• 2 years ago
Iowa Basketball
Transcript
00:00 [INAUDIBLE]
00:04 All right, go right into questions for Owen.
00:07 Owen, is the college game just easy to you?
00:09 Or what's going right for you to have this high of a start?
00:12 Yeah, it's definitely-- I've had to adjust for sure.
00:16 There was a big jump in the summer.
00:17 And I spent a lot of my time praying and reading the Bible.
00:23 And that's what I thought really allowed me to feel comfortable
00:26 and allowed me to kind of just be myself, which
00:29 allowed me to take my game to the next level.
00:31 So yeah, there's that adjustment period
00:33 that I had during the summer.
00:34 But it's all starting to come a lot easier to me now.
00:40 But so yeah.
00:42 Three blocks in about four seconds.
00:44 Can you tell us what happened?
00:46 You know, I turned the ball over.
00:48 So I had to kind of make up for it.
00:50 Kind of was able to time James's shots after.
00:54 I mean, I kind of grabbed the rim on the first one.
00:56 But we won't talk about it.
00:59 But yeah, I just kind of--
01:01 I saw my opportunity.
01:02 And I went and got it.
01:03 How exhausted were you after the third one?
01:06 Yeah, I was pretty exhausted.
01:08 Yeah, I was dying.
01:10 What did it look like with the first one
01:12 that you had a choice?
01:13 I mean, when you went up hard, I mean,
01:14 you could have let him go.
01:16 But instead, you really attacked that shot.
01:19 And was the rest just kind of instinct at that point?
01:21 Yeah, I mean, I kind of activated my logi d'imbele mode.
01:24 I had to go and get one.
01:25 But yeah, as soon as I turned it over,
01:27 I knew I had to make up for it.
01:29 So I kind of decided that no matter what,
01:32 I'm going to get this type thing.
01:33 They didn't have a lot of size.
01:36 Did you feel like you had to come out and kind of dominate
01:38 the paint?
01:39 Yeah, definitely.
01:40 I had that mindset when I learned about the scout.
01:42 Like, this is a game that I know that I can come in
01:44 and play big minutes and do my work early.
01:47 Obviously, they have great players.
01:49 They don't have the size that we do.
01:51 So I knew that our bigs were going to have that advantage.
01:54 And I wanted to take advantage of that advantage, for sure.
01:57 Have you surprised yourself at all with the way you've played?
02:00 Or did you expect yourself to be able to do this early
02:04 in the season?
02:04 Yeah, I think it just kind of comes with that confidence.
02:08 As my confidence grows, I kind of
02:10 feel more comfortable out there.
02:12 And I know the things that I can do.
02:14 And it's the things I've worked on and things I've worked for.
02:17 So I wouldn't say I'm surprising myself.
02:19 I'm saying I'm just kind of stepping into my--
02:24 like, how good I can be, you know?
02:26 Potential, that's the word.
02:27 Got it.
02:28 Got it.
02:29 Might be stepping up in class the next one with the centers.
02:33 What did you mean?
02:34 With your center next game.
02:36 Oh.
02:37 Oh, yeah.
02:38 Yeah, that's-- yeah.
02:40 It's a little different than the guys I've played before.
02:44 But yeah, coach is going to have a great scout.
02:46 And I'm looking forward to going to Mackey.
02:49 I want to surprise some people.
02:51 Seems like your skill set with Ben,
02:53 they just really complement one another.
02:55 Do you like being on the floor at the same time as another big?
02:57 Is that something you're used to that--
02:59 I don't know.
03:00 Do you enjoy doing that with Ben?
03:01 Oh, I definitely enjoy doing it.
03:03 Obviously, I love playing with Ben.
03:04 And I feel like me and Lodgy also share that connection.
03:07 So it's something that I've never
03:09 played with until I've got here.
03:11 Just I've never played with another big on the court.
03:13 So that adjustment was during the summer.
03:15 And I've loved it.
03:16 I mean, you can go inside out, high, low.
03:18 We do it all the time in practice.
03:20 So it's something that I definitely
03:21 enjoy playing with.
03:22 Multiple 10-second violations tonight.
03:24 What does that say about your team's defense,
03:25 especially in the pass?
03:27 Yeah, it just shows the kind of intensity that we can play at.
03:30 Coach was talking to us at halftime
03:31 that in the first half, we had the opportunity with our press
03:34 to get some turnovers.
03:36 And I think that we took that to heart
03:38 and really took advantage of that in the second half
03:41 with those multiple 10-second violations
03:42 and them just kind of not feeling comfortable with us
03:46 up in the front court.
03:47 So yeah, Coach pointed that out.
03:51 And we really took that to heart.
03:52 What was the message at halftime?
03:53 Because the way--
03:54 I mean, you guys were leading by 12.
03:56 And it kind of got whittled down.
03:57 Just what was the energy kind of message in the locker room?
04:00 We were kind of frustrated because we gave up
04:02 that last second shot.
04:03 I mean, that's back-to-back games where we've done that.
04:06 And obviously, Coach didn't like that.
04:09 But we knew that that's not who we are.
04:11 And we had to come out in the second half
04:13 and really play Iowa basketball.
04:15 And come out gun blazing and blow the game open.
04:20 The guy like Brock, it kind of seems
04:21 like he simultaneously brings energy,
04:24 but he's also a calming presence on the court.
04:27 Do you feel that?
04:28 Can you get a sense of that?
04:29 Oh, definitely.
04:30 I feel like when we're on the court at the same time,
04:32 just good things happen.
04:33 That's the kind of connection we share.
04:35 So I definitely feel comfortable with Brock on the court
04:38 just because we build that kind of connection.
04:40 And he knows where I'm going to be at.
04:42 I know where he's going to be at.
04:43 So that's helped with just being comfortable on the court
04:47 and just being able to play free because we kind of hold
04:51 each other accountable.
04:52 Like after we'll make a bad play,
04:53 we know the level that we both want to play at
04:55 and that we can play at.
04:57 So we have that kind of connection.
04:59 So it's really good.
05:00 How much did Tony start really get everybody else going?
05:03 I mean, Tony Perkins is--
05:04 he's Tony Perkins.
05:05 I mean, he started from the jump.
05:08 He obviously had a point to prove.
05:10 And he had a little bit more to play for.
05:12 So I mean, just to go out and see him do that,
05:15 it's really something special.
05:17 And Tony's a-- he's a special player.
05:19 And he's a top player in the country.
05:22 All right.
05:22 Thanks, Owen.
05:23 All right.
05:23 Thanks, guys.
05:23 Thanks, Owen.