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NCAA MEN'S REGIONALS SEMIFINALS & FINALS: DETROIT


March 29, 2008


Stephen Curry

Max Paulhus Gosselin

Andrew Lovedale

Bob McKillop

Jason Richards

Thomas Sander


DETROIT, MICHIGAN

THE MODERATOR: We have head coach Bob McKillop and student-athletes from Davidson. We'll start with Coach McKillop making a statement.
COACH McKILLOP: For us, the rhythm of the season has become the rhythm of the post-season, so we've not deviated at all from what our plans and objectives throughout the year have been. We've approached every game, every practice, every film session, every meeting with the objective of getting better, having fun, and playing to win.
In the aftermath of our very enjoyable victory last night, we've taken that same approach all day today. I am pleased with where we are right now as we get ready to play Kansas tomorrow.
THE MODERATOR: Questions for the student-athletes.

Q. Steph, is your dad here and how much advice and hanging-out time are you getting from him?
STEPHEN CURRY: Yeah, he's here. He's staying at the same hotel we are. So my free time, I go and hang out with my family.
But he gave me some tips, you know, dad talk before the game yesterday. Nothing special. Just get me motivated to play the game. Nothing special.

Q. Stephen, is there anyone who can guard you? What's going on with that? Four straight NCAA tournament games with 30 or more points. What's the secret?
STEPHEN CURRY: Our system here. It's nothing special that I do. I just get screens from Andrew and Thomas and other big guys down low. Our assists man, he's great at being patient and finding guys when they're open. So when I'm open, I get the ball. I have a lot of confidence to shoot it. Nothing special I'm doing.
We've been working on our system to perfect it all year, and the timing on our offense is great right now, and we're just flowing. Just reaping the benefits of our system.

Q. Jason, what do you think of that? "It's nothing special I do."
JASON RICHARDS: I think he's lying because obviously he has a lot to do with what he does (smiling).
I don't know how to react to that. But, yeah, he's a great player. He can shoot the ball. He can do everything. He gives a lot of credit to the rest of the team. That just shows what type of person he is. It's a team effort here at Davidson. It's not just him. It's not these five guys right here. It's our entire team and coaching staff, although he has a lot to do with it, I'll say that (smiling).

Q. Jason, two years ago George Mason had a run to the Final Four as a Cinderella. Did you follow that much and do you see you guys as this year's George Mason?
JASON RICHARDS: We did. We know about George Mason. Everyone knew about them when they made the run. I don't think we're trying to be categorized as the next George Mason. We're Davidson. We're trying to make our own history here. I wouldn't say we're trying to be like them. We're a different team. It's a different year. It's a different run. We're just having fun right now.

Q. Steph, in the two years you've been playing college ball, is there one defender who you recall giving you the most trouble? Who was it and what did he do that irked you?
STEPHEN CURRY: Probably in practice Tim Sweeney, one of our assistant coaches (laughter). He's a quick defender. He does a great job.
But in games, probably Russell Westbrook from UCLA. He's very quick. He defended me off screens in a way I hadn't seen before. He did a great job of just chasing me. So he probably gave me the most trouble.

Q. What did he do on the off screens?
STEPHEN CURRY: I can't really remember. I just know every time I came off a screen, he was right there chasing me. I can't remember exactly what he did or where he positioned himself. Whatever he did, he did a great job.

Q. Max, how do you as a team try to keep things as normal as possible knowing you're playing in a football arena? You have become a national story.
MAX PAULHUS GOSSELIN: We just stick to the same keys during the whole season. What we've been doing, we keep doing. We're in the same setting that we've been in the whole year.
It's still a basketball court with two hoops and the same lines, the same length. So we stick to our keys to the game and to the mentality we've had all year. We haven't struggled yet.

Q. Jason, coach said in his opening statement one of your goals is having fun. Last night after making some shots, some facial expressions made, looks like you are having a good time out there. Is that true?
JASON RICHARDS: Yeah, you're right on that (smiling). We try to stay loose and stay calm out there. Coach always asks us if we're having fun. That's something we try to put in our game plan. If you're not having fun, there's something wrong with you. You're in the NCAA tournament, Sweet 16.
We like to have fun. We get some facial expressions out there, do some chest pumps. It's just a part of Davidson. Just shows how much fun we're having out there.

Q. Steph, you've talked about your teammates. Who do you think, besides you, is the most important on the team? If you were a defense, who would you concentrate on stopping of your teammates?
STEPHEN CURRY: I mean, Jason, he has two strengths. He can lead the offense with assists and getting people open opportunities and shots. But he can also take you off the dribble and shoot it.
So, I mean, he's very dangerous in that respect. You don't know what to expect, if he's gonna give it up or find an open lane and get to the basket. I think it's shown in the tournament when we've gotten down or had a large deficit, he has kept us in it by just making shots and getting to the foul line and just controlling the tempo of the game.
On offense and defense, he does a great job of being in -- in passing lanes, getting steals, just causing chaos on both ends of the floor. He's definitely valuable to our team.

Q. Andrew, can you talk a little bit about Kansas' big men and what kind of challenges they'll present to you especially tomorrow.
ANDREW LOVEDALE: From what we know, I mean, they're a very athletic team. They've got a lot of great guys out there. But I don't think we're approaching them differently. We've practiced all year. Coach has been preaching consistency to us all year, to try and go out there and be consistent, you know, don't take plays out. So I think we're going to approach it with the same mentality: just go out there and play basketball.

Q. Steph, in the Kansas media session just now, Russell Robinson suggested your skills are nothing special. He said if the coach gives you a green light and your teammates are behind him, his concluding quote was, Once you get those two things down pat, anybody can knock it down." When you hear a statement like that, what are your thoughts?
STEPHEN CURRY: It's just his opinion. I mean, our system here definitely allows guys to get shots and the movement we have allows me to use screens.
I mean, I haven't shown much of a one-on-one, like, skill game kind of thing because that's not what we need here at Davidson. That's not in our system, anything that's necessary for our success.
I know my role on the team, and that's to use screens, get open shots, play defense. So I'm going to stick to that.

Q. The other four guys other than Steph, can you talk about how well obviously he's handled this rock-star status as the tournament has gone on in terms of being humble and remaining a grounded player.
THOMAS SANDER: I mean, Steph's parents did a great job with him. They taught him from when he was a little kid. His dad was a great example to him, you know, just to be humble, take everything you get, but at the same time, you know, remember where you came from.
Throughout the tournament, he's just done a tremendous job. I mean, responding to a question like that the way he did, I don't know how many guys could do that. It just shows what kind of person he is.
JASON RICHARDS: Also I think we have fun with it. We kind of joke around with him all the time, kind of loosen him up. He is getting all this media. He deserves it. But at the same time we just have fun with it. We make fun of him, so...
He's a young guy, so we can do that.
MAX PAULHUS GOSSELIN: Even if his nickname on the team now is "Prime Time," he's able to keep his head normal size. It's just amazing to be able to be around a great basketball player that's, at the same time, a friend and a great guy.
ANDREW LOVEDALE: I think the better way he keeps the pressure off himself is by, you know, trying to helping us out, his teammates. He does a great job of that. Coach tells us all the time, You help someone, you help yourself. He does a great job of helping his teammates. That takes some load off him, as well, so...

Q. Steph, the coach of Kansas said, I wish I had Steph on my team, that you were overlooked by a lot of recruiters. Why do you think that was? Did it bother you? Did it motivate you?
STEPHEN CURRY: Coming out of high school, I was a little scrawny kid, like maybe 5'6", 5'7", 120 pounds. That's nowhere near the physical stature you need to be on that level coming out of high school.
I understood that. I knew I had to just work on my game and hopefully get bigger. It was kind of out of my control. It didn't motivate me to kind of prove to other teams that I could play there just because I'm not like that. I have more motivation just from myself and from my teammates. I had a growth spurt senior year. Like I said, I have motivation from myself and my teammates to play for them and just enjoy the opportunity that I have here at Davidson.
I'm past all that.

Q. Steph, Coach Self said you really can't teach; you really can't, in a lot of ways, develop a feel for shooting the basketball. Can you agree with that? Can you share your approach that you've had in developing that skill?
STEPHEN CURRY: Just from being around my dad a lot. He's one of the greatest shooters in the NBA. Naturally I watched and learned things from him first hand, just being in the gym, one-on-one teaching and stuff like that - and genes help. Practicing as much as I could growing up helped me develop touch and consistency with my shot. I just continue to work on it to this day. Just the consistent work that I put into it is starting to pay off.

Q. Steph, how do you like Prime Time?
STEPHEN CURRY: Actually, our trainer, Ray, gave me the nickname. I don't know exactly know why or how it came about. Guys think it's a big joke. I let them call me that.

Q. Jason, you led the nation, I think, in assists this year. You're the school career leader in assists. You went 13-0 the other night assists-turnovers. Inadvertently players and television announcers called you Jason Richardson. What do you have to do for people to know your name?
JASON RICHARDS: I don't know. Doesn't really bother me. I don't think my name is that hard. NBA guy, Jason Richardson, that's why they confuse me. It's not that big a deal to me. It's just my name, but... (Smiling).
I really don't know how to answer that question.

Q. Steph, you've been called many different pronunciations. What do you think of your name being butchered?
STEPHEN CURRY: I've gone through that my whole life. It's spelled the same way as the normal "Stephen" you hear. When I came to school, actually Coach just started calling me "Stephen" the first time I got on campus. That was actually the first time that people started calling me that. He got that going. That kind of eliminates the confusion for most people. So you can call me Steph. That just works for both of us.

Q. Thomas, do you guys consider yourselves a Cinderella team?
THOMAS SANDER: You know, the whole Cinderella thing, you know, the media, I guess, and the fans kind of like the whole idea and concept of a Cinderella. It's something everybody can relate to, I guess. Everybody cheers for the Cinderella. We feel like we belong here and we feel like we showed it in the past three games. You know, we're just Davidson. That's what we consider ourselves as. We think we can go out there and compete. That's what we try to do.

Q. Thomas, Max, and Andrew, a lot is made of your system. How exactly would you describe it and how do you think it makes you so successful as a team?
MAX PAULHUS GOSSELIN: I think our system just works because it's based on easy principles that -- on habits we've rehearsed and rehearsed over the last few years. I feel like once habits settle in, you're able to flow more freely. And I feel like the freedom it allows all of us to have, it's like organized freedom, and I think it's worked really well for us.

Q. In order for you to win tomorrow, can you just simply go out and play your game or does Kansas have to be a little bit off its game or do you have to take them off their game in order for you guys to win?
ANDREW LOVEDALE: I don't think we're going to do anything differently. We're going to approach the game the way we've approached every game this year.
You know, we try to go out there, have fun, play to win and get better. It's just three motives out there. We're going to go out there and do the same thing. Doesn't matter who we're playing against, we're just going to go out there and play for each other and have fun.
THOMAS SANDER: I was pretty much going to say the same thing.

Q. Kansas is the 1 seed. They're the big basketball power with the big basketball tradition. Do you feel all the pressure's on them and not on you or do you feel there's pressure on you because you're so close to the Final Four?
STEPHEN CURRY: I think we're gonna come out tomorrow and just compete just 'cause of the stage we're on, and we know what this game means for not only us, but for our community, what everybody's been waiting for for so long.
Kansas is a great team, deservedly so, to have the No. 1 seed. They've shown all year that they're a great team. So I think pressure's pretty much on both of us. We have an opportunity to do something great for our school and they have to uphold their traditions and what their name means at Kansas.
I think it's gonna be just an equal game out there, just people playing hard for their teammates and their coaches and just leaving it out on the floor tomorrow.
JASON RICHARDS: I think at this point, pressure is a privilege, to be in this situation, have this opportunity to get to the next, I mean, Final Four. I mean, these people deserve to be here. We deserve to be here. Kansas deserves to be here. Everyone's going to have pressure. It's a big stage.
But I don't think pressure will affect either team.

Q. Jason, from Barrington, Illinois, how did you find Davidson, North Carolina?
JASON RICHARDS: They found me, I think. I didn't know anything about Davidson when I was in high school till about my junior year when I started getting letters. They kept in contact with me through AAU basketball, over the season. When I came down on my visit, my first visit, I fell in love with the place. Academics, great basketball history, the coaching staff, I mean, the team. Just felt like I was part of the team as soon as I stepped on campus, even though I didn't commit. It was my first visit and I never looked back since then.

Q. You talk about Davidson, very close-knit team, close-knit university. Talk about not just having the backing of maybe everybody in the nation now, but having the backing of your university to actually bus some of your student body, having those guys experience it with you on this ride.
JASON RICHARDS: It's a college. It's Davidson College actually. A lot of people get that mixed up.
But having our students behind us, it's unbelievable. The amount of people that traveled up here all the way to Detroit is incredible. We got some calls last night saying our campus was just going crazy, which makes us so proud. I think we're making them proud doing what we're doing in the NCAA tournament.
It's been a lot of fun. Having the whole community and the students and the faculty, kind of the campus has stopped to watch basketball. I think that's tremendous to show who we are and what our school's all about.

Q. There's no stat for screens or picks, yet no offense can work without it. To the naked eye, that's what you do. When did you develop an enjoyment, if you ever do, for having guys run after you all game long?
THOMAS SANDER: Did you guys see Steph smile after he made that back-door cut? I mean, it's just fun to watch Jason and Steph score. I mean, when they do that, we win. So you can't really complain about setting screens when you win.
MAX PAULHUS GOSSELIN: Personally, I think I focus more on defense. That's what I do. I think getting my team possessions is what I've always been most proud of. And giving the other guys opportunities to score the basketball is just an amazing feeling. I always emphasize that my whole life that what I like most is winning. So we win games. Whatever I have to do, I'll do.

Q. Steph, earlier you said genes helped when you talked about your dad. What part of your game do you get from your mom and does she feel slighted a bit because of that comparison?
STEPHEN CURRY: I think my dad gives a lot of credit to her for the defensive end. Plenty of jokes and talk about him taking plays off the defensive end in college and in the pros. He wasn't really known for that. My defensive aggression comes from her. She won't let me slip up. Especially in high school, like she would be right there on the sidelines yelling. I can make all the shots in the world, but if I let my man score, she would be all over me after the game. Like I'd score 30, and she would be like, You had a horrible game because you didn't play defense.
That hustling, she's just -- that's what she did in high school playing ball. I get all that from her.
THE MODERATOR: Thank you, student-athletes. We'll take questions for Coach McKillop.

Q. Have you talked about being a Cinderella with these guys at all or not?
COACH McKILLOP: No, not at all. I don't think there's any need to address something that we have no control over.
I'm pretty focused and disciplined about speaking to and working towards things we have control over. Whether we're a Cinderella or not, we have absolutely no control over that. So why spend energy?

Q. The system that you have that the guys have talked about a lot, how would you describe it? Does it work the best with this group of guys or what you've come up with over the years, it's the best way to play basketball?
COACH McKILLOP: It's a work in progress. I'm in a quest for the perfect game, the perfect performance, the perfect season. So that's the objective I have as a coach. And we certainly haven't reached that point yet.
I think the Brazilian soccer team, they called it "The Beautiful Game." That's what our system is all about, the quest for that.
Our system is based on balance. And so few people understand balance. You look at these guys up here. There's a tremendous balance between humility and confidence. Steph Curry has a tremendous balance between fearlessness and patience. And I think our system has a balance between freedom and discipline. I think that's something that can be a great example for the world because we need some balance in the world we live in today.

Q. For people that haven't been to your school, that community, can you describe what it's like, what the people do, what most people do for a living, what kind of support you got during the season compared to now.
COACH McKILLOP: There's a sense of intimacy about Davidson College that I believe is unparalleled. It's unparalleled because we're in a sequestered, small town with 9,000 people that's sort of a town-and-gown environment where the town and community of the college are married together. You have 1700 students on campus, and they know each other in a very personal way. You have professors who are Ph.D.s, not graduate assistants or not one-year teaching assignments, but people who invest in their lives at Davidson.
So you have people who have invested their lives in Davidson. Now they see some part of Davidson reaching the national stage.
Well, we've always sold the fact that when Davidson wins, we all win. Everyone in the Davidson College and Davidson community are now winning because of what we've done. So they share this ride with us.

Q. A moment ago you were talking about proportion and balance. You think the world could use a lot more of that. What did you mean?
COACH McKILLOP: Well, parents today abdicate their responsibilities by not disciplining their children and thinking that's love. Love is a balance of that and discipline, in a political world, in the world of the church, in the world of corporations. You could pick your field. There's a complete lack of the balance between love and discipline.
Parents today, what they want to do is have their children have fun, but yet they don't want to discipline them. They'll let them stay out 'til 12 o'clock, or they'll let them go to these movies. Sorry, I'm becoming philosophic about this. But that's what's wrong with our world.
And I think basketball is the world. Basketball is life. And you can replicate on a basketball court what really happens in life. And to see our team, which has the diversity of our team, the cultural, the economic, the religious, the historical diversity of our team to get along as a team, to buy into our system, the world needs to look at that and say, Hey, they can get along together.
Look here, you got a guy from Nigeria, a guy from the rich suburbs of Barrington, Illinois, you got the son of a cheesemaker from Montréal, Canada. We have some diversity and we get along and work as a team. There must be something there. I think it's balance.

Q. When George Mason made its run, it was something of a revelation to the public at-large that that was even possible. Were you surprised at all and did that change at all your view on, if something like that was possible, achievable for schools in that situation?
COACH McKILLOP: You know, we were in the first site with George Mason. Jim Larranaga and I grew up together. We were contemporaries, played each other in high school. We know each other very well.
We were in Dayton, Ohio. They were surprised to get in. In fact, my alma mater and my great friend Tom Pecora at Hofstra was disappointed he didn't get that spot. I remember Jimmy was so happy to be there. I think they knocked Michigan State off in the first round, then they knocked off Carolina. All of a sudden the magic started to be felt. It was a story that clearly was the Cinderella story of my time in observing NCAA games.
George Mason is a state university with an excess of 25, 26, 27,000 students. We're a small liberal arts college with 1700 students. We're not in the same ballpark with them in many respects.

Q. Since you've gotten here now, is there anyone you've heard from back in your New York roots who either surprised you with the call or the text or said something that really left an imprint?
COACH McKILLOP: I've gotten a host of calls. Bill Wennington, Steve Shurina, former St. John's player, former assistant. Gary Walters, the AD at Princeton, who played for Princeton when Bill Bradley was there, Butch van Breda Kolff coached. His comments to me on the phone this morning about how well we played the game. When you get a colleague or someone that understands the game and knows the game, and he says some positive things about you, it makes you feel pretty good.

Q. You've spoken about it a little bit already, but your team seems to have tremendous chemistry. Players seem to get along well together. Obviously you have to have skilled players to have success. How much does team chemistry go into the success of your team?
COACH McKILLOP: What's interesting with chemistry is because you have it one year, doesn't mean it's going to be there the next year. We had great chemistry last year. We had to work on it during the course of this year to get it to where it is right now. You just don't expect it. You have to show that you care about people.
You love your children, but do you show that you care about them? You sometimes take it for granted that they're your children and you know that you love them and they know that you love them, but do you ever show it? And I think that's the message that our team resonates, it's that we consistently show how we care about each other, and I think that forces great team chemistry.

Q. When you see a Bill Self coached team, what stands out? How well do you know him or what kind of interaction have you had with him in the coaching ranks?
COACH McKILLOP: I've met him several times in a variety of venues, primarily in recruiting trails. When I see his team, I see toughness. I see versatility. I see a lot of talent, too (laughter).

Q. Sometimes it can seem testy when you have to coach the son of an NBA player. How have you and Bill worked that relationship regarding Steph?
COACH McKILLOP: I try to recruit the son of every NBA player I know. In fact, one of our great players, who is fourth in our career history in scoring, Brendon Winters, was the son of Brian Winters. When he graduated, that's when Steph came to be a freshman. I'm currently recruiting three other NBA players and their sons. I welcome that.
Dell Curry is the salt of the earth. He and his wife Sonya are the salt of the earth. They are Steph's heroes. That's a pretty special thing. Dell Curry is someone that I seek out. He never, ever enters into my domain and tells me, You know, Steph should be doing this, Steph should be doing that. I ask him, I said -- in fact, Matt Matheny, one of our assistants and I sat down with Dell a few weeks ago, when Steph was being hounded, and we weren't getting enough shots, and I asked him to give me three to four to five of his best quick-hitters that got him shots when he was with the Hornets. He was gracious enough to come up, we X'd and O'd on the board. That's how special he is and that's how special our relationship is.

Q. On the one hand you bring in someone like Steph who is so fundamentally sound. On the other hand, you bring in someone like Andrew Lovedale who is very raw, and said that you had to teach him quite a bit. Talk about the dichotomy there.
COACH McKILLOP: The first time I saw Andrew Lovedale, he was sweeping the court at the a Amaechi Basketball Centre in Manchester, England. That was part of my evaluation, to see the way he handled things other than basketball.
You know, basketball players have jumping ability, running ability, shooting ability, dribbling ability. But coach-ability, work ethic, toughness, a willingness to be part of a team are as vital as any of those other skills. And to me they are skills.
Andrew had those vital components, and I thought that with those components and his athleticism, something magical was going to happen with him and his development. It has.

Q. How could you see it sweeping the floor, though?
COACH McKILLOP: You could just see the genuine care that he had, that he took his job seriously. In order to earn money, he was sweeping the floor in the center. He was coaching young kids in this center. He invested himself in the whole center. He shakes your hand, if you've ever had him shake your hand, he and he grasps you with his other hand. He extends his whole body into you and you feel the warmth of his personal touch. He's a marvelous young man.

Q. Steph spoke of his recruitment. What did you see in a scrawny 5'7" kid?
COACH McKILLOP: I saw him play in Las Vegas. He had about nine or 11 turnovers in the first game I saw. I had been recruiting him so I knew how good he was. But I watched the way he responded to the turnover. He got back on defense. He played defense. He didn't try to come down the court and all of a sudden make up for the turnover by taking a crazy shot hoping that by going in, people would forget his turnover.
He went to the bench and he never hung his head. He patted his teammates on the back. I saw a lot of ingredients there that you see today as he speaks before us, as we've watched year long as he's performed on the court. He's a great talent, but he's also a great young man.

Q. You talked about your philosophy on balance and things like that, some deep concepts. Does it take a certain kind of kid to be able to understand where you're coming from and buy into your philosophy?
COACH McKILLOP: I think it takes tremendous patience upon my part that I don't deviate from my message and keep my message as simple and as consistent as possible. And I think eventually it sinks in.
These guys aren't all rocket scientists that play for us. They have to really work to achieve academically. So I think it takes a combination of a willingness to be coached and a consistent message from the coach. And we've stuck to that very simple game plan for quite a few years now.

Q. You touched on assembling a team with a lot of people from different backgrounds. Did you ever wonder, Is this going to work? What is my players' comfort level going to be like with other people that aren't necessarily like themselves?
COACH McKILLOP: Well, consistency is a big part of my life. The first international player I coached was in 1979, Bill Wennington of the Chicago Bulls, came from Canada. Two years later, I had a player named Augusto Binelli from Bologna, Italy. Three, four years later, I had Marco Baldi from Milano, Italy. I understood the dynamic of inviting a non-American into your team. I worked at a Catholic high school in New York. I worked at a Lutheran high school in New York. In both of those cases, my team was a composite of the same kind of ingredients we have here with our team, varieties in socioeconomic backgrounds, even varieties in religious backgrounds despite the parochial nature of the schools.

Q. You mentioned you were also recruiting the sons of three other NBA players. Who are those players and how good are the sons?
COACH McKILLOP: I'd be violating NCAA rules if I exposed that at this point. I can't reveal that. I can't reveal who we're recruiting.

Q. How much has Steph grown this year and how good can he be?
COACH McKILLOP: Two inches.

Q. How much has he grown as a player?
COACH McKILLOP: The biggest change in Steph has been his decision making. You know, we talk about balance. Again, he's developing this great sense of balance between fearlessness and patience. And that's tough because if you have this fearlessness but you don't have patience, that fearlessness balks recklessness. So he's got patience and fearlessness.
It's like a guy that drives a car on the interstate, then he has to gosh 7th Avenue and 42nd Street, Manhattan. Some guys can never drive that taxi cab, and he's learning how to drive that taxi cab on 7th Avenue and 42nd Street.

Q. You had good success against Wisconsin pushing the ball, able to get good looks in transition for Steph and other guys. Can you afford to do that against Kansas? What type of a pace of game would you anticipate on Sunday?
COACH McKILLOP: Well, Kansas puts up 81 points. They generate points from their defense. To me, a big thing for us is not to give them points by our bad offense. So however that plays out, whether that requires us to get early offense, to get some flow and get midrange on a shot clock offense or get late shot clock offense, I think we have to avoid giving them great offense because of our bad offense. So they are great at capitalizing on that, great.

Q. Bill Self said earlier today that the goal of going to the Final Four is something he has thought about every day, sometimes multiple times a day. What basketball goal do you think about every day?
COACH McKILLOP: The perfect game, the perfect performance, the perfect team. The Beautiful Game of Brazil.
I don't even think about the Final Four. You may think this is some Irish Blarney. Absolutely not. If I start thinking about the Final Four, I won't have the energy necessary to get our team ready to play the next game. And the next game is the most important game we're going to be dealing with. Just like tonight's film session will be the most important film session we've had all year.
That's the joy of coaching this group, is that they understand that concept. They will come to that session and understand that this is the most important session of the year.
Now, if you take that into every session that you have, those sessions become very productive. If you start thinking beyond that session, then the energy necessary to make that thing productive is gonna be sapped, it's not going to be complete. We will have the complete energy and focus in that session, tonight as well as in our preparation tomorrow for the game against Kansas.
THE MODERATOR: Thank you, coach.

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