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| Tim Buckley |
| On Terrance Chapman and Levi Rost's standing as being the most improved players in the MAC: |
| "I would say they both would be at or near the top. Not having seen all of the other team in the league, of the ones that I've seen on a daily basis and the one I've seen in preparing for Western Michigan, I would definitely say those two." |
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| On Terrance Chapman's play: |
| "I think his mentality has been very good as far as his focus, his ability to eliminate distractions and maybe things that bothered him in the past, and I think he's had more of an attack type of mentality. The other thing is I think he has even more room for improvement and growth, and we continue to see that." |
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| On Chapman being more confident and feeling more comfortable in his surroundings: |
| "I think that always helps. I think that this is also really the first time that he's been with the same coach in the same program for two years in a row, at least in his college career, so I think the consistency really helps." |
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| On Levi Rost: |
| "He's obviously getting more minutes than he got a year ago. I think he is better off the dribble this year and he's better at trying to do the things that people would try to take away from him, like rolling himself into the post and trying to post guys up. He isn't just that guy that comes in off the bench and knocks down that three point shot. He's doing that as well as doing some of the other things. I would say (that he is more of a complete player). It seems to me that he is showing more athleticism and more of an ability to get out and run the floor." |
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| On Western Michigan: |
| "I think they have consistency of effort and consistency of bench play - probably more so than any other team in our league. I think they understand and they buy into their role and I don't think they beat themselves. However, I would not have picked Western Michigan to finish third in the division with two potential all-conference players. So I think sometimes what gets looked at is because of where they were picked, everyone thinks, 'ooh, wow, look at how great they are.' No, they were great last year. They won 26 games and they still have a lot of those guys returning. So I think the champ is the champ until the champ is beaten." |
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| On Western
Michigan being good at home: |
| "Oh, they're very good. Their fans are really into the games. I think they bring them energy and emotion. I think they both feed off of each other." |
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| On the home court being something that elevates teams: |
| "I think it does, but I don't think it should have to. You're still the same guy whether you're on your home court or somebody else's, but I don't think that's always the case. I think you transform yourself into something different when you're at home and when you're on the road, and it shouldn't have anything to do with the building, it should have everything to do with your ability to play the game." |
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| On how the coaching staff approaches playing at a place like WMU considering the home court winning streak: |
| "I don't think it's an issue. Obviously we know they're good. They know they're good. They play well at home and so do we. I don't think it's anything that you have to address or talk about. A few years ago we went to Western Kentucky when they had the longest or second longest in the nation, and we played pretty well there with an undermanned team. I think it's irrelevant as far as it's that day, that time, and it's time to go play. All of that stuff has nothing to do with why you win or why your lose." |
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| On the Cardinals: |
| "I think this group comes to play every night. The biggest thing is the consistency of it, and not having a letdown when you go to the bench or when you go to the half or when you come out of a time out and staying at that level. I think when you've got some younger guys that are really key for you that's what you have to continue to try to teach and try to build with in order to have a championship type level of program. And, obviously, that's something we've been building for the last couple of years. There are steps to building a championship level program and you don't skip steps to get there. Obviously this is one of the steps we're building to, is to play with that consistency of passion and effort and that fire, if you will." |
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| On the best road players he has ever coached: |
| "Michael Finley, Tracy Webster, Mickey Hosier. I thought Bonzi had it. I thought Theron was very good at that. Patrick Jackson." |
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| On Ball
State's play on the road: |
| "I think this group, collectively, over the past year, has gone on the road and played well. At times we've
won, and at times we haven't been able to get it done. I think, again, it's to get it to the point where you're going to go play well and get it done at the same time. I think we're building to that - no question. But I think we still have some guys who are inexperienced and new who need to go through some experiences in order to get to that point." |
