to, you know, and it's something that I think you grow into as a coach. And I think I've grown into it over the years and fortunately I have a great staff and they have been terrific the entire time. Q. Coach, how does Wayne Selden kind of factor into your scouting report defensively as a guy who doesn't shoot it all the time but can be pretty dynamic and efficient offensively? COACH DAWKINS: He's a very good player, you know. We really respect him in who he is. He's made a lot of big shots. He is a capable shooter. He is a big‑time athlete. He makes a lot of plays. And he is one that, as with the rest of their players, that we have to be aware where they are and what they do. Q. Johnny, all your games at Duke in the NCAA Tournament as a player and a coach I'm guessing you were a 1 or 2 or 3 seed, but you probably played a lot of 10s. Can you talk about what those kinds of teams, the drive they come in with and if it helps you today understand what you guys might be able to do as a 10 seed against a 2? COACH DAWKINS: Well, for us, I haven't really thought about it, but for us we played a great schedule in the PAC‑12. Our conference was really, really challenging. We played a terrific nonconference schedule as well. So we're looking at that as good preparation for an opportunity like this. You know, we faced some very good teams and Kansas is another very good team that we're going to face. Q. Johnny, you're facing a guy who may be the top pick in the next NBA draft, Andrew Wiggins. How do you describe him as a player? Does he remind you of anybody you faced either in college or in the NBA?  And what's going to be the key to stopping him? COACH DAWKINS: Well, he is a great player, you know. He is a young man who‑‑I can't think of anyone, no one stands out that he reminds me of, but he is a great talent. He's having a great freshman year. And he's going to have a bright future. And watching him play and watching film, just very impressed with his poise. And he plays at a great pace. There is not one facet of the game that is limiting him from being successful. Can he shoot it from three? Yes. Can he bounce it? Yes. Can he finish around the basket? Yes. Can he board it? Yes. He is a young man who really doesn't have very many holes in his game and I think why he is so successful throughout his career. Q. Don't Know how many games you got to see, wondering if you took inspiration from Colorado and the fact they beat them in a game that Colorado had a huge advantage at the foul line. I am wondering what you take from a game like that against one of your own conference teams. COACH DAWKINS: Well, Colorado played a great game. Of course Booker hit a great shot at the buzzer to clinch the win for them. I remember the game. And absolutely, when you see games like that and you see how competitive Colorado was, of course versus them, that was good to see. But that was a long time ago and both teams are different, you know, from that moment to now. So what we have to do, we have to prepare what they are doing in the present. And now they're playing some good basketball. You don't make it to the field of 32 without doing that. I think they made some good adjustments with the big guy being out. And so that's something that we have to prepare for. We have to prepare for a different team than was playing back when they played Colorado. Q. Coach Dawkins, you recruited Chasson pretty heavily in high school. Has he exceeded your expectations as player that you recruited? COACH DAWKINS: I think Chasson has had a terrific season. You know, First‑Team All‑PAC‑12. I think he is one of the best guards in the nation. I think the country is having a chance to see him now. But he's played very well for us. He's played focused and he has been our leader. He has been the man with the ball in his hands, we have been confident with him doing that. And he's someone I think he has a bright future. And I think his best basketball is still yet to come. Because you are seeing a glimpse of who he is, but, you know, we think he can even be better. So we're excited about his overall development and his future. Q. Coach, Traylor and Frankamp were huge off the bench for Kansas yesterday. How much does their depth concern you? Have you seen a team as deep as KU this year? COACH DAWKINS: They are definitely a deep team, one of the deepest teams we've seen all season. And those kids were very productive in the game. They are very active, they make a lot of plays, they play with a lot of confidence. They play, basically they are from Kansas, these kids come from a storied program and they had a lot of success, and those kids have continued that success during their careers. So we expect them to come out and play very well. We expect them to come out and play inspired basketball tomorrow. Q. Curious what you think about the breakfast start for a West Coast team. COACH DAWKINS: You know, I prefer to play early, so me personally I would rather wake up and let's play the game. The toughest thing for any player, any competitor is the waiting game all day, waiting to play. Whether it was last night or the game we have coming up tomorrow, I would rather wake up, let's go warm up and let's go play. These kids would do that normally on the weekend anyway, right? They would be up on a Saturday, let's get to the gym. We have open gym, they are going to play that in the morning, usually 10:00, 11:00 in the morning and will be done by early noon. For me there is a comfort zone there as opposed to having to wait. All of the emotions and anxiety is pretty much out because you wake up getting ready to compete. Q. Johnny, you referenced Chasson Randle's ability to focus. Did you have any concerns about how he would do with so many family and friends here? And how do you think he did? COACH DAWKINS: You know, I was happy that he was able to have family and friends here. It's one of those situations where that's difficult for him being on the West Coast, so he doesn't get that type of support all the time. And so I didn't think that would be a distraction for him. I thought it may help him, and it seems like it has, having them there. There is a certain level of comfort. And he is the type of young man with his focus I didn't think he would respond any differently than he had been. He was going to play the way he has been playing all season. Q. When your point guard went down in November, how did that change your offense? Is that when you switched to the triangle or was that predetermined? COACH DAWKINS: We looked at switching to the triangle prior to Aaron going down. We thought it would be a better system for our group. We have a big team. I don't know if you have seen us out there, but we are long. And I thought that offense would really compliment the majority of our players and maximize who we could be as a group. So we elected to go that way. And so it actually helped us twofold because it also helped us in case we were injured, the offensive system is designed where you know if you did have an injury to a key position like we did with Aaron, that we were able to kind of sustain it because we were able to overcome it because the system is designed where you can play with maybe an Anthony Brown can handle the ball for us, he can run it for us, or we can bring someone in who is a younger player and he can still run the system. I thought it was actually a very good move for us this off‑season and I think we benefitted from it, especially when we had the injuries. Q. I'm wondering if you've seen an evolution of how the games have been called over the last couple of weeks, maybe the last month or so. Coach Calipari mentioned last night that some calls that he wasn't getting a couple of weeks ago, he is getting in his last few weeks. Has that matched your observation or not? COACH DAWKINS: I think the game has been called, I haven't seen too much change in it. The hand checking is something that they have corrected where guys can't put their forearms on you when you are driving and I have seen that call fairly consistently in the way we play in the PAC‑12, not a big adjustment for us there. Post play is still really, really physical. That's something that it is always the toughest thing probably to referee and something that is still probably tough to referee now. It is hard because guys are wrestling, 250‑pound players and that's difficult. All in all, I don't think our guys saw too much of a change in how the game was reffed from how it was reffed in the conference for us. Q. Coach Dawkins, how important is Chasson's presence not only in the Court but the locker room? His teammates speak really highly of him. Do you notice he is one of the leaders that everyone leans upon or looks to? COACH DAWKINS: Chasson is a quiet leader. A lot of what he does is by example. The thing that he's going to do, every day he is going to come out and give you an honest day's work. He is going to come to practice, he is going to compete. He is going to come into the game, it's going to be the same thing. When he has something to say, because he isn't a young man who is speaking all the time, when he says something to say people are going to listen. Because when he speaks, he is telling you something that will impact your level of success out there. I've enjoyed watching him grow. And part of his best basketball is still to come is in those areas where he starts to become even more outgoing and I think he will become even a stronger leader and that's going to make him even a better player. Q. Coach, what do you remember about your playing match‑ups with Kansas, especially the Final Four? COACH DAWKINS: I remember in both games, both games pretty much came down to the wire. Those were great games. The Final Four game, if I remember correctly, I think a charge ended up being a big play in the game for us late. That's a long time ago, but I think a key play was taking a charge is something that, you know, you overlook the little plays that win games for you, and that was a big play for us back then. I can remember it being a very close game. Of course, storied coaches with Coach K and Larry Brown on the sideline and just a great environment back in Dallas. It is ironic it was back in Dallas this year and we are still competing in this tournament. It is exciting. Q. Coach, one last question on Chasson. What did you think of him in that moment yesterday, his first NCAA Tournament game? What did you think of his presence on the court? COACH DAWKINS: Well, I'll always remember the shot 45‑45 and he steps us and hits the three for us and shows great leadership, and that's what it's about. Making those moments. For that young man to be in that game and we had a big lead and they did what they were supposed to do. New Mexico, a great team. They came back. And we had to make plays and at the end he stepped up and made the biggest play, stepping up and making that three and us retaining the lead late. I'll always remember that about Chasson Randle, his leadership and ability to step up and make the big play when needed. Q. I'm just wondering, I think it was during your game when the score of the Mercer‑Duke game came down. Wondering what your reaction was to that and what contact you had with CoachK over the last couple of days. COACH DAWKINS: Of course, I found out after the game that Duke had lost the game. And it is a tough tournament and that's what people don't realize. Anything can happen. And that's what makes it stuff‑‑I think people have so much interest in what is happening in the world of basketball. And it is a tough loss. Give a lot of credit to Mercer. They played well and they played well enough to deserve to win. I haven't seen it, but I know in this tournament if you have won you deserved it. For Duke, I haven't had a chance to speak to CoachK. I spoke to him prior to us coming out here, just getting some advice from him, you know, what I should look at doing as a head coach opposed to when I was an assistant and what to expect. And he gave me great advice and I really appreciate that. And I will probably talk to him in the near future. Q. What was his advice? COACH DAWKINS: His advice was, one, make sure that you follow your instincts. You have been there a number of times. You know, it is under different circumstances, you weren't the head coach, but you have been there both as a player and a coach and draw from that. One of the things he said was, also reluctant to share stories of what happened with me when I played, he said, Don't be reluctant to share stories about your experience. You are the only guy that's been. So there is no player that can relay those messages, so you have to do that from your perspective when you played. And he was right. And I think it really helped our players. I think they felt more at ease hearing some of the stories. Some of them were funny and different situations that they can draw some experience from. And I am glad he gave me that advice. It was great advice. Q. Obviously you shared the stories? COACH DAWKINS: Absolutely. Since then I haven't stopped sharing stories with them. (Laughter.) Q.Coach, what would just beating Kansas and making it to the Sweet 16 mean for your program? COACH DAWKINS: You know, it would be great. Whenever you play a program like Kansas you have an opportunity to play a storied program. For us, Stanford has been to the Final Four before. They have been to the tournament a number of times. It would just continue to keep Stanford, you know, where we think Stanford belongs, one of the elite programs in the country. When you compete against a program like Kansas and you can have success, it puts you among those type programs and so it is an opportunity to continue to build on. Something that's been very good, you know, out in California at Stanford. THE MODERATOR: Okay, thank you very much. Good luck tomorrow. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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