Iowa Basketball Press Conference
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SportsTranscript
00:00 (footsteps)
00:02 - All right, questions for Patrick.
00:07 - Patrick, you haven't had the smoothest season
00:09 in the world so far, but you hit those four free throws.
00:11 I saw the ice in the veins, by the way.
00:13 (laughing)
00:14 - That's more so for the bench than it is for me.
00:17 - How'd it feel to get those free throws to go?
00:19 - Yeah, you know, it feels good.
00:20 Confident jump shooter, confident foul shooter.
00:23 Knew I was gonna step up to the line,
00:25 I knew I was gonna make 'em, and I did.
00:27 I'm glad we won.
00:29 - I think for you guys, you know,
00:31 you've been in similar situations,
00:33 especially over the past week, I guess.
00:34 What was working differently tonight?
00:36 Was it offensive execution?
00:37 Was it just different mindset?
00:38 Just kind of walk me through with you guys,
00:40 just what the differences were.
00:41 - Yeah, you know, I think when you don't turn the ball over
00:44 down the stretch, good things happen.
00:46 In the games that we've lost,
00:47 that's kind of what has happened down the stretch.
00:49 We've turned the ball over.
00:50 We still need to get more stops at the end of the game.
00:55 We still let them kind of hang around and stay in it
00:57 and we could have tried to put 'em away
00:58 'cause we kept scoring, but so did they.
01:01 So I think, you know, rebounding continues
01:04 to be a focal point and something
01:06 we need to keep working on.
01:07 But yeah, I think, to answer your question,
01:09 I think it's just easier when you don't turn the ball over.
01:11 - You've missed the game with the illness,
01:13 came back, hurt your ankle, missed time.
01:15 Just, can you describe like what this season
01:18 has been like for you?
01:19 - Yeah, you know, it's been ups and downs.
01:22 You know, early in the season,
01:24 got drilled a couple games in a row,
01:26 weren't playing very well.
01:27 Individually, none of us were playing particularly well,
01:31 you know, but we keep battling,
01:34 keep coming and practice every day,
01:35 keep coming ready to work.
01:36 You know, we still have a ton of opportunities
01:37 to compete and grow as a team and stay in the hunt
01:41 for, you know, our goal is to make the NCAA tournament.
01:43 And we know that there's enough games on the table
01:44 that if we keep, you know, playing better
01:46 and winning these games that, you know,
01:48 that's gonna be the outcome.
01:50 So yeah, obviously the year hasn't been ideal for me.
01:54 I felt like I really kind of got my feet under me
01:56 in the Nebraska game and then messed my ankle up pretty bad.
01:58 Still dealing with a lot of that stuff.
02:00 Not, probably not a hundred percent healthy.
02:03 I'm trending in that direction,
02:05 but the first couple of games back, I wasn't.
02:07 So, you know, I think just gotta keep, you know,
02:11 rehabbing, keep working and, you know,
02:13 stay locked in and stay focused on the game plan
02:15 and just keep it rolling.
02:17 - You've played with Tony for four years.
02:20 Have you seen any kind of change in him this season?
02:24 - I think with Tony this year, it's been more consistency.
02:29 'Cause like you see, he would dominate
02:31 certain games last year.
02:34 Like Illinois game, he dominated.
02:36 Ohio State game, he dominated.
02:37 Like there were certain games where he dominated,
02:39 but it wasn't like an every night basis
02:41 that it's kind of turned into now.
02:43 You know, he's one of the elite guards,
02:45 not only in our league, but in America.
02:47 And I'm glad he's my teammate.
02:49 - Correct me if I'm wrong with this,
02:51 but it just seems like you're really hard on yourself.
02:54 Is there like, how do you work through that
02:58 in terms of you just haven't been on the floor a lot?
03:01 How do you kind of just stay afloat?
03:03 - Yeah, you know, I think you just take it day by day.
03:06 At the end of the day, you gotta be honest with yourself
03:07 and be real with yourself.
03:09 You know, if I'm not playing great, take me out.
03:12 Like it's kind of the way it is.
03:14 And if I'm playing well, keep me in.
03:16 You know, I have to have a lot of self-realization
03:19 and understand kind of, you know,
03:20 that I'm still working back from injuries.
03:23 I'm definitely pretty hard on myself, but I think we all are.
03:26 But you know, I try to hold myself to a high standard.
03:28 And you know, like you said earlier,
03:30 the year hasn't went an ideal way for me,
03:32 but I don't care as long as we keep winning games,
03:34 I don't give a shit.
03:36 - So were you glad that you were the one
03:38 going to the free throw line?
03:39 - Yeah, I want to get some more points, man.
03:41 (laughing)
03:43 - Patrick, I know even though you kind of just elaborate
03:46 on how this wasn't a perfect win for you guys,
03:48 this was one of those so-called gritty wins.
03:50 What is this doing for the team's confidence going forward?
03:52 - Yeah, you know, I was saying in the locker room,
03:54 they don't ask how, they ask how many.
03:57 Doesn't matter how you get wins,
03:58 just matters that you get them.
03:59 So it doesn't, I think like there's stuff
04:03 we need to work on, absolutely.
04:04 Every team still is working on things.
04:06 So there's stuff we need to get corrected,
04:09 but you know, it's a lot easier to correct things
04:10 when you win than if you lose.
04:11 So just kind of, you know, stay gritty, stay locked in,
04:14 and keep trying to buckle down and win some of these games.
04:18 - Patrick, we know Lodgy's offense
04:19 is still kind of coming along,
04:20 but it just seems like defensively and rebounding-wise,
04:23 he was really, really big for you guys,
04:24 especially in that first half.
04:25 Can you kind of just describe, you know,
04:27 being on the floor with him or watching him,
04:28 what he kind of did tonight that really helped
04:30 kind of get you guys over the edge?
04:31 - Yeah, I think Lodgy, what he's really good at,
04:33 he does his work early on the block.
04:35 You're not going to duck in on him
04:36 because he's kind of sitting there waiting for it.
04:38 So those big guys who are so good at, you know,
04:40 kind of getting position and ducking in,
04:41 you're not going to do that on Lodgy.
04:42 He's waiting for it.
04:44 He's so strong in his lower half, in his legs,
04:47 he's a hard guy to move.
04:49 And so, you know, like you can't really back him down
04:52 the way some of these guys like to back people down
04:53 because he's so strong in his base.
04:55 But I think, you know, with Lodgy,
04:58 he's as good as anybody at doing his work early
05:01 and, you know, kind of making those catches tougher
05:03 further out or just having them not
05:06 essentially catch the ball at all.
05:07 And then, yeah, he's super aggressive
05:09 on the offensive glass.
05:10 He's good offensive.
05:11 He's got a good feel for how to play, you know?
05:14 And his jumper looks sweet,
05:15 and it's going to start to go in at a higher clip here soon,
05:18 and I'm ready for Lodgy.
05:19 - You knew you were going to make those free throws,
05:22 but I mean, it's easy to say that.
05:24 Did you really know that?
05:26 - Yeah.
05:27 (laughing)
05:29 - With the key in like those high pressure
05:32 free throw situations, what are the keys to making them?
05:35 - I mean, like I've shot so many free throws in my life,
05:38 whether that's here or, you know,
05:41 just like workouts, practice.
05:43 Like I've shot so many free throws,
05:45 and I consider myself to be a pretty good free throw shooter.
05:48 I don't know what my numbers are,
05:49 but like I make a lot of my free throws.
05:52 And so I think, you know,
05:54 you just kind of trust what you've put in.
05:56 Like, it's not like,
05:58 obviously you can't create that sort of situation
06:00 in some sort, in another environment, right?
06:02 Like you can't create, like, you got to make these,
06:04 or it's going to get really grim for you guys.
06:06 So, but like, you know, you just lock in
06:09 and you just lock in on your mechanics,
06:11 hold your follow through, get it up,
06:12 and you know, it's going to go in.
06:14 - Patrick, when Josh Dix is aggressive like this,
06:16 and especially late in the game,
06:17 you had a couple of mid-range jumpers,
06:19 and he just seemed to just have a good feel for the game,
06:21 kind of start to finish, especially in the second half.
06:24 What does that do for the team?
06:25 - Yeah, you know, JD is, he's so good,
06:27 and he's so good in the mid-range area.
06:30 He, I feel like it's automatic when he shoots those.
06:33 He makes it at such a high clip,
06:35 and he can get to his spot,
06:36 and he just gets up and he shoots, and he's so smooth.
06:38 And I think, you know,
06:39 you're starting to see him become more aggressive,
06:41 come into his own a little bit and be more assertive.
06:44 And I think that's what's best for us.
06:46 He's such a, so talented,
06:48 and I'm excited to keep playing with him.
06:50 - What's it mean for him to have that kind of confidence,
06:52 especially late?
06:53 - Yeah, you know, I think confidence is good for any player.
06:56 You're not going to be, I don't think,
06:58 I don't think, I don't really care how good you are.
07:00 If you don't have confidence in yourself,
07:01 you're not going to be anywhere close to your potential
07:04 or even very good at all.
07:05 So I think JD's always, JD works really hard at it,
07:08 and I think he's always very confident
07:11 in the work he's put in.
07:12 And we all are, and I'm excited to keep rolling forward.
07:16 - All right, thanks Patrick.
07:17 - Thanks Patrick. - Appreciate it.
07:20 [BLANK_AUDIO]