Jim Boylen Press Conference Transcript

Nov. 26, 2007

Press Conference Transcript
Utah Head Coach Jim Boylen
Nov. 26, 2007

Opening Remarks
This is kind of fun for me. I remember working for Rudy (Tomjanovich) and other coaches - Tom Izzo and all of them. I remember them saying they have to go meet the media at a press conference. Although this has been a difficult week, I'm actually excited to see you all.

It's no fun losing a game at home at this level and it's no fun having 10 days before you play again at this level ... or any level. What we've tried to do in the last 10 days is get better - get better defensively, get better offensively, learn from our mistakes. We've analyzed all of our film from our first four games - all of our turnovers, all of our layups missed, all of our open shots, our offensive execution. This is the point in the season when you've got some data that you can analyze and then fix the things you don't do well and improve the things do well and try to grow as a group. That's where we're at.

I'm not a huge stat guy. There are times when you could ask me who our leading scorer is and I wouldn't know it. But I try to use certain stats to help gauge where this program is going. After four games last year, opponents were shooting .525 against this team. This year, they're shooting .417. We are getting better defensively. We have taken some ownership of the defensive end of the floor.

Where we've been hurt on the defensive end of the floor is time of possession. In the Santa Clara game, time of possession was 25 minutes to 15. They had the ball 10 more minutes than we did. They had 18 shots under six seconds on the shot clock. That's not an excuse for us not winning the game. That's an example of how somebody came into our building and slowed it down and kept the possessions at 45-50 instead of 70-75, which is what we'd like it to be. So, that's a learning process for my team and a learning process for my staff. We like to play at a little bit different pace than that game was played at. We have to adjust and get better at that.

To talk again about the defensive numbers. To be at .525 last year after four games and then .417 after four games I think is a good sign of where we're going. What we hope to build here is a defensive team that can play anywhere against anybody. We're not there yet, but it's a sign. Another thing is we're not a trapping, pressing team. We're not an in-the-passing-lane team like last year's group was. We have 33 steals to 17 (last year). We don't get in the passing lanes, we get in the gaps and we're shrinking the floor. Again, I think we're moving in the right direction, defensively.

Offensively, we've been poor at times, stagnant at times. Not getting out and being able to run, especially in our last game, hurt us. We need more possessions.

I'm excited about where we're going with this program and this team. We're going to take it a day at a time. It's a challenging schedule and I think it's exactly what this group of guys needs.

Question: How do you approach an in-state game?
Answer: "I've got a lot of respect for Randy Rahe and what he does with that team (Weber State). They play very hard, they run, they use changing defenses to keep the tempo up. I think they're getting a lot from a lot of guys. They've also played a good schedule. They've played on the road. They've played on a neutral court. They played well against Utah State. To me, it is a rivalry game, which is very important for this school and for my team. But it's also another opportunity for us to get better and grow.

I'm focused on the rivalry. I have a lot of respect for them and what it means. But this team has to get better every time out, whether it's a rivalry game or not. We have to grow, we have to learn who we are and that's kind of what I'm focused on. That's not a disrespectful thing to Weber. They have a very good team and we're going to take the rivalry seriously.

I think rivalry games are an honor to play in. Not everybody gets to do that. Not every school has a rival. We have like four of them. We have Southern Utah, Weber State, Utah and we have BYU. That's a great thing to have for your program. I think it raises interest. I think it raises toughness. I think it creates a lot of pressure on my guys because the game maybe means a little more to more people. I think all those things are good.

Randy Rahe, him and Stew Morrill, have been terrific to me since I got the job, very supportive, very complimentary to our program and where we're going. It's going to be a great fight. I feel like I'm going against my brother in a way. You really want to win, but it is a very competitive deal.

Question: Why has the offense been stagnant, when the perception might have been the team's one strength from last season was its offense?
Answer: "We've gone from five or six plays and more of a motion offense to more of an execution offense. That takes time. We've gone to where we have to make decisions on who's open and when to throw the ball, from where we just made plays in the past. We're going to be an execution-based offensive team. We are going to be a team that can read situations and play out of it. We start those with sets. It is going to take a little time.

I think a championship program is built on defense, toughness, running ... and that's what we've focused on. I'd be a fool to tell you we don't need to work on offense. We need to spend more time offensively. We have done that. We need to play more in practice, but keep our defense up.

Question: About teams milking the shot clock ...
Answer: "That's a good point. I don't want to tip my hand, but we're going to have ways to speed up the game. We had four steals in the Santa Clara game that we stole the ball, got the ball back early in the clock and turned it over on the outlet or made a poor decision where we didn't get the benefit of the turnaround play. Again, that goes back to offensive execution and making the plays when you've got to make the plays.

Analyzing our turnovers, we've got three things that we've done poorly. We've fed the post poorly, we've turned the ball over in the backcourt on outlets and steals and we've jumped in the air to make plays where we've got caught in the air. Analyzing our turnovers, those are three things that we've done. We have to get better at those situations. That will also increase our shot attempts in the future.

Question: Do you think Shaun Green has to get more involved on offense?
Answer: "Yes. No doubt. He (is second) on our team in assists and also leads our team in least amount of turnovers per minute. He's making a lot of plays. He's got the ball in his hands a lot. He needs to score the ball. He needs to get some open shots. He's passed down some open looks, maybe because he's out of rhythm because he's not getting them when he thinks he should get them. We have to get him more shots. But Shaun Green is playing the way I think a winning player plays. For the most part, he's taking what the defense is giving him. He's making other people better. He's defending as well as he ever has in his career. I'm asking him to do a lot of those other things. From day one I've said Shaun Green has to become a complete player, not just a shooter. We've got to get him back to making some shots. But he's becoming a complete player. I'm very happy with him."

Question: How would you assess Tyler Kepkay through the first four games?
Answer: "Tyler is a developing player. Tyler is a guy who has toughness. He's competitive. He's never played in a system before. He's never played with players better than him before or guys of equal talent that he has to share with. It's going to be an adjustment. He's improved every day. He has to handle his frustration level when things don't go his way. He's working on that.

There are lapses in the game when he's the guy who gets caught in the air, turns the ball over and tries to push it too deep. The majority of his turnovers have been between the halfcourt line and our free-throw line. That decision-making area, he has struggled with. When he takes it all the way and shoots his pull-up or takes it all the way and makes a layup, he's been terrific. But that decision-making area - which I put a lot of pressure on him to make plays from there. I call it the pocket, like the quarterback in the pocket. In that pocket area, he's been about 12 percent on his decisions. So, he's got to get better.

Again, this is a developing team. I'm encouraged. People are disappointed in the Santa Clara loss and we are too. But if we can stay at that .417 defensive field-goal percentage, I think that's growth. I think that is toughness and a competitive group, with arguably a better schedule than last year. So, we're moving in the right direction and my guys are working hard.

Question: About the reason for Luke Nevill's struggles in the early part of the season ...
Answer: "He's not scoring right now. He shoots .643 from the free-throw line, which he's got to shoot better. He's at the same amount of free-throw attempts as he was last year. He was averaging 17 points a game last year, right now he's averaging 14. He didn't even play half of the Upstate game.

So, what Luke did maybe poorly in the Santa Clara game, is he tried to do it by himself. We had open people, we had people in spacing positions and he forced the ball to the rim and didn't make enough plays. That's where he played poorly. If you watch our High Point game, he created for everybody. He had the hockey assist I call it where he threw it out and it went from one person to the next. He started the chain reaction. But his biggest problem has been foul trouble and he's letting physical play take him out of - mentally - what he needs to do.

Three of his turnovers and three of his personal fouls have been throwing guys off of him - actually four - when they're into his body and he doesn't even have the ball. That's led to some frustration by him. It has also led to less minutes. He's got to grow in that direction.

Luke tried to do too much in the second half with Santa Clara. The first part of the game, he was creating, he was moving the ball around, he was passing the ball. At the end of the first half, he didn't get as many touches. In the second half, when he got his touches, I thought he tried to force it instead of just playing the game. He had 22 touches against Santa Clara, which is his highest of the year. He didn't make the plays. We didn't make the plays and we got our ass beat.

Question: Update on Stephen Weigh's injury situation ...
Answer: "Stevie is questionable for Wednesday. He has not practiced since our last game. He has severely bruised, banged up rib cartilage. We're not sure when his return will be. I don't want to say it is a day-to-day thing, because that's not correct. But it is a thing where hopefully he can snap out of it soon and recover. But it is a very difficult injury to gauge. It feels better as the day goes on, you wake up and you're stiff. If he works out a little it loosens up, as soon as he gets done it stiffens back up like it was the first day. It is unfortunate for him and we need Stephen Weigh on our team. He's a young, developing player, who I think needs to play. Right now, he can't. He can't even practice right now.

Question: Who would play in Weigh's absence?
Answer: "Carlon Brown. Luka Drca will play at the 3 some and we've got enough guys to play. That's what this level is all about. You've got enough guys on your bench, they've got to step up and play. The system takes over and you do what you've got to do."

-UU-

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Carlon Brown

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