Full transcript of “'My Jaw Was On The Floor!' - Jay Bilas Reacts to UConn's HEARTBREAKER vs. Duke”. Click a timestamp to open the video at that moment. Need another video? Use the YouTube transcript generator.
0:00 How did you react to what you saw last night? >> I think the same way that any fan that was watching the game, I was my jaw was on the floor. It was an extraordinary ending. Uh and I was an assistant coach on the Duke staff when Christian Lightner hit that shot against Kentucky in 1992. And the feeling was identical of I can't believe that happened. Uh it was one of those things. And I think you look at at all these different videos that are coming out of people in their living rooms or uh wherever it would be. Uh and it was the the same reaction whether they had a rooting interest or not of you know people jumped off the couch or whatever they were sitting in. They they couldn't believe it. And I was I was the same. It was you know it's one of those things that's going to live on forever. Uh walk-off home run. Uh you
0:48 know Dwight Clark in the end zone. Uh people are going to remember this forever. It's one of those moments that you just can't help but say, "What just happened?" I mean, jaw is still on the floor. But from the p the Duke perspective of things, where does this rank in your opinion amongst some of the most heart-wrenching moments in Duke basketball history? >> It'll probably be number one. Um, there have been obviously you you play at that level and you're going to have difficult losses. Uh I think everyone, myself included, that's that's played there uh can point to that. But that sort of uh on one hand I mean you have to give Yukon a great deal of credit for the
1:34 fight that they showed. I mean I think John Sh was right in his press conference that it wasn't about the one play until it got down to the one play. So there were a number of plays like Duke only scored 28 points in the second half. They shot over 50% but they had eight turnovers to Yukon's one in the second half. And there were a number of miscues and mistakes that led to that last play. But the last play itself, you know, so it's not about that one play until you get down to the one play. And so Duke's up two with the with the ball. And when they inbounded it, they did just about everything right until Kaden Boozer made the catch. And when he caught the ball in the middle of the floor, Duke does a drill every day,
2:20 whether it was coach K for 40 years or John Shy, they call it four coach four coach passing drill. And it's it's dealing with fullcourt pressure. You come back to the ball, you catch it and on two feet and you face the defense. The the coaches say catch and face. And when you face the defense, then you can and strong with the ball, then you can assess things and make a play, whether it's back dribble, dribble around, uh, pass fake up top, pass around, whatever it may be. And Kaden Boozer caught the ball and and he caught it turning and then dribbled it and then jumped up in the air to make a pass and it got deflected. And so it wasn't it was great execution by Yukon and it was poor
3:06 execution by by Duke. And I've I've always wanted to do this in television. I've never had the chance because of time reasons. But you take that one play and then you have you you listen to the difference and how the coaches of each team would deal with their teams on it. So Danny Hurley would be saying, "Hey, great trap, high hands, great deflection, you know, great poise here." And John Shy would be saying, "Hey, we got to be stronger with the ball here. It's catch, face the, you know, all that stuff. It would be totally different processing of the same play depending on your point of view. >> And look, John Shier has done something that Coach K or no other coach at Duke for that matter has ever done, and that's win 35 games in back-to-back seasons. John Shy got Duke to a final four last year, was a hair short of a final four this year. But also, John
3:53 Sh's teams have suffered heartbreaking losses in back-to-back seasons. you know, giving up that lead against Houston in the Final Four last year, obviously what happened with Yukon last night. From your perspective, what's the appropriate reaction to John Shy and where he stands right now? >> Taking a step back and taking a measured look at everything. So, it's not one of these things where, you know, you can't win the big one or you can't keep a lead because they have done that. Uh but but there is a trend here that you need to look at and one of the issues that that Duke has is they basically have a new team every year and and a lot of their best players are freshman and freshman by and large don't have the same memory
4:39 bank as seniors do. So, Alex Cariban made one of the great plays you'll ever see when he uh when Mullins coraled that ball after the deflection on the last play and kicked it ahead to Caravan. Caravan could have shot that ball, but instead he had the poise and maturity to understand if I shoot this, it's not the best thing. So, he pitched it back to Mullins who had a step in three. Like, that's a senior experienced play. Not every senior can make that play, but that's a senior experienced play. A lot of the Duke players don't have that memory bank. And most of the games that Duke played this year, um, they they weren't in a late game situation. Their their their two losses heading into the game against Yukon were against Texas Tech and North Carolina. Both of which
5:26 they had double-digit leads. Texas Tech, I did I did both those games. Texas Tech, they were up 17, wound up losing the game. Um, and Texas Tech is really good. And same thing with North Carolina. They they were on the road, had a 13-point lead and lost that at the end on the Seth Trimble uh shot. That's iconic. Uh so you have to look at that like you have to be able to put those players in as many game situations in practice as you can. So maybe that means going forward as much game situation work as they do in practice, maybe you have to do a little bit more. So I John Shier is really smart and really mature, especially for his age. So, I think you'll see an adjustment there. And they'll they'll handle like they would anything else. You use this kind of situation and loss as fuel for doing better in the future. You just can't
6:11 beat your you're you're naturally going to beat yourself up a little bit, but you got to stop all that stuff and and use it in the best way possible so there's positive results in the future. >> Jay, I'm overly analytical. I I hate things I can't define. So, when I hear championship DNA, it drives me crazy because I can't define that. What is it that you see about Hurley that makes Yukon wired so different? >> Well, I mean, I'm I'm not saying they're wired extraordinarily differently than other top teams. I think you could say the same thing about University of Houston under Kelvin Samson or Duke under John Shy or all that stuff. Um there there are programs that have have that championship DNA and it's exhibited every day in practice that you have
6:57 championship habits. And one thing I know about Yukon under Danny Hurley, and I think it went all the way back to Jim Calhoun, is their players are under stress every day. And the stress of their practices, I don't think even compares to the stress of a game. And so they're in those situations all the time. And especially with their older players, like that's why I said the thing about memory bank is when you're in those situations over and over again, you're going to fail in certain those situations. You Yukon's like anybody else. They failed in those situations, but they have that memory bank uh to be able to draw on where they've done it before. They've been there before and the freshman see it from the older players and and they develop those championship habits and they're more
7:43 likely to react positively under pressure. Uh so that's what I mean by that. Like I'm not saying that one team had the championship DNA and the other didn't, but certainly without Yukon's championship DNA, they don't win that game. They don't because there were reasons for them throughout the second half as as valiant as that comeback was, there were reasons for them to pack it in. Like Silas Deory uh misses the the first of two free throws and you could have like hung your head or the wideopen shot that Brilen Mullins had uh to cut the lead down to one possession missed. I mean, you could hang your head and they never did. Um, so on one hand, you know, you can look at Duke and say all the things they didn't do, which is a factor, but Yukon doesn't win without
8:31 all the championship things they did do. And those things go hand in hand. >> Let's stick on the theme of championship DNA. Then of the four teams that we have remaining still contending for a national championship, which team do you think has the best or the strongest or the most of that championship DNA? Well, Yukon's Yukon's up there. Um, but I I I felt for a good part of the season that Michigan and Arizona were the two best teams, and they're they're different. Um, they're they both have tremendous size. Like Arizona is a team, they're led by three freshmen. Uh, two of their leading score, their top leading scorers are freshman, Ka Pete and and, uh, Braden Burries. And they've got another freshman, Ivon Kchenkov,
9:16 who's their best defender. So to have three freshman that carry that big of a load is unusual on a team that's 36 and2 and 36 is the most games Arizona's ever won. Uh so it's been an extraordinary season for that team. They're an inside dominant team. Like they don't rely on three-point shooting. They they the free throw line is the place where they score the most efficiently and they they make more free throws than their opponents attempt. So when you play against them, you've got to defend without putting them on the foul line. That's easy to say and hard to do because how big, strong, and and resolute they are to get the ball inside and and pound, you know, pound you in the paint. Uh and then Michigan's got uh the same kind of size. They play a little bit differently. They run beautiful offense and they've got a
10:01 player in Yakel Lindore who transferred in from UAB. Last year there were two players in the country that led their teams in scoring, rebounding, assists, steals, and blocks. One was Cooper Flag at Duke. The other was Yakel Lindborg at at UAB and very few people outside of the basketball literati even knew who he was. He transferred to Michigan and now everybody knows who he is. And that's one of the great things about the transfer portal as players can better themselves in that way on a bigger stage. Uh so there there are a lot of people that are going to be looking at at Michigan Arizona saying that's the deacto championship game. But I can point out a number of Final Fours where we've had a game like this and you're not paying as much attention to the other side of the bracket and and the winner that other game winds up winning
10:47 the whole thing. >> Jay, I've watched a lot of Michigan this year and it just feels like teams hang with them for a minute and then they go on these big spurts and once they go on that spurt they just blow it out. What are they doing that allows them to do that? Well, they have another gear and they have a number of players that have accepted roles that are better than their roles, if that makes sense. Like your role is what your team is asking you to do to win. It's not necessarily who you are. So, they have a number of different leading scorers in different games, whether it's Mores Johnson Jr. or Elliot Kadau or Namari Bernett or there bunch of different players that can step forward that are all experienced and they've played lead roles at other places they've been. Uh they do have one drawback if you or one weakness I would say is they lost their backup point
11:33 guard LJ Kasein and I say backup he's coming off the he came off the bench but he would have he would have started for 75 80% of the teams in college basketball maybe more uh if Elliot Kdau gets in foul trouble twists an ankle or something that puts him in a bad spot without LJ Kase in there. Uh but they've weathered that and uh and look, I I think you can make a case for any of these four teams for winning it. They're all capable of that. Uh but I think Michigan and Arizona are the two best teams remaining. Uh and then Yukon, um obviously they're they're outstanding and have that championship DNA we've been talking about. Illinois is underrated. They're the best offensive team in this tournament. Uh, and their defense has gotten better over the last
12:20 month where they're guarding legitimately and their defense is a factor. That wasn't true earlier in the season. Their defense was their weak spot. Uh, as compared to their offense, but man, that team can really score. They've got a bunch of Eastern European players. Uh, both Arizona and uh and Illinois do the best job of of getting international talent. And then uh Andre Stoyakovich who transferred in. He was at Stanford and then at Cal. He's Pedro Stoyakovich's son. Uh I thought he was their best player early in the season. Now he's coming off the bench. And in the tournament I think he's averaging 17 a game shooting over 60%. He's like this downhill driver that's a really good finisher. But their point guard Katon Waggler, I had never heard of him in high school and that's unusual uh for
13:07 me. But he wasn't even ranked in the top 50 in the country. and and he's Tyresese Hallebertton. Like that kid is he'll be a he'll be a lottery pick if he decides to come out. Can't speed him up. He can shoot it, handle it, he can rebound. Uh I I think Hallebertton's the comp for that kid. He is He's ridiculously talented.
