Mitch Johnson:
On Arizona State:
I guess the easiest and kind of most cliché story would be a tale of two
halves. I think they came in playing with a tremendous amount of confidence and
energy. We talked about them being a young team, like we experience last year
and the year before, when you’re riding high, you’re riding pretty high. They
came in 4-0, first place in the Pac-10. We told ourselves before we came out, we
huddled up, if we let them get going and feel good about themselves, it's going
to be tough. They hit some shots offensively where it’s like – does every Shipp
shoot like this in this gym? That zone was pretty effective, it did exactly what
they wanted and we started thinking way too much. We stopped being aggressive
and offensively were on our heels that half.
On the offense against ASU’s zone:
It’s almost like a matchup zone, almost like a man-to-man, we have a coup
offenses we can run against both. We did a couple of zone offenses and a couple,
kind of motion stuff, run the two big boys. The thing is too, they’re a lot more
athletic this year than last year, a little longer. They’re pretty good.
On beating that zone:
It helped that we started pushing the ball offensively and started getting
more of a pace, instead of letting them get set every time. I know that’s one
thing I need to work on. Even games where we want to slow the game down, we need
to push into the frontcourt to get the ball into the motion. If we bring it up
at a pace, guys might not be in the right position. Even like UCLA -- though
walk it up on Collison, it’s like he plays offense on D.
On the difference he notices in Brook Lopez:
Just the experience factor. Anyone that’s stayed in college more than one
year knows it: you’ve kind of seen everything. You kind of know what to expect
to a certain extent. He’s been double-teamed, he’s had bad calls, he’s had good
games, he’s had bad games, he’s been on TV. This time, he’s kind of just
playing. His supporting cast, as in us, is playing better too and I think that’s
helping. He’s kind of settling down. His first year, he was going faster and
taking quick moves, which a lot of young guys do.
On improvements in the twins:
I don’t think either of the twins have really come close to getting a
technical all year. Sometimes Brook will go to talk to the ref, but he’s usually
calm, just to ask a question, ‘Did I lead with my elbow?’, ‘He’s holding, can
you watch that?’ I’ve never had to pull him back this year.
He’s doing a great job catching and going up. Both of them are doing a great
job passing out of the double team. It’s a huge difference between this year and
last year that ultimately gets them more opportunities to score one-on-one,
because then teams start worrying about double-teaming. I think ASU played them
straight up almost the whole game.
On the outside game to balance the twins inside:
It comes and goes. The shooting comes and goes. But when we do it as a team
consistently, when we shoot well enough to make them respect us, so they can’t
sag, I think we’ll be alright. ‘Even some of the bricks,’ I tell the twins, ‘all
those are basically lobs to you guys.’ I’m serious though. Sometimes our best
offense is to get it up there and let those guys and Fred and Law and Taj go
play volleyball until someone gets that in. One series against ASU, we didn’t
score, but we had six shots point-blank. Not many plays are going to get you
that.
On his mentality with different lineups on the floor:
I think it definitely changes what you’re thinking, depending on your
personnel. I know for sure with those two in the game, teams will double the
post more, we’ll get more offensive rebounds. On defense, if you have to push up
on someone you’ve got a little help back there. It definitely can affect your
decision-making and how you’re thinking.
On halftime at ASU:
We all knew. We all knew. Coach J really didn’t have to come in and say ‘I
saw this or that.’ It was really evident it didn’t have a lot to do with
basketball, it had to do with our personality and mentality as a team. I
remember we huddled as a team, the players only, it got pretty crazy and we
didn’t talk too much about basketball. We just knew: whatever it takes.
On the halftime huddle:
Usually before we go out, we huddle as a team and I say something. I thought
what we had to do was come out and show we were going to be the aggressors and
kind of be the ones dictating the tempo and how the game was going to be
played.
Brook Lopez
On his changed play:
I try to just do whatever I can for the team now. I sort of focus more on
going to basket instead of fading away and hitting the glass more.
On whether he’s carrying more of the offensive load:
Yeah, I am. I definitely feel that and I guess that’s maybe because of
Anthony’s little slump in a couple of games. But he’s getting good looks out
there, so I don’t think we really need to worry about that. Those are shots he
normally hits.
On passing out of double teams:
Yeah that’s definitely something we worked on since last year, since
Louisville, stuff like that. Just asserting our presence down low, attacking the
basket, then when they start respecting us inside, kicking it out more. When
we’re rolling and get our outside game rolling, it’s pretty hard to beat us that
way.
Why since Louisville?
Just in the sense of turnovers and taking care of the ball was an emphasis
for us.
On halftime at ASU:
We really were just disappointed in ourselves. Mitch really looks to pick us
up at times like that and really gets into us, because he really expects more of
us, and we really expect more for ourselves.
On what Mitch said:
I don’t remember. Whatever it was was obviously the right thing. He was
definitely shouting, there was a sense of anger in his tone. Obviously, not mad
at us, mad at the game.
On the mentality against ASU:
We felt they came in really cocky for all the young guys they got on their
team and their 10-game win streak. We really didn’t want to get punked by them.
We wanted to hit them first and when we didn’t do that we didn’t want to
continue reeling.
On who else speaks up:
Definitely Taj, Peter, Fred. A lot of the older guys.
I tell him Mitch said he thought the team’s struggles at times had to do
with the team’s personality, and ask what it is about the team’s personality
that causes the cold streaks.
Tough question. Tough question. [Pause.]
I guess it’s just a sense of aggression. I guess it just comes down to points
in the game where execution is big and we make bad mistakes. Clearly at times,
we still go back and play like it was last season. I’m definitely guilty of
that. I can remember instances against Arizona and ASU where I made bad passes
or put up a bad shot.
On his maturity:
I just try to focus on the game and not let the referees or any outside
factors take me out of it.
On his improved rebounding:
I watched Law a lot over the summer and over the course of last year. He does
a really good job of following his shot. Whether he’s in the post or shooting,
hell get another shot and draw fouls as well.
On covering more area on rebounds:
Yeah. That’s what I try to do: ignore the other guy and get to the ball,
whether he’s there or not. The ball’s what scores.
Second-favorite quote of the year. First place is still Taj in the
aftermath of USC, I believe: “I like my wins like I like my women – pretty. But
I’ll take an ugly one or two.”
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