by Bill Seals
On what he remembers about last year’s game, especially at the intermission after Jarrod Uthoff had big first half:
“Everybody was yelling at me. Georges texted me (Monday) night to stay in Iowa City if you don’t win on Thursday, because I texted him and asked if he was guarding Klay Thompson the night before. We just had to slow him down. That was as good of an offensive performance as I’ve seen. Georges guarded him, (Abdel) Nader guarded him and we had two or three different guys on him. They just hit us in the mouth.
“I didn’t even talk about Uthoff. I think I just went into the locker room and talked about the one game I remembered watching the year before was Oklahoma. I was watching that game and they were down 20, and then it’s 16 and 12. Georges and Monte are putting on a show and making shots. We were down 18 and this crowd is good. Everybody was cheering us up, going crazy when we cut the lead from 20 to 18. That doesn’t happen everywhere.
“Matt (Thomas) did a terrific job and we got a couple breaks down the stretch. Those games even out. Between the Cincinnati and Gonzaga games, hopefully down the road we’ll have one or two of those go our way.”
On how much of a taste he got of the ISU /Iowa rivalry last season:
“In every school you’re at, probably this is the third school I’ve been at where you have a distinct rival. It’s great, the rivalry whether it’s football, basketball. The Cy-Hawk Challenge is really cool, how the schools do that and give out the trophy at the end of the year. When it comes from the top down, it’s a big deal. It’s the next game and we’ve got to win it, but I know what it means to these people and I know the rivalry. Just being around our guys and listening to Georges and those upperclassmen talk. Just walking off the floor the other night, Monte said it quietly that now we’ve got the Hawkeyes. It’s a big deal for them over there, too. So we’ve got to go over there and deep defend, rebound and move the basketball.”
On if he has any concerns of team comparing scores in UNO game to Iowa’s result versus UNO:
“I don’t think so. We were all just probably ticked off a little bit and ready to play and played pretty well. You beat somebody convincingly, holding them under 50 points is pretty good and score 90 is pretty good. Iowa’s focus level will be at an all-time high. They know this is a big game.”
On what he expects playing in an environment like Carver-Hawkeye Arena:
“I really don’t know. I’ve only been over there one time and it was snowing like crazy. That was a rough year anyway because I was at Tulane dealing with (Hurricane) Katrina. We bussed from Iowa to Indianapolis and then played Butler. It was a long trip. I’ve never really been over there in this environment. I’ve played in great road environments being in the Big 12. I’m looking forward to a great atmosphere. I want to be tested on the road like this. I think this is great for this team. We need a character test on the road in a game we need to go get.”
On sticking with Jok throughout Thursday night’s game:
“You’ve just got to stay the course. He’s 40 (percent) from three and half his shots come from three. I was watching today and thought ‘dang he’s good’. Whether it’s Naz (Mitrou-Long) on him, Nick (Weiler-Babb) or Matt Thomas, you’ve got to continue to send different bodies and wear him down and not get frustrated. If he’s taking nine shots and makes 1-of-6 and then makes two out of three, you can’t get down on things.”
On how he coaches a player like Burton that could be frustrating at time with his shot selection:
“It’s a fine line. That’s one of the things I try to do a good job with, not just this team but with all my teams in the past. You’ve got a couple guys that can get loose a little bit and maybe take some (questionable) shots. You’ve got to let them shoot those shots for a little bit and then slowly try to reign them in. Deonte is getting better with that. He’ll shoot that reverse layup here and there. We’ve got to get him to continue going right to the rim, because he’s so strong and can get fouled. He’s playing a lot smarter right now and we need him to be.”
On what he remembers about last year’s game, especially at the intermission after Jarrod Uthoff had big first half:
“Everybody was yelling at me. Georges texted me (Monday) night to stay in Iowa City if you don’t win on Thursday, because I texted him and asked if he was guarding Klay Thompson the night before. We just had to slow him down. That was as good of an offensive performance as I’ve seen. Georges guarded him, (Abdel) Nader guarded him and we had two or three different guys on him. They just hit us in the mouth.
“I didn’t even talk about Uthoff. I think I just went into the locker room and talked about the one game I remembered watching the year before was Oklahoma. I was watching that game and they were down 20, and then it’s 16 and 12. Georges and Monte are putting on a show and making shots. We were down 18 and this crowd is good. Everybody was cheering us up, going crazy when we cut the lead from 20 to 18. That doesn’t happen everywhere.
“Matt (Thomas) did a terrific job and we got a couple breaks down the stretch. Those games even out. Between the Cincinnati and Gonzaga games, hopefully down the road we’ll have one or two of those go our way.”
On how much of a taste he got of the ISU /Iowa rivalry last season:
“In every school you’re at, probably this is the third school I’ve been at where you have a distinct rival. It’s great, the rivalry whether it’s football, basketball. The Cy-Hawk Challenge is really cool, how the schools do that and give out the trophy at the end of the year. When it comes from the top down, it’s a big deal. It’s the next game and we’ve got to win it, but I know what it means to these people and I know the rivalry. Just being around our guys and listening to Georges and those upperclassmen talk. Just walking off the floor the other night, Monte said it quietly that now we’ve got the Hawkeyes. It’s a big deal for them over there, too. So we’ve got to go over there and deep defend, rebound and move the basketball.”
On if he has any concerns of team comparing scores in UNO game to Iowa’s result versus UNO:
“I don’t think so. We were all just probably ticked off a little bit and ready to play and played pretty well. You beat somebody convincingly, holding them under 50 points is pretty good and score 90 is pretty good. Iowa’s focus level will be at an all-time high. They know this is a big game.”
On what he expects playing in an environment like Carver-Hawkeye Arena:
“I really don’t know. I’ve only been over there one time and it was snowing like crazy. That was a rough year anyway because I was at Tulane dealing with (Hurricane) Katrina. We bussed from Iowa to Indianapolis and then played Butler. It was a long trip. I’ve never really been over there in this environment. I’ve played in great road environments being in the Big 12. I’m looking forward to a great atmosphere. I want to be tested on the road like this. I think this is great for this team. We need a character test on the road in a game we need to go get.”
On sticking with Jok throughout Thursday night’s game:
“You’ve just got to stay the course. He’s 40 (percent) from three and half his shots come from three. I was watching today and thought ‘dang he’s good’. Whether it’s Naz (Mitrou-Long) on him, Nick (Weiler-Babb) or Matt Thomas, you’ve got to continue to send different bodies and wear him down and not get frustrated. If he’s taking nine shots and makes 1-of-6 and then makes two out of three, you can’t get down on things.”
On how he coaches a player like Burton that could be frustrating at time with his shot selection:
“It’s a fine line. That’s one of the things I try to do a good job with, not just this team but with all my teams in the past. You’ve got a couple guys that can get loose a little bit and maybe take some (questionable) shots. You’ve got to let them shoot those shots for a little bit and then slowly try to reign them in. Deonte is getting better with that. He’ll shoot that reverse layup here and there. We’ve got to get him to continue going right to the rim, because he’s so strong and can get fouled. He’s playing a lot smarter right now and we need him to be.”
