University of Washington Official Athletic Site - Men's Basketball
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Q: What are your goals for the 1997-98 season?
A: "The goal will be to get to the NCAA Tournament. To assure ourselves of that we've got to finish higher in conference and have to get more wins than 17. The thing that certainly is going to be a challenge is to take another step and to be able to get into the NCAA Tournament with two major personnel changes. We lose Jamie (Booker), who we expected to lose due to graduation and then with Mark (Sanford) leaving for the draft and having to replace his production."
Q: Comment on your schedule that includes 13 games against 1997 NCAA Tournament teams?
A: "I like our non-conference schedule for this team, especially now replacing both Jamie and Mark. We will be tested early, we will be prepared early. It's not a schedule where we're so heavy on the road where it could shake our confidence. On the other hand, we'll be tested enough that we won't go through this easily. We've got a number of NCAA teams on our schedule."
Q: Who will fill the scoring void (30.3 ppg) left by the departures of Mark Sanford and Jamie Booker?
A: "We certainly have some kids who want to take up the slack that Mark provided as the leading scorer. Part of Mark's scoring was on the perimeter, now those other guys have to shoulder that load a little bit. From the perimeter, both Donald Watts and Deon Luton should provide us with more scoring. From the inside standpoint, obviously Todd's numbers can even improve. The encouraging thing was the aggressiveness that Patrick Femerling showed down the stretch last year in looking to score himself. The chances to expand offensive roles are there for the guys. The necessity for them to do that is obviously going to go a long ways in how successful we will be."
Q: How will Todd MacCulloch handle the pressure of greater expectations?
A: "Todd MacCulloch now is better pre- pared and equiped to deal with more attention defensively because he has experienced that. It was a top priority of getting him started early in games and establishing that inside game. That will certainly remain. The last step in his development that needs to take place is consistency. He has certainly proven that in given situations he is capable of putting up huge numbers both offensively scoring the ball and rebounding it on both ends of the floor. Where development has to occur is doing that night in and night out."
Q: Comment on the season-opening matchup between "Big Mac" MacCulloch and Brad "Big Continent" Millard of Saint Mary's?
A: "That's going to be a very interesting national matchup to a certain extent. We don't plan our schedule based on individual matchups. The NCAA Tournament was Brad's coming out. You have two of the guys, size-wise and reputation-wise, who have kind of burst onto the scene from somewhat obscurity and will be playing against each other. It will create an interesting side-note to the fact that it's the opening game."
Q: Will you start 7-footers Todd MacCulloch and Patrick Femerling together?
A: "I can pretty well say we will go with those two to start the season. That is a committment we will make right away. The interesting scenario that surrounds starting the two together is not so much them together because we did go to that a lot in the second half of the season. They are comfortable with that and our team is comfortable with that look. How do we then surround them depth-wise? The real challenge is Chris Walcott, the flexibility he can give us in subbing in for one of those two at times and then Thalo Green. Those two guys off the bench initially are going to be a real key as to how successful we will be early. I would expect by the Pac-10 season, the two of them will have found their role and they will prosper in it."
Q: To what do you attribute last year's drastically improved shooting that was among the nation's best?
A: "It's just experience. These kids are good shooters, it's just different shooting at the college level. The defense it so much better. You would love to have people come in and shoot the ball well right away, but when you are rebuilding it's going to take a little while for kids who can shoot it to show that ability. I would expect us to shoot the ball even better next year because of experience returning. It certainly helps when your first option is someone like Todd who shoots a high percentage individually, it helps your whole team. The addition of Michael (Johnson) and Dan (Dickau) also is going to really help our ability to shoot the ball."
Q: How will you curtail the turnovers that plagued the team last season?
A: "That's the area that has to improve. It really hurt us because with a higher shooting percentage we needed to make sure we got more shots. We didn't do that because we did turn the ball over far too much. Experience again makes you a better ball-handling team. That's where you rely on Jan (Wooten) and Chris' (Thompson) year under the gun. Secondly, we're going to be much better by bringing in people like Michael (Johnson) and Dan (Dickau). We have great competition in the backcourt, we have great depth now. We can keep people fresh. Many times turnovers occur when people get tired and worn out mentally and physically. Now, we've got depth where if people start to falter with concentration and it looks like they're getting tired, we can get fresh people in. We will be able to handle the ball better."
Q: What impact will Arizona's champ- ionship and the three other Pac-10 Sweet Sixteen teams have?
A: "Because of the success last year, there is a long term and short term effect that everybody benefits from. The short term is the immediate exposure that the tournament success brought. People are talking nationally about the Pac-10. The long term effect is it opens up recruiting opportunites that maybe didn't exist, not just for Arizona but everybody in the league. Everybody in the league realizes that this was a phenomenal year and probaly set the stage for further and greater success."
Q: To what do you attribute the emer- gence of Pac-10 basketball?
A: "The Pac-10 has re-emerged as a respected national league and as a force. It will continue to do that. The thing that we've pointed out over the past few years is that we're keeping our best players on the West Coast. The problem we have now is keeping our best players in school. It seems that every single year now we seem to have a little bit more player movement in the conference because of the early entry in the draft."
Q: Has the success of the entire Pac-10 slowed Washington's progress?
A: "That's the one thing you can't control. I would hope that everyone who follows Husky basketball never forgets how far we have come. There is no doubt that our improvement has come at a time when it wasn't real easy. This league has been so good with two out of the last three NCAA champions and last year's unprecedented success. I still know that we are going to have to take steps to be a champion in the Pac-10. Along the way, it isn't easy because of how good this league is."
Q: How will freshman Michael Johnson handle the lofty expectations after a prominent prep career in Seattle?
A: "There is going to be higher expecta- tions becuase of the familiarity. Donald Watts had a reputation coming in and the same holds true for Michael. Donald will play with Michael for two years and can help him with it. No one is going to put any more pressure on themselves than Michael Johnson. That's why he's become the player that he has because he has high expectations of himself. I think he'll handle it really well because he's used to it. When you've had the recognition and accomplished what he has since he was a freshman you learn to deal with expectations. He comes in well equiped for it."
Q: Who does freshman point guard Dan Dickau compare to among point guards?
A: "The easy comparison is with Carson Cunningham's freshman year at Oregon State. One thing that Dan may be is a little bit better off the dribble shooting the jump shot. Carson Cunningham is great at getting to the basket off the dribble. He had a wonderful freshman year. Dan might also be a little bit physically stronger coming in than Carson was. I hope that we can keep him fresher so that late in the season he can be just as effective. We don't have to throw him into it at the point, but we will not hesitate to put him on the floor right away. Coming into the Pac-10 is not going to be an intimidating factor for him. That's what he relishes."
Q: Who replaces Jamie Booker as your defensive stopper?
A: "We have to look at Deon (Luton) as a big-time defender. He's got all the physical characteristics to do it and with Jamie's departure, somebody is going to have to emerge to be able to do that. Every year I've been in this league there have been guards that make you just cringe thinking about how you are going to defend them. It started with Jason Kidd and Damon Stoudamire. Then there was Brevin Knight and now Michael Bibby. It never changes, that's the beauty of this league. You have to have someone who accepts and really relishes that role of being a stopper and wants those kind of assignments. I fully expect that Deon is capable of doing that."
Q: Will your defensive philosophy change this season?
A: "Out of our man-to-man defense we might be able to do some trapping and gambling a little bit. We will be athletic and quick on the perimeter and we will be deep enough that we can keep some fresh bodies in there. With those two 7-footers back there, any mistakes made won't turn into easy layups. They will be able to challenge stuff inside. Our defense is going to have a little bit of a new wrinkle to it next year out of the man-to-man to be able to trap sometimes and allow our perimeters some freedom to create a little bit of havoc."
Q: How would you summarize your first four years at Washington?
A: "It was something I had never experi- enced, having to rebuild a program. For two years we had to rely simply on what we hoped the future would have. Going into the third year, what changed at Washington was you could see that progress in a real way. The emergence of guys like Sanford. The consistency of Booker's effort. The prospect of having much more size. Going into the third year, we knew that we were on the verge of getting things turned around. It hasn't been any harder than we expected it to be. Fortunately for us, for two years of losing we didn't have a lot of problems that would hold us back from turning the corner. That is a credit to the kids that they didn't give up, they didn't make excuses, they didn't point fingers. They just kept working and eventually that hard work started to pay off."
Q: What impact did the summer tour of France have on your team?
A: "The trip gave us an opportunity to get competitive game experience for players. We were able to see some combinations work together that will be relied upon during the season. We got a jump on learning to play without Mark (Sanford) and Jamie (Booker) and how to replace what they contributed to our team."
Q: What are your thoughts on players leaving early for the NBA Draft?
A: "Last year we experienced it for the first time. Everybody in college basketball is concerned about it. It is a reality. Coaches now have a tough time projecting four years in advance. Now you look two years in advance. It's not quite as stable as it used to be."
Q: How will you replace longtime assis- tant Ray Giacoletti, now the head coach at North Dakota State?
A: "Replacing Ray is a challenge for our staff. He's been with me for eight years. He's helped coach and recruit every single one of the players in the program right now. When you have personnel changes you have adjustment. We've got consistency though by being able to move Eric Hughes up into Ray Giacoletti's spot as a full-time coach. Byron (Boudreaux) now will have expanded roles in coordinating all of the recruiting. Also, by adding Jason Hamilton to our staff, a former player who has worked directly with our team as an undergraduate assistant, we've developed some consistency there in spite of the coaching change."
Q: What current or former coach do you admire the most?
A: "There are a lot of coaches that I respect. Certainly Mike Krzyzewski is the most prominent. I still believe a lot of things I learned from Coach (Bob) Knight, things that he does in a positive manner that are important for any coach to be successful. I look at coaches who rebuilt programs. People who have been in our position. Pat Kennedy at Florida State faced that kind of rebuilding. Lon Kruger is another guy I really respect. To go from where he was when he first took over at Florida and find himself in the Final Four in four short years is amazing."
Q: What was your most memorable moment as a player?
A: "The Final Four. It is such an unbeliev- able event and spectacle. As a player you don't fully understand, until you are done playing, what you accomplished in getting to the Final Four. While it is happening to you it is all happening so fast that you don't understand and value it enough. When it is all said and done, you realize that everybody started off with the same goal and yet you were able to accomplish it."
Q: Which Final Four was your most memorable as a player?
A: "I felt more a part of things at Duke because I played more. After you go through a year undefeated and experience the type of things that we did with that team at Indiana, you feel good about it, but I probably felt a little bit more with the Duke situation because I contributed more on the floor."
Q: What is your fondest memory as a head basketball coach?
A: "Anytime you win a championship, like we did in the Missouri Valley Conference at Illinois State, it is memorable. I would also include important wins as we build this program. Like Michigan three years ago and Arizona my first year and last year. Those would rank right up there because they are landmark things."
Q: If you could change any college basketball rule, what would you do?
A: "I would put serious consideration of going to the international lane. The wider lane would create better post play because there would be more room to manuever and open up the floor more."
