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| Tim Buckley |
| On the match-up between
WSU's DeShaun Wood and BSU's Peyton Stovall being a match-up between two of
the best point guards in the country that not that many people have heard
about |
| "I thought it was a very good
match-up. I think they're both very good players. I think both of them
improved tremendously over the summer in the areas that they needed to. I
thought both of them did a pretty good job of controlling the tempo of the
game for their teams. I think there were times where we got the better of
that match-up, then there were other times where they did a good job with
that match-up as well." |
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| On grading out his team's
defense versus Wright State |
| "The thing I was most
impressed with the team was that when the ball wasn't going in the basket we
continued to defend. I think sometimes what happens when you don't put the
ball in the basket is you lose a little bit of your defensive edge. This
team hasn't done that, and that's what we've got to continue to hang our hat
on. What I would like to see us do a better job of, though, was win the
rebounding battle. And, obviously, we're going to have to do that on
Saturday to have success." |
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| On what it will take to
get ready for Miami |
| "Miami has a good basketball
team and we have a good basketball team. I think that it's a great match-up
for an early season game. You've got to kind of change your focus a little
bit, because the intensity of Mid American Conference games is always at
peak levels, and we've got to be prepared for that." |
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| On perhaps starting a
winning streak at Miami's Millett Hall |
| "I don't think we ever had
the pressure (of the 11 game losing streak at Miami prior to last year). I
didn't start the streak. I don't believe in that kind of stuff. I think
every year is a new year, every team is a different team, and I think you
have to go down there and play. I think in the last four years that I was a
part of it as a head coach, we either had the lead or had a chance to win
the game in the last couple of minutes. The team that ended up winning made
the plays at the end of the game. That happened in our favor last year, and
it happened in Miami's favor the three years prior to that. It's always a
very intense and heated battle and a good game." |
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| On Miami being a bit of a
different team this year |
| "Yeah, I think they run a
little bit more. I think they're shooting the basketball very well from the
perimeter right now. I think one of the things that helps that is their big
people can shoot the three. Monty St. Clair and Nathan Peavy are both big
guys who can step out and make three-point shots. And, you know, three-point
baskets are back breakers - especially when you have big guys who can do
that and you have top send your big guys out on the perimeter to defend
where maybe they're not as comfortable. I think that can make it tough for
you, but I do think that's an area of strength for our post guys - to get
out and defend on the perimeter." |
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| On defending the
three-point shot against Miami |
| "I think what you have to do
is you have to be aware of personnel. When you get into MAC play, everybody
knows each other so well that you've got to be able to take advantage of
what you feel are strengths, personnel-wise, and you've got to try to take
advantage of the things that maybe aren't the other team's strengths. It's
about guys making plays in league play, because everybody knows each other
so well. So if there are guys that are three-point shooters, you've got to
run them off the three-point line. You can't allow them to get set, get
square, and shoot the ball. And if they're making them, you hope that you're
there before they catch the ball and make it tough shots and they're
challenged. What we always try to evaluate whether it's our team or the
other team is how are the shots being manufactured? If they're open, easy
threes, then it's poor defense. If they're taking tough threes and they're
still going in, then you've got to tip your hat to them." |
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| On Anthony Kent being able
to go out and defend the three-point shot |
| "I think it should (help).
The one thing that you can get caught up in - I think your defense is always
only as good as your big guys' help, and I think that our big guys have
given us great help this year - is when you play a team like Miami, you
can't over help, because when they drive you leave and go help and they kick
it to their big guys and shoot the basketball. So you've got to do a good
job of stunting and trying to be in the gaps before they can drive the
ball." |
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| On his happiness was
Stovall's level of play |
| "As a tough grader, I'll tell
you that I'll be pleased at the banquet. How's that? There's always room for
improvement. As we've talked about, he's spearheaded the offense, he's
spearheaded the defense, and he's got to continue to do that. I think his
length really helps him as a defender and it allows him to put pressure on
the basketball without being too close and getting beaten off the dribble.
But he's got to continue to become and even better away from the ball
defender, because he's a very good on the ball defender. We need him to
shoot the gaps a little bit more, be in the right spot. And those are areas
that he is going to continue to get better. We forget, you know, that he's
three games into his sophomore year. He's still learning and he's still
growing as a player and as a person." |
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| On Stovall's recent
shooting hot streak |
| "Yeah, I hope it's not
streakiness. I hope it's consistency. He's getting good shots. He's taking
good shots. And I think his teammates deserve a lot of credit for either
getting him open or getting him the ball." |
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| On Stovall being the first
to really show results from the summer of shooting drills |
| "I think they all have. I
think we've also played against some really good defensive teams. Kentucky
always has a great defensive team. Detroit has been known for its great
defense. And then Wright State is one of those teams that can force you into
taking jump shots that aren't in rhythm. I think we made big shots when we
needed to make them. You know, you look at Dennis last night and you say,
'boy, Dennis didn't shoot the ball very well.' Dennis made some big shots. I
think sometimes that's more important than just making shots. He had a
couple of shots in the lane that I thought really turned the balance of the
game when we needed it to." |
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| On Miami on the road being
perhaps a bigger test than the last two games |
| "No, I'll be honest with you,
I think Detroit at Detroit, who was 38 and one going into that game in non
conference games, was a test. I think that Wright State was a test in that
it was a very MAC-like game. And then this just happens to be the next game.
This is a tough schedule. I think people on the outside look at it and say,
'you should beat Detroit, you should beat Wright State.' No, you shouldn't.
I think those are games that are kind of, flip a coin and say whatever team
plays better that night can win. I think we were able to do that on those
two nights and we've got to continue to do that. We've also got to continue
to seek improvement. I think that is what our program has been based on, and
I think we're seeing that right now." |
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| On not finishing around
the basket |
| "Well, I think that falls on
our coaching staff in that we've just got to keep working with our big guys
on gathering. I don't think it was the shots that (Chapman) was taking. I
think it was more about coming and setting and putting the ball in. I think
what happens sometimes is when you play against teams like Kentucky and
Detroit, you have a great awareness for the shot blockers. So you have a
tendency to maybe rush your shot or not take a good shot. We call it
gathering - where you get your balance, then you explode and take it up. We
thought all of our shots around the basket (in the Wright State game) in the
first half were shots where we didn't gather and finish the way we needed
to. But then when we talked about it at halftime and re-emphasized it, I
thought they did a great job of it in the second half. Terrance finished a
couple, and also got to the free throw line. That's what I like about this
group. They make adjustments and they make themselves better." |
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| On the team's free throw
production in the second half of the Wright State game |
| "I think we've got to strive
to get there more often, because I think the free throw is the most
efficient play in basketball. I think on the average you average 1.5 points
per possession if you get to the free throw line, which is probably the most
efficient of all the shots on a consistent basis when you look at the
statistics. We've got to keep doing that. We've got good free throw
shooters." |
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| On the crowd for the
Wright State game |
| "The one thing I would really
like to say is that the atmosphere in here (against Wright State), in my
opinion, was outstanding. I think our game events people, headed up by Chris
Taylor, has done an outstanding job with that. The student section was
unbelievable. I think that thing needs to keep growing and getting better. I
think they were as big a key to the game as Peyton Stovall was, because when
you create that kind of atmosphere it makes it for a fun place to be and it
gets the players excited about it. I've gotten several emails today from
students who are going to go down to Miami. They said they're taking 15 and
it's going to seem like 50. So that's the kind of atmosphere that we want to
continue to try to generate. This is their basketball team and we want them
to feel like they're a big part of it. And they certainly are a part of our
success." |
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| Dennis Trammell |
| On the Wright State win |
| "Well, it was a big win. It
wasn't pretty like we wanted it to be, but it's a win so we'll take it." |
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| On the team's defensive
efforts |
| "That's all of our emphasis
right now. If we don't play defense, we can't win games. I mean all the
emphasis is on defense. Shut people down, hold them under 40 percent, out
rebound them, things like that." |
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| On whether or not the
Wright State game was a type of game that the team wouldn't have won last
year |
| "I wouldn't say we wouldn't,
but it would have been tough. I don't want to say that we probably wouldn't
have won it, but it would have been tough to win a game like that they way
we played offensively. It probably would have been real tough to win a game
like that." |
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| On how difficult it is to
play at Miami |
| "To me it's like any other
game. You approach it as any other game. The atmosphere is like any other
atmosphere. It's just another game." |
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| On shooting the ball well
despite focusing on defense |
| "All summer we were working
on our shooting. We know we're going to make shots. It takes a group of
people to play defense. That's what we need to focus on - defense. That's
not easy to do."
"It's good. That's what we want to do - make shots. Every time I shoot
the ball I think it's going in. He's (Peyton Stovall) smooth. It's crazy. He
shot like 80 percent from the field against Wright State. That's awesome." |
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| On Peyton Stovall this
year versus last year |
| "He's much more comfortable.
He gets us together. He leads a lot more. He understands the game a lot
more. In certain situations he knows what to do and what not to do. He's all
around just gotten better." |
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| On the passion being back
after the Detroit game |
| "Yeah, we came back.
Sometimes it's tough. I guess guys get really tired and they don't feel
upbeat. We always come out and work hard every day. If we have that passion
and that enthusiasm, I think we can be unstoppable." |
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| On Skip Mills having an
off game against Wright State |
| "Oh for four, I mean that's
not a lot of shots, to be honest. That's what I'm going to tell him - that's
not a lot of shots. Oh for four is nothing. You could hit like two shots and
be around 40 percent. It's just a bad game. It's nothing. You just bounce
back from it. He'll be alright." |
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| On Terrance Chapman
struggling from the field |
| "You've just got to tell him
to keep going at it. You're missing bunnies like that, it means you're
getting good shots. You've just got to keep going at it." |
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| On the Miami game being a
good gauge as to where the team is |
| "Yeah, I think it is, because
Miami is a good team. They're very respectable year in and year out." |
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| On defending the
three-point shot against Miami |
| "Talking on defense. We've
got to communicate. We've got to defend every shot they shoot. If you're
giving up wide open shots - anybody in college basketball can knock that
down. We've got to make sure there's a hand in their face every time. We've
got to make them work for it too." |
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| On taking more pride on
defense than offense |
| "Yeah, we take a lot of pride
in that. We take a lot of pride in shutting people down. That's what we do.
We make teams work. Even if they do score, it's how they score. We want to
make them work for it." |
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| On the full court press |
| "Our main focus there is to
make them feel us. We want them to feel us from when they throw the ball in
to when they leave the court. That probably bothered (Wright State) a little
bit." |
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| On McCurdy, Kidd, and
Nichols speaking to the team and their focus on defense |
| "Guys like that say it can be
done, we know it can happen. That's what they were. That's what type of team
they were. Now we know and we've just got to carry it out." |
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| On who the best defender
is on the team in practice right now |
| "Right now I think Terrance
is, because not only does he guard his man, but he helps out on everybody
else. I think Terrance is probably that guy." |
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| On defending WSU's DeShaun
Wood |
| "He's a good player. A lot of
what he was showing last night I didn't see last year, so I think he's very
improved. He's got a lot of stuff to his game." |
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| On the team's goals for
Saturday at Miami |
| "Win. That's all we want, is
to win." |
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| Peyton Stovall |
| On his hot shooting the
last two games and shooting so much over the summer |
| "We definitely did a lot of
shooting over the summer. It's paying off right now, but we've got to keep
working, working on our shot, you know. We can't be satisfied with anything
we do." |
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| On making some key shots
in the Wright State game |
| Yeah, I kind of felt that I
wanted to show coach that when it comes down to the last second shot, I want
to be one of the guys up there. You know Dennis and Terrance, those are the
big shot takers as well. I kind of wanted to show him that I'm capable of
taking that shot as well. We came down to a situation where we had to get a
good shot off, and I for tried to do that for us. I think that's what I'm
doing better than I did last year. I'm not nervous out there. I'm playing a
lot more comfortable than I was last year. That has really helped me a lot." |
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| On Coach Buckley's
confidence in him to let him call him off of a play |
| "Just knowing that coach has
confidence in me and making the plays, being the floor general out there,
you know, that gives me a lot of confidence as a player and as a co leader
of the team. He called a play and I called another one. He let me go - he
let me have my play, and my confidence just boosted a whole bunch after
that." |
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| On preparing for Miami |
| "We've just got to continue
to come out and not change anything that we're doing. We just want to
continue to practice hard and play great defense in practice and not get too
excited about being two and one, because right now that means nothing. When
we get into conference play the intensity is going to step up even more." |
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| On whether or not the good
practices are translating to the games |
| "Definitely. At times I saw
us practicing out there. I saw the red team and the white team during
practice - guys just getting right after each other and just thirsty to play
out there. We've got to be like that 40 minutes every game." |
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| On the Ball State/ Miami
rivalry |
| "It's a great rivalry. Since
I've been here I've played them three times, but when we went to their place
and beat them at their place I didn't really understand what it meant at
first. But being here and being around the guys I've definitely learned that
this rivalry is a lot different than any other one I've ever been a part of.
We've got to go out there and play really well and play as a team." |
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| On his hot shooting the
last two games |
| "Just a lot of confidence. My
teammates have that kind of confidence. They feel if they get in a position
where they can't shoot it or they can't get to the basket, they kick it out
to me and I'll hit a jump shot for them. I feel the same way about them. If
I can't get to the basket and I kick it out, I know that one of my
teammates is there and down and ready to shoot and ready to knock that shot
down. That's the thing that we have in each other - just a lot of
confidence." |
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| On perhaps expecting more
defensive pressure on him at Miami |
| "Not really. (Coach Buckley)
says every time we come out and play great defense, whether it's the worst
tem in the NCAA or the best team in the NCAA, he expects us to come out the
same way and with the same intensity and the same mindset." |
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| On defending Miami's
shooters |
| "Just like any other team,
you know, they can shoot deep, so we have to get a shot challenge up and
just play great team defense. You know, have a team picture every time they
drive to the basket or shoot a three." |
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| On wanting to stop a
certain player |
| "I think I really want
everybody on the team really, because they knocked us out of the (MAC)
tournament last year. We've got some things to do with them when we go over
there, so I'm excited about that." |
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| On his sister joining him
at Ball State next year |
| "My baby sister, she's coming
to Ball State to run track. I'm excited to get her down here - it's somebody
else to hang out with and beat up on at the same time. I kind of went both
ways." |
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