Apologies for the delay. It has been an interesting night but let's keep the stories about Stanford sports. I'll post player comments as well and I'll type up what members of the Final Four team had to say before the game.
Can you talk about pulling out a game when the other team shot 57% from the field?
(Laughs) “Well, we couldn’t guard them. In the first half I questioned our effort at times. I think we just hoped it would be easy and hoped they would miss shots. At times they did. I wasn’t really excited about our effort. In the second half I thought the effort was better. We tried everything (on defense). We tried one, two, three, four, five different ball-screen coverages and obviously personnel changes … and we really struggled. If we were defending the three they were able to get to the basket on us. If we got sucked in at all they punished us by making shots as well. If you have to give them credit for that. They’re a difficult team to defend. Some of the matchups are difficult. I thought our guys competed in the second half and they did enough on the offensive end to get the win.”
Daejon Davis’ free throws to clinch the win: “Daejon did a lot of nice things. His assist-to-turnover (ratio) was great. It was not, honestly, one of his best games -- more from a defensive perspective. Having said that I wanted the ball in his hands and he made the plays at the end which I expect of him and want him to do. I’m proud of him for that. At the end of the day it’s really cool because it doesn’t matter if it’s a senior or a freshman, this team is unified to have singular goals in mind.”
Did you like what you saw in transition offense today?
“There were some positives there. I really liked the way Daejon was pitching the ball ahead. As the program moves forward and we grow, we’re going to become much better at spreading the floor -- our wings and our bigs, but especially our wings. Right now we’re jogging and still pitching ahead and attacking from there, which is fine. But as we start to really spread the floor I think we can get even better. Right now that’s on me to coach that better. I want us to continue to be aggressive and then make the appropriate plays, which we did for the most part.”
Reid Travis’ effort on offensive boards and putbacks: “And some timely ones as well. He has a nose for the basketball and he did a great job on the boards. Obviously as one of the three captains we need to lean on him -- one of the best players in the conference and the country, really. He is going to have to do those kind of things. We want him to be a force inside.”
After the Washington game you said the team needs to shoot better from the free throw line. How proud are you of them shooting 18-of-20?
“I think I took the blame that we took 20 free throws and last time I said it was coaching. So, I’ll take the credit this time. I think that was coaching as well. (Laughs) I’d love to say there’s a magic formula and I just don’t know. But we did spend some time shooting free throws and … I’m actually not overly concerned about it. I think our guys are capable and they need to go up with confidence.”
On senior day and Michael Humphrey and Dorian Pickens: “Senior night is always special when it’s special guys who you’re celebrating. Those two are as classy as it gets. Obviously they’re good basketball players, but they do so many great things in the community and represent Stanford in such a positive fashion. So, senior night is always going to be an important day for this program as long as I’m the coach here. I thought today we did a nice job honoring them and the crowd was appreciative of them. In the future I want to continue to make it more special to make sure we honor guys who have represented the university the right way -- doing their job academically, competing and giving blood, sweat and tears on the court. It’s important to send them out the right way.”
The 1998 team gave you and your team a lot of encouragement, so how did you feel about what they had to say?
“They’re a fantastic group. Last spring I think is when I tried to call all of them and let them know we wanted to do this. And then we started to slowly put the plans in place. They’ve been extremely supportive. But they’ve also given us a roadmap of how to succeed at Stanford and you can win with the basketball program here. We’re going to try to copy a lot of the things that they’ve done. And most of those things have to do with the camaraderie, the love of the university, the love of the team.”
Can you talk about pulling out a game when the other team shot 57% from the field?
(Laughs) “Well, we couldn’t guard them. In the first half I questioned our effort at times. I think we just hoped it would be easy and hoped they would miss shots. At times they did. I wasn’t really excited about our effort. In the second half I thought the effort was better. We tried everything (on defense). We tried one, two, three, four, five different ball-screen coverages and obviously personnel changes … and we really struggled. If we were defending the three they were able to get to the basket on us. If we got sucked in at all they punished us by making shots as well. If you have to give them credit for that. They’re a difficult team to defend. Some of the matchups are difficult. I thought our guys competed in the second half and they did enough on the offensive end to get the win.”
Daejon Davis’ free throws to clinch the win: “Daejon did a lot of nice things. His assist-to-turnover (ratio) was great. It was not, honestly, one of his best games -- more from a defensive perspective. Having said that I wanted the ball in his hands and he made the plays at the end which I expect of him and want him to do. I’m proud of him for that. At the end of the day it’s really cool because it doesn’t matter if it’s a senior or a freshman, this team is unified to have singular goals in mind.”
Did you like what you saw in transition offense today?
“There were some positives there. I really liked the way Daejon was pitching the ball ahead. As the program moves forward and we grow, we’re going to become much better at spreading the floor -- our wings and our bigs, but especially our wings. Right now we’re jogging and still pitching ahead and attacking from there, which is fine. But as we start to really spread the floor I think we can get even better. Right now that’s on me to coach that better. I want us to continue to be aggressive and then make the appropriate plays, which we did for the most part.”
Reid Travis’ effort on offensive boards and putbacks: “And some timely ones as well. He has a nose for the basketball and he did a great job on the boards. Obviously as one of the three captains we need to lean on him -- one of the best players in the conference and the country, really. He is going to have to do those kind of things. We want him to be a force inside.”
After the Washington game you said the team needs to shoot better from the free throw line. How proud are you of them shooting 18-of-20?
“I think I took the blame that we took 20 free throws and last time I said it was coaching. So, I’ll take the credit this time. I think that was coaching as well. (Laughs) I’d love to say there’s a magic formula and I just don’t know. But we did spend some time shooting free throws and … I’m actually not overly concerned about it. I think our guys are capable and they need to go up with confidence.”
On senior day and Michael Humphrey and Dorian Pickens: “Senior night is always special when it’s special guys who you’re celebrating. Those two are as classy as it gets. Obviously they’re good basketball players, but they do so many great things in the community and represent Stanford in such a positive fashion. So, senior night is always going to be an important day for this program as long as I’m the coach here. I thought today we did a nice job honoring them and the crowd was appreciative of them. In the future I want to continue to make it more special to make sure we honor guys who have represented the university the right way -- doing their job academically, competing and giving blood, sweat and tears on the court. It’s important to send them out the right way.”
The 1998 team gave you and your team a lot of encouragement, so how did you feel about what they had to say?
“They’re a fantastic group. Last spring I think is when I tried to call all of them and let them know we wanted to do this. And then we started to slowly put the plans in place. They’ve been extremely supportive. But they’ve also given us a roadmap of how to succeed at Stanford and you can win with the basketball program here. We’re going to try to copy a lot of the things that they’ve done. And most of those things have to do with the camaraderie, the love of the university, the love of the team.”
