Jay Wright joined WFAN in New York with Mike Francesa to talk about how life is in the Big East, if it is possible for 11 Big East teams to make the NCAA Tournament, and if there are too many hard games in the Big East.

How life is in the Big East:

“Life in the Big East is wild man but it is fun, I will tell you what.  This league is as good as it has ever been top to bottom and it is the way it should be.  Every night is a great game and we are loving it.”

If it is possible for 11 Big East teams to make the NCAA Tournament:

“I think we can Mike.  I think over the years the committee has become a lot more transparent.  You see everything they do, they show you how they do it, they meet with the media, they show the media how they do it and I really do think they pick what they think are the best 68 teams, now.  The success that our teams have had out of conference speaks for itself.  The success that our teams have and against each other in conference.  What is really unique is that a lot of times in the Big East you really have marquee players that get a lot of attention on great teams and this is just a unique year.  I don’t think you really have a lot of the marquee players but you have got a lot of juniors and seniors that really make the teams better teams, Pitt is probably the greatest example of that.  Bradley Wannamaker, their senior point guard, and McGee and those guys, you would not say they were the really household names but they lead an outstanding team with juniors.  They are just better teams and built as teams as opposed to just a couple of future pros.”

If there are too many hard games in the Big East:

“I don’t.  I like the fact that whatever game you play is a big game and everybody knows how important it is and anybody can beat anybody.  I really like, I think it is great for the league.  Rarely do you see a game on TV, they are all on TV, rarely do you see one that isn’t a great crowd, is not meaningful, so I like that, but like you said, I think what you were saying about the teams like Pitt and St. John’s, I think Notre Dame is that way.  They have got upperclassmen, they are experienced and coming down the stretch as you said, you kind of got to rest your guys a little bit, but if you are resting juniors and seniors that can be really impactful.  If you have got sophomores and freshmen and you are resting them they still have a lot to learn.  The juniors and seniors kind of get it.  Those younger teams still need to practice and I don’t know if the rest is as good for them.  Each team has got its unique dynamics going down here to the stretch.”

Jay Wright on WFAN in NY with Mike Francesa

Jay Wright joined WIP in Philadelphia with Howard Eskin to talk about whether the reputation of Villanova helped them out in their seeding, whether he has looked forward to any other team besides Robert Morris, and how he gets his team to not take this first game against Robert Morris for granted.

Whether the reputation of Villanova helped them out in their seeding:

“I guess so Howard.  I think probably there were a lot more teams that were three or four seeds, Temple being one of them.  They are one team that would probably be a category of three or four and there weren’t really a lot of worthy two seeds.  I think of the final choices for two seed they probably picked us.  Given our body of work, we are probably not on the level of the other two seeds, but they had to put another two seed in there.  I think that is what the tournament is like this year.”

Whether he has looked forward to any other team besides Robert Morris:

“No.  Not me.  What you normally do is one assistant is assigned to each team.  You kind of look at it like it is a four team tournament, a two-day tournament that you are going to.  The head coach and the players and one assistant concentrates completely on Robert Morris and then you have two assistants that are working on Robert Morris, but at the same time they are preparing just in case you win and you play one of the other two teams but they are the only two guys that even look at the other two teams.”

Whether his assistants look past the first two games to prepare for another possible opponent:

“We really try to keep our focus on just this weekend and we purposely don’t go past there at all.  We give our guys a bracket Sunday night – a bracket with Villanova, Robert Morris in bold and then the other two teams as if we were just going to one of those four-team tournaments that we used to all go to.  Then we show them, that is it.  That is all we are living for right now.  Also, through experience, if you ever went ahead and you look at other teams, some of those teams get upset and then you end up wasting your time anyway.”

What was challenging his team in the last seven games of the regular season only winning two of them:

“One thing that was challenging is that we played really good teams.  The second thing was that our depth and just that part of the season hadn’t gotten to the point where we were efficient regardless of the combination that we had out on the floor.  That was our goal in playing eleven guys.  We thought by this point in the season knowing that were going to be playing great teams, if we had everybody clicking no matter what the combinations we had out on the floor is that we could be a great team.  But we just didn’t get there yet.  There is all kinds of reasons, but that doesn’t matter.  We are still working on that.  We are going into the NCAA Tournament and we are going to face Robert Morris and we are still looking at that, but now we have to make some decisions no based on what guys did just based on kind of a gut feel because so many of our young guys have had good games or good weeks and they have had bad games, bad weeks.  No one has really separated themselves so we are just going to have to do it.  We are going to have to make it on those decisions on a gut-feel going into the NCAA Tournament.”

On what his team can take away from last year’s first round scare:

“Well you brought up the perfect teaching point, that game last year…  I think you and I have talked about this this morning.  That game last year was so pressure-packed when you started the game, we were at the Wachovia Center at home playing a Patriot League team, now they did have seven seniors on the team.  They were very, very experienced team.  Very skilled and everything was nice.  You get into the second half and you are home in the NCAA Tournament and you are down fourteen.  Then the tables turned and now you are really under pressure because if you are down fourteen to West Virginia, OK maybe, but you are down fourteen to American you know there is a lot of pressure and the crowd actually turns in the NCAA Tournament, even if you are at home, because everybody loves the underdog.  We have gone through that and this group, guys on this team that went through that and if you look at our tournament last year and the next game was UCLA.  We took a lead early and kept it the entire game.  The next game was Duke and we kept a lead early and then we kept the lead the entire game.  The Pitt game, it was two points either way.  That was our most difficult game being down fourteen in the second half.  Even Carolina, we got down by like fifteen.  That was the scariest game.”

On why he would like to expand the NCAA Tournament: 

“There’s a lot of reasons that I’d like to expand it.  There’s so many decisions made in college basketball based on the pressure to get to the NCAA Tournament.  Only one of them is coaches being fired.  There’s other decisions. For instance, early in the season, we have to be careful because we play or four or five big games, then we go to a tournament where it’s usually an ESPN type tournament where we play great teams.  We get offers to go play Stanford, Kansas and Duke, but we don’t take some of those offers because our league is so tough and if you get beat in some of those games you don’t get into the NCAA Tournament.  Nowadays if you don’t get in the NCAA Tournament, you had a terrible season.  I think you might see a lot more big time intersectional games.  Also, I think coaches take players a lot of times now because they know they have two or three years to the NCAA Tournament and if they don’t get there, they’re gonna get fired.  The last part of it, it’s a great tournament.  So one more round, you’re gonna have great games so why not enjoy it.  Enjoy the hell out of it.  It brings the whole country together and you’re including more people.  This year’s regular season game between us and Syracuse had the largest crowd ever to see a game and both teams were already going to the NCAA Tournament.  There’s so many rivalries in college basketball that people don’t care.”

Howard Eskin talks with Villanova Coach Jay Wright

In this interview on Thursday with WIP, Brown is tremendous,talking mostly about the Final Four and how Jay Wright saved his life.  He also gives a great background story on John Calipari taking the Kentucky job.

On Jay Wright:

“Jay Wright saved my life.  Just allowing me to be around for two years.  You know Billy King and Mr. Snider gave me a chance to be with the Sixers when I was kind of out of basketball and that was really phenomenal.  Jay let me come to practices for two years, that was an unbelievable thing for me.  I enjoyed being around him and watching him coach.”

On Jay Wright’s style:

“Jay says some things to his players that if I ever said to a pro, the guy would cry, ask to be traded, or want to fight. The way Jay’s kids look at it is, “coach really cares, he wants to make me better.” He has a unique way…The bottom line is you knew the difference between coaching and criticism. Those kids know that the guy cares. Whatever he says, they listen to the message and not the tone and that’s really significant.”

On the UNC-Villanova game:

“The best teams don’t always win, especially when you play in these big venues because the shot background isn’t always the best…Sometimes it bodes well for the team that’s not quite as good. The whole thing for me, if Villanova can stay out of foul trouble with their bigs, they have a great chance of winning. They don’t have depth and size. That worries me because Hansbrough has a way of getting to the free throw line…They can’t afford to get their big people in foul trouble and that’s their main concern.”

Who he’s rooting for in the game:

“I’m not telling anybody.”

Larry Brown on John Calipari (whom he calls like a son to him) taking the Kentucky job and the full interview after the jump.

On Calipari leaving Memphis for Kentucky:

“I told him all along he was going to get killed. They’re just going to be hurt because of the standard he set at Memphis. It wasn’t about taking the Kentucky job, it was about leaving Memphis…He just did too good of a job and people are all upset that he’s leaving and he’s got to get over that. He’s just got to be proud of what he was able to accomplish and understand that this is a dream job for anybody. Anybody in our profession that can fault him for going from Memphis to Kentucky is just not being real and I think the fact that he did such a wonderful job is what upsets so many people.”

On the idea that Calipari left for more money:

“He was making more money at Memphis, I know that. They offered him more money before the season was over and he turned it down because he said “people are struggling all over right now, I don’t need that.” But he could have made more money if he stayed at Memphis than going to Kentucky, and it never was about money. The fact that Kentucky might be as good as basketball job as there is, and it’s the chance for Cal to finally compete on the level with the North Carolinas, the Dukes, the UCLAs, the Indianas. It’s a dream job. You’ve got to understand that.”

Listen to Larry Brown on WIP in Philadelphia with Howard Eskin

Fast forward 11 years later and I’m living in Vegas and one of my buddies used to work for the Celtics and is great friends with Ed.  We fly out to Arizona for an Eagles/Cardinals game and Ed is in town playing an NBA game that night and ends up going to the football game with us.  After talking for awhile, it turns out that Ed married the Villanova cheerleader.  Crazy, small world.

Fast forward another 12 years and I end up working with Ed Pinckney in 2008 booking him on sports radio for a client to talk about his 1985 experience. Even smaller, crazier world.  I fully expect to have my next Ed Pinckney encouter in 2019.

Easy Ed currently is a Minnesota Timberwolves assistant after four years as an assistant coach under Jay Wright at Villanova.  He helped recruit many of the players on this year’s Final Four squad.

Ed Pinckney was the 1985 Most Outstanding Player in the NCAA Tournament and the leader of the Nova team that won the title 66-64.  The city is going crazy for the Cats and Ed Pinckney joined WIP to talk about his beloved Villanova Wildcats.

Similarities with his team and the current team:

“When I watch this team and I know all the guys, the players, the coaching staff, they play so well together. You look at a lot of the teams throughout the NCAA tournament, many teams had the one or two stars that sort of brought them along the way during the season and deep in the tournament. But once you get to the Elite Eight, Sweet 16, Final Four, you really need to have a solid team and that’s what this Villanova team has. Any one guy in the starting lineup, you can even go 7, 8 deep into the bench, they’ve all had really big games. That’s kinda how our team was.”

Ed Pinckney on the similarities between Jay Wright and Rollie Massimino, his 1985 title run, and the ful interview after the jump.

Similarities between Rollie Massimino and Jay Wright:

“Obviously Jay was under coach Mass too so there are some similarities. I think from a coaching point of view, they understand the importance of individual defense and how important it is. That was stressed every single day. If you didn’t go full out for Jay individually, you just simply did not play for him. The other thing they stressed was fundamentals. Jay spends a great deal of time really trying to teach the game and Massimino did the same thing too. Those guys are excellent in that facet of the game. The other thing they did which was kind of unusual; I’ve played in a lot of different places and I’ve only seen this happen at Villanova – you always had other coaches coming in and giving different ideas to Jay and coach Massimino. Coach Massimino would invite everyone in. There were times when Billy Cunningham was at our practices and with Jay, he’s had everyone under the sun at our practices too. I think that’s a great way to look at the game a little bit differe 

What he remembers about his team’s run to the national championship:

“Just how loose we were and how Massimino sort of approached each game just a little bit differently. We’re at Dayton, we’re playing on Dayton’s home court and he’s kind of like, “hey listen guys, enjoy this time. We’ve got some seniors on this ball club that are never going to experience this again so just have some fun. Go out there, enjoy, just really have some fun.”… We were just really relaxed, that’s what stands out the most, how much fun we really had.”

Listen to Ed Pinckeny o WIP in Philadelphia with Howard Eskin

In terms of the coaches, Georgetown was led by the domineering presence of John Thompson and his shoulder towel.  St. John’s had Lou Carnesecca and his sweaters.  Syracuse had the whiny Jim Boeheim and BC had Gary Williams.  Villanova had the biggest character of them all, Rollie Massimino.  The name was short for Roland, but could have been for his body type.  He was a disheveled mess on the sidelines.  Sweating and screaming with his hair all messed up and his shirt often hanging out, watching Massimino was sometimes more entertaining than the game itself.

Villanova was an 8th seed in 1985, which is still the highest seed to ever win the NCAA Championship.  It was also the first 64-team field.  They were given no shot in the finals against the big, bad Georgetown Hoyas, but with no shot clock in college hoops back then along with perfect execution and great shooting (78.6%, 22 of 28 and only missed one shot in the 2nd half), they narrowly edged the Hoyas 66-64.  Shooting that well and only winning by two shows just how great Georgetown was.

It’s fitting that Villanova is back in the Final Four in the most dominating year in the Big East since 1985.  Current Villanova Coach Jay Wright was an assistant under Rollie Massimino, but not until 1987.  He also followed Massimino to UNLV in 1992.

Massimino joined Howard Eskin of WIP to relive some memories and talk about this year’s Final Four.  Before the questions started, Massimino said “Pass the word, the Cats are back!”

On tough love:

“I think that’s where Jay is probably at his best. He yells and screams, he’s gotten these kids to really buy in and maybe Jay learned a little bit of that from me. I always used to sit him down and tell him, it’s very easy to say things to do or not to do when you’re in the 2nd chair. The next day you still have to play with the same people. You can’t trade. That’s where you have to really use the psychology and that’s what I think Jay [does well].”

More from Rollie Massimino and the full interview after the jump.

On the difference between himself and Jay:

“I was more like, take it or leave it, and everyone always thought I was the big ogre but I am probably a lot less than that…this perception from reality. Where Jay does a magnificent job is that he can handle that part of his job so well, that’s what he does so well. I really mean that. When Steve Lappas left for UMass, the first guy I went to was one of the board members I’m very close to and all of a sudden I said, “Jay Wright is the guy for that job”.

A story about one of his mentors, Coach Chuck Daly:

“He’s really not in very good condition at this stage but he took me aside. He had a piece of paper and he’s diagramming me a play that I have to show Jay that he used when he was with the Pistons. I felt so good about that. Right after his chemo yesterday, when he’s not feeling that well, I actually went over and he said, “come here”. He made me sit on the bed with him and he diagrammed this play, I got it in my pocket. I want [Jay] to see. To me that’s very special and I know it’s going to be special to Jay.”

Listen to Rollie Massimino on WIP in Philadelphia with Howard Eskin

Wright’s Villanova Wildcat squad is heading to the Final Four after destroying Duke and then beating Pitt on a last second shot by Scottie Reynolds.  In a tourney lacking drama, the Villanova/Pitt game was by far the most entertaining game of the tournament.  It doesn’t get any easier as they have to play the North Carolina Tar Heels and their ridiculously efficient offense.

Jay Wright joined ESPN Radio Philadelphia on Monday to discuss Villanova and the Final Four.

On a congratulatory text from Jimmy Rollins of the Phillies:

“He’s inspirational in his texts.  He sends me inspirational stuff to share with the team.  He’s done this even during the season…he’ll reference points in the baseball season or things they did last year during the playoff race and things he said to his team and he’ll reference that at certain points and say your game was like that.”

“He gave me one recently on a book to give to Scottie Reynolds that he read during his 0 for 10 stretch during the playoffs.  It was actually a mental book about tennis.  He’s a great leader that guy.  I take some of his stuff and I copy it and share it with the team.  He’s a great inspirational leader, I’m serious.”

On how he gets his players to play so hard every possession:

“That is what is unique about this group.  We’ve really only been doing it maybe the last 7 or 8 games…which is kinda cool because it’s almost like it’s fresh for them.  We were a good team all year, but we would have our lapses defensively.  It’s having seniors, Dante Cunningham, Dwayne Anderson, Shane Clark, Frank Tweeze really demand it of everybody.  We’re not the type of team that’s so talented we’re going to go up and down, take a few possessions off…we gotta be focused in for every possession.  It’s hard to do that.”

On early prelimary plans for North Carolina:

“The best thing we can do is play our game the best we can.  At this point in the year if we’re going to make adjustments for Carolina, we’re not going to be as good at that.  However, we don’t want to get into a flat out up and down race with them.  This team we have to pick our sports.  We like to run too, but no one is going to run with them and outrun them.  We have to be smart about picking our spots when we run and getting into our halfcourt sets when we can.

Listen to Villanova Head Coach Jay Wright on ESPN Philly with Mike Missanelli

Listen to game winning shot by Scottie Reynolds on ESPN Radio Philadelphia

Listen to Final Four call by Villanova broadcasters on ESPN Radio Philadelphia

This year’s Sweet Sixteen is full of huge college programs in the top conferences and the three other schools from smaller conferences are all tourney staples in Memphis, Xavier, and Gonzaga. The rest of the 16 has a record five teams from the Big East, three from the Big 12, two from the Big Ten and ACC, and one from the Pac-10. Some people may miss the Cinderella stories of George Mason or Davidson, but the truth is these are some legendary programs.

Think of all the success these sixteen teams have had. Seven coaches have won a title, nine programs have won a title since 1985, and all but Pitt, Xavier, Missouri, Purdue and Gonzaga have been to a Final Four. And it’s not like those five programs have been shabby.

Here’s our first batch of coaches interviews:

Jim Calhoun

Responding to a comment that he sounded noticeably excited and optimistic about his team heading into the second week of the Dance:

“Well we got a chance. That’s what I feel right now. I never lose confidence in my team but they certainly have made me – you know you have to as a coach make them believe. Now they’ve made me believe why the way they’ve reacted. And we certainly have a chance to do some special things over the course of the next couple weeks.”

Listen here to UCONN (#1 West Region) Head Coach Jim Calhoun on WFAN in New York

***

Mike Kryzyzewski

Coach K talking about adjustments that needed to be made in season to better his team:

“We needed to make a change a few weeks ago because we just could not defend the point (guard) of another team well. We were turning the ball over a little too much and not getting into our offense. Moving (Jon) Scheyer to the being the ball handler and Elliot Williams as the guy pressuring the ball, its like a double change to really alleviate a problem at the point of our attack.”

Listen to Duke (#2 East Region) Head Coach Mike Krzyzewski on ESPN Radio

***

Jim Boeheim

On stopping Blake Griffin:

“We try to play good team defense and be active and obviously you have to know where their best players are and you have to make it as difficult as you can for their best players.  You can’t let anybody have shots in college because anybody in college at this level at the Sweet 16 can make shots and hurt you.  So you just have to play good team defense and rebound the ball.”

Listen to Syracuse (#3 South Region) Head Coach Jim Boeheim on ESPN Radio Syracuse

***

Tom Izzo

On how proud he was of his team, particularly for being so unselfish:

“Give our guys credit. You know, our assists to baskets [ratio] was 20 out of 22, and as you know, that’s what you hope for in coaching – that they’re sharing the ball.”

Listen here to Michigan State (#2 Midwest Region) Head Coach Tom Izzo on 1070 The Fan in Indianapolis

***

Jay Wright

Do you see Duke as a similar team to you guys?

“Yeah, I do.  I think they spread the floor and really space well like we do. They’ve got a lot of very skilled players like we do.  Defensively, they try to be very aggressive, more in the half-court kind of like we do. They are, they’re very similar teams.”

Listen to Villanova (#3) Head Coach Jay Wright on ESPN Radio Philadelphia

***

Matt Painter

On the outstanding play of Johnson thus far in the tournament, particularly scoring the basketball:

“Yeah, he’s a confident player. And if you can get him the ball in position to score, whether that’s in transition or the half court. He’s really gotten aggressive and taken his shot. Before, I think he was a little bit hesitant. I think he would defer to others at times. And now we’ve just tried to encourage him to be agressive and take his shot.”

Listen here to Purdue (#5 West Region) Head Coach Matt Painter on 1070 The Fan in Indianapolis

***

Russ Pennell

To open, Pennell just emphasized how happy his guys fought through all the doubters and negativity to respond on the biggest of stages:

“We’re having a great time and these guys have been through so much. It’s just so good to see them have this success late in the season. We’ve kind of been the underdogs all year, which is weird for the University of Arizona.”

Listen here to Arizona  (#12 West Region) Head Coach Russ Pennell on KTAR in Phoenix

The Villanova Wildcats were the most impressive of the five teams in the second round annihilating UCLA 89-69.  They very easily could win this region as they’ve already beaten Pitt by 10 points earlier in the year.  Head Coach Jay Wright has now led Nova to the Sweet 16 in four of the last six years and has the upscale college outside Philly (in Radford, PA).  He has another great recruiting class coming in next year and has rebuilt the Villanova program into a national powerhouse.  The question now is how long will he stay there.

Jay Wright joined Mike Missanelli on ESPN Radio Philadelphia on Monday to talk Villanova hoops and how he was heartbroken that Philly native Gerald Henderson went to Duke instead of Villanova.

On how they’ll change their habits with a game starting at 9:50 pm:

“We’ll start tomorrow night (Tuesday) keeping guys up later.  I’m trying to get on a later clock.  Eat breakfast later because we need them to be wide awake from about 10-1 in the morning on Thursday night.”

“We’re going to have our film session at 11 o’clock at night and keep them awake and then put them to bed at like 12:30.”

Do you see Duke as a similar team to you guys?

“Yeah, I do.  I think they spread the floor and really space well like we do. They’ve got a lot of very skilled players like we do.  Defensively, they try to be very aggressive, more in the half-court kind of like we do.  They are, they’re very similar teams.”

On being a hot coaching name in college and the NBA ranks:

“I don’t even want to look at other options.  I want to be at Villanova and I don’t see any reason why I won’t be at Villanova no matter what college offers or NBA offers come.  As long as you have your people in place, I have a great AD, a great president, so I hope to be here a long time.”

Listen to Villanova (#3) Head Coach Jay Wright on ESPN Radio Philadelphia

View East Region coverage on CBS Sportsline

View highlights of Villanova vs. UCLA

This should be a good one. Odds to win the region can be found after the interviews, compliments of Bodog, www.BodogLife.com.

Reason why #1 seed doesn’t make it to the Final Four:   If Levance Fields still isn’t recovered from his groin problems or DeJuan Blair is in foul trouble, Pitt can be beat.

Best bet in the first round:   Over 157 1/2 in the Oklahoma State/Tennessee game

Player I’m most looking forward to playing in the NBA:  Tie between Sam Young of Pitt and Eric Maynor of VCU.  In terms of Young, I can’t wait to see if that ridiculously exaggerated pump fake actually works in the NBA.  I remember watching Maynor two years ago when they upset Duke.  Ice in his veins and should become a nice pro.

Prediction for this bracket: Pittsburgh.  I know they haven’t had great success in the tourney in the past, but I love Blair and Young.  Sleeper pick would be Florida State

Listen to Pittsburgh (#1) head coach Jamie Dixon with Mike & Mike on ESPN Radio (19 minutes into podcast)

Listen to Duke (#2) guard Jon Scheyer and assistant coach Chris Collins on WGN Radio in Chicago with Dave Kaplan

Listen to Villanova (#3) head coach Jay Wright with Cuz and Prof on WIP in Philadelphia

Listen to Xavier (#4) Head Coach Sean Miller on WQXI in Atlanta with the Two Live Stews

Listen to Florida State (#5) leading scorer Toney Douglas and his brother Falcons wide receiver Harry Douglas on WQXI in Atlanta with Morning Mayhem

Listen to Oklahoma State (#8) Head Coach Travis Ford on The Sports Animal in Oklahoma City with Jim Traber, Al Eschbach, and Dean Blevins

Listen to Tennessee (#9) Head Coach Bruce Pearl on WQXI in Atlanta on Morning Mayhem

Listen to Minnesota (#10) head coach Tubby Smith on KFAN in Minneapolis with Dan Barreiro

Listen here to VCU (#11) head coach Anthony Grant with Jeff Aaron on KRKO in Seattle

Listen to Portland State (#13) head coach Ken Bone on KKFX in Portland 

Listen to ETSU (#16) Head Coach Murray Bartow on KGOW in Houston with John and Lance