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NCAA MEN'S 2ND & 3RD ROUNDS: ST. LOUISMarch 23, 2014Conner FrankampBill SelfJamari TraylorST. LOUIS, MISSOURI Stanford – 60 THE MODERATOR: Jamari Traylor is here along with Conner Frankamp. We will ask Head Coach Bill Self to start with a statement on the game. COACH SELF: The game was a struggle from the opening tip it seemed like. I thought we actually did a good job in the first half. They did a great job guarding us and the game had no rhythm, but we went up 2 at half and got up 5 I think to start the second half. And I really felt that Stanford controlled the game after that. They played better, made more plays, made the most of their inside touches. And we struggled scoring over their length. But really proud of my team. We tried hard. You know, hopefully when we're in this situation in the future, which I really think we will be, that we'll respond more favorably. But certainly disappointed, but still yet proud of what these kids have done and the work they've put in this year. Q. Jamari, can you just talk about the length that Stanford had and the struggles that some of the big guys had inside? JAMARI TRAYLOR: Well, besides Tarik, I don't think we did a good job finishing at the rim today. And those guys are pretty long. But I don't know what it was, but we just couldn't buy a basket. Q. Coach Self, at the zone, what type of problems that the zone really caused for you. The second half it really seemed to slow down your offense a lot. Was it something that surprised you or just something about execution? COACH SELF: I don't think it surprised us at all. Teams have played zone against us for the most part all year long if it's part of the package. And we didn't attack it well. I thought they really gapped it and we didn't do a good job of getting our nose dirty and getting in there until late. And then we got in their late, we actually got fouled or came away with at least potential scoring opportunities. We were passive against it. That's what happens when you're not real confident sometimes or individuals are not confident, not having a great game. Things are open but you are a little hesitant to throw it. I thought they did a good job spacing us. And you throw it inside, you have to score over 6'10", 6'11". So they did a nice job with their zone. It wasn't anything that caught us off guard, we just didn't make shots and certainly didn't attack as well as we should. Q. Conner, how did you feel with that last shot going up? Were you confident about it at all? CONNER FRANKAMP: No, I knew when that left my hands I was off. Didn't get a great look at it. But still had to try to capitalize on that if I get another chance like that. Q. Conner, when Coach went to you with 30 seconds remaining and you made that first three, what were your thoughts about that? CONNER FRANKAMP: Well, I just try to get in and knock that shot down and then try to play pressure D and try to get a steal or something. But I knew if I knocked that shot down we would have a chance at it. Q. Coach Self, do you think that game with Cal Poly, such a weak team, hurt your club a little bit? COACH SELF: We didn't play Cal Poly. Q. The first game, I forgot the school. COACH SELF: Eastern Kentucky. No, they weren't a weak team, the game was tied at half time. So that didn't have anything to do with tonight's performance one way or another ‑‑ or today's performance. THE MODERATOR: Conner and Jamari, thank you for your time up here today. And congratulations on your season. Q. Were you trying to find a spark offensively off the bench with some of the guys struggling? COACH SELF: When you think about it, I thought, you know, Jamari played well, but he is 1‑8. And Frank played well, and he's 0‑4. And Conner and Tarik were probably our two best performers today. Yeah, but we were trying. We were trying to find a combination that would give us a shot. And, you know, we were in position. I think we may have been down 2 a couple of times with the ball and I think we may have missed a three maybe to take the lead in the corner and it kind of became a frantic‑type few possessions. But we just couldn't finish. Our guys did try hard, but obviously we came up empty too many possessions. And they're a smart team and they took their time and either got a pretty good shot or got fouled, you know, in the waning six or seven minutes, and that was the difference. Q. What did they do to control Wiggins? Was that kind of his own doing? COACH SELF: Well, I think‑‑they're long. We don't go against many teams that are bigger than us. The only position where we're as tall as them from a standing high standpoint is probably at the 3‑spot with Andrew. He is about 6'71/2" and they're about 6'7" there. So they bothered him with length. And I think he had an off‑game, too. Give him credit for that, but certainly he put himself in position to make some plays and didn't make them like he normally made them the majority of the year. Q. Expanding on that point about Wiggins, you said he had an off‑game. But he's had slow starts, passive starts before. What advice would you give him going forward to kind of make sure that that doesn't happen? Because you said you expect to be here again. COACH SELF: Unfortunately, I expect to be here, but I don't know if he'll be with me. So the advice that I would give‑‑everything is a learning experience with young kids. And, you know, this isn't the worst thing that's going to happen to him in his life. If it is, he's had a charmed life, there's no question about that. So you've got to learn to grow from it. When you get in these positions again, maybe do something a little differently maybe to put yourself in the game or prepare or something. But hey, the kid's had a remarkable season. I'm sad for our team and I'm sad for him that it wasn't our day or his day today. But still, I don't think today should offset what he's done, you know, for 34 games, 34 other games in which he has been terrific. Q. Coach, what were your thoughts on the press working well in the second half, at least for a time being? COACH SELF: Yeah, we tried really hard. We turned them over a few times. It was good for us. That was one of our biggest game plans was trying to create pace defensively. It's hard to do if you don't ever make a basket, you know. So there weren't that many times when we took the ball out of bounds and where we forced them to take the ball out of bounds, especially in the first half. And then we got in foul trouble early. We had three starters get two fouls pretty early and then three starters get their third foul early in the second half. So it may have taken us out of a little aggressiveness, but I thought it worked pretty well for us. Q. You may have been asked this, but did their length bother you around the rim? COACH SELF: I think so. Mari and Perry go 4‑18 from the field, which the majority of the shots would be in pretty tight. So I think we missed some that we normally‑‑that length didn't affect us, but I do think the majority of them we missed length really affected us. I thought they defended the rim very well. Q. Is there a particular reason that you decided to go with less Frankamp in the second half, it seemed to be working pretty well in the end of the first? COACH SELF: No, I thought Frank‑‑we had to get inside their defense and they're big. When you play Conner and play with another guard, that puts, you know, him guarding a 6'7" guy. And they exploited that a little bit. No reason, other than the fact that Frank, from a pace standpoint, gave us a better chance to get inside of the defense, which he did. Q. I know the full‑court press had an impact on the second half. But if you can comment on the impact Randle had as far as getting them going in the first half and knifing through the lane a little bit. COACH SELF: We didn't guard any of their guys poorly, I didn't think. I didn't think it was our defense as much as it was their defense against our offense that hurt us. But he's a good player. We actually defended him pretty well. I think‑‑I can't remember, but I thought he had, did he have 6 or 8 at half time? And we actually did a pretty good job because he got off to a good start. And I thought Frank did a good job guarding him for the most part. But he's a good player and he is going to make some baskets. And then he made a couple of plays early in the second half that I think kind of when we had a little bit of momentum, I think it kind of stemmed the momentum and put the game back to their favor. THE MODERATOR: All right, thank you very much. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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