Fran McCaffery Rutgers 1624
Iowa coach Fran McCaffery Interview
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SportsTranscript
00:00 - Coach, questions for coach.
00:02 - Fran, 127 Big Ten wins,
00:06 you're now the all-time leader at Iowa.
00:08 Thoughts on that tenure year,
00:10 the accomplishment that that is?
00:13 - Well, you know, to be truthful,
00:14 I think the most important thing was,
00:16 you know, getting the team ready to play today
00:19 and being a really good team,
00:21 getting our first Big Ten win this year.
00:23 You know Rutgers is gonna keep making runs back at you.
00:29 You know, but you guys know me,
00:31 I don't really think too much about wins.
00:35 You know, I always kind of find it interesting,
00:36 you know, they talk about, I have this many wins.
00:39 I didn't play anybody, you know, Iowa won those games.
00:44 You know, I do think,
00:47 you know, when something like that happens,
00:52 you think about the journey a little bit.
00:58 You know, when we first came here, you know,
01:01 I just remember, you know, me and Andrew
01:07 and Jerry Strom and Shelly,
01:12 it was just trying to figure it all out.
01:15 You know, and I had incredible support of my family.
01:18 My wife, I wouldn't be here with any wins,
01:22 one for her and support of my family.
01:25 And to have been able to enjoy some of those victories
01:28 with my boys, not the least of which
01:31 was the Big Ten Championship a couple years ago.
01:34 But then, you know, you think about your staff
01:37 and the guys that helped you, you know,
01:38 guys like, you know, when I hired Sherman Kirk,
01:41 you know, then Courtney and Billy and Al,
01:44 you think about your staff and things like that.
01:47 But, you know, I prefer not to really make a big deal
01:50 of what my one loss record is
01:53 because I came here to Coast University of Iowa
01:57 and we try to win.
01:58 - You led 19 to five.
01:59 How pleasing was it to see the quick start?
02:01 - Well, especially at the defensive end, Pat,
02:03 I thought, you know, we were really good.
02:05 And this is a very athletic team.
02:07 They drive the ball.
02:08 You know, we clearly were concerned with Cliff.
02:11 You know, he's a handful, not only on a screen role,
02:13 but on an offensive rebounding situation.
02:16 He's a threat to get it and dunk it
02:17 pretty much every time the shot goes.
02:19 So I thought we did a good job with Tim,
02:20 really proud of Owen.
02:23 - Speaking of that start,
02:24 it just kind of seemed like your guys
02:25 had a little bit more energy, effort in today's game.
02:29 Did you notice a difference there?
02:32 - Well, you know, you're at home, you know,
02:33 we lost the other night.
02:34 We turned the ball over the other night
02:37 and got beat on the glass and fouled too much, you know?
02:40 So those are the things we addressed all week.
02:42 And, you know, I think the guys were locked in to be better.
02:45 We said, you know, we did some good things at Wisconsin.
02:48 We got a lead, you know, we hung in there for a while.
02:51 You know, some guys played well,
02:53 but to win in this league, you need more.
02:58 And we had more today.
02:59 - They got going at the end of the first half
03:01 and you guys kind of came out,
03:02 matched them in the second half.
03:03 - Yeah, I was really disappointed with the end of the half.
03:05 You get the ball back with 21 seconds,
03:06 you got to take the last shot, you know?
03:08 And we turned the ball over and then they hit a three.
03:10 I mean, it's not the first time that's happened this year.
03:14 So I wasn't real happy at halftime
03:15 about that aspect of the first half.
03:20 To their credit, they responded.
03:21 You know, I challenged them and they responded in a big way.
03:25 Our offense was really good.
03:26 We're trading there for a minute, you can't trade,
03:28 but then I think our defense,
03:30 midway through the second half was really good.
03:33 - Peyton had 24, eight at 12 from the field,
03:36 five of eight from three.
03:37 Just what did you see out of him
03:38 in being able to put up those numbers?
03:40 - Well, he was really moving without the ball, you know,
03:42 'cause they guard him closely.
03:44 So he's got to, you know, a couple of things have to happen.
03:47 He's got to move without it.
03:48 We've got to screen for him
03:49 and we've got to find him in transition
03:50 and make sure we get him open shot opportunities.
03:53 And then we post him once in a while.
03:54 You know, we forget he's,
03:55 you think of him as a jump shooter,
03:56 but he's, you know, he's six foot seven.
03:58 So you can post him up as well.
03:59 - You look at Patrick, wasn't able to go.
04:04 Is that something that just kind of crept up on him?
04:06 And how did you guys compensate for that?
04:07 - Yeah, you know, he wasn't feeling good.
04:10 So we decided not to go with him and he really couldn't go.
04:13 So I felt it was a great opportunity for Josh Dix.
04:17 He's been practicing incredibly well.
04:20 He's been solid on the court.
04:22 But like to think about the other night,
04:23 he didn't play that much and he deserves to play more.
04:26 And I thought he was terrific today.
04:28 - I was gonna say, did you like how he responded?
04:29 - Yeah.
04:30 The thing about Josh is, you know,
04:31 he doesn't have to score to be effective.
04:33 He's a really good defender.
04:35 He can enter the offense.
04:36 He can play the off guard position.
04:37 He can, we can switch with him.
04:38 He can play one, two, three, four.
04:40 And, and he can score, you know, which he did today.
04:45 - Do you expect Patrick to be back for next Friday?
04:47 - I do.
04:48 - Yeah.
04:49 - Well, wait, I think he had four and ones today.
04:52 Screaming a little bit.
04:53 They're gonna celebrate with the guys.
04:55 Does that do a little bit more for, for, I don't know,
04:58 energy on the court too?
04:59 - Oh, there's no question.
05:00 You know, I just keep telling him to trust his talent.
05:02 I mean, he's really good.
05:04 And, you know, I just,
05:06 I never want him to be tentative about anything.
05:08 Screen, roll, dunk, dribble the ball up the floor.
05:10 The one time he gets depressed, here he comes.
05:13 And he picked his dribble up over the half court line
05:16 to look for somebody else.
05:16 I said, what'd you stop for?
05:17 Keep going.
05:19 You know, he can get all the way to the rim
05:20 and dunk it in transition.
05:22 And so I think the more and more opportunities he has
05:27 to make those kinds of plays, more confidence he'll get.
05:30 - Where have you seen Owen's biggest, last question,
05:32 improvements over the course of the last few weeks?
05:34 Especially--
05:35 - He's just really comfortable with what we're doing.
05:37 You know, in the beginning, everything's new.
05:39 The opponent's new, the scouting's different.
05:41 The physicality's different.
05:43 And just understanding situations.
05:47 Okay, are we milking clock?
05:49 Are we going quick?
05:50 Time and score?
05:52 Do we have a foul to give?
05:53 You know, are we in the bonus?
05:54 And we were in a double bonus with seven minutes to go.
05:57 So another reason why I was upset about the end,
05:59 put the ball on the floor and go,
06:00 'cause they're gonna foul.
06:02 So, yeah, we'll learn from that.
06:04 - Rutgers easily leads the Big 10
06:06 in the fewest points a game allowed.
06:08 How do you enforce your game onto a defense that's not?
06:13 - I think it starts with our ability to play defense
06:16 so we can get out in transition
06:17 and have opportunities there.
06:19 But the other thing is moving the ball side to side
06:22 and mixing up penetration, post feeds, screening action.
06:27 I thought we did a really good 17 assists,
06:29 so I thought the guys really moved and shared the ball.
06:31 - All right, thanks guys. - Thanks guys.
06:33 - Thanks.
06:33 (footsteps)