Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Chris Lowery media day transcript
10/13/2011 | 12:00:00 | Men's Basketball
Oct. 13, 2011
By Logan Lee
SIUSalukis.com
CARBONDALE, Ill. - Saluki men's basketball coach Chris Lowery fielded questions from the media during Thursday's annual Media Day at the John Paul Cook Club on the campus of Southern Illinois University.
Q: I was intrigued by your description of Jeff Early as "unorthodox". What do you mean by that?
A: Sometimes Jeff does things like LaMar Owen did them. Sometimes Lamar didn't look to the prettiest, but the results were always extremely positive. Sometimes Jeff may look like he's going to fall down and then the next second he's dunking the basketball. He's just one of those players that gets stuff done and you ask yourself "how did he do that? or "how did he even get that point to have success on that play?". He's just a natural athlete and that's probably the biggest thing to his advantage.
Q: With all of the newcomers, what goals have you guys set as a team this year and how do you measure progress?
A: In June I laid out the first 16 days of practice before we played our first game. As of yesterday we had to tear it up because we were ahead of where we needed to be. That's a direct reflection of them, not me. They've been able to grasp everything at a quicker rate and for us to be able to give them stuff ASAP. Not now but right now, and that's the approach we've had with them and that's why it was easy to say that we don't need to work on some things because we're already passed it. It's because of how hard they've worked and where they've been mentally. When you're able to teach someone who's a willing learner it makes it really easy for them to get stuff fast and move on to the next thing.
Q: What kind of group are we going to see on the court?
A: Come watch us play. That's all I'm going to say. I'm not going to predict anything or make any promises. Just come watch us play because that's the way that people will learn about these guys and who they are. That is how we've made the approach with them.
Q: What have you guys done differently over the summer and in workouts?
A: I didn't try anything different, we just did what we needed to do. Everybody had something they were asked to do and they did it. Anytime you have adversity and you move forward it has to be positive. Coach (Ron) Smith has been saying every day that there are no bad days despite the storm and what was going on at the time. We didn't have bad days. We moved forward, we got the guys to do what we needed to do, and then in recruiting, whoever we wanted is who we got, At the time we were recruiting, a lot of negative things were swirling around here and our competitors were using it against us, from our own outlets, so for us to be able to convince somebody's parents to send them here was important. That's because of the sell of those guys. Those guys saying that it's not what it seems. Those guys saying to come see it for yourself. When they saw what this building was like and they saw the atmosphere from our athletic department it was different for them. They recognize that we want to get this thing back to where it was and that's what you'll hear those kids say.
Q: Is it possible that Kendal (Brown-Surles) could miss time due to his academics?
A: It is possible but it's also possible that he won't. That's not for me to talk about and it's something that needs to be addressed. It will definitely come out, I think, by November 1.
Q: You talked about your guards not scoring in double figures for the first time in a long time. Who do you think is most likely to be the scorer?
A: I think that all of them can get double figures in a game. Looking back, we didn't know who could do that last year. Different guys bring different things to our team. If you look at a speed level, T.J. (Lindsay) can get a lot of stuff done from a speed standpoint. Jeff (Early) is going to find a way to get stuff done. Diamond (Taylor) is going to be an improved scorer because of the fact that when you sit out a year and a half, it can kind of mess with you. The only things he was really good at were defending and rebounding, which he had never done well in his life. Now you're going to see him do better on both sides of the ball. Justin Bocot is going to have a good senior year. With him being a senior in his fifth year he understands what we need from him. Kendal has a chance to do the same.
Q: Besides Mamadou (Seck) are any of the starting spots cemented right now or are they all up for grabs?
A: Well Mamadou will tell you himself that he's not starting and that he's going to earn it. If you don't want to get him mad, don't ask him that. He's like everybody else, but he's going to work harder, and that's his approach. He's a humble guy but he's also a passionate guy which is what makes him what he is. He's a good player, he's a hard-nosed player, and how he plays is going to be how we play.
You never know with the other guys. Even with our good teams we changed our lineups. You never know with injuries or who is going to get better or who is going to react to coaching live. We don't have them very much so it's hard to say.
Q: Do you feel like the players feel pressure to win?
A: I think they want to be good, so I don't think there's pressure there. We have all these new guys coming in saying the same thing. When you recruit people a certain way and you show them what it used to be like, they are amazed and want to get it back to that way. They don't have any pressure when you talk and show them film on how hard we've played as opposed to how hard we haven't played. Some of it's recruiting and some of it's not. We've had some really talented players leave here that couldn't do the stuff that made us champions. These guys are willing to do the stuff that made us champions this far.
Q: Does the coaching staff feel any pressure to win this year?
A: There's pressure to win every year. I don't think it's pressure, I'm a little upset because of the understanding of what the staff can do and what I can do. We definitely want to win.
Q: Do you think it's more important than ever to get off to a good start to keep your fans or win back the ones you may have lost the last few seasons?
A: That's why we're saying to come watch us and decide from there. You'll see the effort immediately and it won't be fake and it won't be for one game and it won't be when you're feeling good. We haven't had anybody miss. Everyone has been at everything they're supposed to be at in conditioning, no injuries, no misses, no excuses, so that's a good sign that we can build on. I'm sure not everybody has felt good every day or that everybody has been healthy every day, but they've done the work. So come see.
Q: Is there something that excites you the most about this group?
A: That they're doing what we ask them. We went through conditioning without talking to a parent, or begging someone to get through it. This group has been fantastic as far as that is concerned. We're excited about getting them on the floor because we think we can coach them without holding them back.
Q: Have you noticed better chemistry with them?
A: That's a question you should ask them. I haven't spent a lot of time with them because of rules and things, but all I know is that when they're together that they are laughing, so that's a good sign.
Q: You mentioned Brown-Surles and Lindsay as point guards. Is there anyone else that can handle the ball?
A: You'll see Mamadou even handle the ball because he can. That's something we should have done earlier but we needed him to do a lot of other things, too. Mamadou will handle the ball more because he can. We wanted to get back to this way because then we can really attack different ways offensively and defensively without saying he's this and he's that. Everybody is good at what we do.
Q: What do you think about the league this year?
A: I think the league will be good and better. One thing with us is that we've been out recruiting and to jamborees and I'll have to call these guys and tell them that I like our team, meaning that the guy we were going to recruit and see wasn't as good as the guys we have. That's a good feeling to say that we like our team.
Q: WIll Diamond Taylor be able to practice?
A: All of his punishments have been handled internally. With him, it's still day-to-day but social discipline is important to me. If you look at our track record I've suspended more players than anybody, even good players, but that's the way it's got to be. You have to always do the right things regardless of if you're a good player or not.
