Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Chris Lowery press conference transcript
12/02/2009 | 12:00:00 | Men's Basketball
Dec. 2, 2009
By Tyler Wooten
www.SIUSalukis.com
CARBONDALE, Ill. - Saluki men's basketball head coach Chris Lowery answered questions from the media before Wednesday's practice. SIU plays at Saint Louis at 7 p.m. on Saturday.
Q: "How have practices gone this week?"
"We're making progress, but it's still early on, we don't play until Saturday. Each day is a continuous process to learn more about your team. With this group, we're continuously learning about some of our guys. We have three guys out right now, so it's giving other guys a chance in practice to really work."
Q: "Having a break like this -- do you feel that it's been good for your group, with 10 newcomers and introducing them to the system?"
"It's been great for our guys. We did it on purpose, just so we knew what we needed to work at. We learned from mistakes last year -- having so many new guys but never being here in the first three weeks of the season. We really just focused on getting better and having our guys around, and working on them to know the system before conference play starts."
Q: "Could you talk a little about Willie Reed and what Saint Louis' frontcourt does to people?""
"Willie Reed is a tremendous talent. He's averaging a double-double. He had 20-and-15 against Notre Dame. We just have to make sure we keep him in the game a lot. When he plays longer periods of time, you can wear him down. But if he's fresh and playing well, obviously he's tough to deal with. We have to use our four guys against their two. He (Reed) and (Brian) Conklin are the two guys that man the floor and do a lot of stuff for them on both sides of the ball. We just feel our four big guys have to be aggressive down low and on both sides of the ball."
Q: "You've rebounded well, but how well will you have to rebound this weekend?""
"We have to rebound at a high level, because those two guys are special rebounders (Reed and Conklin). Willie Reed is a pro-potential player, and he's only a sophomore. We have to rebound well, we have to play tough, and we have to play physical. Coach (Rick) Majerus is going to have them ready to play."
Q: "Could you talk about the rivalry with Saint Louis?""
"It's great for us. It's a regional rivalry, and an old rivalry. I played in it. Having those guys to play every year is great for us. It's a short trip, and it's great for both fan bases, since we have so many Saint Louis alumni and fans on the Metro-East side."
Q: "Could you update us on the three (injured) guys? Justin's (Bocot) eye and John's (Freeman) hamstring...""
"And (Tony) Freeman's calf. Justin is going to put goggles on, but he's still not going to practice. He's still got some swelling and some blurry vision, so he's still out until at least Thursday. With John, we're going day-by-day to see whether or not he can play. And with Tony, we're just precautionary. It's from the stress fracture he had when he was at Iowa. We're just precautionary with him. We don't want him to overcompensate and have another injury."
Q: "Kevin (Dillard) shot pretty well from the 3-point line last year. Do you think that will come back?""
"Right now, we don't need him to be, we have other guys that can shoot the basketball. Kevin is doing some things that he's never done in his career, and that's guard the ball much better than last year, and he's doing a much better job of playmaking. He's going to hit open shots. Right now, he's still getting the best defender on him. He's learning to deal with it and defer when he needs to."
Q: "Do you think people still have him ahead of Carlton (Fay) on the scouting chart?""
"Well, he's a guard and Carlton is a big. The guy that guards Carlton can't guard Kevin--it's a different matchup. Having two guys that are the focal point for the other team is good for us, because we have other guys that can make plays."
Q: "Is this a road test for you?"
"Yeah, it's another road game for us, and we're going to see the improvements we've made. We're thinking that we're getting better with each game. They have to have practice time and be put in key situations in practice in order to be successful in a game. I think that is where we really struggled last year. We had so many game situations where we struggled, where we hadn't worked at in practice. And now, we feel comfortable leading up to the games, since we have so much time to prepare."
Q: "Could you talk about Nick's (Evans) game this year?""
"He needs more court time. I think he was starting to take off (last year), and then he gets hurt and misses six weeks. Obviously, he's bigger and stronger, and he has a high level of confidence that he's playing with right now. We want to see him rebound at a higher point--which I think he will with added playing time and him gaining more experience. He's got to continue to keep himself on the floor without fouling and make layups and plays close to the rim."
Q: "You probably guessed that he (Evans) would take a few months or years to get used to the college system. Do you think he's ahead of schedule?""
"When we recruited him, we never said he was a project, because he's an athlete. Projects are guys who are slower and bigger. We never said that about him -- we just said he needed experience in the game. Once he gained experience and worked hard, we knew he'd get better. We didn't know when it would be, but we knew we had to get him to a level where he could get in the games."
Q: "He said the game has slowed down for him -- do you agree?""
"For him to be on the floor as much as he has, it has to. He's big, and he plays so hard. He used to foul and miss layups and not catch balls, but now he's really doing a good job of what we ask him to do. That's the key with any young player you have that has had success -- they have to do what you ask them first, and figure out the rest on the fly."
Q: "Do you like what the bench is bringing you so far?""
"I think we're getting 35 points a game from the bench. Obviously, Carlton is a starter, and being able to bring in Kendal (Brown-Surles) and John Freeman off of the bench as well. Eugene (Teague) is going to get better, and he's a threat every time -- you have to guard him down there, you can't take a break on him. Jack (Crowder) is still learning what it means to be a Division I player. We feel we have five guys that can get us 10 points in a game at any time. We just have to continue to develop and show a level of confidence in them."
Q: "Gene (Teague) has been hampered by foul trouble. But when he isn't, he looks really effective. Do you think he could have a big game if he's able to stay out of foul trouble?""
"Some of it has been foul trouble, but some of it has not. People that have to guard him have to fight him. If you allow him to establish post presence, he's going to score on anybody, it doesn't matter who it is. I think the last couple of games, people have tried to make him catch it out a little bit further, and he got double-teamed every time he caught the ball. He had two turnovers against UIC, because they respected him enough to know that their guys couldn't guard him one-on-one. And, he's a freshman, so they went after him more than any of our other guys. That was good to see, and we told him, `people respect you already, and you've only played four games, and they're trying to double-team you already.'"
Q: "Coach, could you talk a little bit about Jordan Meyers and what he brings to the SIU program?""
"Jordan is a terrific shooter. If you come and watch practice, he can really shoot the basketball, and he has a high basketball IQ. He's very smart ,and he really understands how to play. We wanted to make sure he got his body better, but he's going to be a really good player for us. He's already dropped a bunch of weight, and he's already established himself in practice that if he's anywhere near open, he's going to make the play. He's a `down-the-road-guy' and we know he's going to get better. That's why he came here. He had some other opportunities to go elsewhere, but he wanted to come where we would push him and make sure he got better each year."
