Jan. 13, 1998
Don Newman Press Conference
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| Don Newman. |
It's certainly nice to be back in Tempe, Ariz.. For awhile there, I didn't know if we would get in here in time, or if we would head straight to Tucson, Ariz. for our game on Thursday. But, we made it out of Palouse. We made it back with one victory on the road which I think is extremely important. At this time we are sitting here at 2-2 in the Pac-10 conference with a lot of great opportunities in front of us.
I thought leaving here 1-1, obviously lining up against UCLA, I was a little concerned about the way we ended that game in terms of execution and in terms of taking care of the ball down the stretch, some decision making and we went to Washington feeling that we certainly would match up with their players, maybe having a little problem matching up with MacCulloch. Obviously, he came out and had a career game against us.
We tried to run some different games on him, but he was on and had 31 points, 21 rebounds and a phenomenal effort. But, I think one thing about the team, we stepped away on Friday and Saturday and we had two quality practices and I think some things were said. I was more interested in seeing the psyche of the guys, reevaluating some roles of this ball club. I spoke at the point about us maybe reading too many articles about ourselves and feeling a little better than what we are. We can't afford to go out and think that if we show up, we are going to win ball games.
We need to get back to the basics and we need to get back to playing Sun Devil basketball, unselfish basketball. We need to understand the roles of each other. I kind of redefined them and I asked if there were any problems with anything and responsibilities and the production that's needed at every position. Certainly, the response was a good, hard effort in practice. We had a hard effort on Saturday when we got to Boulder Gym on Washington State's campus, and then we lined up Sunday at noon to see if we could try to steal one on the road.
I think that's going to be the story of the Pac-10. If you line up at home and you are fortunate enough to hold up the home court, then you are going to do quite well. If you go on the road and you steal one on the road, that is going to come back and really put you in a great situation. I think that win against the Cougars certainly gave us the opportunity to nestle right up in the middle of the Pac-10 conference and to go into this game on Thursday night with a lot of confidence knowing that it is going to be a great battle of the state.
(ON WHETHER ANYTHING HAS CHANGED HIS MIND ABOUT ARIZONA BEING RANKED NUMBER ONE IN THE PRESEASON POLLS)
No, I think Arizona is a phenomenal ball club. They are certainly defending national champ until someone can knock them off their pedestal. They are deserving of what they have. They stand at 4-0 in the Pac-10 conference, and to look at those guys and see how they play, they are relentless, they are constantly attacking, they have probably one of the greatest perimeters, quickness wise, decision-making wise and ability to shoot the ball wise, in the country. They won't stop. That team has been there. They have been in all the situations, and they have played all the bigs. They are phenomenal on heir home court. So, you've got your work cut out. They are in the Pac-10 conference. That is just another message on how relentless and how tough the Pac-10 is.
(ON HOW ASU WILL FACE ARIZONA)
One thing you have to do is really pay attention to their transition defensive game. It's imperative. When you look at Arizona, if they score 80 points, they will have 36 in the open-court game, if they score 100, they will have 50 in the open-court game. You have to get to the basketball as early as you can. You have to lock up on Simon, Dickerson, and you can't let Bramlett, Edgerson or any of those guys beat you up and down the floor. That part is something we have been extremely good at: getting back in transition, stopping the floor and making teams beat us more in the half-court set and we are really going to have to be good at it on Thursday night.
(ON ARIZONA'S BACKCOURT BEING ONE OF THE BEST IN THE COUNTRY)
I think it is. Jason Terry is excellent. He is coming off the bench, obviously, to give them some defensive punch and offensive punch. Jason Terry could start for most teams in the country. It is just a role that he has accepted. He knows that he is going to get his quality minutes. He comes in there and, to me, he just raises the level of that whole ball club. This team is fun to watch, and they are certainly hard to prepare against. I like the attitude of my team, though. When you are talking about Veal, House and Ahlon Lewis, and I don't know how we line up in the Pac-10 or the country, but I will take those three guys in front of a lot of people. Those guys have accepted the challenge. Those guys are used to playing a lot of minutes, and they are looking forward to stepping up and taking the challenge on Thursday night.
(ON THE IMPORTANCE OF BEATING ARIZONA)
I think when you are jockeying for position in terms of trying to get to the Big Dance, it is going to be imperative that you beat one of the upper echelon teams. Coming close sounds good in November, and possibly in December, but in January and February, you have to get over the hump. The way I look at it, you have UCLA, Stanford, and you have Arizona. You basically have six opportunities minus one because UCLA got us here at home. You have to walk in there knowing that you will play well and that you will be in that game I the end and have a chance to win it. You need to pull one of these things off. It would be huge for this program and it would certainly be another shot in the arm for our team.
(ON WHETHER PLAYING KANSAS WILL HELP AGAINST ARIZONA)
I think it can't help but benefit us in some kind of way. The farther we get away from the Kansas game, the Cincinnati game, it becomes what kind of identity do we have, what kind of signature and what kind of style are we playing with. I think one of the things that I am most pleased about is the way we played against the Huskies and then they way we came out and focused the next two days and then the way we came out against the Cougars. That is going to allow us to win more Pac-10 games than anything. That was not turning the ball over the last 19 minutes of the ball game. If we can do that and really solidify their pressure, and just play with a lot of confidence and keep that crowd out of the game as much as we can, these guys will really loosen up over the course of the game and really show that we belong in this conference. We can beat the best.
(ON ARIZONA'S FANS STANDING UNTIL THE OPPOSITION SCORES)
If you look up and see the fans still standing with 16 or 17 minutes left on the clock, you're in trouble. We are going to go in there, and what I'm going to be talking about is that I don't want our guys to have to change their demeanor or change their intensity or excitement level. Just keep it where you're at. Just understand what Arizona does extremely well and how can we take some of their looks away, how can we take some of their super players away, and maybe, instead of shutting people down, how can we decrease their performances. That's what you have to do. If you go in there thinking that you are going to stop All-Americans for 40 minutes, you're nuts. But, if you can just minimize them and don't let anybody have careers, then you're going to have a chance to be in that game.
(ON WHAT THE THREE TEAMS THAT BEAT ARIZONA DID TO WIN)
Outside of the fact that they have phenomenal talent, and phenomenal benches and size and everything that a major college program should have, they came out there and played with as much confidence as Arizona and as nationally recognized as Arizona. It's like two heavyweight fighters in there knowing that at any given time, any blow could knock the other one out. It's that more than anything. I think when we prepare, we have to prepare a little differently. We are somewhat of a depleted team and we are certainly not a big team. We are athletic at different positions, but we have to play quality, we have to cover each other on the defensive end, we have to run games, and then we still have to play well and shoot well. So, our task may be asking a little more. But, with our desire and our ability at five positions plus Urit Kelly coming off the bench, I think we'll be OK.
(ON JASON PATTON'S STATUS)
Jason's status is basically whatever attitude he brings. If he brings a work ethic to the table, then I consider him a guy who can step in there and play some minutes and help this program. I'm just not big at rewarding guys that don't deserve it. In major college student-athletes, I look for commitment all the way around. I don't think you can ride the fence., You are either with the program going hard, or you are not with the program. That's how I gauge practices, that's how I gauge the game. Jason' status for the Arizona game has not been determined yet.