Ryan Addresses Media Monday
December 30, 2002 | Men's Basketball
Wisconsin men's basketball coach Bo Ryan spoke to the media on Monday during UW 's weekly news conference. Ryan talked about the upcoming game against Temple and addressed various issues about the team.
A transcript of the news conference follows. The news conference video is available by clicking on `multimedia' on the red menu bar.
What impressed you the most about Temple's performance versus Indiana' 'Well, first of all, you have to put the plug in for the fact that coaches are important because, you know, I am one. Having John back, having coach Chaney back, is a factor for them. What I'm always trying to make sure that people don't find out is: If I'm not on the bench, what happens' You know you always worry about that a little bit possibly, but not because you're not sure. But without coach Chaney and some of the things that he brings to the table with his players, because of the tough love that he gives those guys coming in, their relationship that has been developed over the years, there's a connection there with his players and you always hope that as a coach that you have the same connection, but you never know. But he definitely does because it's been proven for so many years and him being on the bench (against Indiana) helped. But their zone when they get to play it and they get the passing lanes and they get their things working, they kept the ball pretty much out of the paint. Thirteen threes (three-point baskets), seven other two-point field goals, so for us to have beat them last year, if we hit some threes, because those were the shots that appeared for us, you would think that if you hit thirteen like they did, Indiana would have a pretty good chance because they 're pretty big and active inside. But what impressed me was the fact that they could still win with Indiana getting 39 points on twenty-some shots from three-point range and Indiana still getting a bump (loss). So that tells me that they were not giving up very many second shots. They rebounded out of it real well. Sometimes zones (defenses) will let you get some offensive rebounds, but that wasn't the case. Temple had more offensive rebounds than Indiana. (Temple guard Brian Polk) is back in practice. They 've got the bodies now. It's still very difficult to simulate what Temple can do with the way they play that zone, especially at home.
Is it more important in this game against Temple that your players don't take their first open look at shots or 'fool's gold' shots' 'Yeah, you take a look at the shots ' we've got Illinois on tape, Indiana, South Carolina, Wake Forest, Rutgers ' I think we pretty much have every one of their games. Rutgers beats them at Temple because Rutgers actually athletically had a guard that could break them down and he did a pretty good job of that and they actually got some offensive boards and hit some good shots. Defensively, they (Rutgers' players) were able to disrupt Temple with their athleticism. South Carolina was a tough loss on the road. Wake Forest was a tough loss on the road. I think a lot of people that will be going into Wake Forest will be coming away with a bump in the country. So it's a system that they have and you 've got to beat the system.'
How much better is Temple freshman Keith Butler now than earlier in the season' 'Well, he's maturing. Big guys tend to do that on the fly. He's pretty long, pretty athletic, and you know, you can tell he's a young man who has played a lot. It seems to me that he has some pretty good instincts. He plays a lot in the off-season. One thing that coaches are always concerned about is what guys are doing in the off-season and you certainly want your players playing a lot of games, playing competitively no matter what size the guys are, but playing games to have more points. If it's a game to 10, get to 10 (points) first. If it's a game to 15, then get to 15 (points) first. Competitively finding a way to win a couple hours, four or five times a week, every night or every day. Getting in the gym and just working on a shot or working on a move is okay. You need to do that in the off-season, but you need to play competitively so you understand how to get an edge. This is one of things that I've discussed with several of our players. My feeling is that they have not played enough competitive situations in the off-season and that 's not a knock. It's just something they need to do a little bit more of. '
On why the team doesn't play more competitive situations in the off-season: 'Our guys couldn't play in the Kohl Center this summer ' probably the only school in the country. There are reasons for that: liability, lot of things that went on. But you know, you talk to North Carolina, you talk to Wake Forest, you talk to Virginia, you talk to Michigan State and all that, and the guys are constantly playing in the summer because they can get into their facility. That's something that we haven't had the luxury of enjoying here. We're trying to get that changed. We're trying to work on that, but the way it's being interpreted by our people compared to other people nationally is a little different. So our guys actually went down to somewhere else from what we understand and played somewhere else in the city and got together this summer. '
The team is not allowed in the Nicholas-Johnson Pavilion practice gym' 'Yes.'
What were the possible liabilities' 'For the building, whether or not incoming freshmen could play with the players that were already here, like I said, everywhere else in the country, it's done. And that was not the case here for us, so hopefully we can get that squared away. '
Is that something that was new this past summer ' 'Yes ' this summer.'
Had the team started playing and was stopped ' 'ot really. They just ended up going somewhere else ' but the answer is about this young man (Keith) Butler who is playing a lot better. You can just see he's got some pretty good instincts about the game. Bring the size with it and he's helped them.'
Are you excited to go home to Pennsylvania' When was the last time you coached in Philadelphia' 'n 1976, high school, we lost in a play-off game to play in the Palestra (arena in South Philadephia). I had the opportunity to coach as a high school coach in a facility where I had a chance to play in high school and we got beat. But it was the first time the high school made the play-offs and the state tournament and all, so we had some good things that happened.'
Will there be many of your friends and family there ' 'Rumor has it, but I completely separated myself from having anything to do with who's going to be there, any tickets, anything that way. My sister is the liaison for the Philly-area people with Saul Phillips (UW Director of Men 's Basketball Operations). Those two are handling it.'
Where's your sister live' 'Right outside of Philly.'
What's her name' 'Nancy. '
Older sister' Younger sister' 'Much older ' a year and a half older (laughing). She's handling that. A lot of high school teammates and college teammates and classmates and people that have inquired, because it's over the holidays and they (Temple fans) don 't fill the place like we do here. I mean, I was shocked that the Ohio U. game was sold out. Now when I say sold out, the tickets that were remaining, how many people would 've known' I mean when your students are gone and people are visiting over the holidays you never have a full place. Just look at the gyms, look at the facilities throughout the country. It was a sell-out. Every available ticket was purchased for people that were trying to see the games. That's over the holidays. That 's over the break. But at Temple there are tickets, so if you have any relatives in the Philadelphia area or any alumni that you know, tell them they can get tickets. We 'll take all of the help we can get there. But I know a lot of people got tickets on their own for out there. One guy I thought was going to make the game, he now has to coach in the football play-offs. My center from high school, when I played quarterback, is the Defensive Coordinator for the New York Jets. I know that doesn't make a lot of Packers fans happy, but I was very happy for him. Their defense has done a pretty good job. You're probably wondering how this turned to football' But Teddy Cotrell was a pretty good football player, a pretty good center and I was a lousy quarterback, let me put it that way. He was a good center and a good defensive player, a good track guy. Hopefully, he's going to get a head job in the NFL. He almost had one a year or two ago. I'd like to see him get one. He's a heck of a guy.'
Do you know if Ron Rainey is going' 'Ron Rainey called me yesterday. Ron Rainey is my former coach in high school and college, for those that haven't heard me talk about him. If you look up character in the dictionary, there's a picture of Ron Rainey. He is a character and his dilemma was Penn State playing in the bowl game. He's a former captain of the baseball and basketball team there (at Penn State) in the late 50s. He's going to meet all of his buddies at the Penn State football game. I think it's what ' Orlando' He opted for the weather there rather than Philadelphia. He thought it would be a little bit better. So no, he will not be there. He offered his condolences on his absence.'
With so much time in between games, what does the team do to keep sharp at practice' 'Well, yesterday we brought in officials. We had ' don't tell Otto I said this, but real officials. Otto does a great job. He says `Yeah, it took three guys to replace me in practice' and he's right. So we went through game situations, some drills to call whether ' I wanted to make sure all of our guys still remembered how to take a charge, so we set up a good banging drill that everybody had to show they could take a hard hit and recover. I would say the officials were right half of the time on the blocked charge calls. Blocked-charge calls are the toughest in basketball to make. You can have three officials there and two would say one thing and one the other, then completely flip-flop on the next one, but that's what I wanted. So that was good. That was something to keep the guys alert. Some drills that you add in as reminders of certain things that were working on. The Ohio U. game was a great game and we got 60-70 edits from that game on things offensively and defensively and then in drills, because the game that you just played is fresher in your mind. So if somebody caught it in the post, this is how the guy got open in the post, this is how we have to keep him from catching it in the post. Shot selection for us. There was enough there to keep them busy and the system that we have now every guy has their own ' they can go into the computer and pull up all of the edits that are relative to them or to the team.'
Wasn't this game originally scheduled for the 28th ' 'Yeah and then there were some things that were done to get it changed and we accommodated it because I guess there was a game in the past between Wisconsin and Temple where somebody had to give a little, so we gave a little. Fortunately, as I mentioned before, we were trying to get a game in early January at home so that our guys didn't go from December 23 to January 18th without a home game. So we got Chicago State because they were willing to do it. They could ' because most teams are going into the conference. So they've knocked off three people here recently and they're playing pretty well. But anyhow, so it was changed to the second and then when we looking at dates, we said `Okay, if we play on the second, we fly back and play on the fourth, that simulates a game, a day in between and a game. Let's do it', so that's what we agreed upon.'
On not having to take an off-day during practices this week during the UW winter break: 'Really, without any classes, without any of that, it's not a factor.'
How important is this game against Temple' 'It's the most important because it's the next one, first of all. If you ask the players, that's what they would tell you is the answer because they are only allowed to say one ' no ' (kidding) ' they know how I handle things. So it's very important. It's a chance to go on the road and play a quality team in a quality city near another quality town ' of Chester (Pa., Ryan's hometown). They'll learn a lot. They'll see the Liberty Bell, so it will be a cultural experience for them to learn about the history of the Revolution and the `City of Brotherly Love'. But you want to know on the court, right' Okay. A good defense, guys that right now offensively are playing pretty well, (Alex) Wesby is a scorer, (Maurice) Collins can play. I mean they've got a lot of guys out of high school who were very, very good scorers who are very athletic, who are playing the defense right now and are potentially pretty good scorers. (David) Hawkins, he had a tough night here, a good night there, a tough night ' he 's one of those guys that if he's hitting, because he's so strong that he can get his own shot. So we're playing against a team that athletically has people that are going to be very similar to a lot of teams we're going to play in the big ten.'
On the possible harm for the UW offensive rhythm when players make baskets on the first-look shots: 'Well, if the shots are going in, then obviously you would like guys to catch it in their rhythm. So if it's after two passes, and again remember going through the post is high-post to low-post, so the ball doesn't have to get five feet from the basket to be considered going into the post. Just so we're all on the same page there. The high-post area, the free-throw line area, inside the circle, inside the top of the key ' that's the high-post area. So if we're working though there, then we get a skip or a kick-out, get a penetration and a dish and the guy's feet are set, then we get a good three, that's okay. They (Temple) limit touches in the post with the way they play that zone. But remember they have lost games, so if you're scoring and finding ways to do it ' because you get very few points against their offense meaning you don't turn your defense into a lot of easy baskets against Temple. They take care of the ball. We'd like for people, in the end, to say that about us. We take care of the ball and also we don't give up easy buckets at the other end because those are tough to defend in transition.'
What kind of zone does Temple play' 'Well, it's a match-up. It's based on playing people in your area, but what makes it so tough is that athletically, the anticipatory powers that these young men develop in it. Long reach, quick hands, quick off the floor, athletically they make it work.'
