TRYING TO KEEP IT SIMPLE
By Rob Jeter, Wisconsin-Milwaukee

 

We have a very special group of guys here and they really deserve to be part of the NCAA tournament experience. This team has embraced every challenge, since the first day of the season. And more importantly they have had fun in the process. Now we have another great challenge ahead, in facing the Oklahoma Sooners.

Oklahoma is an outstanding team from an outstanding conference. Traditionally the Big 12 has had a lot of success in the NCAA tournament and coach Kelvin Sampson’s team has been a big part of that success. His team is extremely well prepared and they can beat you on the interior or from the perimeter.

Coach Sampson’s teams have always had a lot size and athleticism, but his teams have always displayed a lot of toughness and fortitude. A Kelvin Sampson-coached team is always going to be prepared and they are always going to put forth a tremendous effort. It will be a tough matchup for us, but that is what the tournament presents you with -- One tough matchup after another.

We have had a good week, albeit very short, in preparing for Thursday’s game. There was a lot of excitement, following our win over Butler in the Horizon league tournament championship game and that excitement level was raised when we saw “UW-Milwaukee” go up on the board.

Obviously we knew that we were going to be a part of the NCAA tournament, but it is still exciting to see your school’s name on national television for an entire nation to see. A lot of teams would like to be in our position because being a part of the tournament validates an outstanding season and this group has had an outstanding season.

The most important thing now is to remember what got you here and not try to overdue it. We wanted to keep it simple this week. We approached everything as we had all season long. The last thing you want to do now is change anything.

It is easy to get completely caught up in all the excitement and every team in the tournament should be excited about being here. However, you want to try to temper that excitement and enthusiasm and remained focused. It’s great to be one of just sixty-five teams to be invited to the tournament, but you don’t want to be among the first to be asked to leave.

This program enjoyed a lot of success last season. That was a special run, one that no one connected with the University or the basketball program will soon forget. But this is a new year and, while many of the same faces return to the tournament, it’s a new team with new goals.

In many ways we have tried to simplify things, almost as if this were just another game. But it’s not just another contest. This is the NCAA tournament. We are excited to be a part of it, but we are not just happy to be here.