| Reporter:
In looking at the projected starting lineup, are you just looking at
Skip (Mills) more (than Matt McCollom) or is there anything to see beyond
this? |
|
Tim Buckley: There's never anything to see beyond it, other than the
fact that you have to try out every day. Matt had a situation that I
won't go into where he missed some practices and he's getting his way back
into things. It wasn't anything academically or disciplinary or
anything. It was a medical situation where he had to miss ten days of
practice, but you would not have known he missed ten days of practice when
he came back, but that's typical Matt McCollom. Skip has actually
earned the right to put himself into position to be a starter, but we'll see
how practice goes today. |
|
| Reporter:
So Matt just missed some practices and he's getting himself back into the
swing of things?
|
|
Tim Buckley: Yeah,
to some degree. I think that's led a little bit to it. At the
same time I think there are some other guys that are probably worthy of that
situation (starting) as well.
|
|
| Rob Mathews:
Does some of it have to do with rotations and the idea of bringing a player
in where he can help you the most? |
|
Tim Buckley: Well,
yeah. I think you always want to put your team in a position to
perform at optimum level. At this point in time maybe the best level
for us to bring Matt McCollom into the game is off the bench. We'll
see how that works. |
|
|
Rob Mathews:
What did you see from the scrimmage Saturday that you liked and didn't like? |
|
Tim Buckley: I
loved the competitiveness. I thought in all of the segments each team
played to win. I thought there were certain groups that played
together better than other groups. You always want to see that from a
chemistry standpoint - who performs well together. I think the things
that we can improve on are our transition defense, our pressure on the
basketball, and offensively we've got to cut harder. |
|
| Rob Mathews:
It looks like Michael Bennett has become a real leader for your team.
Can you talk about his leadership? |
|
Tim Buckley: Well the one thing about
Michael is that usually with him all you see on the stat sheet is his name.
There aren't a lot of things on there that he can get measured by because he
adds so many things that are intangible to the game. The number one
thing is his attitude. He has as good of an attitude of any player
I've ever been around. He tries to make that infectious on the team
and I think that is what has trickled down to the rest of the team.
"Hey, here's a guy that hasn't played a ton of minutes, hasn't started all
the time, but is a senior who is willing to do whatever it takes to win."
So he's a guy that really leads by example. He's a voice that they'll
listen to.
|
| |
| Reporter:
What are some of the things that you are looking for the most out of
Wednesday's exhibition game? |
|
Tim Buckley: We want to show people how
good we are. That's what we want to do. I think that's pretty
much the theme of this basketball team. Each time we step out on the
floor we want to show people how good we are. |
| |
|
Reporter: Does that speak to the confidence
that this team has? |
|
Tim Buckley: They should have
confidence. They are a group of guys that prepared unlike any other
group that I've been around. And it's a group of coaches that have
prepared like no other group I've seen prepare. |
| |
|
Rob Mathews:
Is that compared to other schools you've been at as well? |
|
Tim Buckley: Yeah.
And I think it matches it, but I don't know that there have been any others
that have exceeded it. |
| |
|
Rob Mathews:
IS playing a team like Taylor maybe a better preparation tool than playing
some of the all star teams that you used to play in the past? |
|
Tim Buckley: Well, those NAIA teams,
they probably have about 30 games under their belt right now (laugh).
They play more than an NBA schedule. I think their game experience
will help. When you play a collegiate basketball team they have more
of a plan. When you play the all star teams it's more of a personnel
driven type of basketball game. This is more personnel driven as well
as strategic and style of play - things like that. That will help us
in our preparation as we go through the season. |
| |
|
Reporter: Is there any one thing that you
specifically want to improve on in this exhibition game from the scrimmage?
|
|
Tim Buckley: No,
not necessarily. I think the things that I talked about earlier to
improve on. I want to continue to get better with our shot selection,
making the extra pass, and I think just being a competitive unit from the
time we step out on the floor to the time that final horn sounds and we go
off the court. |
| |
|
Rob Mathews:
You've talked a lot about competition the last few years. It
looks like you have a deep bench and the most competition for spots you've
had since you've been here. How does that help you? |
|
Tim Buckley: Well,
I think the greatest motivator in the game is the bench. If there's
someone that can take your place and play, then obviously you've got to pick
it up and play to a level that you're capable of playing. One of the
things that we've talked about with this team is that we can't put greatness
in them, but we've got to try to pull it out of them. I think if we
can pull it out of them they have the potential to be a very good basketball
team. And the reason for that is that depth. You know, for two
years, whether it be for injuries or other things, we didn't have the depth
that we needed, so guys played regardless of what level they were at or what
they were doing. I think it always helps to have someone else there to
push you besides the coach. Competing against someone on a day to day
basis in practice really helps you improve as a player. |
| |
|
Rob Mathews:
Thanks, Coach! |
|
Tim Buckley: Thank
you. |
