Payton Sandfort Interview
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00:00 How are you feeling right now?
00:02 Pretty good.
00:03 I'm just glad to be able to do something.
00:05 It's crazy no other Hawkeyes done it.
00:07 Well, I mean, I see Kaitlin do it every day,
00:09 but it takes some of the legitimacy of it.
00:12 But I mean, I'm pretty proud.
00:13 Being from the state, it's a pretty special thing
00:15 to be the first one.
00:16 What's your favorite number of the three?
00:20 Honestly, I've never shot probably more than 10 free
00:23 throws in a game in my life.
00:24 So I think I shot 19.
00:26 That's pretty cool.
00:27 But the assists, I mean, that was just Josh Dix.
00:29 It was easy.
00:30 I was just throwing him the ball, and he made everything.
00:33 I think you had eight at halftime.
00:35 Did you know that you were on triple-double watch going
00:37 into the second half?
00:38 No, I didn't really know it until--
00:40 I thought I was close to a double-double,
00:42 because I told one of our coaches
00:43 I was going to get 10 rebounds before the game.
00:45 And then he's like, hey, one more rebound.
00:47 I'm like, all right, I got you.
00:49 He's like, no, get one more rebound.
00:51 I'm like, all right.
00:54 I mean, when Baldwin missed that free throw,
00:59 when he went to the line, was this just firmly in your mind?
01:05 He's going to miss.
01:05 Get the rebound.
01:06 No, I mean, he's like 90% free throw shooter.
01:08 And we've really struggled lately
01:10 getting free throw rebounds.
01:12 So I was just doing everything I could
01:13 to make sure we got the ball and finished out the game.
01:15 And then I think I realized it once they fouled,
01:18 and that was a pretty good feeling.
01:21 Great players have come through here.
01:23 I mean, you could list however many,
01:24 but you are the first to get a triple-double.
01:27 I guess putting that into context,
01:29 what does it mean to you?
01:30 I mean, it's pretty special.
01:31 Growing up watching so many great players
01:34 and playing with so many great players,
01:36 J-Bo and Keegan and Chris, and watching Luka and Weezy,
01:40 all those guys.
01:41 I mean, to be the first one is a pretty special feeling.
01:43 But honestly, it means nothing if we
01:46 can't get these last two wins and do something as a team.
01:49 That's kind of where your legacy is left.
01:51 And that's where my head's been at the whole year.
01:53 And I think, thinking back to the last three years
01:55 of talking to you, you've always kind of
01:56 wanted to showcase yourself as more than a shooter.
01:59 I mean, I guess going into--
02:00 I mean, just with the performance tonight,
02:02 you think you've kind of-- and your play
02:03 over the last couple months, you think
02:04 you've really kind of solidified your case
02:06 that you're more than just a guy that can sit on the printer
02:08 and make threes.
02:09 Yeah, for sure.
02:09 I mean, lately I really haven't been shooting the ball
02:13 all that well from three.
02:14 But I'm still getting to the foul line.
02:16 I've been getting to the mid-range
02:17 and making plays for my teammates.
02:18 I think I'm just out there kind of playing free,
02:20 and that's a good feeling to run up and down
02:22 and try and make plays defensively.
02:25 Honestly, I'm most proud of the way that I've guarded this year.
02:28 And at times, I've had a couple of breakdowns.
02:31 But I've really been able to showcase that end of the floor.
02:33 I think I had three blocks tonight.
02:35 So that's been where I'm most proud of,
02:37 and where I've worked the hardest in the off-season,
02:39 and just watching a ton of film, trying to get better.
02:42 And it's a struggle at times to close people out.
02:44 You had that big three late.
02:46 Just walk me through that one.
02:47 Yeah.
02:49 Their press is tough.
02:50 And if you can beat it up, or blow it up,
02:53 then you have stuff on the back line.
02:55 Laji threw me that deep ball for a wide open layup,
02:57 and Josh kind of threw it over the top.
02:59 And I've just stepped up and shoot it.
03:02 And I've had a tough time.
03:05 Late games, you're trying to stay in rhythm.
03:07 Hadn't really hit that many shots,
03:09 but I just kind of stayed confident and just let it fly.
03:11 And that felt good.
03:13 You had three blocks tonight.
03:15 Can you just describe the type of passion
03:17 and how hard you try to work on your defense side of the ball?
03:20 Yeah, I mean, this off-season, I talked to the coaches,
03:23 talked to a bunch of people.
03:24 If I wanted to continue my career and improve as a player,
03:27 I had to be on that end of the floor.
03:29 And I did a ton of jump rope.
03:31 I did a bunch of drills, played one-on-one with Tony
03:34 all the time, trying to get better.
03:35 He's one of the fastest guys you go against.
03:37 And that's definitely where my pride is.
03:40 And I'm trying to showcase that for just shut up
03:45 the haters, kind of.
03:46 And that's kind of--
03:48 I'm really proud of myself for the way
03:49 that I've been down there.
03:50 And obviously, teams are still going to score.
03:52 There's really good players at this level.
03:53 But I'm doing everything I can to make it tough on them.
03:56 Do you feel like you guys are still getting better?
03:58 And how do you kind of try to close that gap
04:00 this last little bit of the season?
04:02 Yeah, absolutely.
04:04 We were 5 and 5.
04:04 And we've just gotten blown out twice and maybe even three
04:09 times.
04:09 And it wasn't a good feeling.
04:11 But since then, nobody's blown us out.
04:13 Nobody's come in and dominated us.
04:15 Every game, it feels like we've had a chance to get a big win.
04:18 And we've had a lot of leads.
04:20 I think where we can improve as a team right now
04:22 is closing those leads.
04:23 And we did an OK job tonight.
04:25 I think we can still improve.
04:26 But we're going to go on the road Saturday.
04:29 We're going to be in the game.
04:30 And we've got to step up and make those plays
04:33 down the stretch.
04:34 I think if we can do that, that's
04:36 where we can make a jump and continue
04:38 to play in the postseason.
04:39 Because like I said, nobody's been dominating us at all.
04:41 We've looked at the box.
04:44 That's the weirdest box.
04:45 I mean, your IQ was 3 for 11 from today, maybe.
04:47 And you had 26 passes.
04:50 Your previous high three throw attempts was 7.
04:52 Yeah, that's what I thought.
04:52 I didn't think I'd shot 10 before.
04:54 Your previous high assists were 6 or 6 to 10.
04:57 Where did this come from?
04:59 How can you--
05:01 I don't know.
05:02 I guess you haven't said the 10 assists.
05:04 You had it in the first half.
05:05 Like I said, it was just Josh Dix.
05:09 I mean, it wasn't like I made maybe a couple of cool passes.
05:12 But most part, I was just giving him the ball.
05:15 Peyton, I think it was eight minutes to one minute left.
05:18 I think Penn State went on like a 14 to 5 run.
05:21 You mentioned finishing games and closing things out.
05:25 I guess, is there something you can pinpoint
05:28 as to why the offense maybe struggles over that stretch,
05:32 or how you can fix that issue?
05:33 I think we just get too stagnant.
05:35 We kind of go away from our motion too much.
05:38 I think everyone maybe gets a little tense.
05:39 But that's going to happen.
05:41 And I think where we had to improve
05:43 is getting stops, which we got a fair amount of stops
05:46 down the stretch to stay in it.
05:47 In Illinois, it seemed something like we couldn't get a stop.
05:50 When we played at Penn State, at Maryland,
05:52 we couldn't get a stop when we weren't scoring.
05:54 So that's where our improvement has to happen.
05:56 Because our offense is so good getting defensive rebounds
05:59 and pushing it.
06:00 And if we're not getting stops, I mean, you're slow.
06:03 You have to play in the half court.
06:04 And it's going to be a lot harder, especially
06:06 against Big 10 defenses.
06:08 Patrick was talking about the urgency.
06:10 He felt like you guys played with tonight.
06:13 Why do you think that was?
06:14 And how do you try to sustain that?
06:16 Yeah.
06:17 I think it's something-- we've been doing a lot better.
06:19 The whole thing this season is playing 40 minutes,
06:22 because we've had great stretches.
06:24 But we've never really put together a complete game.
06:27 And we kind of know what's at stake.
06:30 We know what we have to do.
06:31 And everybody's bought in.
06:33 I think that's a special thing about this team.
06:35 And I'm proud of everybody.
06:36 And this starts in practice Thursday.
06:38 We've got to be ready to go again Saturday.
06:40 And I know we will be, because we've got good guys.
06:43 We've got winners.
06:43 And we're going to find a way.
06:45 Have you thought about this season--
06:46 Last question.
06:47 Also, there's a lot of pressure.
06:48 Have you thought about this season as a leader?
06:50 You probably hoped you would be in this position, right?
06:52 With a week to go in the season, you've
06:54 got still a lot-- everything to play for, really.
06:57 Absolutely.
06:58 I mean, even two weeks ago, we go on the road
07:01 and lose to Maryland.
07:02 And you kind of look at the schedule ahead.
07:04 You try not to look at it in whole.
07:07 But I mean, you see what's coming.
07:08 You see Wisconsin.
07:09 You see at Michigan State, at Illinois.
07:10 And we've been 3-1 in the stretch.
07:12 We've played some really good ball.
07:13 And this is everything we could ask for.
07:15 That's why you've got to show up to practice.
07:17 You've got to work as hard as you ever have,
07:18 because this is what we've worked for.
07:20 We've given ourselves a chance.
07:21 And that's what I'm proud of everybody for.
07:23 And everybody's came together.
07:25 Guys that aren't playing, I mean,
07:27 they're working their butt off in practice.
07:29 So this is a total team effort.
07:30 And we know what's at stake.
07:32 And we're going to find a way.