Fran McCaffery Interview
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SportsTranscript
00:00 All right, questions for coach.
00:10 Update on Patrick at all?
00:12 Getting closer.
00:14 He's going to try to practice today some, see how it goes.
00:17 Lodgy?
00:18 Lodgy will not be practicing today.
00:20 It doesn't look promising for Wednesday.
00:26 We're not going to rush him.
00:27 We need him.
00:30 He had, I mean the last two games, he had sort of made clear progress,
00:35 don't you think?
00:36 Don't question.
00:38 You know, defensively and on the glass in particular,
00:41 and the thing I like about him is, you know, he's –
00:44 he shoots the ball well.
00:46 I mean, he's not afraid to shoot.
00:47 He pulls from three.
00:49 He pulls from 15 feet.
00:51 He's aggressive offensively.
00:52 I want him to keep being that way,
00:56 knowing we're going to get great play from him at the other end.
01:00 If you don't have him, do you anticipate possibly going smaller
01:04 or playing Ben and Owen more?
01:06 Or how do you kind of adjust to that?
01:08 Well, obviously Ben and Owen,
01:09 but also it makes Evan Braun that much more important.
01:15 You know, we got other guys you can kind of swing, Peyton,
01:20 maybe that means more playing time for Price.
01:22 Maybe you – I wouldn't be afraid to play Carter Kingsbury.
01:25 I'm ready.
01:27 What about Carter?
01:28 Does he – where does he contribute on the court?
01:31 Well, he's probably our strongest guy.
01:34 You know, he's just not 6'8".
01:37 You know, and he can step out and make threes.
01:40 So, he's also a veteran guy.
01:43 So, yeah, he's a good player.
01:45 And then with Evan, obviously the athleticism sticks out,
01:48 but what else do you like about his game?
01:50 Well, he's getting more and more comfortable, you know,
01:52 as he's gotten some minutes.
01:55 Keep in mind, I mean, he was a starter at the Division I level,
01:57 so it's not like he's uncomfortable out there.
02:00 But it's still a new program, a new situation for him.
02:04 I know Matt Painter has been outspoken before
02:06 just about court storming protocols and stuff,
02:10 kind of got magnified with yesterday.
02:12 Kaitlin, do you just have thoughts on that?
02:17 You know, I really haven't.
02:22 You know, we – it's funny, we were talking last week,
02:24 we've got to move the students down closer to the court.
02:26 What do you think they're going to do?
02:28 It's a big win.
02:29 You think they're going to sit there?
02:30 They're going to run on the floor.
02:33 You know, I mean, you know, I remember the first time my boys,
02:38 when they were younger, before they ever played for me,
02:41 they were out on the field.
02:42 It would be Michigan I think it was.
02:46 It's always – everybody loves it.
02:48 Everybody thinks it's wonderful.
02:49 And until something like that happens,
02:50 you've got to change the – you know, think back.
02:55 We used to tear the goalpost down, right?
02:57 Until somebody got hit in the head.
02:59 Then it wasn't such a good idea.
03:02 So, I don't think they're going away,
03:05 but I guess there's really two solutions.
03:07 Either you let them happen or you don't.
03:10 Bring the cops in and don't let them – I don't think that's realistic.
03:14 You know, you want these kids to come to the game and be enthusiastic
03:18 and run on the court and have fun and support your team.
03:23 It's unfortunate what happened to Kaitlyn.
03:25 Fortunately she's okay.
03:27 She's as tough as they come, we know that.
03:30 And probably a 45 in the next game.
03:37 Coach, in the case where Patrick comes back next game,
03:39 does Josh Dix's role change at all or is it going to be the same?
03:42 He's going to play a lot either way.
03:44 You know, my rule has always been, you know,
03:45 when starters are hurt they come back,
03:47 they move back into the starting lineup.
03:49 But Josh has clearly earned major minutes.
03:53 So it almost doesn't matter if he starts or not, he's going to play a ton.
03:57 Ben Cricke, what's his personality like?
04:01 Very focused, very serious.
04:07 You know, he's got great personality,
04:10 but he's a little more on the quieter side.
04:13 But he's a fierce competitor.
04:16 Coach, I know a couple of days ago Owen had his incident with the family stuff
04:21 and Tonya Perkins went through the same thing.
04:23 Can you just talk about the family environment that you created
04:26 through this program?
04:28 Yeah, I – you know, we've over the years had a number of different times.
04:33 As you can expect, you know, in 14 years those kinds of things happen, it's life.
04:39 And the important thing is that, you know, Tony knows, that Owen knows,
04:44 that everybody in that locker room loves him.
04:45 I told Owen's mom we're going to put our arms around him and love him up.
04:48 And his teammates to a man and the coaches to a man have done that for him.
04:55 He's got a beautiful family, he's home with them now,
04:58 will not be at practice today.
05:00 He went home right after the game on Saturday to be with his family,
05:03 which is exactly where he needed to be.
05:06 And when he comes back, he'll be ready to go.
05:09 So, I think it's really what's most important,
05:15 is sometimes get locked into one thing, wins and losses.
05:20 And you know, it's a family in that locker room, it's a journey,
05:24 a lot of hard work, ups and downs.
05:27 And how you deal with that is many times going to be a function of the support
05:32 that you get from your teammates and your coaches
05:36 and we'll continue to do it the way we've done it.
05:39 Do you ever have to remind – I mean, these kids are like Owen's 6'10",
05:41 do you ever have to remind yourself to 17, 18 year old kids?
05:45 Yeah, it's – you know what Pat, it's easy, you know,
05:50 when you see the kind of raw emotion that comes with something
05:54 like what he's going through, he and Tony, both.
06:01 Owen was very emotional before the game on Saturday, very emotional.
06:05 You guys probably saw it.
06:07 And you know, when we just kept talking to him and getting him ready,
06:13 and what he did really well, it was unfortunate he couldn't have played a few more minutes.
06:19 But I have no doubt he'll be ready to go on Wednesday.
06:23 What separates Jameer Young from maybe the ordinary starting player?
06:31 He is – he's a veteran guy, so he's got a command of what he wants to do.
06:38 There's not much he hasn't seen.
06:40 He plays with a tremendous amount of confidence.
06:42 He's a very skilled offensive player to make plays for his teammates
06:47 or just go get buckets.
06:49 You know, he has a real ability to make big shots late.
06:54 You know, and wants to shoot the ball late.
06:59 And he's somebody that's going to command a lot of attention
07:03 any time he takes the floor.
07:06 I know I'm supposed to direct refereeing questions to Mike,
07:09 but if Owen, you know, are there quick things that you can see
07:14 that put him in less vulnerable situations?
07:17 Yeah, I think that's a fair question.
07:19 You know, he's trying to be physical, he's trying to do it without using his hands
07:25 and putting his hands up and using his body.
07:27 Everybody's fighting for the same real estate.
07:30 So it doesn't make it easy, especially when you're not as big as the guy
07:34 you're trying to guard.
07:35 But I think the more experience he gets, you know, guarding somebody like Edie,
07:42 the better he'll be in that area.
07:45 Obviously Ben Kirk, you know, and Freeman, they're huge pieces to the team.
07:49 So when one of them gets in foul trouble,
07:51 I know you still got Evan Brons and Laji on the bench,
07:54 but when one of them gets in foul trouble,
07:56 does that change dramatically with the scheme or anything like that?
08:00 No, I feel very, very comfortable with both of those guys.
08:03 Like you said, I mean, I think Laji is really coming on.
08:07 I've been very impressed with him.
08:09 He just keeps getting better.
08:10 And Evan's in a different place because he's got so much experience.
08:15 And physically he's in a really good place.
08:17 I mean, both of those guys are, you know, 245
08:21 and can handle the strength of the guys in this league.
08:25 So we didn't have that last year.
08:29 We didn't have that kind of depth in the front court.
08:32 So it's nice to be able to look down there and see those guys.
08:36 Obviously we're going to miss Laji, but at least we have Evan sitting there.
08:39 How's Patrick doing having to go in and out of the lineup with physical issues?
08:45 Yeah, that's been tough.
08:46 He's really anxious.
08:47 He really wanted to play Saturday.
08:50 But, you know, you have to be mature enough to say,
08:52 okay, I really – I'm not going to be effective.
08:55 I mean, he probably could have been out there a few minutes here,
08:58 a few minutes there.
08:59 But we've got other guys that when they're 100%,
09:02 they need to be out there and not him if he's not.
09:05 So we'll see how he does today.
09:09 We'll probably do everything half court.
09:10 I don't know if we'll do much full court today.
09:12 And then if he does well today, we'll do a little more tomorrow.
09:15 We'll try to get him ready to play Wednesday.
09:18 But it's been hard on him because he really wants to be out there
09:20 and help our team.
09:23 You won three straight games,
09:24 run into an incredibly tough opponent this weekend against Purdue.
09:29 You should expect your guys to get right back rolling the way they were playing?
09:31 I mean, that's what this league is.
09:33 I mean, you look at, you know, what Maryland has done, they win at Illinois.
09:38 I mean, it tells you what they're capable of doing.
09:42 They've got really good players, very athletic team.
09:45 Kevin's somebody that I've coached against for a number of years.
09:48 We were in the same league in the MAAC.
09:52 So our guys understand, you know, who's coming in here
09:56 and what we have to do to be ready.
09:59 All right, thanks guys.