Buzz in Boise
Mar. 19, 2009 5:39 p.m.
Boise, Idaho -- A year ago at this time, Buzz Williams was reveling in the Marquette Golden Eagles' first-round NCAA tournament victory over Kentucky, a game that he was in charge of the advance scouting work as Tom Crean's assistant, and beginning preparations for their second-round game with Stanford.
On Thursday, in a back hallway of Taco Bell Arena, with his children zipping in and out of the locker room door a few feet away, he spoke about how it now feels to be calling the shots as the head coach of the Golden Eagles on the biggest stage in college basketball.
"I have thought about it some real late at night, real early in the morning after working for some 15, 18 hours, and you're trying to calm down," he said, during some rare down time following MU's open workout. "To see how God's blessed me and my family this way is very, very, very humbling. To rewind a year, where Kentucky was my scout, and then play through the last 345 days, it's mind-numbing and heart-consuming.
"I think the only way that you can actually come up with how this all happened is because it's by God's grace. I'm grateful, and that's not to be self-deprecating and saying I don't know what I'm doing. But I think a lot of people know what they're doing, and they never have a chance, and that's not just in college basketball -- that's in any profession.
"So for things to have played out and transpired the way that they have over the last year is very humbling. But at the same time, it's really exciting. To have my three children down on the court, and to look up in the stands and to see my wife and all the people that came with us from Milwaukee...like I told our guys before we had practice this morning, I wouldn't coach any other team.
"The synergy of the team, and the chemistry that we've formed I think is very unique, and I don't think that we'll ever experience that throughout my career, whether we go to post-season play or not. I was telling the guys, this is the NCAA tournament, all the exposure that comes with it, all the hype -- I just want to keep playing so I can keep being around you guys."
-- Helping Williams in his first go-round as a head coach in the NCAA tournament are Jerel McNeal, Wesley Matthews and Dwight Burke on the court, and Dominic James on the sideline -- four players who are now playing in their fourth consecutive Big Dance.
"It says a lot from an experience standpoint," said Williams. "When you play in the Big East Tournament, on that stage, that environment, that helps to prepare you for the NCAA tournament. For our seniors, this will mark their eighth time. So I do think that there's value in the fact that we've been here, kind of understand the protocol, understand what the open practice is really about -- we know that the real practice was two hours before.
"So I think some of those things that maybe if you were dealing with rookies you'd have to explain at a more elementary level, you don't even have to explain them to this group of guys because the core of our guys have already been through it and have the experience. And that's valuable to any coach -- particularly me, for sure."
-- Playing in the Big East, the most physical conference in America, banging, clutching and grabbing has all become routine over time for the Golden Eagles.
But what happens now that they're in the NCAA tournament, and playing in games called by non-Big East officials?
"I think the game will be called tightly just because that's the nature of the tournament," said Williams. "Regardless of the league that they're in, every team that plays in the tournament, every team will have to function in that same way. I just think it's kind of part of it.
"I don't know that playing in the Big East or playing in the WAC as it relates to the first 9 minutes of the game tomorrow...I think the newness is the same, regardless of the league."
-- MU gained lots of notoriety last year when it bought an altitude trainer.
You'd figure it would have had some use heading into the Golden Eagles' NCAA tournament preparation for Boise, which is roughly 2,700 feet above sea level, right?
Well, not really. Strength and conditioning coach Todd Smith said the team didn't use it and that the focus instead has been on keeping players well-hydrated.
Williams, meanwhile, has some experience coaching and living at altitude coming from his tenure as an assistant at Colorado State. He doesn't believe the altitude will be an issue.
"I know obviously from my time coaching at CSU," Williams said. "I don't think it'll have any bearing. It's at 2,700 feet. If you play at an altitude a mile or above, then I think it distinctly has an impact. Obviously from living in the mountains, I understand it.
"The best thing to do if you're playing at a mile or above is fly in the day of the game, because the hemoglobin in your blood doesn't change. If you are playing at a mile or above, and you can't fly in the day of the game, the only way you can help your body is to be there a week and a half before.
"Scientifically, there's no impact."
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