Reid Travis and Daejon Davis
What was the biggest step forward that you made from last night?
Daejon Davis: "I'd say our effort. We started stronger today and we had more sense of urgency on the defensive end in the first half. A couple breakdowns in the second half allowed the other team to get the offensive rebounds that got us out of our flow on the defensive side."
Speaking of rebounds, Reid you guys went from holding an advantage for most of the first half to losing the rebounding battle. What changed?
"I don't know if there is one thing you can pinpoint. I think it's a mentality. We can't get complacent when we're dominating the boards like we are we have to get in the mindset that we're going to do it the whole game. I think myself and the other bigs, we were on it but then we have to keep going to the boards ... because that's what helps shift the game right there. I have to take a lot of that on myself that we had mental breakdowns where we weren't boxing out as much as we could have or chasing down rebounds."
Daejon, can you talk about the steps forward in your offensive game both driving and with your shot?
"Just focus on coming to a stop. Coach talks to us every single day to come to a stop, get to the 'X' and I feel like I have gotten better at that. Being patient and pushing the pass on offense, and that allows me to see more gaps in transition. And when it's not there, it allows everyone to be in the offense quicker and allows our offense to flow better, which then allows me to get an open shot or find my teammates.
Reid, what do you think was the biggest cause of the offensive struggles in the second half?
"They came out and they played harder. I don't know if there is one thing that we can say was on us. We were getting some good looks but just weren't finishing them down low. Those are looks we'll take every time. We're going strong to the basket, obviously they cranked up their defense and that's obviously what we want to do. I don't know if there is one thing to pinpoint, we just have to do a better job finishing when we do get good looks."
Can either of you guys comment on Oscar da Silva's play tonight? He has been pretty consistent even when his stats don't necessarily reflect how well he's playing, but tonight they did.
Travis: "Oscar, he brings a lot for our team. He has been thrown into a role where he has to guard sometime the other team's best player and then we need him to do his thing on the offensive end as well. I think he has done a good job of staying in a good place mentally the past couple games. As you said, the stats don't always show it but Oscar is always going to work hard and always going to be a good teammate. So, nights like tonight you'll see he will get to do a lot more where the stats will reflect it, but every game he's still giving the same effort."
Davis: "You never have to question Oscar's effort. Whether it shows up on the stat sheet or not, we always know that ... when he's out there he's going to try his hardest and do his best. Hopefully like he did tonight he'll get us a couple extra possessions."
How hard has this stretch been? Not many teams come into a tournament like this after playing North Carolina.
Travis: "It's tough but at this level of basketball it's what you want because that's what the elite teams do. They go play a ranked team and two days later they go play another one. That's the challenge we want and that's what we prepare for. We don't want this season to be a cakewalk or play lesser opponents because we want to be at that level of elite team. We understand that putting ourselves in a position to play against them night in and night out is only going to make us better. It just shows us the level we need to be at and we have to keep putting in work."
Davis: "Getting the competition earlier on will prepare us later, especially with the youth on our team. From here on out, especially in Pac-12 play, we'll have more experience having played tough opponents and we know where we stack up against the best of them. We'll know how to get better from there."
Jerod Haase
I know you're not a moral victories guy, but how many steps did you feel your team took tonight?
"Progress was made, certainly. I think we had an increased sense of urgency. We did play with passion. I think there were some lulls and I don't believe it was because of intent or desire. Honestly, I think there were times I could have called a timeout or done something with substitution patterns to keep us a little bit more fresh because I think we got fatigued a couple times. We're playing guys a lot of minutes right now. So, when we had the breakdowns I'll take that on my shoulders. I need to figure out a way to keep guys fresher. I thought the guys played hard. Offensively, obviously we struggled in the second half, but having said that ... we had some pretty darn good looks that we need to be able to finish. There is a long way to go in terms of growth on both ends of the floor. But if you asked me if we've improved over this stretch -- I know we're losing games -- I would say yes."
It was a couple weeks ago you said that you were still figuring out Oscar because of everybody on the team you knew him the least. Do you feel like that has changed?
"Honestly it's still a learning process. I should go back. I would guess that I have not seen Oscar in full competition with practices more than a half-dozen days. We've played seven games now, so two weeks of times where I"ve seen him play. I'm still learning his game and how we can put him in the best situations possible, how to push his buttons, how to get the most out of him. I will say he's not a good person, he's phenomenal. He's going to be a heck of a player for us. With all of our guys there is room for growth, certainly, but man he is as high quality as they get."
How do you take a stretch like this and take it as a positive as your team continues to grow?
"I don't know if I would say turn it into a positive. We're going to turn it into a growing experience. I've told the guys over and over that you're not going to sense panic in my voice unless I feel like we're not improving. If we go into the locker room and the guys are pointing fingers and mad and not competing then there's going to be an increased level of concern. At this point we have to stay the course. I do believe we have a locker room that is in full belief that the endgame of this season is going to be a good one. How we get there and what that means, I don't know."
You talk a lot about uncomfortable situations and with the injuries and the foul trouble tonight, I think the whole game qualified. Can you talk about how the team held up with combinations that probably haven't spent a lot of time together?
"I think they did a good job. In the timeouts I'd actually say it was very calm. I think maybe if you said one thing I liked best, when I looked in their eyes I didn't feel a sense of defeat at any point. There was a belief and a confidence that we're going to find a way to get it done. As a coach I need to make sure we maintain that as we move forward. It's all part of this building process right now."
Daejon as you said last night keeps growing and it really seems he is more sure of himself every time he's out there. Is that what you're seeing?
"Absolutely. I keep saying and I'm a glass is half full kind of guy, but he's not there, yet. I do like the fact he shot a couple shots. I thought they were good shots and I thought they were actually going in. The more he gets to the free throw line the more comfortable he's going to get. I have a great deal of confidence there. As a floor general, as a leader, he continues to grow every day as well. Having said that there's just so much room for growth still. We're going to continue to put him in positions where he can excel, but we need him to be a big-time player and I told him that in the recruiting process."
What was the biggest step forward that you made from last night?
Daejon Davis: "I'd say our effort. We started stronger today and we had more sense of urgency on the defensive end in the first half. A couple breakdowns in the second half allowed the other team to get the offensive rebounds that got us out of our flow on the defensive side."
Speaking of rebounds, Reid you guys went from holding an advantage for most of the first half to losing the rebounding battle. What changed?
"I don't know if there is one thing you can pinpoint. I think it's a mentality. We can't get complacent when we're dominating the boards like we are we have to get in the mindset that we're going to do it the whole game. I think myself and the other bigs, we were on it but then we have to keep going to the boards ... because that's what helps shift the game right there. I have to take a lot of that on myself that we had mental breakdowns where we weren't boxing out as much as we could have or chasing down rebounds."
Daejon, can you talk about the steps forward in your offensive game both driving and with your shot?
"Just focus on coming to a stop. Coach talks to us every single day to come to a stop, get to the 'X' and I feel like I have gotten better at that. Being patient and pushing the pass on offense, and that allows me to see more gaps in transition. And when it's not there, it allows everyone to be in the offense quicker and allows our offense to flow better, which then allows me to get an open shot or find my teammates.
Reid, what do you think was the biggest cause of the offensive struggles in the second half?
"They came out and they played harder. I don't know if there is one thing that we can say was on us. We were getting some good looks but just weren't finishing them down low. Those are looks we'll take every time. We're going strong to the basket, obviously they cranked up their defense and that's obviously what we want to do. I don't know if there is one thing to pinpoint, we just have to do a better job finishing when we do get good looks."
Can either of you guys comment on Oscar da Silva's play tonight? He has been pretty consistent even when his stats don't necessarily reflect how well he's playing, but tonight they did.
Travis: "Oscar, he brings a lot for our team. He has been thrown into a role where he has to guard sometime the other team's best player and then we need him to do his thing on the offensive end as well. I think he has done a good job of staying in a good place mentally the past couple games. As you said, the stats don't always show it but Oscar is always going to work hard and always going to be a good teammate. So, nights like tonight you'll see he will get to do a lot more where the stats will reflect it, but every game he's still giving the same effort."
Davis: "You never have to question Oscar's effort. Whether it shows up on the stat sheet or not, we always know that ... when he's out there he's going to try his hardest and do his best. Hopefully like he did tonight he'll get us a couple extra possessions."
How hard has this stretch been? Not many teams come into a tournament like this after playing North Carolina.
Travis: "It's tough but at this level of basketball it's what you want because that's what the elite teams do. They go play a ranked team and two days later they go play another one. That's the challenge we want and that's what we prepare for. We don't want this season to be a cakewalk or play lesser opponents because we want to be at that level of elite team. We understand that putting ourselves in a position to play against them night in and night out is only going to make us better. It just shows us the level we need to be at and we have to keep putting in work."
Davis: "Getting the competition earlier on will prepare us later, especially with the youth on our team. From here on out, especially in Pac-12 play, we'll have more experience having played tough opponents and we know where we stack up against the best of them. We'll know how to get better from there."
Jerod Haase
I know you're not a moral victories guy, but how many steps did you feel your team took tonight?
"Progress was made, certainly. I think we had an increased sense of urgency. We did play with passion. I think there were some lulls and I don't believe it was because of intent or desire. Honestly, I think there were times I could have called a timeout or done something with substitution patterns to keep us a little bit more fresh because I think we got fatigued a couple times. We're playing guys a lot of minutes right now. So, when we had the breakdowns I'll take that on my shoulders. I need to figure out a way to keep guys fresher. I thought the guys played hard. Offensively, obviously we struggled in the second half, but having said that ... we had some pretty darn good looks that we need to be able to finish. There is a long way to go in terms of growth on both ends of the floor. But if you asked me if we've improved over this stretch -- I know we're losing games -- I would say yes."
It was a couple weeks ago you said that you were still figuring out Oscar because of everybody on the team you knew him the least. Do you feel like that has changed?
"Honestly it's still a learning process. I should go back. I would guess that I have not seen Oscar in full competition with practices more than a half-dozen days. We've played seven games now, so two weeks of times where I"ve seen him play. I'm still learning his game and how we can put him in the best situations possible, how to push his buttons, how to get the most out of him. I will say he's not a good person, he's phenomenal. He's going to be a heck of a player for us. With all of our guys there is room for growth, certainly, but man he is as high quality as they get."
How do you take a stretch like this and take it as a positive as your team continues to grow?
"I don't know if I would say turn it into a positive. We're going to turn it into a growing experience. I've told the guys over and over that you're not going to sense panic in my voice unless I feel like we're not improving. If we go into the locker room and the guys are pointing fingers and mad and not competing then there's going to be an increased level of concern. At this point we have to stay the course. I do believe we have a locker room that is in full belief that the endgame of this season is going to be a good one. How we get there and what that means, I don't know."
You talk a lot about uncomfortable situations and with the injuries and the foul trouble tonight, I think the whole game qualified. Can you talk about how the team held up with combinations that probably haven't spent a lot of time together?
"I think they did a good job. In the timeouts I'd actually say it was very calm. I think maybe if you said one thing I liked best, when I looked in their eyes I didn't feel a sense of defeat at any point. There was a belief and a confidence that we're going to find a way to get it done. As a coach I need to make sure we maintain that as we move forward. It's all part of this building process right now."
Daejon as you said last night keeps growing and it really seems he is more sure of himself every time he's out there. Is that what you're seeing?
"Absolutely. I keep saying and I'm a glass is half full kind of guy, but he's not there, yet. I do like the fact he shot a couple shots. I thought they were good shots and I thought they were actually going in. The more he gets to the free throw line the more comfortable he's going to get. I have a great deal of confidence there. As a floor general, as a leader, he continues to grow every day as well. Having said that there's just so much room for growth still. We're going to continue to put him in positions where he can excel, but we need him to be a big-time player and I told him that in the recruiting process."
