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| Tim Buckley |
| On comparing Detroit to MAC teams |
| "They're different in that they're a very
athletic team, but they're very aggressive on the defensive end. I would say
that defensively I would compare them a lot to a Western Michigan type of
team. Offensively, they can run, they can grind it out, they've got good
depth up front. I don't know that anybody really plays like them in
our league. I would say, as far as the kind of players and athletes that
they have, they remind me a little bit of a Miami." |
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| On the frustration of his guards
dominating nearly three fourths of the Kentucky game yet the team suffering
a 20 point loss |
| "I think whether you lose by 20 or get
beat at the buzzer it's still a loss. I think what you have to do is you
have to analyze how you played. I felt like, Kentucky is a great
basketball team, but I felt like we had a lot to do with our own demise in
terms of quick shots, bad shots, and turnovers. That was very evident
in the second half. I think fatigue played a little bit of a role in it. I
think their pressure and the way they changed some things during the game -
where they went to a flex offense and they went to a switching defense as
well as a zone. I guess what I was pleased with is that we were able
to take them out of the things that they like to do. They like to play man
to man, they like to press. They took their press off, they switched
from man to man, they played more zone than they normally play, and they had
to go from running their offense to running the flex. We actually forced
them to adjust a little bit and we probably didn't adjust as well as we
needed to in the second half, so hopefully we will learn form that." |
| |
| On the positives from the Kentucky
game |
| "I was pleased with our focus. I was
pleased with, for the most part, the way we tried to carry out the game
plan, which I think we did for roughly 25 minutes. You know, last year it
was 12 minutes at UConn, this year it was 25 (against Kentucky), so I think
we're starting to get it. I think that we're still relying on some young
people to play prominent roles for us, which is ok, because I think they can
handle it, and it's a learning process for them." |
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| On Landon Adler now being in practice
and when he should be ready to go |
| "I would probably say a couple of weeks,
but I think we'll have to determine that based on what he feels like and
what Tony (Cox) says. But usually I think it will take you a couple of weeks
to get into the flow." |
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| On when he expects Charles Bass to
return |
| "I hope sometime soon (laughs). I'm real
anxious. I'm real excited. I love Charles. Charles has seen a lot, been
through a lot - I guess I would call him a wise old man. I've learned a lot
from Charles. I've always felt Charles was well coached, both in high school
and at Ohio State, so I think he brings an advanced type of a player to us." |
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| On whether or not he has the deepest
bench he's had since he's been at Ball State |
| "I would say it potentially is. I thought
a couple-three years ago we were pretty deep. The reason I can say that is
that I was able to sit a guy like Chris Williams when he wasn't playing
defense. But yeah, I would say so. It's deep and it's athletic. That fits
the kind of style we want to play." |
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| On the depth of that bench giving
better competition for the first seven or eight spots |
| "It really does. If you don't come and
bring it, do the things you need to do, you can get left watching, because
everybody is not going to be able to play. That has made it very interesting
from a practice standpoint, because I think when your practices are as
competitive as ours are, then you have a chance to be a good basketball
team." |
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| On outsiders perhaps having too high
of expectations of Anthony Kent coming in |
| "They may have. I don't have any
expectations for him other than for him to be himself and to be a little
more aggressive. I think he's going to give us what we need him to.
Unfortunately we have to rush him into it. We've been forced to do that the
last few years, particularly with our big people. I think he'll come - he's
two games into it. I didn't think he was going to be a lottery pick two
games into his division one college career. He'll keep getting better. He
wants to be good. He's very coachable, so hopefully people will be patient
with him." |
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| On Terrance Chapman's performance
against a pre season All American and a big Kentucky front line |
| "There is no question (that I was happy
with his play). I thought it was going to be a tough game for him to score
inside and he wasn't really able to get his jump shot going, but we weren't
really too worried about that. You're going to let a guy take shots that
rebounds like that, battles, and plays defense. As I've said all along, our
team gains strength from Terrance. He's going to have a great year this
year. I really believe that, and that's going to be a key to our
success." |
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| On Kentucky's Tubby Smith's comments
about facing the perhaps the best ball pressure and the most quick back
court that his team would face al season in Ball State |
| "Yeah, I think we've got a chance to be
good. Hopefully sooner rather than later. We have some really good young
players, and I think our guys are developing. I think what shows that is
that the young guys have been able to push the seniors and gain minutes and
those kinds of things because of their talent level and their work ethic,
and I think that makes for a very competitive team." |
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| On his expectations heading into the
Detroit game |
| "I think it's another test. It's another
challenge. There won't be 20,000 people there. There won't be the wow
factor, and sometimes you have to guard against that. You've got to come and
bring it the way you did before, because this is another good basketball
team. We have a lot of respect for Detroit - obviously, they came in our
building last year and beat us pretty good. So we should have that respect
for them." |
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| On last year's blow out in the Detroit
game being a source of pride for the team |
| "Yeah, I think (we have something to
prove), but also it is kind of a cause for the year, to be honest with you.
I think they felt like they had a really good year last year, and I do too,
particularly when you compare yourself to the other schools in the MAC and
who you play non conference. For us to go ten and eight last year with a
young ball club, they felt good about it, and they want to continue to get
better and improve. When you go four and five on the road and you have a
chance to win all five of those in the last two minutes you want to keep
improving and keep getting better." |
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| Peyton Stovall |
| On what the team came away with from
the Kentucky game |
| "I feel like we came away with knowing
that we can hang with the best of the best. We've got to sit down and guard
the whole game, just play team ball the whole game, run the game plan the
whole game, and we'll be alright." |
| |
| On his role this year versus last year |
| "I think I'm more in a leadership role.
I'm more vocal this year. I'm talking to the guys more and kind of running
the team a little more. I'm still getting guys open, but I'm shooting some
as well. I think I'm more of a floor general than I was last year." |
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| On this year's team versus last year's
team |
| "The locker room is so close. Nothing
could mess it up. Just being a close-knit group like that makes us play
better on the court." |
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| On comparing Detroit to MAC teams |
| "Really, each team is unique. I really
can't say who they compare to, but they're quick. They're kind of like us.
We've just got to get out there and sit down and guard." |
| |
| On his goals for the Detroit game |
| "We want to play as a team, stick to the
game plan, and come out with a win." |
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| On his confidence in the depth of the
team and the bench players |
| "If I come out, I know somebody on the
bench is coming in for me and we're not going to miss a beat. I think we can
do that at every position." |
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| Skip Mills |
| On his expectations heading into this
season |
| "I have to say that I wanted to start
this year. That was one of my goals. I worked really hard at trying to do
the things that coach wanted me to work on over the summer, which was
getting better at my shooting, being more aggressive on the offense,
attacking, and being more of a key player. So that was my main goal
coming in, to work, so that I could be more of a factor scoring as well as
rebounding." |
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| On what the Kentucky game did for the
team |
| "I would have to say it helped our
confidence, because we went toe to toe with them, and if it wasn't for a few
breaks that we didn't have in the second half, we actually could have had a
lot closer game. That helps you when you go back to playing mid major
schools, because you think you can play with anybody." |
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| On this year's team versus last year's |
| "Everybody is trying to fight for spots
and minutes. Everybody is coming after your spot everyday, so you have to
prove yourself day in and day out." |
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| On what the team wants to get out of
the Detroit game |
| "Just to come out aggressive against
them. Not to look down on them just because they're not Kentucky, because
they're still a team that could beat us if we don't play to our abilities.
So just to come out with the same intensity that we did against Kentucky in
the first half." |
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