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BIG 12 CONFERENCE MEN'S TOURNAMENT


March 8, 2007


Bob Knight


OKLAHOMA CITY, OKLAHOMA

Q. Coach, what did you think of Zeno's play early on versus late in the first half and then the second half?
COACH BOB KNIGHT: I thought that the last five or six minutes Zeno played very well. He had missed a couple block-outs. We had a little discussion on the sideline, and I was really pleased that the way he reacted over the period where we had to play to win the game. Wasn't really a discussion. It was kind of a one-way conversation. "Discussion" is being very liberal with what took place.

Q. Can you shed some light on what exactly that one-way conversation was?
COACH BOB KNIGHT: No. If I wanted you to know about, I would have called time and invited you to come down and listen. So when you're sitting up there, I'm on somebody or talking to somebody, you know, you can turn to whoever is beside you and say, well, the son of a bitch didn't invite me down, I guess he didn't want me to know.

Q. What do you think of your team's defensive play today?
COACH BOB KNIGHT: We gave up a lot of stuff. They did a good job driving to the basket. We had people that seemed to be tentative on offense -- or on defense, rather, in terms of moving to help.
I really think our defense in the last four or five games has been pretty good, and I don't think it has been as good today as it has been. They had something to do with that. They were aggressive and going to the bucket with the ball.

Q. Coach, can you talk about the matchup with Kansas State tomorrow?
COACH BOB KNIGHT: Well, Kansas State is a very, very tough team with a really good coach, a tough-minded coach and a tough-minded team.
I think they have shown all year long that they are very tough for anybody to play against and that certainly will be the case for us tomorrow. They're a team that I think in view of the record that they have in this league should -- if there wasn't any game played tomorrow should be in the NCAA tournament.
I think that's a pretty good tribute to Bob Huggins and his players.

Q. Coach, how do you feel like Decensae White has played the last few games?
COACH BOB KNIGHT: I think White is still too careless. He is casual. He is a casual player. He jive asses around out there. I'm not sure he knows he has missed a blockout or taken a bad shot. That's what we are trying to teach him.
I think he has really made good contributions to our team and in and out, he's made good plays. He made two really good plays at the end of the half that made a big difference in where we were starting the second half and where we would have been without the five points that he scored.

Q. Coach, how do you handle preparation in tournament play with the quick turnaround?
COACH BOB KNIGHT: We just prepare. We just go tonight and go over our last game with Kansas State and what they have done since and just say here's what we got to do. You know, it isn't like we're going to, you know, attack Tokyo.

Q. Coach, if you can, talk about your ability to get to the free throw line and how that helps you in tournament situations, especially as now you're going into the NCAA as it looks like?
COACH BOB KNIGHT: I think that we've always been -- let me rephrase that. I have always wanted us to be a team that can score from the free throw line, that we try to maneuver and get people in position where they have got a half a step or a step and they can go to the bucket.
We've always been that kind of a team. I think that -- I remember as a player we're playing St. John's in Madison Square Garden in the Holiday Festival. This was a great lesson for me. I had the ball at the foul line and I drove and I scored. I didn't score a hell of a lot of buckets but I scored this one against Tony Jackson who was an All-American at that time.
And Jackson fouled me, and the bucket didn't count. I went to the free throw line and I made two free throws. And I remember sitting after the game in the locker room. I wanted to tell Havlicek so bad that I scored against Tony Jackson and the referee had screwed me out of that, see.
But, anyhow, he came over and he thought what I was thinking. He sat down beside me and he said, that was a big play when you drove and got to the free throw line and made both free throws.
You know, that got me thinking. I thought back to that when I started coaching, that one of the things I wanted kids to understand was that two points from the free throw line is many times more valuable than two points from the floor. You are not as excited about it. The fans don't see it that way.
But you get fouled, you make two points, it is the third foul on this kid in the first half. You are now in the one and one. You are now shooting a two-shot foul.
I really think back to that play that I made or didn't make in that game and that was December of 1960. And that was one of the things that I really thought about when I started coaching, the value of the free throw.

Q. There seems to be an impression that the Big 12 is not as good as some of the other conferences around the country. How good is this conference?
COACH BOB KNIGHT: I think the conference is really good. There are a hell of a lot of teams that will get beat by Kansas and Texas and Texas A&M. That's three really good teams. I'm not sure who else has three really good teams.
I don't know anybody who has three that are really good. And then there's another three or four that are pretty good. You know, in most conferences, they are just pretty good. Now, we played those three and they are damn good, all three of them.
So I think the conference is very good. I mean, that's why -- you know, I don't pay much attention to that stuff. But Pat tells me or one of the other coaches tells me that, well, this conference will get four teams. I just don't think that's realistic at all. I mean, you have got a team that finished -- Kansas State finished 10-6 in a tough conference. And I think that, to me, I mean, they're a lock.
In this conference if you go 10-6 to get into it and they won a couple of games like -- a game I'm sure they would overlook we damn near get beat by North Dakota State at home and they beat North Dakota State but they beat them up there. That's a hell of a win.
I don't know. Sometimes, you know, I am always a little bit -- just like this deal with Dick Vitale that I have been kind of crusading for. Somebody has got to tell people how important the guy has been to college basketball. You just can't look at a résumé and say, oh, here's Dick Vitale, he coached for -- broadcast for 27 years, Dick Enberg was his partner, what does that tell you? Nothing.
I think that is a screwy way to handle things because let's say we got a coach that coached 30 years ago. Hell, the only guy in America that will remember the guy is me. And if they don't listen to me, how the hell is he going to get in the Hall of Fame? How was that for a tirade? (Smiling.)
We are not going to take any more questions? Are you hungry?
Has anybody else got a question? The hell with him. Does anybody else got a question? You guys better catch me in this mood; it ain't going to happen very often.

Q. Since you seem like you are in a good mood, I will ask one that you have shot down before. Can you reflect on what Jarrius Jackson has meant to this program and his development over the last few years?
COACH BOB KNIGHT: I think he has been a kid that has been about as consistent a scorer as you can find. If you go over the games that we've won, he scored.
When we've played somebody tough and maybe gotten beat, he's scored. I mean, when we've been in a game where we've done a good job against a good team, almost invariably he has scored.
Actually, I think tonight was one of the lighter games he's had or this afternoon. He didn't get a bucket in the second half, I don't think. But, you know, he winds up with 13 points. This would be -- was that Kevin Weiberg? Is he not happy with our press conference? (Smiling.)
Charlie, you want to check on this and see what we are up against here?
So if you checked it over, you would find it, if we have played somebody that's good, well, win or lose, he has been a really consistent scorer against good teams for us.

Q. Since you got started on this topic a second ago, I wonder how you would respond to those who refer to tomorrow's game between you and K-State as a play-in game for the tournament?
COACH BOB KNIGHT: To me before the tournament ever started, both teams should be in the NCAA tournament. I think that their record season long -- the problem I have with the tournaments, because of the problems I have -- my teams have never done very well in post-season tournaments.
A couple of years ago, Oklahoma State beat us in the championship game. That's the only time we have ever been in a championship game.
I don't think with the exception of a team that -- if a team is in the NCAA tournament at the end of a season, then the only way a tournament should matter is that somebody wins a tournament championship that wasn't figured on getting into the NCAA.
I don't think you can put one game against an entire season or two games against an entire season. Kansas State finishes fourth in this league, a really tough league. I think they should be in it.
You know, I think we should be in it. Hell, I think Kansas ought to even be in it (smiling).

Q. Coach, you are having such a good time here, is it fair to say that Oklahoma City is working fine for you? You are enjoying it? The site is fine?
COACH BOB KNIGHT: My wife is from Oklahoma. My dad was born and grew up in Oklahoma. When I was 12 years old, my mother took me on the train to Pittsburgh to see OU play Pittsburgh. It was a 7-7 tie. They lost all those backs from the year before. Vessels, Crowder, McPhail were all gone and Buddy Leake was the only guy back. That was even before your time. That's how long I have liked Oklahoma. I want to stop right there. There are some things about Oklahoma that have displeased me from time to time.
Just remember, if I'm all pissed off tomorrow and don't feel like talking, just remember we had a nice time today.

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