Latest / Bleacher Report / Dan Hurley & UConn Press Conference After Win vs. Duke
Transcript
- 0:00Speaker 1: Terris and Alex, the Duke players, said they thought that
- 0:04Speaker 1: they maybe lost a little bit of a competitive edge
- 0:07Speaker 1: in the second half. I think that it could be
- 0:08Speaker 1: argued you guys took your competitiveness up a notch. When
- 0:12Speaker 1: did that shift happen and how did it happen?
- 0:16Speaker 2: I think it happened in the second half. I think
- 0:18Speaker 2: it was the start of the second half. We started
- 0:20Speaker 2: being more physical, We started really playing to the calling
- 0:23Speaker 2: card that we play at, and you know, we just
- 0:26Speaker 2: felt like we let our offense really dictate how we
- 0:28Speaker 2: were playing in the first half when we necessarily didn't
- 0:31Speaker 2: have shots fall or the flow of our offense really
- 0:35Speaker 2: you know, it got disrupted and disrupted. So I think
- 0:37Speaker 2: when we took pride on the defensive end, everything changed.
- 0:41Speaker 3: Yeah, piggyback off what AKA said. I mean it was
- 0:43Speaker 3: definitely that second half. I mean, one in a halftime, coach,
- 0:46Speaker 3: we got who got swinging for the fences. You know,
- 0:48Speaker 3: we gotta give it all week at cut. So they
- 0:50Speaker 3: coming out of that halftime down what fifteen whatever, it
- 0:52Speaker 3: was just going down, like I said, going it at all,
- 0:55Speaker 3: keep chipping away, keep chipping away at the lead, and
- 0:58Speaker 3: en they getting it back and the rest is history.
- 1:00Speaker 3: This guy hit the freaking game winner.
- 1:04Speaker 4: Got up on the left side dom first.
- 1:08Speaker 5: Donald Morey heart for current brailin As. I sure you've
- 1:11Speaker 5: been asked already talk us through it.
- 1:13Speaker 6: What did you see? What did you think would feel?
- 1:16Speaker 7: How did it happen? Manu, It's just I mean, yeah,
- 1:21Speaker 7: it's still a loss of words, still processing all like
- 1:24Speaker 7: what just happened. But I mean I think that last possession,
- 1:27Speaker 7: it was just we were trying to file the worst
- 1:28Speaker 7: free throw shooter on the floor and Silas ended up
- 1:32Speaker 7: deflecting the past to the other end of the floor.
- 1:35Speaker 7: And it's just I had the ball and I know
- 1:38Speaker 7: Ak had just hit one, so I threw him at
- 1:39Speaker 7: four seconds left, and man, he just threw the ball
- 1:42Speaker 7: back to me. I knew how to pull one up.
- 1:43Speaker 7: So man, I'm just happy that that was the one
- 1:46Speaker 7: that went down tonight.
- 1:48Speaker 8: Up front on the right Ralph Ralph Russo from the
- 1:51Speaker 8: athletic I guess I'll go to Braylin and Silence because
- 1:54Speaker 8: you guys came over with the trap. If you can
- 1:57Speaker 8: take us through a little bit of like the defensive
- 1:59Speaker 8: play that led to the shot, What was what was playing?
- 2:02Speaker 8: What we were supposed to be doing. It looked very distinct
- 2:05Speaker 8: and reactive less silence.
- 2:07Speaker 9: First, I think common we were all in the in
- 2:11Speaker 9: the backcourt. I think it was pat behind us and
- 2:14Speaker 9: maybe one more person. So I kind of just sold
- 2:16Speaker 9: out and was like, either we get to steal here
- 2:19Speaker 9: or they just get an open dungk So just gave
- 2:21Speaker 9: them a awe, jumped and deflected it and we recovered
- 2:24Speaker 9: it and Brallian ht that big time shot.
- 2:27Speaker 7: Really, I mean yeah, I think he kind of just
- 2:29Speaker 7: he spoke that one, uh to a t So, I
- 2:32Speaker 7: mean it's just I think we were just trying to
- 2:34Speaker 7: try to get the ball out of all whoever had
- 2:37Speaker 7: the ball in their hands, and just trying to make
- 2:38Speaker 7: a play on the ball. And uh, I mean Silas
- 2:41Speaker 7: made an incredible, credible play, and I mean everything else
- 2:43Speaker 7: just happened as it is. I mean I knew, I
- 2:49Speaker 7: knew we were the back two guys and we left
- 2:51Speaker 7: whoever was behind us, and we were just I mean,
- 2:53Speaker 7: we were just trying to make a play and so yeah,
- 2:55Speaker 7: that's just that's just how it happened.
- 2:58Speaker 10: Up front of the left side.
- 2:59Speaker 11: Mike Alex, uh, I would love your perspective as well.
- 3:04Speaker 11: Wind up with the ball. Did you Braylan, did you
- 3:07Speaker 11: sense his presence there? Just what were you seeing as
- 3:10Speaker 11: you delivered the ball to him? And then when his
- 3:12Speaker 11: shot was in the air, what are you seeing and
- 3:13Speaker 11: thinking in that moment.
- 3:15Speaker 2: I mean, I've seen Brayln for some reason, I just
- 3:17Speaker 2: had that gut instinct to pass it to him, and
- 3:20Speaker 2: I think I looked at the rim and I saw
- 3:22Speaker 2: way like five seconds less. I was like, maybe something
- 3:24Speaker 2: better could develop it. So I think i'd boozer Cam
- 3:27Speaker 2: boozed in front of me, so like a harder, more
- 3:29Speaker 2: difficult shot. So I passed it to Braylen. And you
- 3:32Speaker 2: know when I saw go, when I saw him release,
- 3:34Speaker 2: I was like, that really might go in. And you
- 3:37Speaker 2: know I went in and the Indiana kids in us
- 3:40Speaker 2: in Indianapolis.
- 3:40Speaker 3: So yeah, you know, I like that one.
- 3:45Speaker 2: I've been using it.
- 3:45Speaker 3: A lot lately, so.
- 3:48Speaker 5: But you know he did that.
- 3:49Speaker 2: And you know, I mean every time Braylen shoots and
- 3:53Speaker 2: from no matter where, it looks like it's going in.
- 3:56Speaker 3: On the right.
- 3:57Speaker 1: So I turned the back with three questions.
- 3:58Speaker 5: We'll take all three.
- 4:00Speaker 12: Don't be sad, guys.
- 4:01Speaker 9: Yeah, there's one.
- 4:03Speaker 1: Nate Sudden seen for the Lord of Terrorists.
- 4:05Speaker 11: Coming out a halftime, A lot of productions have been
- 4:07Speaker 11: coming from you and Duke started to double you. What
- 4:09Speaker 11: did that open up for you as a playmaker?
- 4:11Speaker 3: Yeah, I feel like even in the first half where
- 4:13Speaker 3: I had a couple turnovers in where Boozer locked me
- 4:17Speaker 3: from high a couple of times going into the media timeouts,
- 4:20Speaker 3: they were telling me, like, yo, if they're going to
- 4:21Speaker 3: come and double, you know, kick out to the corners,
- 4:23Speaker 3: but don't take it at halftime. So, like I said,
- 4:26Speaker 3: being able to take my time and yeah, seeing the
- 4:28Speaker 3: whole floor, knowing that I had a high production in
- 4:30Speaker 3: the first half, knowing that they were going to collapse
- 4:32Speaker 3: on me in the post, and like I said, trust
- 4:33Speaker 3: my shooters and trust you guys around me.
- 4:37Speaker 5: Same area terrasts. Congratulations on the way George Gurber, Washington Times.
- 4:42Speaker 5: The first half kind of felt like you versus the
- 4:43Speaker 5: Boozer is almost in some ways it did it feel
- 4:46Speaker 5: like if you could get keep your team there, getting
- 4:49Speaker 5: that lead from nineteen down to fifteen, that you'd be
- 4:52Speaker 5: able to make this second half come back and the
- 4:53Speaker 5: guys would come back around you and score.
- 4:55Speaker 3: Yeah, like up one seep, just real thick Yeah, honestly,
- 4:59Speaker 3: it was just trying to win at this point, you know,
- 5:01Speaker 3: like it's could be my last college basketball game, and
- 5:04Speaker 3: it was just like go for it all. I mean,
- 5:05Speaker 3: coach was before the game like you gotta swing, swing
- 5:08Speaker 3: for the fences, go as hard as you can. So I'm,
- 5:10Speaker 3: like I said, trying to keep the team alive. And
- 5:12Speaker 3: eventually guys who am knocked down shides and like they
- 5:14Speaker 3: did and like I said, was just trusting in each other.
- 5:17Speaker 10: Went he up, cr up both the more district buckets.
- 5:20Speaker 10: This one's also for terrorists, so they able to get
- 5:22Speaker 10: you a little bit that matchup. Why had Boozer bringing
- 5:24Speaker 10: up the ball a lot? Like, how does that speak
- 5:27Speaker 10: to really your versatility? Were you able to take on
- 5:29Speaker 10: that matchup and kind of the success you were able
- 5:31Speaker 10: to have a little bit later when you got some
- 5:32Speaker 10: of those switches.
- 5:33Speaker 3: Yeah, Cam Boozers, like I said, a terrific player. He
- 5:35Speaker 3: could guard at all three levels. So it was gonna
- 5:37Speaker 3: be a five minute issue, five minute job for us
- 5:40Speaker 3: this game. And like I said, he was gonna be
- 5:41Speaker 3: allowed on the perimeter, and yeah, to show my versatility
- 5:44Speaker 3: being there, like I said, trusting the guys around me,
- 5:46Speaker 3: calling out ball skins left right, He's gonna use inverted
- 5:49Speaker 3: ball skins. But like I said, just really playing team defense,
- 5:51Speaker 3: helping each other out and you know, stopping the ball.
- 5:55Speaker 6: Up run on the left.
- 5:57Speaker 13: Alex drove to Hartford Current. Obviously the game wasn't going
- 6:02Speaker 13: your way until like the final minute. But Terris gets
- 6:04Speaker 13: set steal and you pull up for three. Can you
- 6:06Speaker 13: just take us through? You know what you were thinking
- 6:08Speaker 13: that going into those final moments and hitting that shot?
- 6:12Speaker 13: How good it felt?
- 6:13Speaker 2: No, it felt really good, and you know, I knew
- 6:16Speaker 2: eventually the shots would follow me. We had we had
- 6:18Speaker 2: so many good looks this game and they just weren't falling.
- 6:21Speaker 2: And you know, you can't really let your confidence die
- 6:23Speaker 2: down when you don't see shots going. So, you know,
- 6:26Speaker 2: just continue to believe in myself, continue to you know,
- 6:29Speaker 2: thank that. But I have teammates trusted me no matter what.
- 6:32Speaker 2: And when I shot, it looked good.
- 6:35Speaker 9: To the center of the room.
- 6:36Speaker 8: And this will be the final question for the Yukon players.
- 6:39Speaker 12: Terrorist Matt Demick Daily Campus, You've writer, You've had a
- 6:43Speaker 12: lot of those top of the key pokes free and
- 6:45Speaker 12: then you break out and transition and slam.
- 6:47Speaker 1: I'm with dunk.
- 6:47Speaker 12: That was a big momentum being for you guys today.
- 6:50Speaker 12: Is that have you worked that timing on those plays?
- 6:52Speaker 12: You've racked up a couple of those in this tournament.
- 6:55Speaker 3: Yeah, crazy to say that. Coach gets mad at me
- 6:57Speaker 3: all the time in practice, telling me it don't steal,
- 6:59Speaker 3: don't really, you know, don't don't play sometimes to aggression
- 7:02Speaker 3: where I could get easy fouls. But like I said,
- 7:04Speaker 3: this this is the game on the line. You know,
- 7:05Speaker 3: this is my career in the line. So I was
- 7:07Speaker 3: going for it all but just knowing that have good hands,
- 7:09Speaker 3: good timing, and yeah, just trying to do something. A
- 7:13Speaker 3: couple of breakaway dunks this this march, so looking forward
- 7:16Speaker 3: to getting some more.
- 7:17Speaker 14: I want to congratulate Alex Silas terrorists and Braylan.
- 7:21Speaker 12: We'll see you next week in Indy.
- 7:23Speaker 4: Let's go, boys, They're gonna head back to the Yukon
- 7:27Speaker 4: locker room, which is still open.
- 7:33Speaker 6: Let's go, big boy, let's go, let's go.
- 7:36Speaker 5: Let's see you next week.
- 7:37Speaker 2: Let's go.
- 7:38Speaker 3: Let's go.
- 7:43Speaker 4: Coach, you want to give us a few thusts then
- 7:44Speaker 4: we'll take some questions.
- 7:45Speaker 6: Yeah, you know, listen, I you know obviously that's uh
- 7:50Speaker 6: you know, just the epic, just another chapter in the
- 7:55Speaker 6: in the Yukon Duke and late tournament, uh, you know, dramatics.
- 8:01Speaker 6: You know, obviously a really tough way for their season,
- 8:04Speaker 6: you know, to end. I you know, I thought they
- 8:06Speaker 6: played great. I thought they punched us in the mouth
- 8:10Speaker 6: with incredible force, you know, the the Boozer Boys. I mean,
- 8:15Speaker 6: I've been admirers of, you know, of their approach to basketball.
- 8:19Speaker 6: I mean all I've ever watched these guys do. Uh,
- 8:23Speaker 6: you know, it's just win everything that they play in
- 8:27Speaker 6: over the course of their career and grassroots and then
- 8:29Speaker 6: what the impact they've had on Duke and you know,
- 8:32Speaker 6: obviously across the board, you know, just their program. You
- 8:36Speaker 6: couldn't have more respect for you know, John Shire and
- 8:39Speaker 6: and and uh what they've done since he's been here.
- 8:44Speaker 6: But you know, I think for us, you know, the
- 8:47Speaker 6: story was just uh that that game was a reflection
- 8:50Speaker 6: on the season. It's been a season where we've been
- 8:53Speaker 6: dealt with injuries to key players at critical points of
- 8:56Speaker 6: the year that we've had to overcome, and we've had
- 8:59Speaker 6: to show a lot of fortitude and resilience and just
- 9:02Speaker 6: kind of claw away through the season and uh, just
- 9:05Speaker 6: the game was a microcosm of that. Just we fought,
- 9:08Speaker 6: we clawed, put ourselves in position, uh to take advantage
- 9:12Speaker 6: of a mistake that they made. And uh, you know,
- 9:15Speaker 6: one of the most brilliant shooters that you'll ever see
- 9:17Speaker 6: shoot a basketball. Uh, you know, made an incredible, legendary
- 9:22Speaker 6: march shot.
- 9:24Speaker 9: Coach up front to the left.
- 9:25Speaker 14: We'll start on campus, Sam Callahan Daily Campus.
- 9:29Speaker 6: I know you, I know your grandfather great.
- 9:32Speaker 14: Uh. Obviously you just mentioned one of the great March shots.
- 9:38Speaker 14: And you've you've seen I mean you were you were
- 9:41Speaker 14: in the stands for the Latner shots. Have you seen
- 9:44Speaker 14: anything like what Braylan just just did to seal the game?
- 9:48Speaker 6: No, I mean I've had it done to me. I've
- 9:52Speaker 6: been on the bad side. Maybe not a shot like that,
- 9:55Speaker 6: but uh, just in a game of that magnitude, you know,
- 10:00Speaker 6: especially when we were I mean, they make it tough
- 10:02Speaker 6: on you because they're obviously an excellent defensive team, but
- 10:05Speaker 6: you know, we probably were going to look at film
- 10:07Speaker 6: and see shot quality on a number of the threes
- 10:10Speaker 6: that we missed and say, man, like we it felt
- 10:14Speaker 6: like a little bit of you know, some type of
- 10:16Speaker 6: justice where you know, we missed a lot of really
- 10:20Speaker 6: good shots throughout the game, and then you know, we
- 10:24Speaker 6: had to make a really hard shot, you know, so
- 10:29Speaker 6: you know, the things just even down at that point.
- 10:32Speaker 4: Let's say, staying up front of the left Hartford Jord
- 10:37Speaker 4: Harford Current Dan. What does it take you go down
- 10:40Speaker 4: nineteen in the first half against a team like that?
- 10:42Speaker 4: You know they've only lost twice this year, and you
- 10:44Speaker 4: know the players that they have. But what does it
- 10:46Speaker 4: take for your team to stick in that? And for
- 10:48Speaker 4: you to stick it in as a coach?
- 10:50Speaker 6: I mean strong men? You know, it takes strong men,
- 10:53Speaker 6: It takes it takes a strong team. It takes a
- 10:57Speaker 6: tough team. It takes tough men. It takes strong men.
- 11:00Speaker 6: It takes a bunch of players that uh that let
- 11:03Speaker 6: us coach them, let us coach them hard.
- 11:05Speaker 5: Uh.
- 11:06Speaker 6: That starts in June. We run a very intense program. Uh.
- 11:12Speaker 6: You know, we're we're we're on these guys. We put them,
- 11:15Speaker 6: we stress them uh in in practice, we uh we
- 11:18Speaker 6: put a lot of pressure on them on a daily basis.
- 11:20Speaker 6: Uh Uh to do the right things, to do everything
- 11:24Speaker 6: at game speed, to do everything hard, to do everything tough,
- 11:27Speaker 6: to be prepared because that's what it takes to win
- 11:32Speaker 6: games like this, or or to stay in a game
- 11:35Speaker 6: like that where you're getting out played, you're having a
- 11:39Speaker 6: really bad shooting night at the absolute worst time. But
- 11:43Speaker 6: what kicks in at that point is is just a
- 11:45Speaker 6: bunch of strong men, a strong team, players that let
- 11:49Speaker 6: their coaches coach them hard and uh and prepare them
- 11:52Speaker 6: for for tough moments.
- 11:54Speaker 1: We have two on the left side all the way back.
- 11:56Speaker 10: We'll start on the left side.
- 11:58Speaker 11: How you doing, coach the DeAndre the way now?
- 12:00Speaker 6: I'm doing great, bro, I'm doing great.
- 12:05Speaker 11: What's something that happened tonight that you saw that didn't
- 12:08Speaker 11: show up in the statuet but radically changed the momentum
- 12:11Speaker 11: of the game.
- 12:12Speaker 6: Well, I just thought that to start the game, we're
- 12:15Speaker 6: a little bit I just thought we were a little
- 12:17Speaker 6: bit on our heels. I thought we were too defensive. Defensively,
- 12:22Speaker 6: I think that we didn't get after them and try
- 12:26Speaker 6: to pressure them or make them uncomfortable. I just think that,
- 12:30Speaker 6: you know, we probably maybe you know, gave a little
- 12:33Speaker 6: bit too much respect to their individual players. And I
- 12:37Speaker 6: just thought that Malachi Smith with some ball pressure, I
- 12:40Speaker 6: thought Silas with some ball pressure. I thought Jaden Ross.
- 12:43Speaker 6: I just thought that you know, we we we got
- 12:46Speaker 6: after them a little bit more and turned them over,
- 12:48Speaker 6: and turnovers have been an issue for them like they
- 12:51Speaker 6: have been for us. So, you know, just just up
- 12:55Speaker 6: in a little bit of defensive energy I thought helped
- 12:58Speaker 6: us a lot.
- 12:59Speaker 4: Well forward.
- 13:01Speaker 8: Hey, coach Jake catter of the Way Network, three final
- 13:04Speaker 8: fours in the last four seasons, Just curious, what do
- 13:06Speaker 8: you think are some of the similarities from those teams
- 13:08Speaker 8: to this team.
- 13:08Speaker 6: And some of the differences, Oh, I mean to twenty
- 13:14Speaker 6: three and twenty four teams. I mean, they just smashed everybody.
- 13:18Speaker 6: I mean, we just ran through this tournament like it
- 13:20Speaker 6: was nothing. So I mean the more more of a
- 13:26Speaker 6: team that had to be clutch, that's had to be
- 13:29Speaker 6: clutched the whole year. We've had to win a lot
- 13:32Speaker 6: of close games throughout the year, and I think that that,
- 13:35Speaker 6: you know, honestly, just just gave us a level of
- 13:37Speaker 6: comfortability in a game that we were you know, it's
- 13:40Speaker 6: a one possession game, it's a two possession game. We've
- 13:43Speaker 6: been in this spot before, We've I think that that's
- 13:46Speaker 6: what's really helped. You know, this team's got NBA players
- 13:51Speaker 6: NBA level talent, just like those teams from a talent standpoint.
- 13:55Speaker 6: But but you know, I think, uh, you know, I think,
- 13:58Speaker 6: you know, maybe just you know, guy like Tyris Reid,
- 14:02Speaker 6: you know, uh, you know, just elevating his game for
- 14:08Speaker 6: this tournament and changing his legacy, changing his trajectory. You'll
- 14:13Speaker 6: put himself, I think, in position now and we walk
- 14:15Speaker 6: away from this tournament. You know, he looks like he's
- 14:17Speaker 6: playing himself into the first round, you know, So I
- 14:21Speaker 6: would just say, you know, just not as dominant, just
- 14:24Speaker 6: a resilient team that's got a lot of confidence in
- 14:27Speaker 6: close late games.
- 14:29Speaker 8: On the right side in the back, Dan, you guys
- 14:32Speaker 8: started one of eighteen from three point range, finished four
- 14:35Speaker 8: for five, and hit the game winner from Thrie.
- 14:39Speaker 9: How ironic is that?
- 14:40Speaker 6: What do you feel?
- 14:41Speaker 3: Was that?
- 14:42Speaker 9: What turned for you guys?
- 14:43Speaker 3: Down the stretch there?
- 14:46Speaker 6: What the holders are show one for Utuo? I knew
- 14:50Speaker 6: it was bad. I kept asking the assistant coaches and
- 14:53Speaker 6: no one would tell me what it was. I knew
- 14:56Speaker 6: it was bad. Yeah, I mean I thought a lot
- 15:00Speaker 6: of them were pretty good looks. You're not going to
- 15:02Speaker 6: get great looks versus Duke or a great defense. So
- 15:05Speaker 6: like when you play great defenses, the windows are tighter,
- 15:10Speaker 6: you know, and like we obviously we were we were
- 15:13Speaker 6: kind of wearing Taris out in terms of catches and stuff, like,
- 15:17Speaker 6: we couldn't have made him more of a focal point.
- 15:19Speaker 6: But if we were going to win the game, like
- 15:22Speaker 6: we're gonna have to make a couple of threes down
- 15:25Speaker 6: the stretch because uh, you know, I thought we were
- 15:28Speaker 6: getting decent looks. Obviously, Braylin's look at the end was
- 15:32Speaker 6: you know, was a bomb, but you know, Silas's looks,
- 15:36Speaker 6: they they were clean. I thought we got a lot
- 15:39Speaker 6: of good looks. We just, you know, for whatever reason
- 15:42Speaker 6: this this team has not shot to solo ball Brayla,
- 15:47Speaker 6: mo Owan's ak. I mean, those are three of the
- 15:51Speaker 6: best shooters in the country. We just haven't had that
- 15:54Speaker 6: shooting magic. But then we did.
- 16:00Speaker 1: Up front, head coach, what's the thought process after that
- 16:04Speaker 1: steal of not calling timeout and just saying Brailan and
- 16:06Speaker 1: Alex make a play.
- 16:07Speaker 6: Yeah, it's scary, man, It's like, yeah, what the you know,
- 16:12Speaker 6: because Duke is so good defensively, it just felt like
- 16:17Speaker 6: you're almost you know, you're watching Alex and and seeing
- 16:21Speaker 6: you know, kind of like as Braylan's catching the ball.
- 16:24Speaker 6: Does he look like he's in some type of a rhythm,
- 16:27Speaker 6: you know, does he look like he's gonna kind of
- 16:29Speaker 6: rip drive it. I mean, you're torn right there, and
- 16:32Speaker 6: you're almost like and you're just it's instincts, it's it's
- 16:38Speaker 6: it's got instinct. But I think with their size, their length,
- 16:42Speaker 6: their ability to switch everything, you know, it just it
- 16:47Speaker 6: felt like the window where you just got to let
- 16:51Speaker 6: March madness take over, March magic.
- 16:53Speaker 14: We want to thank coach early, Congratulations.
- 16:56Speaker 13: Thank you.
- 16:56Speaker 6: I got the socks. I didn't wear them today because
- 16:57Speaker 6: I got my lucky socks. But I'm gonna Warremann.
- 16:59Speaker 9: Indy.
- 16:59Speaker 4: You gotta stay with the lucky socks. You can wear
- 17:01Speaker 4: him Thursday and Indian I'll see you there, Yes, sir