The play-by-play man for South Dakota Athletics, Jay Elsen, was on 1340 The Fan this morning to talk Matt Mooney. Here is a transcription of the interview:
What kind of player are we getting in Matt?
“You’re getting a guy who is kind of the ultimate competitor. I know most guys at this level of basketball kind of are competitors, they wouldn’t be where they are if they weren’t, but Matt is at a different level in that way. Very emotional player, kind of wears it on his sleeve when he’s out on the floor. A guy who is capable at any night of going off for 30 points or more. He can really fill it up. When he gets hot, the hoops just seems to get a little bigger. His range is pretty crazy and he’s not afraid to pull the trigger, especially when he’s feeling it. You’re getting a guy that’s certainly going to help you especially in the scoring department right away next year.”
You mentioned Matt’s affinity for shooting the ball. He did go for over 30 points six times last year, including against TCU where he went for 31 points. It doesn’t seem like he is scared to shoot the ball from anywhere really.
“No he’s not. He is a confident guy all the way around, that just kind of emanates from him, you’ll notice that pretty quick – he’s pretty direct. Frankly he is a great interview. He does have that streakiness to him like a lot of shooters do. There are nights where he can’t miss and there are nights when he can’t hit. But, the thing is, Matt does so many other things well that he can find a way to help his team. He will keep shooting, he will try to work his way through those issues on those particular nights, but, whether it’s distributing the ball -- his assists were up last year, at 3.1 per game. On the ball defending is not necessarily his strength, but he does do things defensively very well. I’ve always noticed with Matt his anticipation of the opponent’s pass. He’s such a cerebral player. He knows where guys are going to be and where they are going to go with the basketball. Matt will swoop in, he has a huge wingspan for a guy his size and you’ll see him get steals and go the other way and get transition points, so he can certainly help you that way. I think Chris Beard wants him because he knows he’s a guy who can get 30. I certainly think Matt is up to this challenge. A lot of people that come up from this level (Mid Major – Summit League Basketball), they want to see how guys can do when they get up against that big time competition night in and night out. Matt time and time again proved, in the opportunities he got at South Dakota, which yes were limited, he proved that he was a guy that was able to compete at that level. That’s why he was so highly sought after by coaches like Coach Beard and a number of other coaches that pursued him in this process saw that, and that’s why he was such a hot commodity this off season.”
Texas Tech has to be excited about what they are getting on the court, but what kind of guy are we getting off the court?
“Matt Mooney is a great guy. He is one of my favorite guys I have ever covered, partially because he is a rare breed of a guy that is not just a cliché after cliché kind of guy when you talk to him. He will tell you what’s on his mind and he is not afraid to say it. He has a very strong faith and wears that on his sleeve as well. There was zero off the court issues with Matt, he was never a problem. The guys on the team loved him and he loved them. He was a very big supporter of his former Head Coach Craig Smith who is now at Utah State. You are getting a winner all the way around, it is not just about basketball with Matt. This kid has life figured out more than most. I don’t think you should have any reservations whatsoever on what he is going to bring to your program in terms of the human being.”
You mentioned his defense and how he is not the best on the ball defender. Texas Tech takes their defense extremely seriously and I know Matt understands that if he is coming to Texas Tech. What are some of the things he needs to improve on as far as his game is concerned coming in to Texas Tech?
“You know I think at that level one thing that I think he is going to have to be attentive to, is just that quickness from the other side. He could see in front of everybody in the Summit League, when you saw him struggle a little bit at times is when the other guy was just as athletic or more than he was. I don’t want it to be misinterpreted that Matt is a bad defender because that is not at all the case. It’s just there aren’t a lot of holes in this kid’s game, at least not that we saw. If you had to point to one, that would be one you would look at. If there was one area he can get better at, that would be it. South Dakota was a very good defensive team in the Summit League. So Matt was part of the system here that was very good defensively, so if there was any issues for him individually, a lot of times it got masked by the fact that he had really good teammates around him and the group played really good defense. I don’t think there should be any concern about Matt coming in and playing, he is not a bad defender, I don’t want him to get that label because that is not at all the case. I just think that is one area of improvement for him certainly if he looks to move on in his career at Texas Tech and beyond.”
You mentioned the Craig Smith system… one of the reasons he chose Texas Tech is that Chris Beard runs the motion offense, do you think that is a pretty smooth transition here?
“Yeah, I think that is a big part of it. The top priority for Matt was to find the place that gave him the best opportunity to make the NCAA tournament. That was a huge deal for him and a big, big goal for his career. It’s one that he came short on the last 2 years. They won the regular season when he was a sophomore, were the top seed in a tournament and ran into their arch-rival in the semi-finals, they were up big and let the lead get away and ended up losing the game. They would have had a real good chance of making it last year. This year, they were the No. 2 seed and ran into South Dakota State again this time in the title game and came up short. That was just heart breaking to him. I thought all along he was going to pick the place that he believed had the best opportunity to make the NCAA tournament. First and foremost, that is what he wanted. Coach Beard having that philosophy that he does certainly played a role in this. I know there was a good connection with Chris Beard right off the bat. Matt told me that when Texas Tech came to Vermillion back about a month ago now to visit him right after he announced that he was thinking of transferring. The words he used was Texas Tech was big time. That’s what he said to me. I heard from a separate source that he really, really liked Coach Beard right off the bat. I think that in some ways there is going to be some similarities there between Craig Smith and Coach Beard. Overall, out of the group that he narrowed it down to (5 teams), all along I felt like Texas Tech was probably going to be his pick. I think he looked at Chris Beard and the Red Raiders and thought that was the team that has the best opportunity to make the NCAA tournament.”
What kind of player are we getting in Matt?
“You’re getting a guy who is kind of the ultimate competitor. I know most guys at this level of basketball kind of are competitors, they wouldn’t be where they are if they weren’t, but Matt is at a different level in that way. Very emotional player, kind of wears it on his sleeve when he’s out on the floor. A guy who is capable at any night of going off for 30 points or more. He can really fill it up. When he gets hot, the hoops just seems to get a little bigger. His range is pretty crazy and he’s not afraid to pull the trigger, especially when he’s feeling it. You’re getting a guy that’s certainly going to help you especially in the scoring department right away next year.”
You mentioned Matt’s affinity for shooting the ball. He did go for over 30 points six times last year, including against TCU where he went for 31 points. It doesn’t seem like he is scared to shoot the ball from anywhere really.
“No he’s not. He is a confident guy all the way around, that just kind of emanates from him, you’ll notice that pretty quick – he’s pretty direct. Frankly he is a great interview. He does have that streakiness to him like a lot of shooters do. There are nights where he can’t miss and there are nights when he can’t hit. But, the thing is, Matt does so many other things well that he can find a way to help his team. He will keep shooting, he will try to work his way through those issues on those particular nights, but, whether it’s distributing the ball -- his assists were up last year, at 3.1 per game. On the ball defending is not necessarily his strength, but he does do things defensively very well. I’ve always noticed with Matt his anticipation of the opponent’s pass. He’s such a cerebral player. He knows where guys are going to be and where they are going to go with the basketball. Matt will swoop in, he has a huge wingspan for a guy his size and you’ll see him get steals and go the other way and get transition points, so he can certainly help you that way. I think Chris Beard wants him because he knows he’s a guy who can get 30. I certainly think Matt is up to this challenge. A lot of people that come up from this level (Mid Major – Summit League Basketball), they want to see how guys can do when they get up against that big time competition night in and night out. Matt time and time again proved, in the opportunities he got at South Dakota, which yes were limited, he proved that he was a guy that was able to compete at that level. That’s why he was so highly sought after by coaches like Coach Beard and a number of other coaches that pursued him in this process saw that, and that’s why he was such a hot commodity this off season.”
Texas Tech has to be excited about what they are getting on the court, but what kind of guy are we getting off the court?
“Matt Mooney is a great guy. He is one of my favorite guys I have ever covered, partially because he is a rare breed of a guy that is not just a cliché after cliché kind of guy when you talk to him. He will tell you what’s on his mind and he is not afraid to say it. He has a very strong faith and wears that on his sleeve as well. There was zero off the court issues with Matt, he was never a problem. The guys on the team loved him and he loved them. He was a very big supporter of his former Head Coach Craig Smith who is now at Utah State. You are getting a winner all the way around, it is not just about basketball with Matt. This kid has life figured out more than most. I don’t think you should have any reservations whatsoever on what he is going to bring to your program in terms of the human being.”
You mentioned his defense and how he is not the best on the ball defender. Texas Tech takes their defense extremely seriously and I know Matt understands that if he is coming to Texas Tech. What are some of the things he needs to improve on as far as his game is concerned coming in to Texas Tech?
“You know I think at that level one thing that I think he is going to have to be attentive to, is just that quickness from the other side. He could see in front of everybody in the Summit League, when you saw him struggle a little bit at times is when the other guy was just as athletic or more than he was. I don’t want it to be misinterpreted that Matt is a bad defender because that is not at all the case. It’s just there aren’t a lot of holes in this kid’s game, at least not that we saw. If you had to point to one, that would be one you would look at. If there was one area he can get better at, that would be it. South Dakota was a very good defensive team in the Summit League. So Matt was part of the system here that was very good defensively, so if there was any issues for him individually, a lot of times it got masked by the fact that he had really good teammates around him and the group played really good defense. I don’t think there should be any concern about Matt coming in and playing, he is not a bad defender, I don’t want him to get that label because that is not at all the case. I just think that is one area of improvement for him certainly if he looks to move on in his career at Texas Tech and beyond.”
You mentioned the Craig Smith system… one of the reasons he chose Texas Tech is that Chris Beard runs the motion offense, do you think that is a pretty smooth transition here?
“Yeah, I think that is a big part of it. The top priority for Matt was to find the place that gave him the best opportunity to make the NCAA tournament. That was a huge deal for him and a big, big goal for his career. It’s one that he came short on the last 2 years. They won the regular season when he was a sophomore, were the top seed in a tournament and ran into their arch-rival in the semi-finals, they were up big and let the lead get away and ended up losing the game. They would have had a real good chance of making it last year. This year, they were the No. 2 seed and ran into South Dakota State again this time in the title game and came up short. That was just heart breaking to him. I thought all along he was going to pick the place that he believed had the best opportunity to make the NCAA tournament. First and foremost, that is what he wanted. Coach Beard having that philosophy that he does certainly played a role in this. I know there was a good connection with Chris Beard right off the bat. Matt told me that when Texas Tech came to Vermillion back about a month ago now to visit him right after he announced that he was thinking of transferring. The words he used was Texas Tech was big time. That’s what he said to me. I heard from a separate source that he really, really liked Coach Beard right off the bat. I think that in some ways there is going to be some similarities there between Craig Smith and Coach Beard. Overall, out of the group that he narrowed it down to (5 teams), all along I felt like Texas Tech was probably going to be his pick. I think he looked at Chris Beard and the Red Raiders and thought that was the team that has the best opportunity to make the NCAA tournament.”
