Feb. 28, 2005
UCF men's basketball head coach Kirk Speraw participated in the Atlantic Sun postseason media teleconference on Monday morning. Speraw spoke about the Golden Knights solid late season play, veteran leadership, senior Marcus Avant and what it takes to win three games in three days and claim the A-Sun title.
Question: Talk about how your team is playing down the stretch, having won nine of their last 10 games.
Speraw: "I think we have been able to focus on the details defensively and have been able to stay in games defensively. That is a credit to our guys because we have lost Marcus Avant, one of the better defenders in the league. Really, I am just proud of our guys the way they have kept together. We have lost a lot of pieces of the puzzle at different times of the conference schedule due to injuries and various other things."
Question: How do you keep the team focused on the fact that regardless of what they did during the regular season, they must win the A-Sun Championship to make the NCAA Tournament?
Speraw: "You just stay focused on what you are going to do against Mercer. Mercer is an outstanding team. Very high-powered offensively. You just try to put in that game plan and have the kids execute the plan as best as they can."
Question: How do you get your team's to play well late in the season?
Speraw: "We just try to play our best basketball at this time of the year. I think that is the reason for our success. We have been able to continue to improve throughout the months of January and February. Usually at this point of the year, we are playing as well as we have at any point and time of the season. Certainly, that is a big reason for the success that we have had in the conference tournament."
What do players from successful junior college programs bring to the team?
Speraw: "I think we have been successful here lately to a large degree because we have had unselfish players who are more concerened about whether their team wins than how many shots they are getting. I think that has been a staple here in the last four or five years.
It goes back to their personalities. They might not have been the stars of their previous team, but they definitely have been an integral part of this winning mentality.
Question: What kind of senior leadership do Marcus Avant, Kingsley Edwards and Gary Johnson bring to the team?
Speraw: "All three of our seniors have had outstanding basketball careers. They led their junior college teams to the national tournament. They are used to winning and were part of a team that won the conference title a year ago. They have been through this before. They have played in tough games before. They bring that experience."
Question: How worried were you when Marcus Avant left the lineup with an injury?
Speraw: "I am continually worried about it. You do not take a 6-7 individual who is athletic, long and quick that can play five positions defensively out of your lineup and not be affected to a large degree. He is a tremendous loss on that side of it. Other players have had to step up and they are doing the best they can with their abilities."
Question: Speak about the parity in the A-Sun and how it relates to the tournament?
Speraw: "It is going to be the same that it has been all year in our league. Not much margin for error. Anyone can beat anybody else in a particular ballgame. It is going to come down to critical possessions at the end of each ball game. I would not be surprised to see some overtime games. I think that this is going to be a knock-down, drag-out tournament."
Question: What does a team need to do win three games and claim the tournament title?
Speraw: "It may just come down to how the ball bounces off of the rim on a missed shot. And who can scramble to a lose ball. I think it may come down to simple things."