Fran McCaffery Interview
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00:00 He's there.
00:02 [thud]
00:04 All right, go right to questions for Coach.
00:08 Brent, I take it you've had a second to look at postseason awards for Big Ten.
00:12 Any thoughts?
00:14 Just proud of our guys.
00:16 You know, well-represented, well-deserved.
00:21 Really impressed with Owen Freeman, obviously, being Rookie of the Year.
00:25 And, you know, obviously Tony and Peyton.
00:29 And, you know, Owen getting recognition for all-conference.
00:35 Proud of those guys.
00:36 When did you realize that Owen could have this type of freshman season?
00:41 Obviously you recruited him, you watched him bowling a lot,
00:43 but when did you maybe --
00:44 Well, you know, we recruited him as an impact player.
00:49 And, you know, when he committed to us, we were really excited,
00:53 felt very comfortable at that time that he was going to be immediately impactful.
00:59 And then, you know, like I've said before, in the summer when we started practicing,
01:03 it was -- you could see it last year, he had an unbelievable senior year
01:07 and then had a great summer, had a great trip overseas.
01:11 So not surprised.
01:13 Has there been anything about his game that has surprised you in this first season
01:18 in terms of development?
01:20 No, you know, he always had a skill set that translates well to this level
01:27 at his size.
01:28 He's got a great demeanor about him in terms of work ethic and preparation.
01:32 Very mature young guy.
01:36 That's sometimes the hardest part, just adjusting to the next level.
01:41 But he's done that extremely well.
01:44 I know it's cliche to say the sky's the limit for Owen, but there's more there.
01:49 Can you talk about that because I think he really is the star.
01:51 Yeah, he can shoot the ball.
01:53 And I think that's the next step for him.
01:56 You know, facing up at 17 feet, picking and popping, shooting threes.
02:02 We'll work with him on that.
02:03 And that will definitely help him, you know, with his pro career down the road.
02:07 You talk about after the Illinois game needing to be better at rebounding.
02:11 How much of that is effort and how much is that --
02:14 what else can you do to get guys to rebound better?
02:17 Offensive rebounding is really -- well, it's two things.
02:20 It's effort and instincts.
02:22 You have to have a sense, okay, it's a three, it's coming long, you know,
02:26 it's a floater, maybe it's coming a little short.
02:28 If it's coming from the left, it's probably going to end up on the right.
02:31 And you just got to -- you got to go every time.
02:34 And that was what was disappointing about that.
02:36 You know, clearly we struggled early.
02:38 We missed our first 11 shots.
02:40 So, you know, at some point you got to say, we got to go back and get some.
02:44 We got to put them back in there.
02:45 So, we'll be better.
02:47 What's different about Ohio State other than coaching, obviously?
02:52 They've won five of the last six, haven't they?
02:54 Yeah, they had some young guys progress.
02:58 You know, I think Royal and Middleton are really good players.
03:01 And they knew they were really good players.
03:04 But early on they weren't playing as much.
03:07 They were playing a fair amount.
03:09 They played more.
03:11 They're not playing like freshmen, those two guys.
03:14 So, that's been impressive.
03:17 You know, they were a relatively young team when you look at rosters today.
03:23 And so, I think all of those guys, whether it be the freshman
03:26 or the sophomore class, you know, has developed throughout the course of the season.
03:31 You know, when they were losing, you know, they weren't getting drilled.
03:35 You know, they were losing close games.
03:37 They were winning games, sometimes by a decent amount.
03:41 So, I think you looked at that roster coming into the season
03:44 and felt like they would be one of the better teams in our league.
03:48 What happens with players?
03:50 I mean, they lose their coach, the guy who presumably brought all of them in.
03:56 And things aren't going well.
03:58 And instead of going in the tank, they go the opposite direction.
04:02 Yeah.
04:05 You know, like I said, they weren't that far off.
04:09 You know, I think it was a little surprising.
04:13 You know, Jake's done a fabulous job.
04:15 You've got to give him credit.
04:17 You know, the staff stayed together.
04:19 You know, they haven't changed a whole lot in terms of what they're doing offensively,
04:23 what they're doing defensively.
04:25 But, you know, like I said, when I watched that team play, we beat them by two.
04:30 It wasn't like we beat them by 20.
04:33 You know, it was a good team that we beat at that time.
04:36 You know, they lost some games and, you know,
04:39 obviously made the decision to make the move.
04:43 Those kids, I think, you know, you look at, you know, Battle and Zed Key,
04:49 these are veteran guys.
04:50 You know, Thornton's one of the best players in our league.
04:53 Roddy Gale's tremendous.
04:55 I mean, they have a really good roster.
04:59 And, you know, everybody's seeing it now.
05:03 Can you recall when you guys won the whole thing in 2022?
05:07 Just what did you feel like went well during that Shester?
05:13 We had, I think, we had a talented roster with some veteran guys
05:22 that no one understood how to win.
05:25 So we played the game the right way.
05:28 You know, you're going to be in close games when you go to tournament play.
05:32 And we knew how to play close games and win close games.
05:37 The first game we played extremely well.
05:38 That helped.
05:40 And, you know, won that one pretty handily.
05:44 But after that you knew it was going to be what it was.
05:48 So just you go down there with a plan
05:52 and you trust your guys to do what they've always done, you know.
05:57 Bohannon was running the show and, you know, Keegan was --
06:01 Keegan set the record, and that's hard to do.
06:06 Guys like Patrick and Peyton who were around for that run.
06:11 Tony.
06:12 Tony.
06:13 How valuable is that this time around?
06:16 Well, they've been through it.
06:17 You know, they won the whole thing,
06:19 and then last year we lost in the first round in a very close game.
06:23 So they kind of know and understand what it's going to be like.
06:27 And hopefully they can convey some of that to the younger guys.
06:32 With the NCAA tournament bubble, there's a lot of talk of -- there's a lot of pressure,
06:36 a lot of talk of this team has to win or this team can't lose.
06:39 I'm assuming you don't want your guys to buy into that kind of thing.
06:42 You just want them to play it as if it's a game and they're trying to win.
06:46 What's the best way to get them out of that mentality
06:49 and into the mentality they've had all season?
06:51 I think it's inevitable with all the talk.
06:54 The thing that really bothers me is when they're talking that way in November,
06:58 we've all talked about that before.
07:01 You know, it's understandable that that talk would be going on now
07:05 because you have a body of work to evaluate.
07:09 And there's going to be winning streaks and losing streaks for most teams.
07:15 We prepare the same way no matter what the circumstances are.
07:19 That's how we've always done it and that's how we'll do it this week.
07:22 I'm kind of curious, the tournament's going to change a different format next year.
07:28 Do you like that the three teams are going to be left out?
07:30 No, I do not like that at all.
07:34 I don't think anybody does.
07:37 I'm sure there were reasons for it.
07:40 Those decisions were made at the conference level.
07:43 Don't agree with it.
07:44 You mentioned Jordan, Bohannon.
07:46 He had a shot against Indiano.
07:48 Just what do you remember about that?
07:50 Well, I was thinking about calling a timeout.
07:52 So, it's a good thing I didn't do that.
07:56 You know, sometimes you just -- he was one of the greatest clutch players
08:02 I've ever been associated with.
08:04 So, you know, you just kind of let him go.
08:07 The play that we drew up didn't work.
08:10 And that's where you need guys that make plays in those situations.
08:15 I'm just really proud of him for doing that.
08:18 We talked a lot about Owen winning the freshman of the year honor,
08:22 but some of your veteran guys like Peyton and Tony taking home conference honors,
08:26 second team for Tony, third for Peyton.
08:29 And Peyton last year won sixth man of the year.
08:31 So, just to see some of your older guys win those awards.
08:34 Yeah, I mean, you can see that growth coming for Peyton.
08:37 I'm really happy for him to be recognized.
08:41 And, you know, Tony -- I mean, they both clearly deserve it.
08:46 And Owen got recognition too with honorable mention.
08:49 I thought that was also well-deserved.
08:52 When you're Rookie of the Week nine times, you know,
08:54 you deserve mention on the all-conference level.
08:58 There's so many great players in this league.
09:00 You know, you sit down to vote and you start putting names on paper
09:04 and it's like, wow, you know, how do you differentiate this guy from that guy?
09:07 How's the first team versus second team?
09:11 And, you know, I would say do the best you can.
09:14 And the guys that got it certainly deserved it.
09:17 I mean, I've seen Ohio State play fast.
09:19 I've seen them play really slow.
09:20 How big do you think pace and tempo is going to be Thursday?
09:24 You know, I think it's always important, you know, certainly with us.
09:29 But they have great speed.
09:31 You know, they'll run some stuff that's really good, directing the ball
09:36 in certain ways, but, you know, they give their guys freedom too to go make plays.
09:42 They got guys that can do that.
09:44 You know, we're always going to try to, you know, play fast
09:47 and score as many points as we can.
09:49 Have you noticed, are they different at all with the interim coach?
09:52 Are they basically doing the same stuff?
09:56 They're running--I think it's more personnel than scheme.
10:03 But I do think defensively they made a concerted effort
10:10 to really get after people.
10:14 And with that roster, they certainly have the ability to do that.
10:18 What's the key slowing down Thornton?
10:20 He seems to kind of be the engine that gets them going.
10:22 Yeah, he's a handful.
10:24 He's a playmaker.
10:27 He runs the point, but he makes plays for himself, for other people,
10:31 gets the defense, gets in the lane, finds people,
10:34 can score the ball at all levels.
10:37 So whenever you have a guy like that, that's going to create a lot of attention
10:41 from us, but he's got some guys helping him too.
10:45 And, you know, like Occupyro has really improved, I think,
10:48 as the season's gone on.
10:49 He's been impressive.
10:52 All right, thanks, guys.
10:53 Thanks, Frank.
10:54 Thanks, Frank.