West Virginia’s Mike Gansey talks about his reaction to the Mountaineer’s trip to the Final Four, how he plans to keep track of the game while he plays a D-League contest and what his keys to victory are (run time is 5:02; transcript below the jump).
[podcast]http://www.lostlettermen.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/Skype_recording-159.mp3[/podcast]…..
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Lost Lettermen: This is Jim Weber from LostLettermen.com and I’m joined by West Virginia’s Mike Gansey. Mike, thanks so much for joining us.
I want to first ask you about the Elite Eight. A lot of people were calling you a homer for picking West Virginia to win the whole thing and then you go knock off Kentucky. What was that like for you to watch West Virginia finally get over the hump and into the Final Four?
Mike Gansey: It was great. A lot of people didn’t give them a lot of credit coming into the Kentucky game. And for them to win that game and me being the homer, or so you say, I had them winning it the whole way and beating Kentucky, so I’m kind of looking like a genius I guess.
LL: Did you call a lot of the guys from the 2005 team and talked to them about what your reaction was as a former player?
MG: Yeah, I actually talked to (Johannes) Herber, (Patrick) Beilein and Frank Young, who played with us. They were all excited. I’ve been text messaging with them and they were all excited. A couple are actually flying in to Indianapolis to see the game, so hopefully they can make it Monday and I can make the game because our last game is Saturday.
So that would be a lot of fun to see them play for a national championship.
LL: Yeah, that was going to be my next question. You have a game Saturday night for the Erie Bayhawks. What’s that going to be like for you playing while the Final Four is going on? Are you going to be checking your phone? Or how are you going to get access to the score?
MG: It’s funny. Maine, their play-by-play guy is actually a WVU grad, so he’ll be keeping me updated I’m sure every timeout and stuff. After the game, our game is 7-7:30. West Virginia is the late game so hopefully after the game, the Butler-Michigan State game goes into a couple overtimes so it runs over. And I’ll be running to the closest sports bar in town after the game and try to catch the second half or as much as I can.
LL: So how many guys do you know that will be in Indianapolis?
MG: I know Frank Young’s flying in. I know Darris Nichols is going to be in. That’s all I know as of right now. And obviously former (players) – even those before I was there. I’m just looking forward to driving up there Monday. Keeping my fingers crossed that they can take care of Duke.
LL: Will Kevin Pittsnogle be in attendance? I’m sure the cameras will be looking for him.
MG: Yeah, I don’t know. I know he’s back home in West Virginia now so hopefully he can come up there and it’d be good to see him. I haven’t been in contact with him the last week or so, but hopefully he can be up there as well because he’s pretty famous around the roots of West Virginia.
LL: Right. Can you give us the inside scoop on “Truck” Bryant? Do you think he’s going to be available for the Final Four?
MG: I don’t know. I know he didn’t practice with them yesterday and they’ve been trying to work on him like orthotics or trying to get him something to take that pressure off his foot.
But I guess in his mind, coming to the Final Four obviously a lot of people don’t have the opportunity to do that. Just maybe he could play a couple minutes just to say that he was on the floor. I’m sure that’s what he’s willing to do.
But at this time Mazzulla is playing so well. Do you really want to mess that up? I really don’t think he’s going to play. That’s saying a lot, having a broken foot and then trying to play the next week. So I would say he’s not going to play.
LL: Can I ask you for one key to Saturday night’s game? A lot of people seem to think West Virginia’s the favorite. But Las Vegas has billed Duke the favorite. So we’re kind of split here.
MG: I think just to slow down the big three of (Kyle) Singler, Jon (Scheyer) and (Nolan) Smith. When those three get hot, they can go a long way. And I think with West Virginia, they can play their zone and their man defense and I think that will … you know, mixing up defenses against them might throw them off guard a little bit.
You kind of just hope for the best that they’re not going to hit shots because against Kentucky, (the Wildcats) shot awful from the 3-point line and the free throw line. Duke’s not going to shoot like (the Kentucky Wildcats) do. They’ll shoot better.
I think just changing defenses … West Virginia’s length and athleticism will give them problems. Hopefully that will help them take care of Duke and win that game.
LL: Last question for you: the Elite Eight game against Kentucky; everyone knows Bob Huggins is a defensive mastermind. Was that all part of his plan to let Kentucky just keep throwing up 3-pointers or did that just make him look like a genius because Kentucky was so awful at shooting them?
MG: I think it’s a little bit of both. Coming in a lot of people knew Kentucky didn’t have a very good shooting team and their obvious strength is John Wall going to the basket and getting guys involved with (Patrick) Patterson and (DeMarcus) Cousins inside.
To play that 1-3-1 zone pretty much the whole game, they knew Kentucky had to beat them from outside and they kind of went into that game looking for it. Kentucky really struggled and that pretty much won the game. Kentucky couldn’t even buy buckets from outside.
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