The NCAA tournament is about basketball but also so much more: the fans, bands, cheerleaders, etc. The 1st/2nd rounds are taking place in 8 cities around the country and we could not be more excited to be there in person! HoopsHD is covering all of the angles so you can look forward to a cascade of coverage in the days ahead. Jon Teitel continues our coverage from San Diego with recaps of the press conferences for all 4 teams who survived Friday and advanced to Sunday.
Texas Tech
I asked SR G Adonis Arms about the defensive plan when facing a hot shooter like Notre Dame’s Cormac Ryan (who made 7-9 3PM vs. Alabama yesterday). He said that it takes a team effort: Ryan is a great shooter so they need to force him to do other things that he is not as great at. 
I asked Coach Mark Adams how SR F Kevin Obanor has been able to elevate his game in the postseason (he had his 4th double-double vs. Montana State yesterday after having 1 in each of his 3 prior NCAA tourney games last year at Oral Roberts). He said that Obanor is a great competitor who wants to keep his team alive. He has been 1 of their best offensive rebounders and his defense has really improved. He will do whatever it takes to get on the court and find a way to win. 
Notre Dame
I asked SR F Nate Laszewski about being a great 3-PT shooter (his 46.1 3P% is top-15 in the country) and whether his father Jay is following him this week or just concentrating on his own alma mater (Wisconsin). He said that his dad made it out to his 2 games so far, which was awesome…but that he is also following the Badgers. 3-PT shooting will be key because his teammates try to drive and kick so when they get into the lane he spots up for open threes and they find him.
I asked Coach Mike Brey about being tied for the most NCAA tourney wins in school history with Digger Phelps and whether Digger will still get him something nice for his birthday next Tuesday if he breaks the record. He said that if he gets kidnapped tonight then the primary suspect will be Digger. He brought Digger a bottle of champagne for his 80th birthday last 4th of July. They still tease each other: he joked that similar to managing a high-maintenance player, he has had to manage a high-maintenance ex-coach for the past 22 years!
Arizona
I asked SO F Azuolas Tubelis about his team’s ability to contain several NCAA tourney teams with great PGs who they faced in the regular season (Hunter Maldonado of Wyoming/Kennedy Chandler of Tennessee/Tyger Campbell of UCLA) and how that will translate to facing Mike Miles Jr. of TCU. He said that they will do the same thing that worked before because the coaches do a good job of preparing them so the players just have to go out there and deliver.
I asked Coach Tommy Lloyd how well he knows Jamie Dixon since they have both been in the NCAA tourney at least a dozen times in the past 2 decades but never faced each other in March. He said that Jamie is friends with all of the senior coaches in his coaching tree and is a great guy who always goes out of his way to talk to him and has always been cordial. 
TCU
I asked SO PG Mike Miles Jr. about facing a #1 seed for the 6TH time in the past 10 weeks (0-2 vs. Baylor and 1-2 vs. Kansas). He said that they will have to be at their best. They already beat Kansas as well as Texas Tech (who he thinks is a great team even though they are not a #1 seed). They know what it takes to beat the top teams: defense, rebounding, and limiting opportunities in transition.
I asked Coach Jamie Dixon the same question. He said he knew it was something like that but thanked me for adding it up for him! The lack of preparation/practice time during the past couple of months was a unique situation. His team has been challenged but knows what it takes to beat #1-seed-caliber teams, although the 1st Baylor game seems so far away because his guys are a much different team now. Their league prepares them well for these types of games and he thinks it is an advantage.