UConn Player and Coach Quotes (March 20)

UConn Head Coach Jim Calhoun
 

Q. You guys have waited a long time to get to where you are right now. What is the general mood of the team? How excited are you, and how do you try to balance that with being focused and making sure you play your best in a one and done scenario?
A.J. PRICE: We're all in good spirits right now. We're very confident. We know how good we can be as a team. We're just coming in here upbeat and trying to play together and trying to get wins.

Q. You and Craig are the only two who have been to the Tournament so far on the team. What kind of words of wisdom have you tried to impart on the guys how to handle everything this week and handle the game situation and all that kind of stuff?
JEFF ADRIEN: Just be ready and be prepared. You know, whenever you step on the court anything can happen, so we're just practicing hard right now. We've been practicing real good, so.

Q. You guys didn't rebound too well against West Virginia, what needs to happen to change things as you try and move along in this tournament, rebounding wise?
JEFF ADRIEN: We've got to hit first. You know, set the tone right from the tip, that we're going to be physical. So I think if we hit first, we're going to be good, and we're going to be better on our rebounding.

Q. For Jeff, what do you remember from that George Mason game? Is that something that still sticks with you to this day? Obviously, you played pretty well despite the team not winning?
JEFF ADRIEN: It does, because that was a great team. We should have been in the Final Four. But George Mason had the better day. It still sticks with me. I thought about that the other day. I'm just trying to continue on from that game.

Q. You guys have had trouble starting sometimes in day games, starting a little slow. Looking back at the West Virginia game, Coach talked about there wasn't really a sense of urgency. Have you guys had discussions and coming on quick and showing that sense of urgency? Has Coach talked to you about that?
A.J. PRICE: We know what we have to do as a team. We have to be ready to play no matter what time of the day the game is. This is the NCAA Tournament now. So it's a one and done season. So you have to be ready to play from the jump. We're well aware of that.

Q. How important is the pace as far as making an up tempo game to you guys tomorrow?
A.J. PRICE: I think it's very important. We can be very good in the half court set, but I think we're at our best when we run out and get some easy transition baskets. So we're focused on that. We're working on that in practice, and we'll try to speed the game up as much as possible tomorrow.

Q. Do you notice any changes in Coach Calhoun with all that's going on and the excitement? Are there subtle changes in his approach and attitude and excitement level?
A.J. PRICE: He seems very excited to me, as well as the rest of the team. So if, I mean, Coach is getting that much excitement, the team has to follow. We have to be ready to play with the same type of intensity that he brings coaching wise.
JEFF ADRIEN: I agree. Coach has been upbeat in practice. And if Coach is upbeat, we're going to be upbeat ourselves, too. We feed off what our coach does.

Q. Both you guys, for teams that don't know you, not in the Big East and everything, is Hasheem's height and weight and everything intimidating even before you guys get on the court? Do you think that helps you guys?
JEFF ADRIEN: I believe so. If you haven't seen a 7' 3" guy in person, in real life, you're going to be thinking about it a lot before the game. So I believe it does.
A.J. PRICE: I definitely think it plays a role. Guys who haven't seen him, they don't really know what to expect when they see him out there. He's not just a 7' 3" stiff, he's a 7' 3" guy who is mobile, agile and can get up and down the court. We'll find out sooner or later when we get on the court.

Q. Your career has had a lot of ups and downs on and off the court, it's been well documented. How has that helped you become who you are today? And do you appreciate moments like this even more because of the ups and downs, getting to a point like this?
A.J. PRICE: Yeah, I think all those ups and downs have definitely made me into the man I am today, also the player I am today. So this is definitely much more appreciated probably more so than any other player's first time in the NCAA Tournament.
I'm just here with a good team, a good chance to win, and we want to make the most of it.

Q. What are your thoughts on San Diego from what you've seen on the tape thus far? You like your match up with them or what do you think?
A.J. PRICE: They're a very good team. Any time you beat Gonzaga, a team that we lost to, they beat them twice, they also beat St. Mary's, who is also in the Tournament. So we're fully aware of how well they can play together.
I do like our match ups. I think if we do the things we're capable of doing, it will be a good game. We just have to be ready to play from the beginning of the tip.
JEFF ADRIEN: Yeah, they're a good team. You've got to add Kentucky to that list, too, of teams they beat. I just think that we are physically and just physically better than them as far as our talents and everything. But, you know, anything could happen. So I think we match up a lot better.
 

UConn Head Coach Jim Calhoun

THE MODERATOR: Thank you, gentlemen. We welcome Coach Calhoun. Coach, your opening comments, please.

COACH CALHOUN: I think my opening comment was last time we were in this area we had a pretty good time, in 1999. Obviously we were up the street at South Florida, but I actually liked the '99 time. That was pretty special for us, certainly.
You know, it's been my fortune to be in the NCAA Tournament. I think it's the 20th year, and involving something, 55, 60, 65 games. And each one I can almost certainly not memorize, but have a feel about. And whether the opponent be Fairleigh Dickinson, who gave us probably as much fits, on a kid who averaged six points a game, who had 37 against us, that team ended up going to the Final 8 and lost to Vince Carter and company, Jamison, who went to the Final Four in Greensboro.
I can remember so many different times of the way teams have played when I was at Northeastern University five times, going to the NCAA Tournament from there. Being on the other end somewhat of the spectrum. Seeing the San Diego team coming out, it kind of reminds me of one of my Northeastern teams. Brandon Johnson would play in the Big East for almost anybody. Just an absolutely terrific player. Can create his own points. Certainly plays within his system, but when they need baskets they go to him and he certainly can score. Pomaro, the big kid up front. There's probably not an O in there. It's Pomare, I think?
THE MODERATOR: Pomare.
COACH CALHOUN: Oh, okay. I'm Irish, what do you expect? But bottom line, whether he's Pomaro or Pomare, it really is not important, he's good, and he's very effective (laughing).
You know, he's a mirror of their team. What he is, the team is incredibly efficient. And we lost to Gonzaga early in the season, and they beat Gonzaga, if I remember correctly twice. St. Mary's, one of the better teams I've seen this year who is in the NCAA Tournament, they also beat them. And they also went to Kentucky and beat Kentucky. So I don't really, really need to know too much about them, except for the fact they're very efficient, exceptionally well coached.
I knew Coach Grier because we had the Maui Invitational, where we were fortunate enough to beat in a great, great game to beat Gonzaga when he was coaching there. The great win we had in Phoenix to get to the Final Four, here in Tampa St. Pete was sensational, and the coach there.
So bottom line, this is to me, they play a great deal like Gonzaga, except they've out Gonzagaed Gonzaga this year. And by beating them and winning the conference title.
One of the more amazing stories, I think, is the fact that two of their kids left the team, or whatever the situation may be, and they, 7 9 at that point, became a better basketball team, which tells me a lot about the character that we're playing against. They certainly have got the stuff that is capable of coming into a tournament and winning some games. And that is our job tomorrow to try to make sure that they don't.

Q. How does it feel to be the glamour team in this area right now in Tampa? And you have had consistent years in which you have been that. Do you get used to it? Is that the feeling you have going into the tournament time?
COACH CALHOUN: I looked in the mirror and there was nothing really glamorous this morning that I saw. And secondly I was called crusty three or four times by the local newspapers. I don't know, crusty and glamorous don't seem to go together (laughing).
But there is something about being on that side of the coin. I still remember playing Gonzaga, which is from the same league, in Phoenix, and I think I know some of our guys on the beat were there. I mean, there were 19,000 people there, 1,000 rooting for UCONN, and 18,000 hoping the underdog would win. So being in that position many times, I just think that you just need to play basketball. You need to really take care of the business at hand, go to work. Get the job done, all those type of things. That's what you need to do. You can't get lost up.
There is no seeding in my opinion. As I left the locker room, Georgia, a 14 seed, was up, and we know what Georgia did. Certainly they were up 11 points against Xavier, and Xavier is a terrific basketball team. Anything can happen. They're 40 minute seasons, and there is no other way to describe the NCAA Tournament except they're a 40 minute season. And if you have a bad 40 minutes, you have a bad season and you go home.
So on everybody, I truly believe, and in 2006 we were a No. 1 seed that got eventually beat by George Mason in the Final 8 in overtime. In 2004, we rolled through everybody until we got to Duke and trailed by 7 with 2:57 to go. So there are so many range of emotions when you have really good teams, or at least considered the favorite.
I just think if you play basketball, everything else always takes care of itself. If you take care of a business we've got to take care of particularly the defensive end, because I believe in our offense. And the rebounding end. Over the years I've never really had to say that. But this has not been one of our better rebounding teams, and certainly we have as good a shot blocker as there is in the country. But we've not been as good as a defensive team as we have in the past. That is the thing that worries me as we go against a very good San Diego team, that seems to be able to take great advantage when you make a mistake.
The one thing I have to look at about six tapes, they're incredibly efficient. They feed off your mistakes.

Q. I'm going to follow up, even though you said you throw seeding out, the 5 12, 4 13, we've seen a lot of upsets in recent years.
COACH CALHOUN: I was in a good mood about five minutes ago but go ahead (smiling).

Q. Why is that? Is there a lot of difference, as strange as it may sound, between a 4 13, and a 5 12?
COACH CALHOUN: When you're a 1, and I think we were a 1 six or seven different times in this tournament, pretty good chance that you're really, really good. And the 1's are teams that are usually automatic qualifiers, and teams that may, quite frankly, wouldn't make the normal team of 65. My opinion, the way San Diego closed, they'd have a chance at they're one of those teams that belong in the field of 64 automatic or no automatic.

They played in a very good conference. And I think that happens. You may feel you're better, and this is where I think the 4 13, the 5 12 comes into play. You may feel that you're that superior, but you probably aren't. You may not be up there at this particular tournament. You may be at the end of the tournament if you get on a run. You're real good, but you haven't proven during the year that you're like a Carolina, okay, like a Texas, like a UCLA. And it doesn't make any difference who you're playing, they just think you're a much higher team, and they want to show that they can play, too.
So I think the teams are much closer. More psychologically particularly by the 4 and 5's, because they think that they are one of the super teams and really aren't. We're a very good basketball team, we're 24 8, that's what we are. We've had great wins. But we aren't a super team. We're a team that could catch fire in this tournament, because I think we have the components to be very, very good at times. We've shown that. But we haven't achieved what a Carolina has. We haven't achieved what a UCLA has. So I think you're not going to see it there. 2 15, occasionally you'll see it. But as a guess, we could have no argument about 8 9 because they're two evenly matched teams. But when you get to the 5 4, it's the team that thinks they're better than what they are. When you get down to 13, you're getting a very good basketball team to play against.

Q. This team has been kind of tough to read. Do you have a sense of what the mood is? And is there anything you look for to see if they're ready for a game?
COACH CALHOUN: You know, practice sessions have been good, but it's not been a direct correlation between good practices and good performances. And that is the thing that's given me the most trouble.
This is a shock to some of you that I actually lied the other night to the media when a writer from New York asked me, "It appears that you don't have a great handle on your team." And I said "No, that's wrong. I have a great handle on my team." That was a lie. So I'm now admitting that because it is the Lenten season, and I think I should come up with some form of confession. But the confession is, you're 100% right. I've been very surprised.
You can look at it, we're 3 3 out of our last six or won 13 out of 16. I prefer the 13 out of 16 because I think we're that good and can be that good. But we've shown signs of doing things that teams of ours in the past haven't done. Not defending, getting out rebounded by 17 by West Virginia.
But in turn in the midst of that, we set an all time record of 47 or 48 point win over a good Cincinnati team. We beat a good West Virginia team at home. So you know what I'm saying, it's hard, because I hope that this is a fresh season for us, because I said before, these are 40 minute seasons for everybody. And by tomorrow night, there will only be 32 left. So you got to have a good season for 40 minutes on game day. And you're right, we've been erratic, no question.

Q. The players may have gone through some of the thing that's A.J. Price has gone through. They may just disappear and not even be a factor. What is it about him that has allowed him to kind of get back in this role after some bumps early in the career?
COACH CALHOUN: Yeah, bumps of near death, and then a self inflicted problem, and then last year just after two years I still maintain anybody who spent 14 days in ICU, it changes you. I don't care who you are. And you don't believe he took almost two years before the radiation healed and all the other things.
Bottom line is that he got better, was better, but we lost two players mid point during the season. We were going to Indiana. We had just beat Marquette good. Beat Cincinnati in a real good come back win. We went to Indiana with eight scholarship players and we were very nervous. And we lost, our leading scorer wasn't there. Wasn't there for nine games. And A.J. Price brought us together. And probably had his best game ever. From that game on, A.J. Price has emerged now as our leader and he's gotten some of the accolades, unanimous All Big East, and things he was well deserving of.
I think the things he went through before has allowed him to be less erratic than the rest of the players. He now feels for the first time in almost four years good about himself. So for him it's like a rebirth in the middle of the season. Where the other players have kind of Hasheem's getting better, but he's still a little erratic, et cetera. But for A.J. Price, it's because of what he's had to overcome to be where he is today.

Q. When you play against the shot blocker, what do you urge your team to think about and what ripples do you see just throughout a season when you have won on the defensive end?
COACH CALHOUN: We would not be sitting here today with 24 wins without him. He's a factor even if he doesn't block his shot. Because if he get there's and blocks a couple, you're going to be very careful. If you try to shoot a second one, then you're very competitive. You try to shoot the third one as the kid did, shot three in a row, then he was very stupid.
You know, I don't mind the competitive part. I don't mind the ill advised part. It was the stupid part that probably would have bothered their coach. He can do that to you. He can change a game. His biggest problem is that this is his first tournament. Big East was his first tournament, which he did not play well in. And that is my only concern about him. But what we advise, we always go at shot blockers. The farther you get away from a 7' 3" kid with a 7' 6" reach, the angles change. You get into his body, you can tie him up and make him foul you. That is the only way you're going to get out of a shot blocker. But the fadeaway doesn't work because you're really creating a great angle as you have to send the ball up.
The other team, teams don't shoot against us because they have to put the ball up there high. We have to protect him many times because he's very aggressive, and we don't want him to get into foul trouble. But he's tough to play against as we've had. We've led the country in shot blocking for 7 straight years. We had before him on Emeka Okafor, and Josh Boone, who is with the Nets now, and Hilton Armstrong. All of them create different kind of problems. But they do create problems.
At times for us Hasheem had one of the great lines. When he found he was the Big East Player of the Year, he thanked the guards for allowing the penetration so he could make shots. Well, that's good. But when he's not in the game there's nobody there to block the shots. That is a true story, unfortunately. And I didn't give him the line. It was a great line, but I didn't give it to him. Because otherwise I definitely would take credit for it.

Q. When people don't know your team, like a San Diego, sees a 7' 3" guy and watch him on tape, how much is the intimidation factor before they even play against him?
COACH CALHOUN: There's a lot of preparation for him. And what happens, quite frankly early for him the first five or six minutes of the game are very important. I think if he gets in foul trouble or people go at him and gets a shot on him or makes a great play on him, I think it helps. Conversely if he blocks two or three shots or you dribble in there and decide this is a bad idea and dribble out, then he starts to be effective then.
But I think every team just like we're preparing for the fact that Brandon Johnson reminds me of the kid Vaughn from Cincinnati who had 34 against us, he's tough to play because he can create his own shot. And my point being, simply, it's tough preparing for so many different kind of plays. Shot blockers are a little bit unusual. If you can drag them out, make your big man always be the guy running the pick and roll, there are a number of different ways teams can do it to make sure he's not hanging around the basket.

Q. When you look at San Diego, how would you describe San Diego stylistically? They don't score a heck of a lot of points but they're capable of scoring enough, and what are some things you have to keep in mind?
COACH CALHOUN: I think pragmatically, they really go inside when they need to go inside. I think they space the floor with three guards and can cause you problems without question. I think that the defense seems to be very sound. They rotate exceptionally well. And they seem to have good control of their games. They can play fast, and they can play full possessions. I think they kind of choose the moment and once again, usually it's a team that grabs its tempo of the game. Ours is normally as fast when we can play well.
Now the team that can grab the tempo of the game, and I have no idea what Coach Grier is going to do. But if they can grab the tempo of the game and have every possession be a full one, where they can get a quick shot, a good shot early or make a space and play a little more defense, those are some of the things that they they're capable of playing both ways. I thought they were just so efficient. I'm looking at the tape and Gonzaga is winning this game, except the scoreboard didn't show that, because they were really controlling the pace of the game. They did a great job with controlling the pace of the game.
So they're a team that when they're 7 9 made a decision that they were going to give the season the best they could when they lost players. And Coach Grier should absolutely be congratulated. Because this team is really, really one of the more efficient teams I've seen on tape. I've seen more talented teams on tape not take advantage of who and what they are. They can hit you quick with the three guards or they can space the floor and control the basketball.

Q. Jerome said he's feeling more and more comfortable. Do you see him on the cusp of being back to what he was before the suspension?
COACH CALHOUN: Yeah, I think physically he is. And we've done some things in practice to try to get a three guard look in there. We're making him the back up three man. And at 6' 3", 200 pounds, we think he can handle that. We're trying to create a little different role for him now because of the fact that Dougie has played well, and simply Craig has averaged 12 points a game since he's become a starter, and A.J., obviously is playing well. So we try to create a little different position for him. And actually, we've moved Stanley to the four to get more offense into the game. That is something that is tough a little bit when Hasheem or Jeff has been on the bench, we've been making movements to Stanley. And that does effect Jerome, because Jerome now can play as that third guard. And Stanley is a good enough rebounder at 6' 8", and played four in about four or five different sets that we actually have worked on since we left the Big East Tournament.
THE MODERATOR: Coach, thank you.