Wes Miller Bryant Postgame
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00:00 I caught up out there for a second,
00:01 so I'm sorry.
00:02 I was trying to get here as quick as I could.
00:07 You know, I didn't think we played great tonight.
00:09 It was just kind of one of those nights
00:10 that felt like there was a lid on it
00:12 from the start of the game.
00:14 I mean, we had -- we're about to go grade the tape
00:17 here in a second, but it felt like how many layups
00:20 you're going to miss,
00:21 how many times you're going to get it to two feet
00:23 and get it stripped,
00:25 and how many times you're going to have a silly turnover,
00:28 you know, and give Brian credit.
00:30 I mean, they beat Florida -- they beat a really --
00:32 I mean, they beat a top-25 team on the road kind of doing that
00:36 when they beat Florida Atlantic three weeks ago or so.
00:39 So they do frustrate you,
00:41 and they do some different things, right?
00:43 They play five guards.
00:46 You know, most everybody on the floor
00:48 shoots the basketball first,
00:50 and the guys that don't are really good
00:52 off the bounce from the perimeter.
00:53 You know, Timberlake's an interesting matchup
00:55 because, you know, he's like the one guy on the court
00:58 that doesn't shoot it most of the time,
01:01 but he's a terrific passer and playmaker,
01:04 and he's really good at finishing around the basket.
01:06 And, you know, we saw him at Memphis,
01:08 so, you know, obviously he's had success
01:10 in the American at a high level,
01:12 and he's an interesting matchup for our frontcourt
01:14 or any high-major frontcourt for that matter.
01:18 But at the same time,
01:19 I thought we had plenty of chances there early,
01:22 and it just felt like one of those nights
01:24 where nothing was going our way,
01:25 and I didn't think we handled that very well.
01:27 And then I thought we handled it much better
01:29 in the second half, and it wasn't like we came out
01:31 at halftime and it just all went our way,
01:32 but I thought we had a better attitude and approach,
01:35 and then eventually kind of find a way to bust the game open.
01:38 But I was not pleased with our play.
01:41 I'll be honest, we're pretty hungover from Saturday.
01:44 This group's pissed.
01:46 You know, obviously I'm pissed,
01:47 and, you know, you take those kind of losses hard.
01:51 We take them all hard as coaches.
01:52 This group took that loss harder than any team I've had
01:56 take a loss since I've been here.
01:58 They're pissed, and they practiced.
02:00 We had one of our best practices of the year yesterday.
02:02 I thought we'd come out and play unbelievable today.
02:05 They're pissed off, but I think we addressed
02:07 some things from that game, and it had us a little gun-shy
02:10 or maybe not as confident tonight.
02:12 I think big picture, that's good
02:14 because some of those things needed to be addressed,
02:17 but we hadn't quite gotten through that process
02:19 yet to get confident again, and I think we can.
02:21 We got to get confident again.
02:24 But they were pissed, and deep down,
02:26 I like that about this team because I'm pissed, too.
02:28 I'm not going to lie to you.
02:30 And I didn't think we played great tonight,
02:32 but I was pleased with how we handled things
02:34 in the second half.
02:36 Do you think the hangover thing,
02:38 there is something to that,
02:40 and even especially with the short turnaround,
02:42 you don't have as much time to get it out of your system
02:45 before you're back out there?
02:47 Yeah, I mean, again, their mood's not been good,
02:51 not in a negative way,
02:52 like in the kind of way you want as a coach.
02:54 Like, I'm asking the assistants the last couple days.
02:59 You know, they don't seem like themselves, you know,
03:02 and they're pissed off about the game and how they played.
03:05 And, well, good, I am, too.
03:07 That's what I said to them because, shoot, I'm pissed, too.
03:10 I ain't myself, either, you know?
03:12 And then we practiced yesterday,
03:13 and I was really curious to see how they'd handle practice
03:16 because we had a really hard film session,
03:18 two hours plus on Sunday,
03:21 and they practiced their brains out, guys.
03:23 It's probably the best practice we've had
03:24 since I've been the coach here in terms of just effort.
03:27 We went for two hours and 20 minutes the day before game.
03:30 You know, and, again, I thought we'd --
03:34 if you were just going off practice,
03:35 we played great tonight.
03:36 I thought we came out with the intention to,
03:38 and then it just didn't happen for us, and then we got down.
03:41 So, again, not pleased with our play tonight.
03:45 Glad we found a way.
03:47 You know, it is a process,
03:48 and this team's got a chance to be a really good team.
03:52 I'm really like -- I'm having fun coaching this team,
03:54 even if I'm not having fun this week.
03:57 But we need a day off. We'll take that tomorrow,
03:59 and then we get a chance against a big-time team,
04:03 you know, on Saturday.
04:05 We get a chance to compete against a big-time team,
04:08 a team that's going to play in the NCAA tournament,
04:11 you know, a team that's one of the best teams
04:12 in college basketball,
04:14 top 30, 40 team in college basketball,
04:15 no matter how you look at it.
04:16 So, Saturday's a big opportunity for us,
04:19 and I think these guys will be excited for that.
04:22 Coach, Aziz has four blocks,
04:24 he's a high 23.9 defensive grade.
04:27 Or is this kind of impact what we saw him having?
04:33 Yes.
04:35 Yes, and I think, you know,
04:38 sometimes you got to put,
04:39 you know, his development in perspective.
04:43 This time last year was the first time
04:45 he had ever had success at a high level,
04:47 at any level of basketball, on a basketball court.
04:50 You know, like, you know, this time last year,
04:53 he was actually having some games at Utah Valley,
04:56 because the year before, he was at Akron and didn't play.
04:58 He wasn't even getting in the games, you know.
05:01 So, his development is still early and new,
05:05 and one of the things that I don't think
05:07 he's ever been asked to do is guard anything but a center.
05:12 Right? So, he's gotten pretty good at guarding a center.
05:15 You know, but now we're asking him to get out on the floor
05:19 in a game like tonight and guard perimeter-oriented players.
05:23 I mean, Timberlake played the three at Memphis, guys.
05:26 You know, and so he's got all the ability to do that,
05:31 but he's learning it for the first time.
05:33 Like, that's pretty fun as a coach,
05:35 to see a guy develop in front of you.
05:37 Like, in the Howard game, he was lost trying to do that.
05:40 Tonight, he finally had some really good moments
05:42 there in the second half, and that's what's neat
05:44 when you're working with young people,
05:45 is, like, you can see them improving
05:48 right in front of your eyes over a really short period of time,
05:51 and, you know, we're seeing that with some of our young players,
05:54 and I do think of his ease in the basketball terms
05:56 as a young player, but, yeah,
05:58 I still think he can play significantly better,
06:00 and you look down, he's got 17 rebounds.
06:02 So, yeah, he's having an impact, and he's a big-time player.
06:07 You just said your message.
06:10 Good job.
06:12 What does it say?
06:13 Able to respond and practice.
06:15 How's that run for you now?
06:18 Yeah, I spent half-time just talking about team.
06:22 And he's right. We talk about responding every day.
06:24 It's one of the four things I have on my wrist right here
06:27 is how we respond.
06:28 And then I -- the part of that was,
06:31 we had to start thinking about our team.
06:33 You know, like, we have a lot of talent in that locker room
06:34 and a lot of guys that are about the right stuff,
06:37 but every night's not going to be everybody's night,
06:39 and you can see the frustration with certain guys
06:42 and how they were playing or how the game was going.
06:45 Again, it wasn't the most fun game to coach
06:48 because I didn't think we played great.
06:49 It probably wasn't the most fun game for our fans to watch,
06:52 but it's important for our team to continue to find ways to grow,
06:56 and I think it was tonight --
06:58 See, we got to be a team first all the time.
07:01 We can't ever get caught up in what's going on with ourselves,
07:03 and that was the message at halftime more than anything.
07:05 I didn't think it was about X and O's and adjustments.
07:08 That's for sure.
07:10 So it seemed like the league really got to that.
07:14 I know.
07:15 Is that more due to the matchups or just the team?
07:21 Well, I think a couple things.
07:23 I think it allowed him to kind of guard a non-shooting player.
07:27 You know, when he had to guard Withers in the first half,
07:29 it was presenting some problems.
07:32 Or anybody had --
07:34 Even Vic guarding Withers was presenting some problems.
07:36 I think number seven is Withers.
07:38 That was a matchup we were struggling with a little bit
07:41 with those two guys.
07:42 And again, I believe those two are good enough to do that.
07:45 It wasn't just him. It's the Timberlake nature and all that.
07:48 I mean, all that together.
07:51 So I think getting him on the right guy there,
07:54 and then at the end of the game,
07:55 they're a little tired and worn down
07:57 because we're able to sub and play multiple guys,
07:59 and they're not doing that to the same extent.
08:01 So now all of a sudden, we're in spread action late
08:04 with one big who's putting a lot of pressure on the rim,
08:07 and CJ and Cmos are both out there spacing the floor.
08:10 And so I do think some things opened up.
08:12 It's always --
08:13 Usually, people, when they write stories,
08:16 whatever, you want it to be one reason,
08:17 but it's usually a handful of things culminating.
08:20 You know, probably the right matchup,
08:22 defensively, helped Z.
08:24 Probably having a lot of spacing on the floor.
08:27 Maybe Bryant's a little worn down,
08:28 and they're not covering as much ground.
08:30 I think all that stuff probably impacted that run.
08:33 I think it was a 30-5 run.
08:35 Seems to have been a bit of a problem.
08:37 I mean, if he's 8 to 12
08:43 from the free throw line every night, they're not.
08:46 He's actually got great touch.
08:48 His form is a little nontraditional,
08:51 but he's a good shooter.
08:54 He actually can shoot threes a little bit.
08:56 I mean, you guys didn't believe me when I said about Vic,
08:59 and I think everybody believes me now,
09:01 although he didn't shoot it very good on Saturday.
09:05 But he can shoot. He's got great touch.
09:08 I don't worry about him at all on the free throw line.
09:10 He's going to make a lot of foul shots.
09:11 You can see his misses are soft.
09:13 He's a good shooter.
09:15 He's going to be a three-point shooter here at some point.
09:17 You guys are shooting 37% from deep at home,
09:20 and I think you're doing that wrong.
09:21 So is there any rhyme or reason to that?
09:23 Is it just going to be tape that's contributing
09:26 to the puts like that?
09:29 How many games have we played at home?
09:33 How many games have we played on the road?
09:36 When we get a bigger sample size,
09:37 there might be more.
09:38 That data might matter a little bit.
09:42 We'll figure it out.
09:44 Two games or two games.
09:47 We'll figure it out.
09:48 This team's got the right stuff internally.
09:50 This team will be good on the road,
09:52 but we got to figure out how to do that.
09:53 Saturday will be a test course.
09:55 Drew Morton?
09:56 He's such a good player that hasn't been playing well,
10:07 and I think I'm saying that because he would tell you that.
10:12 He hasn't found his groove yet.
10:13 He got into the injury cycle.
10:16 You know, it was like he had three injuries back to back
10:18 to back, so he wasn't practicing.
10:20 I'm not making excuses
10:21 because he's capable of playing better.
10:24 But I think he's trying hard to figure it out,
10:28 and it was good to see him have a stretch there
10:30 in the second half where he figured it out,
10:32 you know, to a certain extent.
10:34 But he's a good player. He's going to have great games.
10:36 He's going to have a great year.
10:38 He hasn't kind of found his groove yet,
10:39 and that's good for our team.
10:41 Guys aren't playing their best basketball yet.
10:45 You know, we're still doing some things.
10:48 Class action lawsuit tomorrow on federal court.
10:50 What is your understanding of the situation
10:52 and what this potentially means for Jermeo
10:56 as far as the next steps?
10:58 My understanding is that seven attorneys general
11:01 filed a lawsuit
11:04 trying to get all the second-time transfers clear
11:07 based on the rules kind of feeling --
11:11 I don't want to use the wrong language here,
11:13 but the rules not being clear and confusing
11:17 and all that kind of stuff.
11:19 I hate that it has to come to all this kind of --
11:21 who wants it to get to this point?
11:24 I don't like that.
11:26 My perspective is this, guys.
11:28 Jermeo Reynolds is sitting over there,
11:31 and like I've said this all year,
11:33 and he doesn't understand why he's not playing.
11:36 He's a really good player, really good kid,
11:39 and he hasn't done anything wrong.
11:41 And so he's a guy that could be affected by this in some way,
11:46 so I'm pulling for Jermeo because he's my guy.
11:50 That's the truth, and I'm going to stand with my kids always.
11:54 And so from Jermeo's perspective,
11:56 I hate that it has to --
11:57 I don't think it should have to come to this.
11:59 I wish the NCAA would just clear him
12:00 because he deserves to be cleared.
12:01 We still have not heard back on his appeal.
12:05 I mean, yeah, it's amazing, right?
12:07 We're in December now.
12:08 So I hope it doesn't --
12:10 I don't believe it should have to come to all this,
12:12 but anything that would help Jermeo get on the court,
12:16 help him get to a good place, I am all for that.
12:20 Thanks.
12:22 (chewing)