Kevin McGuff Media Availability November 10, 2023
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00:00 you know, a kind of unique style.
00:01 They play a lot of five out stuff on offense like we do.
00:04 And so this will be a challenge and, you know,
00:06 we've got to show some resiliency and bounce back
00:09 from our performance on Monday that, you know,
00:12 we weren't particularly happy with.
00:13 And so that'll be on us to make sure
00:15 we're ready to go Sunday.
00:16 - Going up on the defensive end.
00:18 So I know USC switched kind of from a man
00:22 to a two, three zone a little bit later in the game
00:24 in the fourth quarter.
00:25 And that seemed to give you guys a little trouble.
00:27 If IUPI comes out in a zone,
00:31 how are you guys expecting to tackle that?
00:33 - Yeah, we've got to execute.
00:34 We kind of stood around and we didn't move ourselves
00:37 or move the ball very well.
00:39 And so we've got to make sure that we can
00:40 just really get some movement against the zone.
00:43 We were really stagnant.
00:45 - In terms of transition offense,
00:48 I know that's like, obviously defense,
00:50 a lot of times defense is the best offense.
00:52 And clearly that showed for you guys last year.
00:54 If, how do you guys expect to, I mean,
00:57 double down on defensive end just to turn that
01:00 into more transition offense?
01:03 - Yeah, I think it starts with our press.
01:05 We got to be more effective in turning people over.
01:07 And we got some turnovers against USC,
01:10 we're able to convert, but we didn't get enough really.
01:13 - And speaking of like zone defenses also in press,
01:17 I know USC went into a one, two, two,
01:19 or excuse me, two, one, two zone at one point.
01:24 I personally haven't seen too much of that
01:26 in college teams in the past.
01:28 How do you approach something like that?
01:30 Is it more like a still a two, three,
01:32 where they drop back, drop one back as well?
01:34 - Well, yeah, what they were kind of doing
01:37 is they were taking their center to guard like the middle.
01:40 And so, we have some counters to that.
01:42 We just didn't execute them very well.
01:44 - Cool, thanks Kevin.
01:46 - Yep, sure.
01:47 - Kevin, do you have anything?
01:51 - Yeah, sorry, just one quick question here.
01:53 I'm in the car driving home, so sorry my camera's not on.
01:56 But just one quick question for you, coach.
01:58 First of all, thank you for letting me join.
01:59 And obviously, USC, good team, tough battle,
02:03 especially going, not playing at home court.
02:06 So, obviously coming back to Columbus,
02:08 how big of having that home environment
02:10 and that home crowd, how big is that
02:13 for your team and for your team?
02:14 - Yeah, no, it's like our fans were incredible last year.
02:17 So, we're anxious to get back here to the shot
02:19 and let them support us and hopefully create
02:23 a really great environment on Sunday.
02:26 - Perfect, and one more question.
02:28 You know, just obviously, USC, tough loss.
02:32 One thing that you gained from that game
02:33 that you think will be the biggest factor
02:35 going into conference play, coming into the big game?
02:38 - Yeah, I mean, one, a couple things,
02:40 but two that stand out is it's like just,
02:43 we prided ourselves last year on really our preparation
02:47 and we went into every game with the right, you know,
02:50 physical and mental approach.
02:52 And we were just a little off with that.
02:53 So, just our preparation's gotta be better.
02:55 And then the other thing, we gotta take care of the ball.
02:57 We had some really bad turnovers in the second half
02:59 that allowed USC to get so many easy baskets.
03:02 And that's uncharacteristic of us.
03:03 We don't really usually turn the ball over a whole lot.
03:07 - Perfect, that's all, thank you.
03:09 - Great, thank you.
03:10 - I have a couple more follow-up questions, sorry to that.
03:13 So, going off the home court advantage, obviously,
03:15 and playing some more ranked teams,
03:16 obviously, rankings don't really matter a whole lot,
03:18 too much, obviously, when you're just going
03:20 in the flow of the season.
03:22 But when you have a couple top 25, top 20 teams,
03:25 like Tennessee, like UCLA, coming up in the schedule
03:28 towards the end of the year,
03:29 how do you think USC has prepared you to, you know,
03:32 face those top teams?
03:35 Obviously, UCLA and Tennessee,
03:36 both very historically good programs.
03:40 - Yeah, no, I think that's the value of playing, you know,
03:44 tough opponents early on is you really get a sense
03:47 of what we need to work on,
03:50 because those teams are going to expose you,
03:51 like if you're, you know,
03:53 you're a little bit of weakened in an area.
03:55 You know, if you play a really easy game
03:57 and you win by a bunch, you know, oh, a good team.
04:01 So that's my schedule pretty aggressively most years.
04:04 - Cool, thank you so much, Kevin.
04:08 - Okay, thanks guys, appreciate it.
04:10 - Thanks, everybody. - Thanks so much.
04:12 - I appreciate it.
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