Fran McCaffery 121023
Iowa basketball coach interview
Transcript
00:00 All right, Grant, any questions for Coach?
00:04 Fran, some more offensive lows today.
00:07 Would you just say it's kind of been the same issues
00:10 or something different today?
00:13 You know, I thought our offense itself was better.
00:16 I thought the guys were really cutting hard, screening,
00:20 moving without the ball.
00:22 We couldn't get anything to drop in that first half.
00:24 I mean, we go one for 15 to start the game from three.
00:27 That's going to make it really hard.
00:29 Made a couple at the end.
00:31 But we had good shooters with open shots,
00:33 and they just didn't go in.
00:34 And that, you know, puts all the pressure on your defense.
00:38 You guys started the Big Ten 0-3 last season
00:40 and turned it around.
00:42 Just what all, I guess, changed then,
00:45 and how do you kind of try to apply that again to this?
00:48 You know, you just have to stay positive.
00:49 You know, I'm not in there yelling at anybody.
00:53 I'm encouraging guys.
00:55 I mean, we've got some young guys that are talented.
00:59 At times, they played a little tentative today.
01:00 I don't want that.
01:02 I want them to just hoop and trust your talent
01:04 and go make plays.
01:07 And I think they'll get better at that.
01:12 Again, you know, we were a little better today.
01:14 We weren't as good as we needed to be.
01:16 But we will -- I think we'll get there, you know, with this group.
01:20 You know, I like the depth.
01:23 I think we have enough shooting.
01:24 There's been some games where we haven't shot it well.
01:27 I think it's obvious.
01:28 But I do think we have enough shooting and that will come around.
01:30 The issues of shooting, is that just basketball?
01:33 That just comes down to basketball?
01:34 Yeah, you know, we had an opportunity in the first half
01:38 to get a little bit of a lead, you know, with some open looks.
01:41 You know, our defense was pretty good to start the game.
01:46 It was not good to start the second half, but it was pretty good.
01:49 You know, the zone was good to us for a while.
01:52 But, you know, the rebounding wasn't great.
01:55 They're big.
01:57 And Owen got in foul trouble.
01:59 But he'll learn, he'll grow from that.
02:02 What does Owen bring you when you start the game?
02:06 Well, especially when you're playing a team like –
02:09 that's built like Michigan's, you know,
02:11 and we're probably going to see a lot more of that,
02:15 a more traditional, maybe two posts.
02:20 Owen was – he can also play in the perimeter,
02:24 but he's a post up guy, big strong guy.
02:26 And they got a number of guys like that.
02:27 So, you know, Moose Bennett at a four spot.
02:32 Didn't help, like I said, didn't help Owen.
02:33 He picked one up early.
02:35 I don't know if that made him a little tentative.
02:37 I said just play.
02:38 And then when he got his third, I left him in there.
02:41 So, you know, I think for him, just having that experience to start
02:48 and go against a veteran team and kind of figure it out,
02:53 play through his mistakes, he'll get better.
02:57 After the first – you scored the first two baskets of the second half.
03:01 Why – or what were the primary reasons things unraveled after that?
03:05 Well, they – we had a fast break opportunity, we didn't score.
03:08 They come down and hit a three.
03:10 You know, they settled down and they got a seven or eight right away.
03:18 And, you know, the game was pretty physical at that point.
03:25 And we just got a little sideways.
03:29 Two more questions.
03:32 Alright, thanks guys.
03:33 Thanks guys.
03:36 [BLANK_AUDIO]