UC Head Coach Jerrod Calhoun, Guard Tylen Riley Illinois Postgame Presser

I want to thank all the fans that showed up tonight. You know, obviously, these exhibition games are great learning tools, not only for the players but ourselves. And to play a Final Four team in Illinois, you know, the relationship that I've developed with Brad and his son Tyler, I think Tyler's one of the best up-and-coming offensive minds. He and I share a lot of ideas. So great game, and we'll learn a lot from this. Happy birthday, Coach. Thanks, Jim. So what did it show you about your team? They went on a couple pretty impressive scoring runs, and your guys continued to fight back and didn't let it get away really at any point. Yeah, you know, we had an interesting week of practice. You know, it was just kind of trying to piece practices together. You know, Kai Fleming goes down. Elijah Perryman goes down. Both kids will be back in probably about a week. The guy that I'm most proud of outside of Tyler and Riley tonight is Eric Mahaffey. For him to come in and spell our point guard position, never have done that ever against a, you know, I think a potential national championship team, took a lot of courage. So yeah, I think all in all, we learned a ton about our group, that we're not going to quit. You know, we did the same thing against Ohio State in the second half, but you know, there's points in games where you have to win the margins right and i thought um when we tied it up we were right there i don't know what the time was but they beat us on a couple 50 50 balls offensive rebounds and great teams are going to make you pay and they did Tyler what was working so well for you offensively 31 points 13 assists seemed like the game was working really slow in a good way for you tonight um we just play with a lot of good players which is what we have on this team the floor just opens up so uh it was just my night tonight and like i said before it could just be anybody's night but like i said again when you just have a lot of good players like the gravity it just spaces out and you can just do whatever you want to do out there coach do you see room for improvement on the rebounding or do you just credit Illinois size yeah i mean they got us by seven um you know them in houston historically are the two best rebounding teams in the country um you know so i think there was points that uh they got set deep deep uh penetration on the drives um that they were so close to the basket we've got to do a better job of chesting drives and keep them out of the rim or the paint um but yeah i mean for a while it was even you know that was the game keegan honestly plus seven on the glass that's it that's how they got us coach as you continue to try to implement your identity both ends of the floor Or how do you go with that balance of pace offensively while also trying to get stops at the other end? Yeah, that's probably the best question asked so far. It's a fine line. You know, your offense has to be married to your defense. Your defense has to marry your offense. We ran really good offense. You don't get close to 100 in 21 assists or whatever it was. We have a very, very unselfish team. The thing about our defense, you know, the defense, is there's a lot of details that have to be ironed out. And, you know, part of the negativity of playing it early, you have a lot of breakdowns, right? And this is a team that will expose those breakdowns because they have five guys on the floor that can make a shot. Typically, you don't play a team like this. That's why they made the Final Four. They got seven-foot-one, seven-two guys making threes. And they're elite cutters. um you know this is a team that runs probably similar to us a very you know our defense is very different but their offense is like nothing i've seen you know they kind of took everything i believe um from the milwaukee bucks coach they've spent a ton of time with the bucks coaching staff and tyler's done a great job with it they just put you in closeouts and they put a ton of pressure on you every possession it was very very unique seeing it live i saw it on film we shared film but it was more impressive live They talked about going underneath screens on you. Is that something offensively that you know you're going to have to put the pressure on them by making some three-point shots if they're going to play you underneath the screen? Yeah, absolutely, and that's just something we prep for. So when you prep all week for it, it just comes easy in the game. And like today, they went under our ball screens, and we just found a way to put the ball in the basket. Jared, MJ back tonight, first game action in a couple months, eight points, two assists, five fouls. What was your impression of him on the floor? You know, anxious. When you don't play, you don't have that rhythm, right? You're trying to impact winning. He's a wonderful kid, you know, first and foremost, and he'll get better with game reps. He gives us another dimension of shot making, and tonight he looked just a little bit slow defensively. Typically, he's much better defensively, but I think as the season goes, he'll get better. Defensively what can you learn from the situation Stojakovic put you in as he was kind of getting momentum and early in the game? Yeah I mean he's a nightmare that kid is really really good you know happy for Brad that you know he came back I think they'll have three or four guys you know potential first round picks that's a loaded roster I think him and Coleman and And, you know, Vox is really good. I watched a lot of Big East last year. I mean, for him, I told him after the game, for him to come into a new situation and get 19 points on really great efficiency, they got a lot of weapons, you know, and you got to kind of pick your poison. And I thought Stoyakovic tonight, you know, every time we cut him off, we couldn't get a trap from behind, and he was just living at the rim. So he did a great job. Have you ever seen a guy be so much different from his dad in the way he plays? Yeah, it's crazy, you know, Peja, I mean, we have a play, we don't have it in yet, but we have a play named after his dad, I think every team in the country does, so, but similarities as far as the size and just, the kid's a winner, you know, that team there knows how to win, I mean, you know, they beat a lot of great teams to get to the Final Four. When you look at the rotations you played tonight, as well as the minute distribution, how beneficial is it to play a team like Illinois at this stage of their development? Yeah, I mean, I thought both games, Ohio State and Illinois, gave us real good looks. You know, we play Oakland. The reason we played them is because they play a lot of zone. I think you'll see that early in the season, especially with your guaranteed games teams that are coming in. Everything we do, we kind of do for a reason. You know, we don't – scheduling has to be an art to it. And, you know, a couple years back at Utah State, we got beat by 30 at Oregon in a closed scrimmage, and it was the best thing that ever happened to us. So, you know, we'll see how he responds, right? That's the best thing about playing somebody different and in a different look. You know, we know we've got to guard the basketball better. We've got to get back in transition better. And, you know, you're not going to see a team this talented, so it's great. It kind of humbles you. You know, you're never as good as you think you are. You're never as bad. Tylan, the shooting difference today versus playing outside a couple weeks ago? There's just no wind in the gym. I could see the basket, and there's no sun either. I guess it was a little easier. Coach, you touched on Eric playing point guard. What is it about his game that makes that possible, and is this something that you're going to continue to try to develop, or is it just emergency scenario? No, no, that was just because we had no point guards. No, he's not going to play point guard. You know, the thing about Eric, he's really smart. I've got great guys. You know, our locker room is full of great kids. You know, we've got to get the nastiness built into this team in the last eight or ten minutes. But, like, I went to Tahana before the game, and I said, hey, you're going to come off the bench because I need somebody who can dribble on that second unit. And he just started laughing. Like, we literally had no backup point guard, guys. You know, hard that is to sit on the sideline and try to figure out a play that nobody can dribble. And they laugh, you know. I think they think I'm a little wacky at times. But we've got a good locker room. We've got a good, healthy locker room. And Eric will play, really, two, three, four position for us. I don't think he'll ever have to do this again, hopefully. Never say never.