Tourney Talk: HoopsHD interviews Gardner-Webb head coach Tim Craft

Posted on March 18, 2019 by Jon Teitel

He’s Craft-y, he’s got no gripe, he’s Craft-y, and he’s just your type! 2 Sundays ago Gardner-Webb beat Radford 76-65 on the road in the Big South tourney title game to earn an automatic bid to this week’s NCAA tournament. The Runnin’ Bulldogs appeared to be runnin’ on empty after starting conference play with a 2-4 record but bounced back to win 11 of their final 13 games and claim the 1st NCAA tourney appearance in school history. Earlier today HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to speak with Coach Craft about DJ Laster’s heroic title game performance and what it feels like to make the NCAA tourney for the very 1st time.

You went to college at Florida: what is your favorite memory of those old Billy Donovan teams? I was actually a baseball manager but was certainly a basketball fan as well. I graduated in 2000, which was the year that they went to the title game with guys like Mike Miller/Udonis Haslem before losing to Michigan State.

In 2013 you were named head coach at Gardner-Webb: why did you take the job? I had been an assistant here from 2004-2007 and really thought that it was a special place. I felt a great care and family dynamic here on our campus. It is a Christian school and their values line up with the way I want to live my life. I also thought that we could be successful in basketball.

In the 2015 CBI you had a 9-PT loss at Colorado: what is the biggest difference between the regular season and the postseason? I do not have a lot of postseason experience but it is just survive and advance. If you want to keep playing you have to keep winning so the stakes are higher and there is more pressure on everything that you do.

Last year you lost 18 games: when did you 1st get the sense that you could turn things around this year? Last year was the worst year that we have had during our 5 years here but we were 9-9 in the league and felt that we had a decent team. We had 6 losses that were 1-possession games in the final 2 minutes so we put an emphasis in the off-season on having a small margin for error. We struggled a little bit early before winning 8 of our last 9.

You began this season with 2 straight games against fellow NCAA tourney teams in VCU/Virginia Tech: which of them impressed you the most, and why? Both of them were really good and put a lot of pressure on us defensively. We had a high rate of turnovers in both games but Virginia Tech just exploded in the 2nd half. Offensively the Hokies were pretty healthy and were also hard for us to score on.

You also had consecutive road wins in December at Georgia Tech/Wake Forest: do you think that you might have 1 more ACC win left in you this week?! We sure hope so! I think that Virginia is a different animal and are 1 of the best teams in the country. Their efficiency is off the charts and it will be a hard task but we will prepare to play our best.

You turned 42 last month: what did you do for the big day? I do not really remember.  At this point in the season every day feels the same: it is like Groundhog Day!

Last Sunday DJ Laster scored a career-high 32 PTS in 32 minutes in an 11-PT win at Radford en route to being named conference tourney MVP: how was he able to play the best when it mattered the most? He has really been playing with a lot of confidence and working on his game every day. He had a couple of really good weeks to finish the regular season and played well in all 3 of our conference tourney games. He was playing at another level in the title game and was able to take advantage of some mismatches from an athleticism standpoint. We sure needed every 1 of his buckets and I am glad that he came up big for us.

What did it mean to you to win a title, and what has the reaction been like since returning to campus? It means a lot for my players/staff because they have all worked so hard to accomplish this, but it means even more to our university/students/alumni. It will give us some national exposure and our former players have loved it. We had a packed student center last night and it has been fun for the whole community to watch us make the NCAA tourney for the 1st time in school history.

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Tourney Talk: HoopsHD interviews UCF SR G BJ Taylor

Posted on March 18, 2019 by Jon Teitel

You probably thought that UCF was a football school but the basketball team has something to say about that. Their .742 W/L% this year is #2 in school history and they will try to get their 1st-ever NCAA tourney win on Friday night when they travel to Columbia, SC to face VCU in the 1st round. The Knights did not win more than 13 games in a season from 2014-2016 but under Coach Johnny Dawkins they have now won 19+ games in each of the past 3 years. Earlier today HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to speak with SR G BJ Taylor about overcoming injuries and beating each of the other 3 AAC teams who made the NCAA tourney.

You grew up in Florida: what made you choose UCF? I am an Orlando hometown kid so I just wanted to represent Orlando.

In 2015 you started 26 games and were named to the AAC All-Rookie team: how were you able to come in and contribute right from the start? I was able to prepare really well while coming out of high school. Being able to play against college guys at UCF while I was still in high school really impacted my game.

In the 2017 NIT semifinals you scored 10 PTS in a loss to TCU: what is the biggest difference between the regular season and the postseason? The physicality: every possession means more and there is so much more on the line because everyone wants to win. You see desperation from both teams on the court.

You play for Coach Johnny Dawkins: what makes him such a good coach, and what is the most important thing that you have learned from him so far? He has firsthand experience as a player and accomplished so many things during his career that he can relate to our mindset. He is good at the psychological part of the game and can always motivate us. He just teaches us to play hard: if you are keeping score then you need to play to win.

You missed 1 year with a lower leg injury and the 1st ½ of last season due to a foot injury: how difficult was it to make it back onto the court, and how is your health at the moment? It was difficult to miss an entire season but in the long run it has made me mentally tougher. Dealing with that adversity has helped me mature a lot.

In December you scored a career-high 35 PTS/6-9 3PM in a 7-PT win over Georgia Southern: was it just 1 of those situations where every shot you put up seemed to go in because you were “in the zone”? I started off slow that night but since it was close down the stretch I was put in a position to make some threes. It was not like every shot was falling: I just remained aggressive and was able to get things going and did what I could to help the team win.

You beat each of the other 3 AAC teams who made the NCAA tourney this year (Cincy/Houston/Temple): which of them impressed you the most, and why? Houston had a 33-game home court winning streak at the time we beat them so it was big for our confidence to knock them off.

You are a good FT shooter (77.4% this year) but your team is among the worst in the nation (64.5%): are you worried that it might bite your team in the butt this week? The biggest thing for us is that we rely on getting fouled a lot because it puts us in the bonus and lets us take a bunch of FTs. The volume is important so if we can take 20 more FTs than our opponent then we should still be able to score a number of points.

You have a pair of twin towers in 6’11” Collin Smith and 7’6” Tacko Fall: how does their size help what you do on offense/defense? Most teams nowadays do not play with 2 centers: most of them play small ball with a bunch of guards. It makes us unique because we can punish teams down low and impose our physicality.

What do you think about getting a #9 seed, and what do you know about VCU? Getting into the NCAA tourney is exciting: our school had a 14-year drought so it was huge for our program to get the 1st at-large bid in school history. VCU plays fast/hard and had a really good season so we know that it will be a battle.

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UTR Postseason News, Notes and Highlighted Game – Monday, March 18th

Posted on March 18, 2019 by John Stalica

Shortly after the NCAA Tournament bracket was revealed, pairings for the NIT were revealed – the first four teams in this field were UNC-Greensboro, Alabama, Indiana and TCU. The CBI also included a few notable teams from the major conferences – West Virginia will appear in the tournament despite an overall losing record, and even perennial doormats like South Florida and DePaul will appear in the CBI this season. Finally, there were 26 teams that were announced for the CIT field – there will be thirteen non-bracketed matchups that will take place beginning tonight through Saturday for the first round.

QUINNIPIAC AT NJIT (CIT, 7:30 PM). Quinnipiac advanced to the semifinals before losing to Monmouth in the Metro Atlantic conference tournament over a week ago. They will travel to the original Team of the People tonight – the NJIT Highlanders. NJIT also won a game in the Atlantic Sun conference tournament for the first time with a road win at Florida Gulf Coast; they lost their semifinal game at top-seeded Lipscomb.

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Tournament Talk with Unscripted Ohio’s Kyle Lamb

Posted on March 17, 2019 by David Griggs

Chad and David appear as guests on Kyle Lamb’s Unscripted Ohio Podcast to discuss the upcoming NCAA Tournament.  We discuss what teams to watch for, and how what we think of the committee’s selections and seedings….

https://soundcloud.com/unscriptedohio/e74-buckeyes-face-stiff-but-winnable-first-round-ncaa-test

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Tourney Talk: HoopsHD interviews Florida State FR SG/SF Devin Vassell

Posted on March 17, 2019 by Jon Teitel

Florida State set a school record this year with 27 wins and made it all the way to the ACC tourney title game on Saturday before losing to Duke. They will try to get win #28 on Thursday afternoon when they travel to Hartford to face America East tourney champ Vermont in the 1st round of the NCAA tourney. The Seminoles made the Elite 8 last March before losing to Michigan by 4 PTS and are back in the NCAA tourney for the 7th time in the past 11 years. Earlier today HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to speak with FR SG/SF Devin Vassell about making a huge shot in the ACC tourney and playing in 1 of the best conferences in the country.

You grew up in Georgia: what made you choose the Seminoles? The coaching staff told me what I could do and how I could help the program.

You have a wingspan that is almost 7’: how much of an advantage is your length on the basketball court? It definitely helps, especially on the defensive end. It makes it easier for me to get a steal/contest a shot.

You play for Coach Leonard Hamilton: what makes him such a great coach, and what is the most important thing that you have learned from him so far? He is always encouraging and has confidence in all of his players. Just know that he has faith in us is great.

Last year your team made the Elite 8 before a 4-PT loss to Michigan: what is your favorite memory of their incredible postseason run? All of it: just watching them go out there and excel. Now that I am part of the team I cannot wait to contribute!

You played several fellow NCAA tourney teams this year in non-conference play (including Florida/LSU/Purdue/St. Louis/Villanova): which of them impressed you the most, and why? All of those teams were great, especially the defending champs in Villanova. I cannot pick just 1: they have all made us a better team.

Earlier this month SO PF Mfiondu Kabengele was named ACC 6th Man of the Year: what makes him such a great player coming off the bench? He just brings a lot of energy and does everything that we need. He is always in the gym and I am glad to see his hard work paying off.

In the ACC tourney quarterfinals you scored a team-high 14 PTS/4-7 3PM and made a 3-PT shot with 4 seconds left in regulation en route to a 2-PT OT win over Virginia Tech: did you think the shot was going in, and where does that rank among the highlights of your career so far? It was a great play drawn up by our coaches and my teammates set some great screens. I felt it was going in, and it is the best moment I have had here so far.

Your father Andrew played basketball at Stony Brook: who is the best athlete in the family? I would say that it is me now but back then he had some great highlights. He has taught me some tricks and passed on the torch.

The ACC received 3 #1 seeds in the NCAA tourney (Duke/North Carolina/Virginia): how do you explain the level of competition in your conference to people who have never seen an ACC game in person? It is a league like no other. Every night you face some of the best teams in the country, which has helped us grow closer and become a better team.

What do you think about getting a #4 seed, and what do you know about Vermont (besides the fact that your teammate David Nichols scored 14 PPG in 2 games vs. the Catamounts last year when he was at Albany)? We are just excited to be in the tourney: we do not know too much about Vermont right now but when we tip it off we will be ready to play.

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2019 NCAA Tournament Bracket

Posted on March 17, 2019 by Chad

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