Chris Lowery press conference transcript

Nov. 25, 2009

By Adam Longueville
www.SIUSalukis.com

CARBONDALE, Ill. - Saluki men's basketball head coach Chris Lowery answered questions from the media before Wednesday's practice. SIU hosts UIC at 7 p.m. on Saturday.

What are your impressions of UIC?
They still have a lot of good players. They're big and have 20 people on their roster. At some point, all of them are going to play. Obviously, Robo Kreps and Jeremy Buttell are their best players, so containing those guys and not allowing open three attempts will be big.

Can you compare Saturday's effort against UNLV to your other two games this year?
We had to guard better, and we didn't in the second half. Twenty-nine points and seven rebounds from our starting guards is great, but 4-for-19 from 3-point is not good. That was the difference in the game. They shot too many of them, and they shot bad ones. We were very impatient from the guard spot. We had our opportunities, stealing the ball twice, down five, between 1:30 and 1:00. We didn't even get a shot up. We fell down once and turned the ball over another time. Our effort and intensity were there, but we didn't play smart. We knew we were in position to win that game, and they couldn't get away from us, but it was about our poise. That was the main thing we talked about the whole week, we had to have the poise to win that game.

The team got out to a pretty big lead early against UNLV. What was the difference between the first half and second half defensively?
Number one, we didn't have a rotation. Carlton and Nick played too many minutes, and John couldn't go from the 7:00 minute mark down, because he pulled his hamstring again. So that limited us to just playing Carlton and Nick, which was way too much. We need to sub-in for those guys. They exploited us in that big run, when their two bigs probably scored eight or nine in a row for them. They're good, but we still had the opportunity and held the upper hand.

What is Anthony Booker's and John Freeman's status?
Neither of them are practicing, but Kevin Dillard and Carlton Fay are practicing. All four of those guys sat out the two days prior to the game. We didn't use it as an excuse. We went and played and still had a chance to win. We felt if John Freeman is healthy, he plays 30 minutes, and we win the game. In the first half, he was such a dominant force for us, and he just couldn't do it in the second half.

Do you think Kendal's and John's effort off the bench in the first half was the difference maker?
Our bench was great the whole game. Kendal didn't have any turnovers, which is impressive for any freshman point guard. John is obviously a very good talent, and not having his deceptive quickness and the stuff he does well at full strength hurt us, because he can guard different guys. We wanted to play him as a four against Stanback late, but we couldn't use him.

When healthy, what do you need to get out of Anthony Booker?
We need to have a consistent effort. Right now, Nick is our best big. Carlton has made tremendous strides, as long as Gene doesn't fall on him like he did the first time he dove after a loose ball. We had some unfortunate things happen, like going on the road a little short-handed. I also think some of our younger guys were worried about going in, but they played very well in a hostile environment.

Jack Crowder has been up and down a little bit. What do you expect from him this year?
He's your typical JUCO player. He's tremendously talented, doesn't always know what to do, but he's also had a great week of practice so far. When you have guys that are good players and good kids at the same time, it helps. We sat down and talked to him, and he wanted to know what he needed to do to get on the floor more. We told him, and the last two days of practice, he's done it. That's when you know you have a good kid that's going to continue to get better. He made some tremendous mistakes when he was in, but never wavered and was a good teammate. That's what you want as a coach. You want kids that will ask Coach what they need to do to get better. So we're happy with where Jack is mentally, and now we need to see it on the floor.

Carlton has been coming off the bench. How has he embraced that?
When we bring Carlton off the bench, we have three guys who can get double figures in the game coming off the bench with him -- John and Kendal. So we have some offensive firepower coming off the bench. And if you look, you'll see how good John and Kendal played, especially in the first half. Those two guys really dominated, and helped us get that big lead. Carlton isn't really a bench guy, he's a starter. But the big thing with Carlton is not getting him into foul trouble. His first year, he was prone to foul trouble and fouling out. His second year, it weighed on him. He got going in the early on, but in December and January, he had two fouls in the first half in every game. Keeping him fresh and out of foul trouble will be very important to us.

UIC recently lost a close one to Illinois State and has lost their previous game to that. Does that make them extra dangerous coming into the arena?
It really does. They're kind of like a wounded animal. They lost that last one at home, and they feel like they need to come in here and win to turn around their season. But for us, we need to make sure we play hard and play smart. It's okay to take some of the threes we took at home, but on the road, we need to grind people out and be a lot more patient with our offensive sets.

What kind of improvements do you think you've made this week defensively?
It's not so much improvements, but we are more disciplined. We gambled and tried to steal too many balls with our athleticism, which led to lay-ups and breakaways.

What are you thankful for this Thanksgiving?
I'm thankful for my family, which includes my basketball family too. Having the opportunity to be the head basketball coach at Southern Illinois is something I'm thankful for every day. I'm also thankful that my kids are healthy and my players have a place to go to have Thanksgiving. We're staying here. Their families don't get to see them, but we're thankful they're here.

How has Kevin Dillard improved this year?
He was a little dinged up when we went to Vegas. His shots were short, and we probably played him too many minutes. But when Kendal got into foul trouble, we had to play him. We wanted to rest him a lot longer than we did, but Kendal's foul situation really dictated us putting him back in the game so soon. But Kevin's going to be fine. He understands as he goes, we go. I don't know if he is the best player on our team right now, but he is the most important. He has to drive us on both sides of the ball, and his demeanor reflects the team's demeanor. He's also a lot stronger. He can take more bumps and can play more minutes without being fatigued. He's obviously a scorer. He can shoot the ball. His playmaking has definitely gotten better. His playmaking skills have improved a ton, with him wanting to make sure everyone else is happy.

He can contribute a lot without scoring the ball can't he?
With this group, definitely. We don't need him to score 20, we need him to facilitate. Another big thing is that we have Kendal, who can step in and do that job, too. That's why we got up big in the middle of the first half against UNLV.

Carlton is one of the older guys. Has he stepped up into a leadership role?
Carlton leads by example. He's got such a deep voice, it's hard to hear him all the time. He just has to do things. He came up the right way, with Matt and Randal, so obviously he knows what playing hard is about after seeing it with them every day for a full year. He's got to continue to grow up and play with more consistency. He can't be Mr. November, but then in December, January and February be a no-show. Hopefully, him coming off the bench early will improve his strength later on.