Photo by Aaron Ledesma/ Marquette Tribune
Q: What happened at the end of the game?
A: Well I just thought it got ragged. We made a run, and I probably should’ve subbed some guys out. As hard as we play, it’s hard to play as hard as we do on both ends of the floor and still execute. And it got ragged, I should’ve called a timeout when I sensed that it was becoming ragged. When we’re out of sync on either end of the floor, it typically leads to…the other end is about to get out of sync too. I know that and that’s how we play, that’s how we work. So I attribute much of that raggedness from the eighth to the eleven minute mark on me, just as much as I do our guys. Because we were taking surprise shots, which we never take. They were scoring on one pass or less possessions, which rarely happens and it was just…that’s not us and it was definitely the worst part of the game.
Q: Did you think about letting the guys grind out that period?
A: I do that a little bit. But I think I have a more keen sense of figure it out on your own and kind of let’s stop and regroup. I think I used my second to last timeout at the five or six minute mark and that was the timeout I should’ve used, three to four minutes earlier. I need to do a better job at that, and I think I will. It went two possessions too long during that ragged stretch.
Q: Anything about Norfolk State surprise you guys tonight?
A: I don’t think so. No.
Q: Points in the paint really helped you guys?
A: We had 59 paint touches was the unofficial count, we’ll watch again when we get done. 26 out of 33 assisted baskets – that’s an incredibly high number. I think our guys were extremely unselfish. I think that anytime a perimeter player not necessarily your point guard leads your team in assist that probably means that everyone’s getting a touch that possession, it probably trends toward your going to shoot a pretty high percentage from the field because baskets will be assisted. So there’s a lot of connected parts to that. When [Johnson-Odom] and [Blue] lead your team in assist I think you’re in pretty good shape. Junior is going to do what he does, and I think Derrick is starting to figure that out. So when your perimeter/post player [Crowder] has four assist that’s really healthy.
Q: You mean that gets you an easy basket?
A: Yeah all that is going to trend toward easy baskets, that probably means that they have forced help, whether that is in transition or the half-court. Its going to lead to an easy basket in the paint or an easy basket from the perimeter, which are things that we want.
Q: How would you asses Vander’s confidence and aggressiveness in these two games?
A: [chuckles] Oh, I like him. He’s really matured. But you know I’m different than most guys, I think that as you grow as a human you grow as a player. And as you struggle as a human, you struggle as a player. That’s why I’m such a recluse on a day-to-day basis. I’m either at home or I’m at work because if I get strung out I’m not any good as a human. And if I’m not any good as a human, I’m not any good as a coach. I absolutely love [Vander]. I have spent an incredible amount of time with him during his tenure so far, and I think there are really bright days ahead of him.
Q: Why is he different this year?
A: I don’t mean to be simplistic, but last year Vander was 17; no one ever typed that, no one ever tweeted that last year. And there’s a big difference between being 17 and 18. Especially when during that year you experience playing at the highest level and for the best league for the country, in your home state, where everyone thought that if the collective bargaining agreement would’ve been different you would’ve went straight to the league. That’s a lot of different stuff before you even get to the floor. I’ve never had a problem with Vander coaching him. Never. I’ve never had a problem. He’s a hard playing dude, who’s competitive aura impacts our team. And you can see it, just like you said. When he’s hooked up, not when he’s making baskets, but when he’s hooked up, it impacts and it ripples down to the rest of our group. And that happens every day in casting.
Q: There were national reports that Vander could see some time at PG. He played well on the wing tonight, with 6 assist though, can you see that happening?
A: I don’t know, I guess I just process these things differently. When [Norfolk State center Kyle O’Quinn] fouls out, he’s such ballyhooed by NBA guys coming into tonight, and he played 16/17 minutes…I told them during the time out, “what position are you?” And they say [point guard, shooting guard, etc.]. But I say no your just really good players. What position has nothing to do with that. Can Vander initiate offense? Yes, but does that make him a point guard, I don’t know? I guess that on that possession he’s a point guard. Within how we play Junior is a point, Derrick is a point. Davante is a five, and Chris is a five. But there were times tonight when three out of those four weren’t on the court. So what are those other guys? Just really good players. I think that within how we play, everyone knows what everyone is doing, and we don’t really look at it from a position standpoint.
Q: How important are Darius Johnson-Odom and Jae Crowder to your offensive attack?
A: I think that they are important to create help. I think when they create help it has an impact for the rest of our team. It trends towards that they will have a bunch of assist, 10 assist between those two guys…Darius made 10 baskets, Jae had seven, that makes 17. Add that to the 10 assist, and…by and large that’s 27 out of the 33 baskets…that’s really good. If they force help that’ll impact everyone else, and vice-versa. That’s why we don’t really play with positions.
Q: With the travel coming up, what kinds of challenges does that present?
A: We’ve never won a championship since we’ve been here. Haven’t won one in the post-season, in New York, or in the NCAA. Have not won a championship in any exempt event. Went to the finals in my second year, with what pundits said was our worst team, and was up 14 at the first media timeout in the second half, until Jimmy Butler went 1-9 from the free throw line. And so, just like I told our team, we’re going to play really good teams, who have really good players, who have really good coaches while in the Virgin Islnads. But as much as its about our opponent, it should also be about us. Can we do what we’ve done in practice, and first two weeks of practice, and first two regular season games, if we do that we can win three games in four days. But if you study the numbers, we haven’t had a lot of success, every year I’ve been here during the Big East tournament, we’ve always got beat on the third night. Two of the three worst losses since I’ve been here have been during those games. We need to win, but how are we going to win. We’re going to win by doing what we do, that leads toward winning, as much as it is about a scouting report on a specific opponent.
Q: How has Darius Johnson-Odom helped the confidence of Vander Blue?
A: I think that’s true…our individual workouts have been tweaked seven or eight percent. Our boot camp tweaked 10 or 12 percent, and training camp was really good. We’ve had 18 practices, three bad but 15 good. But I think that these guys really get along. I think that we had more kindred spirits amongst those kids, not to say that we’ve had bad kids, I just mean there kindred spirits. Sometimes, like those three bad practices, it was because those three spirits were aligned in the wrong way. Vander has the same tendencies I do as a human, Jae does too, Darius does too. And so when they start heading south, it heads south really fast, but when they go north it goes north really fast. It’s a very steep incline either way. And we constantly talk about that. I talk with them about it individually, we text love stories about it, its all that we talk about. But they really care for one another, and understand all the things I’m trying to get them to mature too. Just sometimes that’s hard to do on a day to day basis…if you study how we’ve been at the end of the year. Because we’re not teaching our guys a play, we’re teaching them how to play. Well in November, if you teach a play, they can do that. But in January everyone knows that play; and so that play is out. Like tonight we ran three play out of eighty-something possessions. Is that the right way to do it? Maybe not in November. But that’s the way to do it to play past spring break. We’re teaching how to play, not a play.
Paint Touches 
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