|
| Tim Buckley |
| On having beaten three
teams this year that beat Ball State last year and how indicative that is of
the improvement of the program |
| "Well, I thought we finished
up the year pretty well last year, so we were a better basketball team at
the end of the year than we were at the beginning of the year. We're
probably a little bit ahead of schedule at this point than we were a year
ago, but we still have some tough games to play. Indiana State is much
improved, and then at Butler, and Indiana after that. We feel like we've
made some progress and we still have a ways to go yet." |
| |
| On Indiana State going
being good, then going through a low period, and then being on the mend now |
| "I think you're seeing a lot
of that in college basketball, other than the year in and year out
powerhouses. But particularly at our level, when you have a player or two
that can change the landscape for you - a lot of teams pretty much have the
same kind of players, and then every now and again you have a Theron Smith
or a Bonzi Wells, Michael Menser, Matt Renn - and I think it has happened
throughout our league as well. I think what you have to do is you have to
stay the course and you have to trust the coach, you have to trust who he is
bringing into his program. I think over the past few years, even though some
people beat (Indiana State), they've improved their basketball team and
they've just kept getting better and better." |
| |
| On what kind of style of
game to expect Saturday |
| "I think they play more of an
up-tempo style, although they will definitely work to take good shots. I
think shot selection is very important to them. They have a very good player
in David Moss. They're going to want him to get touches, not only to get
shots, but also to try to break down the defense and see what's available. I
look for them to run, but maybe more as an opportunistic type of running." |
| |
| On trying to slow down
David Moss |
| "I think you've got to do a
very good job of defensing him before he gets the ball and then you've got
to play him the way you need to play him once he does have the basketball.
He's been on a little bit of a roll, and it's going to be a great challenge
for our team; one that I expect them to live up to." |
| |
| On practice this week |
| "For the most part, we've had
pretty good workouts during finals week." |
| |
| On how he feels about the
team's progress |
| "I don't know if I'm ever
pleased, but I think that's a good thing. I think that keeps you from being
complacent. What we've basically gone through is a couple of different
things, where when I first came back we were really good. We had a marquis
player and then we lost that player. That year was a tough year, so we had
to try to just rebuild it again. Last year was kind of the first year to
start that process and we were very pleased with that. Now we've got to
build on that. I think our guys did a really good job in the Mid American
Conference season last year. Hopefully we'll do a better job in the
pre-conference this year, and then continue to improve as we go through the
MAC season." |
| |
| On finishing games better
this year |
| "I think we're doing a better
job of preparing for that and I think they're doing a better job of that. I
also think evaluated experiences are the best thing for you. When you're a
young team like we were a year ago - and I think we still are to some degree
- sometimes you actually have to go through it before you can have success.
I go back and I always watch the game from the year before to see how people
played us, what they did, and those types of things. You know, with a lot of
our guys, especially the guys that were freshmen that we relied on so
heavily last year, it's night and day as to where they were last year and
where they are right now. That's pleasing to see that they've improved so
much." |
| |
| Dennis Trammell |
| On Indiana State's
strengths |
| "They run their motion
offense well. They move a lot." |
| |
| On the rivalry and both
teams being better than they have been the last couple of years |
| "It seems like it's that way
with all of the Indiana teams. They are always games that you really, really
want to win no matter how the teams look or whatever." |
| |
| On the IUPUI game and
whether or not it was important that Ball State did not put IUPUI away |
| "We got the win, but you
always get mad about certain things about the game. You wish you could have
done better. Of course that's why we've got to get better. I really felt
that we should have blown them out, but you've just got to learn from what
you should have done." |
| |
| Landon Adler |
| On whether or not it is
weird going against his brother (Jerod, a senior on ISU's team) |
| "Yeah, I think it's really
pretty neat. I wish I could play, but obviously I'm not going to play
because of my foot injury. It's pretty neat. We never got to play each other
in high school and I always wanted to play him. I was hoping to get a
chance to play him, but too bad it didn't work out." |
| |
| On talking on the phone,
communicating regularly |
| "Oh, yeah, we talk a couple
of times a week. I talked to him last night." |
| |
| On whether or not there
has been any smack talk going on |
| "I think there would be if I
was playing." |
| |
| On how Jerod feels about
Indiana State's season thus far |
| "Yeah, they're five and two
and they're undefeated at home. They've got two big wins - they defeated
Butler last weekend." |
| |
| On his parents being
excited for the game |
| "Yeah, definitely. They're
coming down. A lot of people we know are coming down, so I got a couple of
the other guys' tickets that aren't using them. We'll have a good crowd from
home, so it will be fun. |
| |
| On his brother giving him
advice |
| "Yeah, definitely, he has;
just things to expect, that you can't prepare for everything, and different
things that I need to focus on." |
| |
| On red shirting being a
possibility |
| "Well, we haven't really
discussed it much. We were planning on waiting until after the surgery and
see how things came out. I have kind of a nagging foot pain, so we're still
going to wait it out, I guess. There's no rush." |
