Bruce Thornton and Jamison Battle on a Coaching Transition and Win vs. Purdue
Ohio State's Bruce Thornton and Jamison Battle speak on their mentality and a coaching change from Holtmann to Diebler.
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00:00 >> I think the biggest thing was just us collectively just coming together as a team
00:03 and just within that adversity, growing closer and just staying present the moment.
00:08 I think that's something I've talked about this whole year.
00:11 And not letting the past affect us and not letting what's in the future affect us,
00:14 just staying present the moment, focusing on each day.
00:17 We had three really good days of prep this week and then it showed on the court and
00:20 we just went out there, had fun and just cut loose.
00:23 >> This one though, my heart is, my weirdest, most dramatic time being
00:29 a college basketball player just last past week.
00:31 Not normally when your head coach get five million a season and
00:35 you've been playing probably the most.
00:37 Probably be number one seed probably in March Madness coming up soon.
00:42 But I just told our guys about what we got right now.
00:45 Things happening, college basketball is a business.
00:47 So we just took every day, one day at a time, three days out.
00:51 We won that day, two days out.
00:53 We won practice another day.
00:55 We kept doing that and then getting up to the game,
00:56 you just see your teammates with confidence, with swagging about them.
01:00 That doesn't matter who we play.
01:02 We're gonna show how to play house, they basketball, we showed it tonight.
01:06 >> What did it feel like then to get to celebrate on the court,
01:08 fans rushing, just all of that after all you went through this week?
01:12 >> I mean, it feels great, man, especially seeing your teammates,
01:16 coaching staff, Buckeye Nation all coming together.
01:20 Seeing the smile on everybody's faces, that's all college basketball is all about.
01:23 But when the adrenaline starts rushing, everything hurting right now.
01:26 So that's why I'm trying to just think,
01:30 just figure out what I'm trying to say next because I'm just really excited for
01:33 my teammates.
01:35 I'm so proud of them.
01:37 When I ask for them, they always come forward and
01:41 bring their best each and every day and they bring me confidence.
01:44 Also my coaching staff, so I'm really proud of them guys.
01:47 I'm glad that we get a result that we wanted,
01:49 we've been working on for a long time now.
01:52 And another one coming up next.
01:54 >> Bruce, you've played with Zed now for two seasons.
01:56 Have you ever seen him play defensively like he did today?
01:59 >> No.
02:01 >> [LAUGH]
02:03 >> But at the end of the day,
02:04 I know we know what Zed is capable of doing.
02:07 I'm saying we know that he's capable of doing a lot of things at a very high level.
02:12 That's why I hope recruiting him, that's why he's still here for
02:15 the past four years, because we know what he can possibly do.
02:17 And he showed it tonight.
02:18 We didn't know that he can't BS us no more.
02:22 So we know what he really can do.
02:23 Especially probably the number one in the country.
02:26 So I'm really proud of how Zed played offensively, especially defensively.
02:30 Like how he's standing.
02:31 If he keeps playing like that, it'll be a very good team down the stretch.
02:34 >> And then Jameson, for you, just a couple of slow starts the last couple of games.
02:38 Scoreless in the first half without trouble.
02:40 What was the turning point for you?
02:41 I think you had three threes in like 61 seconds.
02:44 What was that sequence like for you?
02:45 >> Yeah, I think, I'm gonna say it again, it's just staying present at the moment,
02:48 not worrying about what's happened in the past.
02:50 You pick up three fouls, you sit in the first half, it's all right.
02:53 Come on, it's like I have this new opportunity.
02:55 And within that, my teammates have the utmost trust in me.
02:58 I have the utmost confidence in myself shooting.
03:00 And they showed that today, finding me in those three threes.
03:03 And then in that, you get a little heat check too.
03:06 But in the end, it's just consistently going out there and playing basketball and
03:10 consistently trying to find the best looks for you and
03:13 trying to just be at your best when you're best is required.
03:15 >> 14, you guys had 22 points off turnovers.
03:19 Just what was making the difference for you guys defensively?
03:22 And then creating off and off?
03:25 >> We just couldn't give EDD any easy looks.
03:28 He's seven-four over 300 pounds.
03:31 You know what I'm saying?
03:31 It's not easy.
03:32 So we had to throw bodies and make sure we came with our hands every time he
03:37 closed up, make sure we closed out the shooters appropriately.
03:40 Cuz they got Rick Jones and Will Smith and
03:42 a lawyer, they got good shooters around the floor.
03:45 So we made sure we had multiple efforts on the floor.
03:47 And every time EDD put the ball down, we were swiping at him each and
03:51 every time, and he's done an amazing job today.
03:53 Him and Felix did a great job, everybody else helping out,
03:57 making sure he don't get his brothers, and do their side and things like that.
04:02 And then they, it was all just a team effort defensively.
04:05 I feel like we had a shot from the beginning.
04:06 >> What was important for closing this game out?
04:08 I mean, obviously, that's something you guys struggled with this year, and
04:11 this was arguably the toughest game you've had to close out against another two
04:14 season country.
04:15 How long do you need to have a stretch?
04:17 >> I just feel like you just see this, we didn't hit the brakes.
04:22 We kept going, shot a transition three.
04:25 Everybody probably think it was a bad shot, but
04:26 that's what we worked on each and every day.
04:28 I felt comfortable, because we would have hit it then.
04:29 You know what I'm saying?
04:31 It depends how you look at it, but we just played with an attitude.
04:36 And we ran up and down the high practice in the last few days,
04:39 very fast pace, up and down.
04:40 And we trust God to hit them from three to transition.
04:43 I did, Jameson, Scotty, to have almost confidence in them, and why not?
04:48 We were open, let it fly.
04:50 >> Yeah, Jameson, how would you describe what Coach Deboer did this week,
04:55 the last few days, to just really lead and get you guys ready for today?
05:01 >> Yeah, I think that's the thing, was he does super well.
05:03 And that's the guy who recruited me and brought me here, obviously with hope.
05:06 And just putting the trust in him, just because I know he knows each and
05:10 every one of us has that type of relationship with us.
05:13 But what he did in practice today, just that intensity that he brings,
05:15 it's just that's who he is.
05:17 So we changed a little bit of things up with the pace and
05:19 urgency in practice to replicate who he is as a coach.
05:23 And I think that really helped us and gave us that feeling that we gotta go out here
05:27 and give it our all every single play regardless.
05:29 And he talked about guys are gonna be in and out, because if you're playing hard,
05:33 you're gonna need blows, you're gonna need subs.
05:34 So just having that urgency, having that pace, having that presence of just going up
05:38 and down, going fast, and just having that edge,
05:41 having that attitude that Bruce talked about is something that we kinda emulated
05:44 these last few days in practice.
05:46 >> Bruce, as a point guard, was the message to you any different from coach?
05:49 What did he push you to do today?
05:51 >> I was just trying to make sure I'm at my best mentally.
05:55 This week was a crazy week, like I said.
05:57 So mentally, that was the biggest focus for us, I'm saying,
06:00 especially college basketball.
06:02 It's a business, especially with NIL.
06:04 So I'm trying to tell my teammates, also myself, things happen.
06:08 It's life.
06:09 We experienced it firsthand that each and every day,
06:12 you're gonna have to get better.
06:13 You really gotta almost put it to the side almost.
06:16 And it's hard to do, you know what I'm saying?
06:18 It's just a weird time, but we found a way.
06:22 And I feel like this is how life is.
06:24 As a man, you just gotta keep going forward when things not going your way.
06:27 And each and every day, we kept putting in work.
06:29 We had to trust my teammates.
06:31 We had a phone, playing a game that we also absolutely loved since a young age.
06:34 So I feel like this game, I feel like all our frustration, all the attitude,
06:38 all that swagger that we have on us, we showed today, and we have to win today.
06:42 >> And Bruce, big win today, but at this point in the season,
06:47 you guys know that basically the margin for error at this point is zero.
06:50 So big, big win, but how do you build on this going towards the next semifinal?
06:55 >> Just had the same mentality, the same attitude we had today.
06:58 You've seen how players play today with the swagger,
07:01 with the confidence about themselves that it doesn't matter who we play, home or
07:05 away, we're gonna show everybody how we play at Hofstra basketball.
07:09 And especially having Buckeye Nation right behind us, our coaches,
07:12 our teammates, being on one another each and every day.
07:15 There's no better feeling when you have that supporting cast that doesn't matter
07:19 what shot you take, they believe in it.
07:21 They believe in every stop that we're gonna get.
07:23 So when you have that supporting cast behind you, I feel like anything can happen.
07:27 >> And I know, Coach, do you have a relationship with them too?
07:30 It was a big reason that you're here as well.
07:32 Was he any different today as the head coach and
07:34 the assistant, just scooting the chair over before the game, after the game?
07:38 And how do you think he did?
07:39 >> All right, man, he did a great job, especially preparing us.
07:42 He was excited that his hands were shaking.
07:45 >> [LAUGH] >> I see that.
07:47 I have the deferred media, but he was just excited, man.
07:50 His dream one day to be a head coach again.
07:53 He had a power, coaching the players that he recruited and that he absolutely loved.
07:57 So us players just know what he wanna accomplish in life.
08:02 And also we wanna accomplish the things that we wanna do in this season,
08:05 cuz our season's not over yet.
08:06 Even though the margin is small, we still gonna have that same swagger,
08:09 same confidence about us that doesn't matter who we play next.
08:12 If they don't get it, then after that, we're gonna keep rolling.
08:14 >> Bruce, you were talking about Friday's three, and if that goes in,
08:20 what happens?
08:22 How much is that the fine margins of a season?
08:25 Because throughout the year, you guys had opportunities to hit those shots.
08:29 Sometimes they go, sometimes they don't.
08:31 Maybe you need it, but is that the example that you're talking about,
08:34 of those fine margins and the difference between winning and losing, especially?
08:38 >> Definitely.
08:39 The back row, she said Friday, I missed to make that shot, it's different.
08:43 But what happens if J-Mo doesn't get on a hit three, three, zero?
08:48 What happens if DB didn't hit the three, I kicked out two, and
08:51 if he didn't, then guard him.
08:52 So things can happen, but you don't play basketball with regret.
08:56 At the end of the day, DB and
08:57 the whole coaching staff said just play with confidence.
08:59 Y'all put in the work in for three days, why not shoot them shots that we've been
09:03 working on nonstop for multiple hours throughout the day?
09:05 And we put in work before practice, after practice.
09:08 Why not shoot them shots?
09:09 And I have confidence in my teammates, we all do.
09:12 I feel like every time Jamie shoots you, Dale, Scottie, and
09:14 Rod, I feel like he's going in each and every time.
09:16 So I throw my hands up in the air, and
09:18 sometimes I just feel like he's going in every time you shoot him.
09:21 But that's just the confidence I have in myself,
09:22 that's the confidence that this team has.
09:24 The past couple, three days, and we're gonna keep that same confidence and move on.
09:29 >> The last two, Kelly in and then Steve.
09:31 >> We're gonna stay with this for both of you guys.
09:34 Stepping up as interim head coach at this point in the season is not easy.
09:37 Coach Deidler got a little bit emotional there at the end after this big win.
09:40 How happy are you guys for him to achieve this today?
09:43 >> Yeah, I think we're super happy for him, just because of the work he's put in,
09:47 the work he's put in as an assistant coach this week.
09:49 Everything that he's had to deal with.
09:51 And for him to come out here and be able to coach us and
09:53 lead us the way he did is pretty special.
09:56 And I think that shows what kind of coach he is and
09:58 what kind of coach he's turning to be in the future.
10:01 So I think for him, that's the least we could do to go out here and
10:03 finish the season out for him and finish the season out for each other.
10:06 I think that's what our goal is and that's what we're gonna do.
10:08 >> I just know, Dave, a lot of decision making,
10:12 that being a head coach now, unless you don't do it as an assistant coach.
10:16 Just knowing a lot of phone calls, a lot of people you have to contact just to make
10:20 sure that he's okay, cuz he's stepping in a new role,
10:23 especially the type of season we're having.
10:25 Especially the Purdue game that we had coming up.
10:28 So he's trying to make sure that all situated and make sure us play it mentally.
10:31 Our mental state was the biggest thing this whole week.
10:34 To make sure we had a clear mind, cuz you really can't do nothing in life if you got
10:39 so much things cluttered in your mind, some other distractions.
10:42 But he made sure we had a clear mind.
10:43 When we started practice, that's the only thing that we need to worry about.
10:47 And it shows today, man, we thought practice was chaotic at times.
10:52 We're like, bro, what are we doing?
10:53 But we just trust in what he did and his process and we got the win today.
10:57 >> Appreciate what you did.
10:58 >> Give me some next stretch, three three-pointers.
11:00 It was a three-point game.
11:02 In about a minute, you hit the three three-pointers in a row,
11:05 one of them after a timeout.
11:07 A couple steals on defense for your guys.
11:09 And Mahaffey, I think, had an offensive rebound and pitched it out.
11:12 I think of one of them.
11:14 Those are all team plays, even though you gave credit for putting them in.
11:18 Just how are all five guys connected in that one-minute stretch?
11:22 And that really turned the momentum of the game a couple.
11:25 >> No, like you said, the play that Evan made, I think he made two plays.
11:27 He had the offensive rebound and then there was one where he tipped one out and
11:30 it went out to the side.
11:31 And I think me and both, me both and Evan went for it.
11:34 And then Evan may have been out of bounds if we're looking at it.
11:37 But he got it out and then we pushed it on the break.
11:39 And then that's Evan.
11:41 That's not me.
11:42 I made the shot, but in the end, Evan was the catalyst for that,
11:46 both of those shots.
11:47 And I think that's what it is for us, is understanding that no matter who gets
11:50 the credit, everyone's gonna put in the work, everyone's gonna put in the time,
11:53 everyone's gonna do the little things.
11:54 And if we do that, stay consistent with that, stay true to that,
11:56 and make sure that we're always connected.
11:59 There's a lot of things that we can accomplish,
12:02 even though there's X amount of games left in the season.
12:05 >> Thanks a lot.
12:06 >> Thank you.