Fran McCaffery Interview 2224
Iowa Basketball Press Conference
Transcript
00:00 [BLANK_AUDIO]
00:06 All right, coach is gonna open with a brief statement.
00:10 >> Obviously a big win for our program, but I say this every year at this time,
00:15 not the most important thing that's happened on our campus.
00:19 The group of students that participate in Dance Marathon,
00:24 it's one of the most impressive things I've seen.
00:28 I've been actively involved with them a number of times,
00:32 they're gonna raise well over a million dollars every year.
00:36 And it's a year long process that they commit to.
00:40 And it's impressive and it speaks to the character of our student body.
00:46 And so I'm proud to commend them on the job that they do and
00:52 continue to encourage them to make a difference.
00:57 I think everybody knows it's incredibly important to me and my family.
01:02 [BLANK_AUDIO]
01:05 >> Can you just, the strategy to foul kind of toward the end,
01:08 can you just walk me through that?
01:09 >> Yeah, that's a tough one because you don't wanna really start fouling.
01:13 It was 21.5 when I got the ball back.
01:15 I was hoping it would get to under 10, Lodgy fouled with 13.5.
01:20 I think that was the right move because when I'm pulling up,
01:23 shooting a three, or all of a sudden somebody gets hung up on a screen,
01:27 they kick it and the guy shoots a three.
01:28 And you're putting pressure on them to make free throws.
01:31 But by the same token, if you foul three times,
01:33 then you're putting pressure on your own team to continue to make free throws.
01:36 Luckily, we made five out of six.
01:38 Really proud of those guys, Patrick and Peyton.
01:41 So I just didn't want them coming down and knocking a three in there,
01:47 especially when you got battle.
01:49 It's one of the best three point shooters in the country.
01:51 >> Patrick said he knew all four were going in.
01:52 Were you that confident?
01:53 >> I felt pretty confident.
01:56 I'm glad he knew what she would have told me.
01:58 >> [LAUGH]
02:01 >> Patrick has had his struggles this
02:02 season, but to see him step to the line and make all four, how big was that for
02:07 you guys?
02:08 >> Well, it's interesting because when he sprained his ankle in the Nebraska game,
02:14 we've talked about it, it was a bad one.
02:16 And his foot is still purple, and it stayed swollen for a long time.
02:22 And he came back and he tried to help us in a couple games.
02:25 I don't think he was 100%, but he tried to give us some quality minutes.
02:28 I asked him if he wanted to take one more game off and
02:31 really could grind with his rehab.
02:35 Because if he did, then we don't play till Thursday.
02:37 He said, no, I'm ready.
02:38 He said, I didn't play well in the Indiana game, but I felt okay.
02:46 And the other thing is, when you're out,
02:48 you lose some of your conditioning as well.
02:51 So sometimes it's more that than it is the injury itself.
02:54 So he's really been working on his conditioning and his rehab.
02:58 And he was terrific tonight, gave us ten points off the bench,
03:01 really proud of him.
03:02 >> Grant Tony continues to impact in so many ways.
03:04 Is this just a senior rising to the challenge on a consistent basis?
03:08 >> Yeah, you know what, Pat?
03:11 His game continues to mature.
03:13 When he first got here, he was a junkyard dog.
03:18 And that's what we loved about him.
03:20 And that's why we recruited him.
03:22 Fearless guy.
03:23 I remember a couple guys hurt.
03:26 We go to Rutgers and put him in the game, hadn't played at all.
03:28 And he was just attacking and wreaking havoc on defense, flying around.
03:34 Probably wasn't even sure half of what we were doing, but
03:36 he was just that competitive.
03:39 And you can kind of see it coming.
03:41 And then of course, the following year, he's playing great.
03:43 And then we moved him into the starting lineup.
03:45 And we moved Bohannon back to the point.
03:46 And it helped us win a Big Ten championship.
03:51 And then last year, some games he was beyond spectacular.
03:57 A couple games he was off, but I think now what you're seeing is a confident guy
04:04 who knows what we want, who knows what he has to do to lead this team.
04:08 And his decision making is what you want from your leader,
04:14 from your point guard, from your senior.
04:15 And as you know, that settles everybody else down, right?
04:21 Okay, get it to Tony, everything's good.
04:25 And we didn't really run that much stuff other than try to get him space.
04:30 Because once he does, then breaks the defense down and
04:33 others have opportunity from there.
04:35 >> Fred, you guys outscored him in fast break, 17-0.
04:37 But it didn't seem like a lot of them were off turnovers.
04:40 Just seemed like you guys were rebounding, then running and gunning.
04:42 Just kind of describe how that really kind of kept you guys in it when things
04:45 were getting tough then.
04:46 >> Yeah, especially the start of the second half, we got some stops,
04:49 we got some run outs.
04:50 And it was a stretch where we weren't getting any rebounds.
04:52 And that's frustrating,
04:54 because the guys I thought were really working defensively.
04:56 But when we have an opportunity to run on misses,
05:01 it certainly is gonna be much more effective than we run on makes,
05:05 which we were doing as well.
05:06 And that was a big difference in the game,
05:08 because that settles everybody down.
05:10 You get really good shot opportunities and everybody gets involved.
05:14 >> What makes Josh so good in the mid range?
05:16 >> Josh is just a really good player.
05:19 I mean, he's got a mid range game, he can shoot to three and get to the rim.
05:21 He's athletic, he dunks the ball and a break the one time.
05:25 He doesn't make wrong decisions.
05:27 He turned the ball over to one time, but it was the right decision.
05:30 It got deflected.
05:31 Give them credit for that.
05:33 >> Transition defense, was that a focus tonight,
05:35 considering you had scored them 17-0 in transition?
05:37 >> Transition, and they'll push it.
05:40 Thornton's really quick and Gale's really quick.
05:43 But they are a set play team, so they are calling sets a lot.
05:47 And they're really tough to guard because they run terrific stuff.
05:50 Chris has always run terrific stuff.
05:52 And they go at different people.
05:53 So, you can't give up transition threes to battle and transition layups.
06:02 We pressed the one time at Thornton, took it all the way through.
06:05 That was unfortunate, but I thought our guys were locked into sprinting back,
06:10 facing up, and nobody jogs.
06:12 >> Does game golf do a really, really quick start?
06:14 Lodgy went in there, it just seemed like he really impacted the game defensively.
06:18 Rebounding really doesn't get moved by guys that appear to be bigger than them,
06:21 but it just seemed like he provides such a big boost for the team.
06:22 >> And he also got some traffic rebounds when we needed him.
06:26 He is a really good low post defender.
06:29 He is a really good ball screen defender.
06:33 And he's a really good traffic rebounder.
06:36 So that's a lot of value right there.
06:38 I'm really proud of him.
06:39 He played like a veteran tonight.
06:41 >> You feel like you've got a lot of guys trending in the right direction right now?
06:45 >> Yeah, I do.
06:46 And that's obviously what you hope.
06:48 You get to this point in the season.
06:49 But we have one, two, three, four guys in doubles.
06:55 Four other guys scored.
06:58 Brock comes in, gives us a lift.
07:01 Asante makes a great drive to the basket.
07:02 I feel bad for Owen.
07:06 He keeps getting in foul trouble, but when he was in there, he was good.
07:09 And it was good to see Ben get going a little bit.
07:13 He struggled in the last game, but he gave us eight, so eight and three assists for him.
07:19 >> Coach, you kind of just talked about how Owen was in foul trouble then.
07:22 Obviously, this wasn't Ben Kroege's best game.
07:25 He's had some really impactful games throughout the season, even at off game.
07:28 When you're two pretty big men just having an off game, what does that say about
07:32 the rest of the team just finding a way to get it done?
07:35 >> Well, I think it's important, and it's absolutely critical.
07:38 That means Peyton's gonna play some four.
07:41 And that's hard sometimes in this league, with the fours that are in this league.
07:46 And then obviously puts pressure on Lodgy, who we just discussed.
07:50 So you've gotta be able to stay the course and still win games.
07:56 If Ben's a little off and Owen's in foul trouble.
07:58 I mean, there's no other way.
08:00 If you don't do that, then you're not gonna win in this league.
08:03 >> Coach, Peyton Sanford was talking about the tough stretch of the Maryland game,
08:07 then the Indiana game.
08:08 How does it feel to just get a close one and to finish it out?
08:11 >> Yeah, I just have the feeling that a lot of games in this league this year
08:15 are gonna be like that.
08:16 I mean, you have some teams that have lost sort of a lot of games in a row.
08:20 But that's a really good team we just beat.
08:24 Chris has done a great job.
08:25 Indiana, same thing.
08:28 That game was into balance.
08:29 I mean, Maryland was into balance.
08:31 And it always hurts when you lose, but that's what you face.
08:36 I mean, there's no easy game in this league.
08:38 And you might have an outlier right now like Purdue.
08:45 Wisconsin's played really well.
08:46 Storrs made a big difference with the other guys they had back.
08:48 And Northwestern's playing at a high level, but they've got four losses.
08:54 They're really good.
08:55 So it's an even league with incredible parity.
08:59 You just kinda wanna stay healthy and you wanna keep grinding.
09:02 >> Last question.
09:03 Not just as a coach, but as a father to see Patrick in this time last season.
09:08 Now it's been rocky this season with him even being on the floor.
09:12 What has that been like as a father to watch?
09:14 >> Well, it's really important on so many different levels.
09:21 I mean, as a dad, you feel really good for him cuz you know what the journey's
09:24 been like.
09:25 I thought he was really turning a corner at the Nebraska game.
09:29 Then he gets hurt.
09:31 So you're dealing with a couple different things.
09:33 And then, okay, do I put him back in the starting lineup?
09:36 Do I bring him off the bench?
09:38 I felt it's better to bring him off the bench like we are and
09:43 bring experience and veteran leadership and intelligence and then some pop.
09:48 He'll get you some points cuz he's always talking out there.
09:52 He's always talking to the younger guys, what we're running, where to go,
09:54 how to line up.
09:56 Cuz when it gets in the flow, sometimes those young guys,
10:02 they're supposed to be in the center and they're not.
10:03 They run, they go the wrong way.
10:05 And all of a sudden, if you're watching, you can see that there's something wrong.
10:10 You don't know exactly what it is cuz you know what the play is, but
10:12 you can tell that it's not perfect.
10:15 So his value is so
10:19 immense in that respect when you have veteran guys like him.
10:22 But to see him make big free throws and just see him happy is a great feeling.
10:26 And I think it bodes well for our team.
10:28 Thanks, guys.
10:29 >> Thanks, Brad.
10:30 [BLANK_AUDIO]