The Zoo Crew had a nail biting 98-95 win over Million $ Worth of game in the opening round of The Basketball Tournament on Saturday night at the Petersen Events Center.
Following the game, leading scorer and former Pitt star Mike Young along with Zoo Crew coach and current staff member Gilbert Brown, discussed the team’s opening round win, and also previewed the second round on Monday.
Gilbert, you guys had a big lead early on, obviously made it close. They played really well…But how does it feel to come out on top of this win and to see Jamel hit the game winning free throw right there?
Brown: It feels great. It feels great just with the guys coming in these days and just working with them and everybody kind of trying to mesh together as a team fast. And to see us actually go out there and play together on offense in the way that we did, it's a great feeling to come out with a victory.
Mike, what was the approach in the Elam Ending portion when you guys were right up against it within one or two possessions and winning the game?
Young: Play defense, get a stop, and then just try to get good looks on offense. For sure, I wanted the ball, take advantage of some type of mismatch, but I mean, either way, this really was about…I texted to the team today, defense and rebounding, so as long as we got a stop, we were going to score.
Obviously, in an event like this, you guys have to come together so quickly. I mean, were you guys able to learn stuff on the fly, I guess?
Young: I think pretty much everything on the fly, and this is my first experience, so I think everything been on the fly. But I mean, we’re young guys, we’re are professionals, and this isn't the first time we've been around each other, played basketball with each other or against each other. So we are pretty familiar with each other's game. So I mean, it's a quick turnaround, but we figured it out.
Brown: Yeah, I think it's just natural with these guys playing professional at a high level and then playing college at a high level. For them to just come out here and kind of pick up concepts. If I say something to them, they're adept to it, and they already know it. So it's kind of easy for them to flow into it. But just to fill each other out and figure each other out, I think these guys did a great job.
Is defense the last thing to come together when you have a team like this?
Brown: 100%. That’s something that we have to go through and work on, especially watch the film and see where we were effective and where we should be effective in this next game against Best Virginia.
Speaking of Best Virginia, obviously a rivalry game here at Pitt. How excited are you guys for that one?
Young: More than excited. I don't even think that's a good word, it’s something bigger than that.
Brown: It's something different. He knows, he was here for four years. I was here for five years, and those games, I think everybody in Pittsburgh and West Virginia knows what those games mean to us. I have no doubt in my mind that these guys are going to come ready.
Mike, if my records are correct, you didn't actually get to play in a rivalry game?
Young: No, I didn't. That's why excited ain't a big enough word.
Brown: What?
Young: I never got a rivalry game.
So what are the, you probably never thought you'd get a rivalry game like the Backyard Brawl, so what are the emotions knowing that you're gonna get that after not having one for so long?
Young: Get a win. Yeah, I got to get a win. We home, we in Pittsburgh. It's our home game for us. Hopefully we have some more fans next game. We gotta get a win. That's all I'm thinking about.
Is it cool to do it with your current and former team Jamel Artis, too?
Young: No, for sure. Anytime I get to play with Mel or even sometimes against them, I just, to me it's a good opportunity. We were together for four years. So anytime we can compete with each other, against each other, I love it.
Mike, what was it like just being back in the Peterson Events Center? It's been a while since you played here. How was the environment just being in this experience overall?
Young: I ain't gonna lie, it was exciting. Usually on game days, I try to treat this game day like a normal game day. And usually I take a game day nap. I couldn't, my nerves were going, the excitement. Being back here, I got family at the game and everything.
Brown: It’s been a while, since your family got to see you actually play.
Young: Yeah, my family ain't seen me play live since I've been here. So, so much excitement, I ain't even take a nap, and to be honest, I didn’t even eat since breakfast.
Are you going to be able to sleep tonight?
Young: Yeah, I'm gonna sleep tonight for sure.
What's it mean to you guys having the current team just supporting you right off to the side? I don't think they sat down once the whole game.
Young: No, that means a lot for sure. Anytime I'm in Pittsburgh, I come back and I work out here. I work out with the guys and just try to be around anytime I'm here. So whoever's on the team at the time, I always got some type of relationship with them. They know me, I know them. So for them to come out to the game and support us, that was big.
Brown: That’s something that we've tried to do the last couple years. With this guy, with his experience at Pitt and having a successful career. Then playing overseas, being able to come back and teach these young guys what it takes to be a professional. How to do certain things, how to be successful in college, and those guys come in to support us and show us the same love. It's a great thing. It's almost a brotherhood that we're building here at Pittsburgh and trying to continue it on.
Coach, are you going to have to give Mike a crash course on the Backyard Brawl, since he never played in it?
Brown: He grew up watching it. He knows he just never got to play in it.
Young: Yeah, I've been to a few of them in the stands. I just never played in the actual game. I know what it means, though, don't worry about it.
Do you guys give a crash course to the two guys that aren't former Pitt players?
Brown: Well, Dustin's a Pittsburgh kid, so he knows that. Drew, he'll get a taste of it, so we'll kinda explain it and tell them what it's about.
What do you think of the last four minute format they're using in these games?
Brown: It makes it exciting, for sure. Especially when there's a close game. Give all the credit to Million $ Worth of Game for fighting and coming back. But when you get to that situation, you wanna try to have a lead, but it makes for excitement every time there's a game winning shot. You know it's gonna be a game winning shot every game, whether it's a big lead or a small lead. So it makes the game a little more exciting.
You mentioned Dustin (Sleva) a minute ago. Where did you track him down? Was it in the works for a while to get him on this team? And how'd he end up coming here?
Brown: Through the process of putting the team together. When I first moved out here, when I got the job, I was playing in a program and I seen him. They're like, there's this kid, and I played with him, he was pretty good. And then just watching him kind of grow in his professional career. Throughout Pittsburgh, and being back in the gym from time to time, I was like, that's the kid we should have on this team. Once Mike committed, and I knew he was here, and we had these guys that were highly talented, playing at a high level. He was the guy that I was like, I had to add him. He just makes the team better, and allows us to do multiple things offensively.
In that role that you have with the current Pitt staff, how important is an event like TBT to have in the middle of the summer, to get the current team acclimated with the legacy and the culture around here?
Brown: I think it's important, it's important. It's been one of my goals, really. Before we started the TBT team last year, we had an alumni event. (Young) participated in it the first year, and with the culture of the program, I wanted them to feel the guys that were successful. The guys that had success, that won here at a high level, and use them as a network and a bridge to kind of understand what it took to be successful. So having this event here, and here in Pittsburgh, it's just amazing, I think for our fans, as well as our players in the program.
Coach, other than DeJuan and Lamar Patterson, the rest of your players have not beaten West Virginia. Do you think that adds some intensity to the rivalry, that's already intense?
Young: We gotta change the lingo on that, never beat is different from never played…
Brown: I think with guys like Levance, Jermaine, myself, who've had success early in our career over West Virginia and understand that rivalry. And guys that are from the Pittsburgh area that know what that rivalry means, that we're gonna be ready. We're going to express the importance of this game and what it means. I just know the majority of our guys are here from Pittsburgh, and I think that kind of plays in our favor, because like he said, he's got his family in the crowd. Nelly Cummings, Dustin Sleva, Ryan Luther, everybody's coming out to see him play. And it's not too many times in our lives as professionals and as basketball players that we actually get that our family gets to see us play basketball in a game that means something.
Young: Jamel had people come from Baltimore…
Brown: Yeah, so this is gonna be a good game on Monday, so the guys are gonna be ready.
What did you think of Nike's performance tonight?
Brown: Having coached Nike, and knowing his ability, and then having him come here and show that intensity defensively, trying to step it up, being aggressive, being athletic, attacking the basket, knocking down shots. This is what I expected from him. I know he's a good player, a really, really good player. He just signed a good deal overseas to play in one of the best countries. Nike, the sky's the limit for him, really. I'm just excited he's here this year.
Gil, do you have any big games against West Virginia in your career?
Brown: Yes, at West Virginia my senior year, I would say that was my big game.
How many points, do you remember?
Brown: I want to say 15, and down the stretch I hit four big buckets. I remember that and one on, who was Turkish kid? And then another and one down the stretch to close out the game in two minutes. So those games, and they got my guy, Kevin Jones, being the assistant coach. So that's one of the things that I always tell him, he never won against me here. So it's gonna be a fun rivalry.
The Zoo Crew last year lost, and obviously they weren't in Pittsburgh. Then this year, when you found out that you were playing in Pittsburgh for at least the first three rounds, if you keep winning, did that excite you at all? Or was it like any other venue?
Brown: No, 100%, it definitely was exciting. I think this is one of the reasons why I got all these guys here. It's here, I know, it's here, it's at home, it's like, why not? And this has been one thing that I've been trying to make happen the last year and a half, and to have it here, it's just, it's great. So hopefully we can keep it going.
With having three guys that were on the team last year, was it easy to kind of rekindle what you guys had last year? Or was it kind of difficult, because you're meshing people from different generations of the Pitt team?
Brown: I think it was easy. It's always difficult, this knucklehead (Young) gives me trouble, but I love him. I've seen him since he was in ’14, and actually proud of him, how he's grown throughout his career and his life. So I think it was actually easy, because at the end of the day, he was the first person to text the group chat, to bring the energy, and this is what we need to do, defensive rebounds, and play hard and stuff. Getting the guys going, so I think with us having the same goal and trying to win, we're all in this together. It was pretty easy when it came down to it.
Young: To be honest, I think we're in the same generation. Other than Lamar, we all, within three years of each other, you know what I'm saying?
Brown: Realistically, we’re all connected. I played with Lamar, he played with Lamar. I played with the Levance and Jermaine, and then I coached all of these guys. So we're all connected in some type of way. So it's actually pretty amazing how you just said that, when you really think of this.
Is Dejuan Blair gonna be available at all?
Brown: He said he was coming Monday. We'll see if he's here.
