NCAA Men's 1st and 2nd

Rounds: St. Louis

Thursday, March 17, 2016
St. Louis, Missouri

Chris Mack
Xavier
THE MODERATOR: We're joined by the head coach of
Xavier, Chris Mack. Coach, an opening statement.
CHRIS MACK: I'm excited our team's in St. Louis.
Questions.
Q. Chris, last time we talked to you, you hadn't had
a chance to check out Weber State. Now that
you've had some time, what are your impressions
of them and specifically Senglin and Bolomboy?
CHRIS MACK: I'm really impressed. I saw Randy at
the coach's meeting. And they have a big-time front
court. They put a lot of pressure on your front court to
either double the post or crowd the post. Obviously it
all starts with Bolomboy. But they've got other players
that are very, very big. They present more size than I
think Big Sky opponents are probably used to, and it
forces you to make a decision whether you collapse,
like I said, or trap. And then not only Senglin, but
Richardson, guys on the perimeter can really, really
shoot the 3. And so that's sort of the rub you're in.
How do you want to play their front court, because their
perimeter players really space you and spread you with
their ability to shoot the 3.
Q. As a follow-up on Bolomboy, I think you said
that maybe Senglin remind you of Kellen Dunham
from Butler. Does Bolomboy remind you of anyone
that you've seen this year or is he just a unique
player?
CHRIS MACK: I don't think he reminds me of anyone.
I don't think there's anyone that has his size, skill,
athleticism. He's the reigning defensive player of the
year. He's just a big challenge on both sides of the
floor. He's athletic enough to play a 4. I'm certain he's
going to guard Tre. He's just a very difficult matchup, a
lot like James Farr for us. His development over the
course of his career has been really impressive, from a
guy that Coach Rahe talked about when he first got
there, really wasn't, he was a young colt is, I think, how
he described him -- didn't know what he was doing,
was athletic, and couldn't really hold his position, didn't
have any go-to moves. Now you look at him as a
senior, he's going to get a lot of NBA looks and it's
because of that development. So it's a big challenge
for us.

Rev #2 by #268 at 2016-03-17 22:08:00 GMT

Q. As you head into this game, what do you feel are

some of the keys for your team?
CHRIS MACK: Well, I think anytime you play in
tournament play you have to do a great job on the
glass. You can't allow opponents to get second, third,
fourth, fifth shots. You have to be able to take care of
the ball, make good decisions on offense. And just be
who you are. You know, it's a 40-minute game. You
can't get caught up in a bad start, a great start. It's all
irrelevant. It's a 40-minute game. And just continuing
to be that team that you've been on the practice floor
and in game night every minute you're out there. And
things will take care of themselves.
Q. This is off topic, but I know you got to know Billy
Donlon in recent years at the coaching or Coaches
vs. Cancer thing in Cincinnati. Did you have any
reaction to him losing his job?
CHRIS MACK: Yeah, it's a bad decision. I don't know
their athletic director, but we're in a results-oriented
business. Unless there was some scandal, which I
know Billy and that's not the case, he should not have
been let go. The guy wins 22 games this year, 13
conference games, which is the most in the history of
the school. Goes to the championship game three
years in a row in the Horizon League. He graduated
his players. I mean, again, I don't know who Wright
State is pretending to be or trying to be, but that's
ridiculous.
Q. Preparing for a game like this, do you have to
tell your players maybe get them a little more
hyped up to avoid the upset?
CHRIS MACK: No. I think there was an article in our
paper that said the hunted versus the hunter. Like
we're hunting. We're hunting to get to April. Like we're
not being hunted by anybody. When you're hunted you
have no idea you're in the game. Like a deer has no
idea it's being hunted. It gets competitive. It's a game.
We're doing hunting of our own. Sorry, Shannon, I
didn't like the headline.
Q. That's okay. I don't write the headlines.
CHRIS MACK: I know you don't. But you talk to the
people who do (laughter).
Q. Chris, you won a second national coach of the
year award today. I know you don't really like these
kinds of questions.

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CHRIS MACK: So why do you ask them?

Q. I have to get you on the record here.
CHRIS MACK: No, you don't.
Q. Do you want to talk about that at all or does it
mean anything to you at this point?
CHRIS MACK: No. It means I'm really happy for our
team. I've said this all year long. They've been an
incredibly coachable group. Maybe the expectations
were different outside the locker room. It's been a
great team to coach, a fun team to coach. I am
blessed with a tremendous assistant coaching staff
who invests just as much as I do in our team and in our
players. When we lose, they hurt just as much as I do.
The chemistry we have between us as coaches, I think
a lot of head coaches around the country call their
colleagues and call other head coaches. And I just sit
in my staff meetings with my staff because they give
me the best advice on what we need to do in order to
become a better team.
THE MODERATOR: Thank you, Coach.

Rev #2 by #268 at 2016-03-17 22:08:00 GMT

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