F. McCaffery Presser NIU 12.29.23
iowa basketball coach
Transcript
00:00 --half time about defense specifically?
00:03 Well, they shot 67%, and they made eight threes.
00:09 And it's not the first time they've
00:13 had performances like this.
00:15 I mean, they went on a 27-2 run at Monmouth.
00:18 They were beating Northwestern at halftime.
00:23 They're up 20 against DePaul on the road,
00:25 ended up winning that game.
00:26 So they do this all the time.
00:29 Very explosive offensive team.
00:32 We did not get up into their space
00:36 like we had hoped, like we had prepared for,
00:39 whether it's a ball screen or not.
00:42 You've got to be up in their space, especially on Coy.
00:45 I mean, he had 34 against DePaul.
00:47 He's a really good player.
00:49 So in the second half, we took care of business in that area.
00:53 We got up.
00:55 We were in their space.
00:55 We created some misses.
00:57 They shot 29%.
00:59 And then you can get your running game going.
01:01 How important was the assist to turnovers tonight?
01:04 I mean, they had 21 turnovers.
01:05 But you guys only had seven, but also 23 assists as well.
01:08 Yeah, that's how we play.
01:10 I mean, I'm not surprised.
01:12 We need to be there every night.
01:14 I mean, I would have thought we would have had more on 42
01:16 baskets.
01:17 But the bottom line is we share it.
01:19 We had six guys in doubles, and one guy with nine,
01:22 one guy with eight.
01:23 So it easily could have been eight guys.
01:25 But that's what makes us hard to guard.
01:27 Spreading that wealth in terms of scoring--
01:30 and I know we've kind of talked about it before.
01:32 Is that sort of a--
01:33 I don't know if a goal for you guys to kind of spread the wealth?
01:37 I think it's indicative of who this team is.
01:41 We got a lot of different ways we can go.
01:44 Like for example, we were struggling a little bit
01:46 offensively, and then Price comes in, and it's two threes.
01:51 And it's always somebody else.
01:53 DeSante Bone was terrific.
01:54 He had 15.
01:56 Josh Dixon, the second half, was great.
01:59 So when we go to the bench, we're not losing a lot.
02:04 You're a little bit of experience maybe,
02:05 but those guys come in, and they compete, and they score,
02:09 and they defend.
02:10 Josh and DeSante are really good defenders.
02:14 Seems like Ben and Owen kind of become anchors for you guys.
02:17 But I guess losing Chris and Phillip
02:21 after the last season, how do you kind of compartmentalize
02:25 that as a coach, knowing how much you have to replace there?
02:30 Well, I mean, Phillip was special.
02:33 I mean, he's 25 years old.
02:34 He'd been around, the toughest guy on any block.
02:37 Chris was incredibly talented, took
02:41 a lot of the defensive attention of the other team.
02:44 And then you put Connor in there with those two guys,
02:49 I mean, that was as good a front line as we had in our league.
02:52 But we knew how good Freeman was,
02:54 and we knew how good Kroekke was.
02:56 Kroekke's not a freshman.
02:59 So I'm not surprised and sort of expected those guys
03:03 to play the way they're playing.
03:05 I mean, it's hard to replace a first round pick.
03:09 But Ben gets 20 and 7, and I guess
03:15 it's weird to say it's quiet, but it's kind of a quiet 20.
03:18 And he just never stops working.
03:21 What do you feel like was the difference
03:23 in the second half, transition defense, half court defense?
03:26 It was half court defense that led to transition offense.
03:30 Do you feel like your team is maybe
03:32 more ready for this Big 10 play that begins very soon?
03:37 Well, I think so.
03:38 I certainly hope so.
03:39 I mean, we had a bit of difficult non-conference
03:43 schedule when you think about road game and the Big East
03:46 Challenge, a road game with Iowa State, Oklahoma, Seton Hall,
03:50 and San Diego, two really tough league opponents.
03:57 And then I feel like we've been challenged
03:59 by this team, Northern Illinois, and North Florida, Arkansas
04:03 State, UMBC.
04:05 I mean, those are well-coached teams with veteran guys,
04:08 a lot of transfers.
04:10 So certainly that was a thought process
04:14 to prepare our team for the next 18.
04:18 Not necessarily asking whether Ben and Owen are
04:21 better than Chris and Phillip, but how do those two guys'
04:25 skillsets compare to the last season, those two guys?
04:28 Well, they're different, but I think equally effective
04:34 in what they do.
04:36 You're talking about two old guys,
04:39 and now you're talking about a freshman and an old guy.
04:42 But these two guys can really score.
04:46 They're athletic.
04:47 They're smart.
04:48 They're tough.
04:49 Very similar to those other two guys.
04:51 You already mentioned--
04:52 I'm sorry.
04:52 No, you go ahead.
04:53 You already mentioned Josh Dix and DeSante.
04:55 But I'm just talking about how important
04:56 they were off the bench tonight.
04:57 You know, in a close game early, but they were able to provide
04:59 sparks off the bench.
05:00 Yeah, both of them--
05:02 DeSante in the first half in particular
05:04 was really aggressive.
05:05 And Josh is always rock solid.
05:07 I mean, he didn't score as much in the first half.
05:09 He did in the second.
05:10 But those two guys are really good together.
05:14 They both can play the point.
05:15 They both can play the wing.
05:17 And they're both really smart and tough.
05:19 You keep talking about Freeman and his acceleration,
05:22 but tonight, five offensive rebounds, four steals.
05:27 These don't seem like very normal numbers
05:30 for a freshman center.
05:32 No, and-- yeah, but I honestly think,
05:36 like, if you'd been at practice in June
05:38 and watched practice every day, you wouldn't be surprised.
05:41 I mean, you could see it's coming.
05:43 It's not like, you know, he started slow, and he was behind,
05:47 and he couldn't figure stuff out,
05:49 and it was going to be a learning curve.
05:51 It was none of that.
05:52 He jumped right in, ready to go.
05:54 The only thing-- I think I said this before--
05:56 the only thing that set him back a little bit,
05:58 we had a couple minor injuries.
06:00 They tweaked his ankle, stuff like that.
06:02 They get a little plantar fascia problem.
06:05 But when he was healthy, from minute one,
06:08 He's one of our best players.