NCAA Final Four Press Conference
3/31/2000 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 31, 2000
Indianapolis, Ind. -
For any or all of you, describe their style. Everybody seems to think it's really ugly and it's like going up against kind of a meat grinder. Do you enjoy playing against teams like that?
Mateen Cleaves: Well, one thing about them, I mean that's one thing you have to be prepared for and to know when you're going to go in a play Wisconsin that it's going to be a slow-up game, it's going to be physical. We know they play very hard. They do a great job of playing defense.
So, I think a lot of teams get frustrated by that but you shouldn't get frustrated by that if you know going into the game what type of game it's going to be.
Teams like Wisconsin, you don't enjoy to play but unfortunately you have to play them. You know they type of defense they play, the type of team they are, you should be ready to expect how the game's going to go when you play them.
Can you go back to the Ohio State game on the road, the one you lost, and talk about what that game meant for you guys in terms of the development of the toughness that got you through to where you are now.
Mateen Cleaves: Going back to that game, I think a lot of guys were very disappointed in how we play, you know. We went out to play a good team, and we were very disappointed with the loss.
A lot of guys kind of took that loss and were made about it. And we want to do something about it. The next thing we did when we got back to practice, you saw a lot of guys that were there an hour before practice working out, a lot of guys staying after, watching film to see what we needed to do to get better.
Our plans were to win the National Championship this year. We knew if we played like that, against some other good teams that we wouldn't be able to win. We wanted to just capitalize and learn from our mistakes and get better.
Mateen, Coach Izzo let you blow up the team at half time against Syracuse. Morris, he more or less let you call that alley-oop. What does that say about his ability to take input from the players?
Morris Peterson: I think a lot of coach, they really don't let their players get involved with some of their plays. I think that's what kind of separates Coach Izzo. He can really relate to his players. He's always willing to listen to them and get some of their input.
I think as Coach is about to draw up a play, I just thought about that because - I thought about that play because they were overplaying us a lot during the game. Thankfully, it worked. Mateen did a great job of throwing the ball up. He kind of made it easy for me.
Mateen Cleaves: One thing we have here with Coach Izzo, as far as player-coach, we have a great player-coach relationship. You know, he lets his players have input on what we need to do. He's not one of them coaches that think it's going to be his way or the highway. He loves his players input. If you think you see something different, you can tell him that. That's on the court or off the court.
You can go in his office, his door's always open for us, he's always available to us. If you have any suggestions or anything like that, he let's you have your input on that.
Mateen and Morris would you both talk about A.J. as a player and what he means to this team?
Morris Peterson: A.J. has been an integral part of our success this year. One thing I like about A.J. is that he's gotten a lot better every year. He's learning. You know, he's a great shooter, a great guy. Not only on the court but off the court.
You know, he has just been somebody I can go up to and talk to about anything. He's always willing to listen to you. And I think A.J. has really done a great job this year of becoming more of a leader and stepping up and making big plays for us because without A.J., we wouldn't even be in the position that we are in now.
Mateen Cleaves: That's the main thing about him. If A.J. didn't play like he played last year or if A.J. didn't play like he has this year, we wouldn't be in this situation. A.J. has stepped his game up to a whole other level. A.J. is a guy you see out before practice shooting, a guy who stays after practice to work out. He's been doing a great job for us.
One thing he's been great to our freshmen, guys like Aloysius and Adam Wolfe. A.J. has stopped to show those guys what they're doing wrong and what they need to do to get it right. He's been great to those guys.
A.J. has been more of a leader this year for us. He's been the guy who wants to take big shots for us. Every time in a huddle or something, A.J. is like somebody set a screen for me and Mateen you get me the ball and I'll knock it down. He's been very inspirational to our team, a big help for our freshmen and he's a big reason why we're sitting here today.
Morris, condolences to you and your family. Can you talk about what the last 36 hours or so were like for you emotionally?
Morris Peterson: It's been like an emotional roller coaster. I think about the game, my family, my grandmother. I got a chance to see my family yesterday, spend some time with them. I went to my grandmother's funeral. I talke to my family a lot yesterday and they told me to go out there and concentrate on the game because my grandmother, she's going to be here in spirit. I think actually, she's going to have the best seat in the house. She's going to be sitting right there watching over the team and guiding us. Hopefully, we can make something happen for her.
Mateen, can you talk about your decision-making process a year ago when you decided to come back this year and at any time this year did you question yourself?
Mateen Cleaves: Last year, there was a lot of hype about me coming out or whatever. Personally, I never thought about coming out. Coach Izzo was the guy saying we need to see where you're going when you leave, but I was never a guy that thought about coming out.
I think I made the best decision in my life. That's not because we won championships and not because we're back in the Final Four. It's just the relationship I've had with the guys, the fun I've had this year. I'm on schedule to get my degree.
A lot of people thought when I got hurt, that I had regrets about coming back. I didn't. It was an unfortunate incident with my foot. This has been the best year, one of the best years of my life as far as just hanging out with the guys and being around the guys for another year.
Morris, what's it like being the son of a basketball coach when the basketball coach in your family is your mom? And how old were you before you could beat any of the women in your family?
Morris Peterson: Well, I probably couldn't beat them now.
It was tough growing up with my sisters. We were very competitive with everything, not just basketball. I think that's kind of where I got to be competitive. We would challenge each other, seeing who could roll up the window fastest or something. Or, who could drink their just the fastest, just stuff like that.
But my mother, she's been my biggest fan. She's also been my worst critic. Sometimes, I might think I had a good game, she'll come back and say, "You missed two free throws, Son you need to work on that. You're not getting enough lift on your jump shot." Stuff like that. She's done a great job of being there for me not only on the court, but off the court.
For those of us who aren't as familiar with Wisconsin's defense as you guys are, what makes them so tough defensively?
A.J. Granger: They really slow the game down. They really put an emphasis on that. That's what they rely on to kind of win their games and keep them in ball games.
You always have to be on your best offensively. They run through picks, they always have their hands active, trying to swipe at the ball, their post players are always banging you around.
We faced them three times already this year, we know what to expect from them. We're going to try to come out and take care of business.
Does beating them three times already this year give you guys a little extra edge or a little extra confidence in your mind?
A.J. Granger: I think it has to. You can't overlook that. We know this is a new game and we know we can't rely on those wins to get us a win here. It's a whole different ball game. They're been playing better basketball. I think they're really starting to gel as a team and playing the type of basketball they wanted to play all year. It looked like they were kind of out of sync earlier in the year, but I think that's all come around for them. We'll have to play our best basketball game to try to get a win.
Mateen, your habit of sticking out your tongue on the court, is that subconscious or do you do that intentionally?
Mateen Cleaves: I've been doing that since I've been a kid. I've always been a silly guy. I always just like to have fun and it just happens now. I guess it just became a habit since I've been a kid. You know, from playing around, even not playing basketball, I stuck my tongue out at people as a kid.
I enjoy myself doing it. I'm not going to stick my tongue out to the other team or embarrass them, but that's something I do when I'm feeling good, having fun out there.
A.J. could you talk about your tournament, the way you've picked your game up?
A.J. Granger: I really have to credit my teammates for that one. Like Mateen said, I've kind of been trying to get open more, trying to do some things that help the team out. I think they've done a really nice job of getting me open in the offense. Mateen's been looking for me more. When those things happen, you're naturally going to play better.