Alex Karaban: UConn Men's Basketball Going Back to Back

all right before you went to Phoenix Alex I I said I wanted to be able to get a new one of these uh so I I think that that's in order now so welcome back to the podcast and and congratulations thank you congratulations on your new little merchandise now that you get to get I know I know I got it I got to stock up uh it's exciting I'm sure it's been a a fun week for you just tell me what what what have the past few days been like for from you it's been amazing it's been a great time celebrating with the team great time just you know in general just you know seeing the Yukon fans we drove back from the airport at GLE it's crazy because like we know what's to come after last year with the celebration so it's just exciting to kind of relive everything yeah I mean it seemed like it had been uh the week kind of started off on a crazy note with the with the flights I I know now that that's all behind and you come back with the championship maybe you could laugh at that a little bit but what was start of that week like for you it sucked I totally forgot about that it was awful I mean sorry to bring it up no no no um to think our flight was supposed to be at uh 6 6 PM then it goes to 11: and then we really take off at 1:30 Eastern Time get back get to the hotel room at 4:30 Phoenix time which like 7:30 Eastern basically up entire night it sucked I thought it was going to affect us but really we were chilling and practice practice went well I mean it really it sucked but I mean we we made the most of it we didn't care as much once um once we saw the venue once we saw everything it was it was good yeah yeah you you walk in there um what what's it like seeing that Stadium set up for the first time I know you had seen the one obviously last year when you're playing in Houston but I'm sure it's still a little bit different walking into this stadium in Arizona this one felt more open I don't know why it felt more open it was a lot lighter um yeah I liked I like the setup Houston was definitely unique but I think this one was just more open and um I mean still I think it was still 70,000 people in there or something so it was still wild and um yeah it was I still liked I mean it's crazy played in two NFL stadiums so I'll definitely you know I definitely liked both yeah so leading up to that game obviously Saturday had had the game uh against Bama uh they gave you a bit of a running for your money for for kind of first like what maybe 25 30 minutes what was the key to just like staying confident in that game I I know early on I think they were shooting at the end of the first half like 73% from three what what was just kind of the mentality heading into that second half of that game uh just defensively we just had to be sharper defensively we weren't as tough as we wanted to be on the defensive end and they had the number one or two offense going into that game and clearly they shoot a lot of Threes so we just we did a good job of limiting threes I felt like in the first half they were just wide open ones that they were making and um we thought in the second half all we had to do is just you know continue what we're doing just be tougher on defense tougher on the backboard and then um make them Miss instead of giving them open threes and I think they went like three of 11 or something in the second half so um yeah was definitely a much better job so so you win Saturday not not a ton of time to to really kind of celebrate making the championship game before you got to turn around and play that game Monday against Purdue I'm curious what what's the prep like in that kind of turnaround for the national championship you guys were the the later game on Saturday so look what couple hours less than Purdue has to prep but what what's going through uh you know that next day and change like for you I think um really when we get back we'll have like 30 minutes whether you want to do recovery shower you know see family and then 30 minutes later you're watching the Purdue film and U we're getting a like a you know we're getting a lot of knowledge about them like coach it was Coach Murray Scouts so he's telling us you know in depth about everybody and we're watching their stuff and you know getting like a basic understanding so really we just had film on them and then um at that night after we beat Alabama then the next day it's a lot more film we did I think like two film sessions of them and then on the court stuff when we go to our close practice we're doing scouting there and um just seeing different game plans but and we had to shoot around on the game both too so um it's really it's actually a good amount of time and like you kind of get a lot done and um you know and what seems like a short amount of you know prep time so this one actually came in uh from social when I I asked for questions here and it connects to what you just talked about and that's just in terms of like how does Scout work is that just something that rotates through the different assistants throughout the season and they kind of come prepped with with the preview there and walking you through the film yeah I think um during the tournament we'll um we'll alternate it's usually coach uh kamani and U Co coach Murray doing the scouts so they'll alternate during the tournament then Coach early he does obviously does all every game so um they alternate then there's um they they get assigned like big east teams to do so they'll be watching their specific Big East teams throughout the season and then um non-conference they they alternate too so really it's just those two just watch and film all the time and uh when we played Alabama I know coach Murray was watching both Purdue and NC State so you know just be ready for what whatever was to happen yeah so you know you head into to Monday's game um The Game's a little later in the day what's the anticipation like through the day on Monday leading into it it was awful it was awful waiting the entire day just to play the game um the day before sucked that was the longest day ever um the day in between it sucked that was too long of a day we waited too long just you know we just wanted to play and then you know it was good to have have shoot around then after shoot around it was just like you know we're ready to go so definitely just anxious to get out there so you you get out there Monday um places packed balls tipped you got a championship on the line uh how do you feel heading into that game uh against Purdue on Monday I was excited I was excited you want the best national championship and everyone kept talking about us Purdue and Houston throughout the entire year so it was good to play a team like Purdue just from you know they are they're extremely well coached great culture great everything everything that they do is I think r the right way that college basketball should be so um you know it was exciting to play against them and of course they had you know back-to-back natural Player of the Year and like you know it's it's a worthy team to play in the championship so um yeah it was exciting just to play against them so I've got to ask the question that that's on everyone's mind when we're talking about that game Monday against Purdue uh Donovan's in foul trouble Samson fouls out Falls to you to uh have to Def defend Zack Ed um what's what's your initial reaction when you get matched up with him I'm not gonna lie I was looking at the bench I was expecting um you know Yousef to come in with his size and like I was just looking at that I was waiting for him to come in and then I seen H coming in I was like oh boy it's me now so I knew I played um I played a lot of uh small small B five especially when Donovan was out so I was comfortable with it um but yeah his size I mean it's it's it was like summer workouts when I had to go against Donovan so um you know just had to get used to but he's way he's taller than Donovan bigger and know you know the the game plan was if he wants to score you could score I'm just I can't value or else the clock's GNA stop and you know just create more hectic so he wants to score get score I mean the first bucket he had he eled me in the face sort of the nose or something so nice little all right he's a tall player um hey I mean you did a pretty good job because I think he missed the next couple shots he took while while you were guarding him he missed he missed a lefty hook I do remember that and then after I think he got a couple more buckets and then Don came in really helped us out yeah garbage time buckets right um uh so you know you go through that game I think one thing that stood out that game uh and also Saturday in particular I felt like you were playing next level defense you know from what we've seen from from you I know you blocked a couple shots what what were you you know thinking from a a defensive perspective you just completely locked in yeah I know um we go to every game being like you know you can't let your shots affect how you play and um you know I wasn't hitting shots in that game particularly the way that I wanted to so I wanted to affect the game on the defense and rebounding again and um thought I thought I did a great job of that and there's always a you know confidence boost knowing that you know coach earle's leaving me out there even though I'm not making shots like I've got to be affecting winning in a different way so defensively then it's just credit to um kamani and know Coach Murray from you know Alabama Purdue game allowing me to get the confidence to switch on to other guards and they trust me to guard other teams you know best players with the guards so um yeah definitely gave me a confidence boost and I think of course two years I think that's probably one of the biggest jumps I've made from last year to this year's you know the defensive League let's talk about a couple other guys uh on the team in the impacts that they had over this final forign championship uh weekend obviously Steph in the first game they tried to Sag off him make him beat him from Beyond The Arc and he he did exactly that in that first one um how impressed were you wi with him as a freshman just being able to kind of take on you know the little added pressure when they they say hey we're not we're not defend you there just beat us and and he's able to not only do that but then I mean you know did everything else in that game whether it was lock down defense you know driveing to the basket seemed like he just really had his aame that day um been super impressed with him the entire year I mean if teams wanted to Sag off him he had the ultimate confidence to shoot it we always saw him your open shoot it and he shot it and know yeah what he did for us this entire year it's nothing short of amazing and I loved everything that he did I loved you know know I mean the fact that as a freshman he's guarding other team's best players it's it's special and it speaks a lot about who he is and he always came into practice just being willing to coach I was um being willing to co be coached and um I was a shooting partner too so it definitely special just you know being with him every day so um yeah it's it was it was a good um Good Year great great year for him I I generally thought he was the best freshman in the country just from you know the impact that he made on both ends when when it comes to to championship games in particular it seems like that's when Tristan shows up uh biggest and brightest there uh I know we heard the BS last year that this team didn't really have a point guard he proved him wrong last year I think he he proved everyone wrong again this year showing what he could do um playing with him for these past few years what's it what's it been like I'm G Miss Bob Koozie he was a good guy um you know it sucks knowing that you know next year there'll be a different point guard here and um you know someone else that's going to be dishing out dimes to me so you know it's unfortunate but um yeah I mean I love playing with him just even just who he is off the court as a person I just love being around him and he just has he just brought you know good energy like to the team I feel like just being calm and like you know truly himself and on the court he was a killer I mean he's one of the best defensive rebounding not defensive rebounding guards in general yeah um always looking at pass con create his own shot yeah he was he was something special I know I mean he got on the huskys of Honor thing and U cemented himself as you know arguably one of the best guards to come out of this you know program I'm going to take a quick break from the interview to tell you about my friends at Martin rosol's meets this fourth generation Connecticut family business produces kelasa hot dogs sausages and deli meats using Martin rosell's very own original recipes their products can be found in grocery stores delies restaurants and hot dog stands throughout the state if you're looking for your fill right away check out their retail store in New Britain for more information visit Martin Rosal in.com and go support a Yukon fan owned business I know Monday night everyone had the uh the Donovan Zach matchup circled also like seeing those two guys get to go up against each other and being on the court as that matchup was kind of going on throughout the game there was no space in the paint try to get into paint space anywhere um no they were um it was awesome I know college basetball they're excited they want to see the best and I thought they were the two best centers in the country this year and um for them to go at and just you know someone of like Donovan size um it was it was super cool and um it was a great matchup celebration after the game you know confetti starts coming down all that what was that like this year for you honestly it was the same as last year I'm not going to lie it just doesn't feel real and the fact that it's back to back too makes it ex special knowing that you know we're able to finally connect this year's team and last year's group together not just from the returners but everybody's a part of it from last year to this year's team knowing that back to back I mean our teams are going to get talked about forever now and uh it's an extremely hard task to do so once we saw the confetti it was like all all this hard work's paid off all the yelling from the coaches sta paid off the practices everything you know that we just worked so hard for and just spent count hours together it it was it was all worth it what was it like getting to now celebrate this moment with the guys who who weren't there last year guy like cam or Steph the other freshman um what was that like it was exciting just to see their reaction knowing that they finally get to experience that feeling that we felt throughout the entire year knowing knowing how good that feeling is we wanted them to experience it that was like a huge motivational factor for for them to get it it was it was awesome and just seeing their Smiles their excitement I mean never seen cam so happy never seen Steph all of them all the Freshman were all the Freshman were like kids at Christmas like running around just excited to be there just excited like they couldn't think it was real and um yeah I mean I I just loveed that feeling I just loved seeing you know the new guys especially like feel what we felt last year I I know we got that great clip of uh you and Coach Harley in One Shining Moment there was then the video of you guys seeing it happen uh how excited were you to see that in there I was so happy I mean that's my guy I love him so you know just being able to you know hug him and see him during the one shine moment was special and you know I love giving out hugs so um he knows that and I was able to I was able to hug him he doesn't like hugs during the season so it was a good hug after season um did you get to see I know in the crowd uh I know at least on Saturday and I don't know I know he wasn't there on Monday but I know Jordan was there Saturday Joey was there over the weekend did you get to check uh get to hang out a little bit with those guys from last year who was there this year I wasn't able to see Jordan he um yeah I know he had a game and then left right after so I wasn't able to see him but of course I saw Joey Joey was with us he was with us the entire day before the um the day before the national championship and yeah I missed Joey I hav seen him in a while so I missed him and you know he's he's one of the best people to be around so I was just I was just so excited to see him when you know all said and done I know it's still just a a couple days since it since it's happened but what are you going to remember the most about this year's team a lot we were we were tight off the court and it was just such a fun group to be around just so many different personalities and uh it was truly fun and we really I think you can just take away how locked in we were and just you know every day we were just so locked in in the moment and you saw it every day in practice you saw it every day during the off days so just how badly we wanted everything and just locked in we never looked ahead we never let you know Target get on our back we never let anything you know distract us from what we wanted to do and we got pushed hard I mean the coaching staff they were they were intense this year for sure and you know it's definitely I definitely say just being locked in just not letting any distract get our way when you look back on both last year's tournament run and this year's I mean it seems impossible when you look at that double digit streak that you guys did in all of these games like it NCA tournament's not supposed to come this easy but it it I know I know a lot of hard work goes into being able to maintain that but what what's it like knowing that you're just part of these dominant teams in March it's it's a blessing I mean that I think we all just have different March Madness Journeys and you know these last years it's our journey just dominating and um yeah it was it's a blessing just you know it wasn't it wasn't easy we could just say that it may may have looked easy it may have you know whatever but it was far from easy and every team that we played we had huge respect for so um but I think when I look back when my basketball career is over whenever that's over I'm G look back and watch other teams of mar Madness and know one like all right these teams can't do what we did and um it's special it's going to be you know it's a Memory that we always have with each other and just knowing that I got my brothers for life from this year's team and last year's team that you know these the Rings and what we've won can't be taken away from us I I know last year I think it was that at your locker after the national championship game you talked about being able to do it again and win another one did did you ever really think that like heading into the the season that this would be how it would ultimately end up with you guys actually being able to complete that back toback I think after the Europe trip I thought we could actually do it dur in the summer I had doubts not lie we did not look good in the summer none no one it wasn't it wasn't a good summer for us we didn't really look too well and um I think after the Europe trip and we like I think that's was like the moment where we bonded so well that we got extremely close with each other and you know we just saw who we all were off the court you know basketball as crazy as we are and you know not normal and everything um you know we just wanted to bond and we weren't prioritizing basketball as much as long as we won those uh games which we did but um I think after we bonded and really just saw like spent time with each other off the court exploring new cultures I was like all we got something here all right let's go to some of the social media ones we of course have some fun ones as always that that came in here um we'll start with this one which Hurley spikes the ball better Andrew or uh or coach Dan Hurley there last year it was Andrew Spike this year Andrew Spike was disappointing because I I assumed he didn't want to get technical so this year I'm gonna give it to coach Earley but last year was definitely Andrew Spike all right all right there you go look at that you can't piss anyone off with that answer because you gave them both some credit so nice nicely done there um let's see got another parade coming up how excited are you to be part of that I'm so excited that was probably my favorite memory from last year 50,000 people just swarmed harfords seeing everybody seeing the kids seeing the fans it was so special I'm I'm I'm beyond excited for it um yeah no I know I know everyone's excited for that let's see what else we got um after the parade it's already time to start thinking about about the off season what's that like for you areas of game that you're kind of focusing on in the off season or or have you not even thought about that yet no I definitely thought about it I think um shot making sure my shot's more consistent I think dur I didn't finish as strong as I would like to shooting the ball so I definitely say making my shot more consistent continue to add games to add things offensively I think this year I did a much better job of attacking the basket compared to last year so just continue to work on that and then um my body I'd say just continue to get stronger just be able to guard multiple positions and get a lot quicker too yeah we want to keep seeing more of those dunks hell yeah one oh oh wi okay all right there we go see maybe a between the legs dunk if you know if it's like you know a 50 point game there we go hey and that we know that's well within the realm of possibility there uh so U let's see what else do we have here all right this this a fun one who from this year's team um are you most looking forward to seeing them grow into a like a bigger role for next year Stewie I think he was probably one of the most not one he was the most improved player this year's team I think just seeing how he was in the summer to where he's at now um I'm extremely excited about him yeah all right we got another one that's kind of in that same realm and that's who from this year's team are you gonna miss the most next year Tristan it's gonna be Tristan I know uh just being with him for the past two years and just spending time with him off the court and on the court and just I don't know I I I just love trist know yeah I mean I don't want to boost his ego or anything but he's just a great person and a great player we um we talked a little bit about the assistance earlier when it came to to scouting but and I know coach Earle has been very complimentary of this of his staff that he's put together and in the importance of them from a players's perspective what what's it been like working with this staff with with kamani with Luke with Coach Moore there a blessing it's truly a blessing it's like having four head coaches coaching you every day and um I mean I love Kanani kman he's he's he's a everyday guy I mean they're all everyday guys but you know I think I knew I'd like kamani right away just during my Reger year even before home games he's working me out and um really just taking the time away you know from his Scout or from you know the folks of the game just to work me out like I'm forever thankful for that and I knew I knew something was different about him when he was willing to do that and then Luke I mean he's the smartest basketball genius I've ever met in my life I mean the amount of games he watches the amount of players he knows he knows every stat he knows every analytic and it just I mean to be coached by him and just you know especially since you know he helps with my position too so you know he's willing you know just to work with us every day and just continue to talk to us every day and just be honest with us and T Mo he's the vet so we love being around him he brings you know he brings the goofy side he's funny he's just you know he's a bright light in case there's like a dark day going on and that um you know we love cracking jokes with him and you know he's got endless stories for us and now he's got four natties so you know continue some more for him all right I got I've got just two more here one serious one a little bit more fun so we'll do the serious one first and uh everyone will get on me if I didn't ask it so um I know I know I know you haven't had a lot of time to think on this yet but what's kind of the the process for you in terms of thinking about next year making decision um you know I don't know yet I haven't thought about that much yet um I got to talk to you know the coaches still I got to talk to my parents you know my agents and go from there but I do love Yukon I'll say that I love Yukon all right all right gave us a little something um all right so so we'll end we'll end with this one um I know we've talked about it a couple times on here with my uh my lucky Chick-fil-A Sandwich It ultimately uh played out it worked um you think I have any argument to uh kind of pitch myself to coach Hurley for getting a ring for this year's the this year's run you should absolutely I mean what there was what games did you didn't e trick- Fil-A the losses right yeah the two the first two uh losses the third one I I messed up I got a side salad with it instead of the fries so that that was my bad um so with your actual order you were 37 and0 yeah or when did it done yeah so yeah hell yeah he deserve a ring I'll let him know I'll let him know tomorrow when I see him there we go there we go I think he's going to be coming on the podcast soon so now that I've got your buying I I can make the full pitch to him yeah I think you you definitely got to let him know about the 37 and0 record and then he'll he'll he'll ship you out of ring there we go there we go well Alex I I appreciate as always uh congrats again it's been fun doing this uh another season with you um I know this one won't be the last episode we we'll be doing more no matter where you're going uh I I I hope we get to continue doing some of these it's a lot of fun no for sure we definitely will all right awesome again thank you for everything this season yeah flew by yeah it really did well thanks and uh congrats again enjoy the parade and all the other fun stuff you got planned thank you so much

Channel: Connecticut Scoreboard Podcast

Views: 3,734

Keywords: Alex Karaban, UConn Men's Basketball, College Basketball, UConn Basketball, UConn Huskies, Tristen Newton, Donovan Clingan, Dan Hurley, Luke Murray, Tom Moore, Kimani Young, Cam Spencer, Stephon Castle

Id: kQErVt-HDYU

Length: 25min 50sec (1550 seconds)

Published: Thu Apr 11 2024