News Conference: USC First Round Preview

to be here after a few hours' sleep and a long night of
travel, but we're excited to be
in Tulsa and compete tomorrow against SMU
. Q.

coach? COACH ENFIELD: I got about
three hours, but our players got more than that. I have to
watch video with our assistant coaches. So when you
wake Coach?

three hours, but our players got more than that. I have to
watch video with our assistant coaches. So when you wake up,
your mind is racing, and you have a
game to prepare for, so we got together as a staff this morning
, and our players slept in

So we got together as a staff this morning,
and our players slept in. Q.
Q. Coach, after Southern Cal's last win over SMU in
November, you said that the Mustafa Mustangs were potential
ly a 20-plus win team. Now you're in
this position. SMU's won 30 games. They've won a conference
championship. They've out performed virtually everyone's
expectations. How do you prepare
for a team that has grown so much, grown expo -opponently
better as the season has gone on with such
a different lineup that you saw
in November? COACH ENFIELD: Different lineup
? They have the same six players that we played. SMU,
when we played them in November. A
lot of people said so what, you beat SMU, and I was trying to
tell people that SMU is going to be
one of the best teams we face

lineup? They have the same six players that we played. SMU,
when we played them in November. A
lot of people said so what, you beat SMU, and I was trying to
tell people that SMU is going to be
one of the best teams we face all
year. Offensively they can
in November?
COACH ENFIELD: Different lineup? They have the same six
players that we played. SMU, when we played them in November.
A lot of people said so what, you
beat SMU, and I was trying to tell
people that SMU is going to be one of the best teams we face
all year. Offensively they can
score at every position, and defensively they've extremely
solid and they hold teams about 60
points. So I was their biggest fan when we played them in
November, and I'm still their biggest fan. They're a great
team, have 30 wins and to win 26 out
of 27 is just a special year for
them. So congratulations to the Mustafa Mustangs
Q. . Q. On an off the Court note, I
know your wife is from this area. She must be excited to be
back here. Can you talk about her getting to come back here
and how March Madness kind of brought the two of you together?

look at the NCAA brackets
brackets, first you have to get into the tournament, and then
you look at the sites. I know her
whole family said, wow, wouldn't it
be great if you were sent to Tulsa. And here we are. We
expect a big crowd and a lot of tickets,
and Steve /HROEPZ is going to be
in for a lot of ticket requests here in the next day or two
. Q. And how about the way you
guys met? COACH ENFIELD: Well, we met in
New York City, and I can remember my first time back, I
had never been to Oklahoma City,
very pleasantly surprised. And we took a couple trips to Tulsa.

. It's great people, a lot of things to do, and really just a
nice place to live, and especially
to visit, especially when you're with my wife.
Q.

the same question, and maybe you can give us a little more --
paint a little more of a picture
for us. Take us into the locker room at halftime last night.
What was that like? And exactly what were you seeing from your
guys or not seeing in that first half?
COACH ENFIELD: We got off to a decent start and had a
lead. And then we got very passive and didn't guard anybody
. We went zone, they made 3s, we went
man, they made 3s. They got the
ball inside, we didn't switch in a couple of their flex action,
and we just were not playing defense the way we were capable
of and offensively we were being
tentative. We missed a lot. We
missed six layups in the first half and free throws. And we
only had seven turnovers for the game
but the majority of them were in
the first half. We just shut down on both ends of the ball,
and we let our poor offense and our
missed layups affect your defense
awareness intensity because they were we were thinking
about the missed lay-up we should have made ten
seconds earlier. So it was frustrating because we knew we
were
ball, and we let our poor offense and
our missed layups affect your defense awareness intensity
because we were thinking about the missed lay-up we should have
made ten seconds earlier. So it
was frustrating because we knew we were a better team than that,

they made seven 3s in the first half and then we fouled them on
another one so that's 24 points right there just from behind the
three-point line. So halftime was a little nicely talking and
some words to get them fired up,
because this is their season. You work this hard and you get
to the place where you want to be
and then you don't perform. It had
nothing to do with what plays we were running or Xs and Os.
They just had to play better and play
harder and have
little nicely talking and some words
to get them fired up, because this is their season. You work
this hard and you get to the place
where you want to be and then you don't perform. It had
nothing to do with what plays we were
running or Xs and Os. They just had
to play better and play harder and have -- their backs were
against the wall. So I give our players a lot of credit. They
cut the lead down throughout the second half. They didn't try
to force things. They stayed with
the game plan. We played entirely
man to man in the second half and said you're going to guard
somebody or you're
lot of credit. They cut the lead down throughout
the second half. They didn't try to force
things. They stayed with the game
plan. We played entirely man to man in the second half and said

or you're coming out of the game .
And they did that. And then we had to make shots. /PRO*F sense

last year, they
with the game plan. We played
entirely man to man in the second
half and said you're going to guard somebody or you're coming
out of the game. And they did that.
And then we had to make shots.
/PRO*F sense is a great team. We played them last year, they
beat us at the buzzer. We've had two
^ gived cool /AOE and his whole
staff, what they've done with that program the last few years
is really amazing. Check the last
^ check that last answer
. Zoo
what exactly were you hoping that Nick would bring
to the table when you put him in
last night? What was your thinking there, and then what
exactly did he -- I mean we saw what he
provided, but what were you thinking? Were there other
things that he brings to the table
that hoping
that Nick would bring to the table when you put him in last
night? What was your thinking there, and then what exactly did

provided, but what were you thinking?
Were there other things that he brings to the table that we may
not know about. COACH ENFIELD: He's had a
tremendous /TRERB man season. When we signed him late in the
spring, we Ferentz weren't sure, we had a
player leave, Nick /HRA*U
there other things that he brings to the table that we may
not know about.
COACH ENFIELD: He's had a tremendous /TRERB man season.
When we signed him late in the spring, we weren't sure, we had
a player leave, Nick /HRA*U
Ivonavic early for the
Were there other things that he
brings to the table that we may not know about.
COACH ENFIELD: He's had a tremendous /TRERB man season.
When we signed him late in the spring, we weren't sure, we had
a player leave, Nick /HRA*U
Ivonavic early for the draft. So we
weren't expecting him to come in

COACH ENFIELD: He's had a tremendous /TRERB man season.
When we signed him late in the spring, we weren't sure, we had
a player leave, Nick /HRA*U
Ivonavic early for the draft. So we
weren't expecting him to come in and be this productive. We
thought it would be a freshmen year where he could learn behind

when Nick /HRAO*EU decided to turn
pro, or Nick /RA /KOES Vick was in a much more prominent role.
And he had to from day No. 1 he was getting playing time, and he

went through a little stretch in
January-February where he hit the freshman wall, so to speak,
and then he just snapped out of that
, and the last month he has been
terrific. And so we're very, very proud of him. You saw that

the moment. He was aggressive.
He rebound, he made plays, made his free throws and was a huge

News Conference: USC First Round Preview

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