Prior to the start of the Summit League men’s basketball tournament, head coach Greg Kampe answered questions from Oakland media members.

Coach Greg Kampe

On his expectations:

“We’re going there with the idea that the only way we’re getting in (to the NCAA Tournament) is to win the (Summit League Tournament). We’ve prepared all year and our main goal is to hang another banner.”

On pressure of being a one-bid conference:

“I think there’s a ton of pressure on us. Somebody said, ‘Well, you’re in the NIT, at least.’ But we don’t want to be in the NIT. We have a team that’s proven we could beat anybody. We didn’t quite get enough (wins against top opponents) because they were all on the road to get in (as an at-large). There’s a ton of pressure on us because our goal is to get (to the NCAA Tournament), and we won’t be satisfied with anything but that. It is the pinnacle of college basketball to get to that tournament, and what we’ve done (to this point) doesn’t mean anything.

It’s exciting. I’m not sure that teams from our realm get to the final four, though Butler did last year. But our team believes we can do anything and we won’t have a chance to prove that if we can’t get though this weekend, so there’s a ton of pressure.”

On team depth:

“Last year we didn’t substitute a lot, and the strength of our team was our starters. But this year we go nine players (deep). I can take you to a game this year in which every one of those nine guys was responsible for winning. Ilija (Milutinovic) against Ohio University. Last weekend against Southern Utah it was Ledrick (Eackles). That’s the strength of this basketball team because we’ve got nine guys playing out there. When somebody goes down or somebody can’t make a shot, we can pull them out and we’re not afraid to (do it). You can’t do that things that we’ve done unless you have really good players. (Something unexpected) is probably going to happen. Great players make great plays.”

On being the No. 1 seed:

“People are going to want to beat you and it’ll be the highlight of their season … The difference though is that all eight teams there get to start over. What you did (in the regular season) means nothing … All you’ve got to do is win three games. In 2005, who would have thought we’d (be the team) going to the (NCAA) Tournament. But we won three games by beating the No. 2 team the first day and then believed we could do anything.”

On whether they are as motivated to win as last year:

“One of the things we’ve talked about this year was to ask each one of those guys to take responsibility for their own greatness, and if they do that then the team itself will be great. This team has worked harder than any group that I’ve coached (in 33 years). And it’s not even close, and I’ve had some great teams that have worked their tails off.

“I’ll give you an example: We just made the worst trip in the world (to Southern Utah). We had travel problems and other issues. I told (the players) when we got back late Sunday night that I wanted them to take Monday off, and I’d give them Tuesday off too. And they didn’t want Tuesday off. They wanted to come to work. Well I got to (the O’rena) Monday morning and I saw that the lights were on in the (gym) and Reggie Hamilton was in there shooting jump shots. They have as good of a work ethic (as any team). They have taken responsibility for their own greatness. Our best players are our hardest workers, and when you have that, you’re going to win.”

On defensive and the second half of the Summit season:

“We went through the first half of the season and it was pretty unbelievable. But to think we were going to go through (the league the second time) and beat everyone by 30 just  wasn’t going to happen. Even I got caught up in it a little bit last week. UMKC last week gave us their best shot and we walked off their court (and won by 13 points) and I was mad. I got back to my hotel room and I was shaking, I was so mad. But I started thinking, ‘What the hell is wrong with me?’ If you had told me at the start of the season we’d beat UMKC by 13 at their place, I’d have taken it. I think I got caught up in it a little bit and the team is smarter than I am because they know all you have to do is be ahead by one.”

On the pressure individual Keith Benson faces to win:

“Keith and I sat down and addressed (the pressure on him) at the beginning of the year. I’ve got a lot of friends in the NBA, and basically what I was told is that (Benson) already has all the numbers he needs. What they want to know is how tough he is and is he a winner?

He’s done an unbelievable job. He’s such a quiet kid that I think people have missed out on some of his greatest strengths. He’s as tough of a player as I’ve ever coached. He played last year with three torn ligaments in his thumb, and he couldn’t go into the (NBA) draft because he needed major surgery. This year in the Tennessee game (Dec. 14), when you look at the tape and see how badly he turned his ankle, he was taken to the locker room, came back, we won the game. I talked to him about not playing against Michigan (and Ohio State), but he said, “No, I’m playing.” His toughness is his biggest asset and I don’t think people understand that.

It’s all on the line for him because everybody wants to know if he can win. And if we don’t, then everybody will wonder why he can’t even win the Summit League. That’s a heavy burden for him to carry, but you would not know it talking to him. Of course he doesn’t say much, but he is focused on this team winning. I think today is a perfect example for everybody on this team: If you just shut your mouth and play and you win, then you’re going to get rewarded … I think that’s been a great learning experience for our team and I think Benson’s been the role model for them.

(Benson) has kept his mouth shut, he plays his butt off. Can you imagine being? In this league, there’s no one his size, so they come up to his numbers, which means their hitting him and shoving him and triple teaming him. Every time he shoots they hack him across the arm. He has to go through that every night, and I’m sure we’re all glad he’s done it, but there have been kids I’ve seen that have been ass holes about it. Have you ever even seen him say a word to an official? He’s been here five years and I’ve never seen him talk to an official and that’s probably why he’s so good.”

On the state of the defense:

“We’re a team that is really offensively powerful, and we want to play fast. When you do that, I don’t think you can sit there and view every defensive possession like it’s against Pittsburgh and it’s a war. We can’t play like that. Offensively you’d have to slow it up and we don’t want to do that. It’s because of our depth. If we win 103-90, is that worse than winning 63-50? Well, the common fan is going to say it is because if you don’t defend, you’re not going to win championships. But as I sit here, I see a lot of banners hanging, so what we do here works for us. I’m not concerned about our defense.

We had three home games this season where (the opponent) had the ball on the last possession to either tie or beat us. The first one was against Oral Roberts. They had five seconds to go the length of the court and they didn’t get the ball past half court. Some kid shot an underhand scoop shot for a half-court air ball. Against (IPFW), we had a two-point lead and missed two free throws with five seconds to go. They came down (the court) and Reggie Hamilton stripped the kid and made a great defensive play. You talk about kids making plays, he stripped the kid (of the ball) and we win. Against North Dakota State, we turned it over with 17 seconds left, up by two. They had 17 seconds to get a shot, and they decided to go for a 3-point shot and the win. (Travis) Bader smothered their 3-point shooter and with one second left, they shot an airbag. To me that says when we have to make stops, we can get them. I’m very confident that when we’re in a one possession game and we’ve got to get a (defensive) stop, then we can do it.”

On the Southern Utah matchup:

“I hate the fact that we just played them. But I have a mature, veteran team and they understand that we’re playing in the NIT if they don’t come to play on Saturday. It isn’t about matchups. (We’ve) proven what we can do, but now on the biggest stage they have to compete. I’m very confident.”

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