March 11, 2012 An Interview With: COACH MIKE BREY COACH BREY: Well, I don't know if I've been prouder of a team in my time here at Notre Dame to earn a 7 seed in this tournament after where we were in November and December. So again, we're honored. Any time we're in this thing, I count my blessings because I know the '90s weren't kind to our program as far as getting in this thing. You know, we play basically it's a Big East match-up. I told our team yesterday whomever we draw it's going to be like a Big East game, and Xavier is truly that. I remember doing the show with Andy Katz in Orlando when we were down there recruiting, and Phil Martelli saying, he was on the panel with me, so we have a dark horse Final Four team in our league, Xavier, and they were kind of a sexy pick for the Final Four early in the season. They beat Georgia, we didn't; they beat Cincinnati, we didn't. So we play a really good team that is controlled by two veteran guards that kind of make them go. I like the fact that we've got a little extra time to prepare. When you play the late show in New York and you're there a while, it does take a little juice out of you, so I think it's good for us to get our legs under us before we leave Wednesday for Greensboro. Q. You already kind of started off with you couldn't be prouder of a team. How does this compare to last year when you got the news of being a No. 2 seed? COACH BREY: Well, that was a heck of an accomplishment for our program, too, but I think what this group went through, and this seemed so far from reality at times early in our season, and even early in our Big East season, that it's extremely gratifying for me to see this group do it. I'm very, very proud of them. So there was the big difference. Last year's group was amazing, but they were amazing starting at Thanksgiving down there in Orlando. Q. You have plenty of guys who haven't experienced this setting before. How do you prepare them with this extra time that you have to get ready, or is it just something that they have to experience? COACH BREY: Well, you know, the Big East Tournament atmosphere is frenzied and there's a lot going on and a lot of potential distractions. Hopefully that can help you. But for some guys it's their first time in the NCAA Tournament setting, and I think as a coach you just try and eliminate distractions as much as possible. I love the fact that we're on spring break right now. It's quiet around here. There's no academic requirements for them, so we can really kind of focus on basketball for three good practices before we head. Q. You had mentioned a couple times this year you're the loosest coach in America, and the guys looked like they tightened up a little bit Friday night. How do you get them back to matching the looseness of their head coach? COACH BREY: You know, I think we'll be that way, and I think it's kind of engrained in them. We've got nothing to lose. You know, I think this group has kind of played with house money and nothing has changed, whatever seed you are, whatever jersey you wear. I'd like us to play that way, and we'll talk about that. I think we need to watch some film of how we played in that stretch in February to be a reminder of the attack frame of mind we were in. Coach Brey - 3.11.12.doc 1
Q. Head coaches are judged on tournament success, but is this an exception? Is this year an exception with what you've already accomplished? COACH BREY: Who said coaches are judged on tournaments? What rule book is that in? Is that your rule book? What's your record? I need to see your playing stats before you start doing that. We want to play deep in the tournament. Don't get me wrong. We'll be -- we want to advance. You know, this group earned this thing. They're just not happy to be there. And I think there's a little edge about them because we wanted to play to Saturday night in New York, and we weren't able to get there. You know, there's going to be a lot invested in this thing. You just don't celebrate the regular season run we had. And I think there's a little edge about us because we were disappointed we couldn't get to Saturday night, and that may help us concentrate a little bit more. Q. Several NCAA Tournament appearances, is going against a team like Xavier in the first round kind of easy to get the guys' attention? They watch the tournament, they see a team that's in it all the time, going to Sweet 16s more often than not and a couple Elite 8s. COACH BREY: No, again, Xavier was a trendy pick to be a Final Four team in my Athlon magazine, I think the one I got when I was traveling. So we've got a lot of respect for these guys. They were picked to win the A-10. They had certainly some struggles in the middle of the year but they have some personnel. I watched them one night at Vanderbilt at Vanderbilt come back and put a veteran team away in their building, and I know the firepower they have, especially when those two guards are going. Q. And you referenced a Big East game, and of course with talent and the ability to play the way they do it can be, but is it nice to get out of the grind with rematching teams, playing teams two times? Is it really just refreshing to step out and play someone else? COACH BREY: Yeah, I think when you've been through the battles of the Big East and you've been in it for 20 games, it is a little refreshing I think for everybody that they're not playing a conference opponent. All 68 teams don't have to play -- that's kind of a new challenge, and I think that's part of the excitement of the tournament. Q. What stuck out when you saw the bracket that you were in? Anything special? Everybody is already talking about a potential Duke match-up. COACH BREY: You know, for us we're not good enough to be thinking about a second round game and Duke and my connection there. I told our guys yesterday, I said, the difference is where we thought about the whole picture a little bit more in New York because we had had some momentum getting to semifinals, getting to Saturday night, we can't think past the first-round game. And so our focus will be on Xavier. I talked to them yesterday before the bracket came out, and I kind of made that clear today. Again, we respect them. They're really good, and I think they're playing better, and I think they'll have a clean slate going into the NCAA Tournament to kind of get their momentum back. Q. Over your 12 years here, especially the last couple, you've kind of been known to adjust on the fly during the regular season. When you get into the NCAA Tournament, what have you learned the most in your 12 years? Do you just leave it go as it was during the regular season or do you try to switch some things up? COACH BREY: No, I think you have to always think about new stuff, tweaking things. The same philosophy we've had during the regular season, I think we have to take a page from that. And I'm open to that, and I think one of the reasons I like we don't play until Friday, we have some time to think and discuss that and work on it, any tweaks or changes to things we want to do. So I think you're always -- for our program, I think I've learned coaching here you have to have an open mind to adjusting on the fly at any time. Q. As you moved forward through the nine-game streak and through February, was there kind of a moment where you thought, we have a shot to go back to the NCAA Tournament? COACH BREY: You know what I really felt good about, and I didn't want to get ahead of myself, when we beat Seton Hall after beating Coach Brey - 3.11.12.doc 2
Syracuse, I just felt that was really a big step for this team. It was an ugly game and maybe -- but still, for us to have the maturity of handling everybody telling them about the Syracuse win and beating Seton Hall, and was Connecticut next, that Sunday? Then you win that one. The way you win it -- then I really felt like we're going to get in this thing. We've got a great shot. Then you start worrying about screwing it up because you think you're going to be in position. But the concentration we had at Seton Hall, that was really a key. Q. Is it hard to think about Xavier and not think about your relationship with Skip Prosser? COACH BREY: No, I actually mentioned our first NCAA Tournament match-up 12 years ago. I think it was a 6-11, though, not a 7-10. I thought about Skip. Of course that was his last game there. He went on to Wake Forest after that. But yeah, I thought about that a lot when I saw that flash up. Great guy, one of the special guys in the business that we lost. Q. Where is your offense right now, and what needs to happen with them? COACH BREY: I think our ability to change tempos has been a key. Also sometimes we've been running, sometimes we've been burning. The one thing that we do do a good job of is being patient if we don't have something quick. Whether that's burn or not, I don't know. But patience has been something good. We pass it and handle it pretty good, and we understand what a good shot is. We're going to have to shoot it better. We're going to have to shoot it better. When we were on that run in February, we shot it pretty well, and you know, you can tell you went about moving it, being patient and getting good shots. We're going to have to get into a rhythm. I love the fact that we're playing with the Wilson basketballs. We play with them all year. Little things like that I hope can mentally help our guys. But one of the things we have done a little bit in the last month is we've gotten out, and Eric and Jerian have run to get some stuff, especially in the second half of games, and I think that's something we can't get away from. Any time we can get an easy bucket in transition, it plays into Eric and Jerian's athletic ability. Q. Are teams defending Jack differently now than they did in late January, early February when you had the success? COACH BREY: I think the one thing that we've been able to do, we were able to do then, was we were able to establish Jack game after game after game, but lately, he's a known quantity now, like he was a guy that I don't know -- I don't know how much respect he got on scouting reports, but in the last three weeks, they really look to physically take him away. They'll double the post sometimes. And I think that's stalled us. And so we've tried to just work with him on being patient, getting it off the offensive board, and being a better, less frenzied passer out of the post when they jam it in on him. Q. You talked about the guys playing loose. Do you feel like the pressure level is different than it's been in years past? COACH BREY: Well, I mean, I think you want to play -- my pressure, I just want us to play better than we played Friday. But one of the monikers of this team has been going for it and not looking over their shoulder. So they've got to be prepared the same way, the way I did with them, and the same way with our guys. And I think that starts with hitting some jump shots, feeling good. When you can make some shots early, you feel good about yourself. We have done a great job when we haven't scored for spurts and are still defending. But that takes a toll on you. You've got to get into a rhythm eventually to feel good about finishing the game. We've been amazed how we've shot it the last four minutes of the game. That's been pretty mature to handle that, and I've got to keep them prepared because if that's the way it goes on Friday we'll take it any way we can get it just like we did in February. Q. (Inaudible) did that maybe try to mitigate how much reliance you have? COACH BREY: Yeah, I think for both of them they're able to get places on the floor off the ball screen and they've been really good play makers all year, especially Jerian. I think at times he's turned the corner, he's gotten to 15 feet and he's jump stopped and I really think he's got that 15-footer and he ends up kicking it. He usually ends up making good passes and good plays, but I think he's got to take that 15-footer, and so does Eric when they get in there instead of maybe Coach Brey - 3.11.12.doc 3
over-passing it sometimes. That's one of the things we want to work on moving forward. Q. You've lost five games at neutral sites. COACH BREY: I can't lose sleep on that. What I told them was we've also won five on the road in Big East play. We have played well away from our building. I told them if we're going to win a first-round game Friday, it's going to be like winning at Louisville, winning at West Virginia or winning at Connecticut. It's going to be that kind of effort and that kind of grind, so we have some reference point there. Q. Also, Tim, obviously you lost him very early in the season. How big of a role is he going to play on the bench? Talk about his ability to bring that experience from last year into this year. COACH BREY: Well, I think he does a great job. He's done all year a great job of quietly communicating with our guys, especially our young guys. He and Scott have done so much with our young guys, and I give Abro a lot of credit because even when his season went down the drain with the injury, he didn't feel sorry for himself very long, if at all, and I know he's grabbing Alex Dragicevich. He's done those little things behind the scenes, and I really appreciate that. He's been very much a team guy, and we'll need him even more moving forward. Q. Considering where you were a month ago, did you feel like maybe you could have gone up the ladder a little bit, over a 7? COACH BREY: Yeah, but we're happy with where we're at. I remember where we were, and I'm thrilled we're where we're at. You know, I wasn't really thinking about -- I was thinking about trying to get to Saturday night in New York, not necessarily seeds and -- we maxed out the regular season, and we probably maxed out the tournament to get where we're at. And now I'd like to see us max out an NCAA Tournament experience. And I don't know what that would mean for this team yet, but ask me like Thursday when we're in Greensboro. Q. Talk about the two Xavier guards. COACH BREY: Yeah, they're veteran guards. We're playing against some veteran guards which we've played against before in the Big East and certainly in the non-league. So our guys are a little younger, but I think they're every bit as talented as those guys, but they really control the tempo. You look at the number of shots they've taken compared to their teammates, it kind of goes through them. I'm going to digest them on film tomorrow, but I'm going to bet when those two guys have been under control a little bit they've probably been able to get beat. If they're going off like I saw at Vanderbilt that night, it's going to be a long day. Q. (Inaudible.) COACH BREY: Yeah, you know, I think what helps our young guards has been the challenge of experienced guards. When they've been thrown -- you look at the regular season for the most part, Truck Bryant, the Connecticut guards, Louisville at Louisville. Like when those challenges came to our guys -- Syracuse's guys, Jerian and Eric love that. They haven't won all the battles, but they've won most of them, and that's why we're going to Greensboro. So I think they are very excited about the challenge of playing against those two guys. Q. (Inaudible.) COACH BREY: Yeah, that's a very good point, and I told them that right after the show. We met, and I talked about -- our guys really follow basketball. Eric and Jerian know that that was listed as one of the top three or four back courts in the country in a lot of the magazines. And they also know what happened with the brawl and coming out of it. I educated them as best as I could in ten minutes in the locker room that this is a really good team, and this is like trying to win a Big East road game against a West Virginia, a Louisville or a Connecticut to kind of get them to understand. I think they get that. Q. How is Eric? Is he at all worn down? COACH BREY: You know, he's not. I think we're really smart about how we pace him and how we bring him back and refresh him. I think one of the interesting things is up until the Big East Tournament, for the most part we were playing Saturday, Wednesday, Saturday, Wednesday. We had great spacing in our games for a while there, and that was helpful, not only to Eric but to a group that plays heavier minutes. But Coach Brey - 3.11.12.doc 4
I think for him, he's -- once he got back over that tonsillitis back in November, which really knocked him back, he's one of those guys -- when he was on the AAU circuit he'd playing four games a day, probably eat one bag of potato chips, drink one Mountain Dew and sleep four hours, get up, shoot. He's always bouncing, so his energy level is great. I think we've just been really smart about how long we practice to keep him and Scott, guys like that, keep their legs. FastScripts by ASAP Sports Coach Brey - 3.11.12.doc 5