It’s only the second week of March, but it’ll be hard for any game the rest of the month top what Arizona and Iowa State put on Friday evening in the Big 12 Tournament semifinals.
Jaden Bradley, the Big 12 Conference Player of the Year, hit the game-winner to send Arizona into the conference tournament championship game where it’ll face the winner of Houston and Kansas. Bradley, speaking to media after the game, was still at a lot for words on what went down in the final possession.
“I just went with
the flow. It was a crazy shot,” Bradley said. “It was great defense. Just had it going. Iowa State’s a tough defensive team. If you call a timeout they probably get their defense set. So it was a crazy shot, but it was a great defense, for sure.”
Tommy Lloyd wasn’t surprise to see Bradley’s shot fall.
“It’s a shot we’ve seen him hit a lot this year,” Lloyd said.
Our recap of the game can be found here. Below is what Lloyd, Bradley and Anthony Dell’Orso said postgame.
Lloyd on his overall thoughts on the win: “Guys, it was a great game, an epic battle. And I respect Iowa State so much. I thought they played really well today. Their shot making was different than when we played them 10 days ago. They’re a good team. And they were a very good version of themselves today, and they really made us dig deep literally 40 minutes. We were just trying to hang on by a thread, stay in the game, and our guys just did a great job of being steady, keeping us competitive and then allowing us to make a few runs. I talked a lot last night. I think you guys need to talk to these guys. These guys were way better players than I’ll ever be as a coach today. I mean, they were amazing in just handling that deal because Iowa State is a team, you think you have a plan, it just doesn’t work. We have an acronym that we use, that I use a lot. FIO — figure it out. And we practice a lot of figure-it-out situations. And the players gotta kind of, in the moment, figure out the right plays to make with the right fundamentals. And when they do that, when they’re figuring things out, complicated things, we’re our best version of ourselves. I’m appreciative of these two guys on my right. I’ll let you guys ask them some questions.”
On the final play and not calling a timeout: “When I looked at JB driving the ball up, he wasn’t looking at me. He was waving everybody down. So I knew what we were doing. I had made the mistake, I had a timeout a use-it-or-lose-it in the first half. And I called it. And, man, they had a 9-0 run after. So, you know, they went up. And I knew they were going to trap. We knew didn’t have the greatest timeout, let’s put it that way. And we came out and we had worked really hard in that first half to get up the three, and we wanted to finish tighter. Up and we end down six. So I wasn’t going to make the same mistake again. And giving JB some space. He kind of plays chess out there a little bit moved the guys around where he wanted them. And he got to a spot. It’s a shot we’ve seen him hit a lot this year.”
On the hardwood court surface and the basketballs being inflated Thursday: “I’ll just say, the shooting today, I want to give credit to Brian Thornton and Brett Yormark. To have the courage to try something new and then even the bigger cajones to change it, it really made a difference tonight. Just getting these guys playing on a surface they’re comfortable with. But I don’t think what was told yesterday, the different feel on the court caused them to overinflate the balls yesterday.
“So it was, like, tough shooting. You know what I mean? Sometimes these Wilson balls, you play in the NCAA Tournament, if they’re overinflated, it’s really hard to get a get a feel for them and it feels like a brick a little bit. That’s probably maybe one of the reasons there’s a lot of bricks thrown up.
“Today, back on the natural surface, they’re able to put the ball back in its normal — where it’s supposed to be inflated. You can see, Delly and I talked about it. He’s at Campbell, he played with that Wilson ball almost exclusively. So he’s really comfortable with it. That makes a difference. That probably begs the bigger question, we probably should eventually figure out how to have a unified ball among all the NCAA. It’s crazy that we don’t.
“Because it does — the playing surface and the ball impacts the game more than people think because these guys are — I mean they’re trained professionals. And they do this every single day. So how they feel matters to allow them to perform at their best. So I want to give a shout out to our conference leadership for having the courage to do that, because I think it allowed for a platform for a beautiful basketball game to happen tonight.“
On whether he knows how much PSI the balls are overinflated: “I don’t. I’m a feel guy. You throw a ball let me squeeze it a little bit, I’ll tell you if it’s good. I don’t know the PSIs.”
On whether he has a preference for Saturday’s matchup: “You think I’m falling for that trick? Oh, my gosh. Here’s what I’ll say — and I’ll say this half facetiously and half truth — the gift is we get to play Houston or Kansas at home. What an awesome opportunity. You know, and I’ve been in these situations before where you maybe had a semifinal buzzer-beater win. You’ve got to get your emotions in check fast. And you’ve got to move on. You’ve got to take a shower with a smile on your face, but when that shower’s done, it’s on to the next one. And we’ve got to prepare. We put ourselves in position to win a championship, and you don’t get a lot of opportunities to do that over the course of the season. So tomorrow deserves our best effort. And, you know, I know our staff and these guys are going to take it seriously. And we know tomorrow’s game could be — I’m assuming it’s going to be just as tough. And we’re going to have to figure it out as we go. But I can’t wait for that opportunity.”
Bradley on how he figured it out on the last possession: “I really didn’t. I just went with the flow. It was a crazy shot. It was great defense. Just had it going. Iowa State’s a tough defensive team. If you call a timeout they probably get their defense set. So it was a crazy shot, but it was a great defense, for sure.”
On the ending of the game: “It was a crazy two minutes, a lot of shot-making, crazy plays. But I was just looking at Coach, seeing when he wanted, kind of communicating. He said, go. I was trying to figure out what they were going to do. I mean they were trapping all night. So just trying to read and react and it was just a crazy shot.”
On what makes Dell’Orso special: “Delly, he’s crazy, literally. No, I’m proud of Delly. He had his ups and downs this season. But we all believe in him. His shot-making ability, his defense has got so much better.We just trusted him. We just got so many guys that can get it going at any night, and tonight was Delly’s night. Proud of the way he’s going and he’s going to keep flowing from here.”
On guarding Momcilovic: “He’s a great player, crazy shooter. He’s like 6’7″, 6’8″. He can shoot right over the top of you. (Make it) contested and pray it doesn’t go in.“
On whether that’s the best game Bradley has ever played in: “For me I think it was. Just the back and forth, Iowa State, their defense, their offensive ability. Delly was hitting shots. Tobe was on the glass. Everybody contributed to this game. It was crazy.”
Dell’Orso on trading blows with Iowa State’s Milan Momcilovic: “Yeah, I mean, he’s a great player. Obviously a great shooter. You’ve seen what he’s done all year. Two great teams ultimately going at it. I mean, Coach says it was like a chess match out there, everyone playing at their best and their highest intent. And he was making good shots and we were making good shots and we were able to get it done.”
On what it feels like when he’s in his zone: “It’s a great feeling, obviously. You see a couple go down and you just keep getting more and more confidence. I said it before it’s like shooting in the ocean, you feel like you can’t miss. JB and a bunch of other teammates found me in great spots, and I felt I was open all the time, and I was able to knock them down tonight.”
On getting to celebrate with the bench after hitting big 3-pointers: “Feels great. Obviously after the start we had, we had a bit of slow start, I see myself coming off the bench, that’s something I’ve gotta bring to the team, get us going, whether that is scoring, passing, defense, whatever it is. But that emotion, we all feed off that. Coach emphasizes giving energy and showing emotion. That’s something I pride myself and I can bring every night.”
On carrying this 3-point shooting into the NCAA Tournament: “Yeah, just staying consistent and confident. That’s two things that I can keep myself accountable for. Doesn’t take any effort. Doesn’t take anything other than mindset. And then I can rely on these guys. They’ve been there for me all year through the ups and downs. And they haven’t lost any confidence in me. Coach hasn’t lost any confidence in me, and that’s what I can count on. I just gotta go out there and give it my all.”
On playing in big games: “I think you play big games, we played a bunch of big games this year, and it feels like it keeps getting tougher and tougher down the road. They were playing great. We were playing great. You enter into that kind of flow state. And guys just brought everything. There were multiple facets of the game other than just shooting that go unnoticed, but we definitely pay attention to that.”
