Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Men's Basketball hosts Chicago State on Friday night
11/23/2011 | 12:00:00 | Men's Basketball
Nov. 23, 2011
By Tyler Wooten
SIUSalukis.com
CARBONDALE, Ill. - Southern Illinois will host Chicago State in a men's basketball non-conference game on Friday at 7:05 p.m. The Salukis have won all nine of the previous meetings between the schools.
Head coach Chris Lowery met with the media prior to his team's practice on Wednesday afternoon.
Q: "What does this team have to do Friday night to start off well?"
"I think it just comes down to us playing with a level of consistency, and I think we did that at Northeastern, just being extremely patient. I think that helped us get some things done, going through (Mamadou) Seck, and Seck really did a great job of distributing and finding the right people. He really got our young guys going. Right now (defenses) are concentrating on Seck, and honestly he did a good job of finding people."
Q: "Will we see more out of Josh (Swan)?"
"Definitely. But that was his first start, on the road - that's not where you want to have a true freshman start. We're just happy he only had one turnover when they pressed us. They did a lot of different things to us, which could have caused him to go kind of haywire. But he's got to be a little bit more aggressive, I think. I think he was a little passive at times when he should have been more aggressive."
Q: "What do you know about Chicago State?"
"We know they've played a lot of road games, they've played three road games and one home game. We know they play every zone imaginable. We know they're going to press, do a lot of different presses and a lot of different people are going to play. We know they have a kid that was in our league but transferred out and went JUCO, Jeremy Robinson, and he's a very talented big guy, so we know they have a really good scorer on the block."
Q: "Do you worry about Justin (Bocot)'s play?"
"Not really, because he's been phenomenal in practice. He's just got to relax. I think he's pressing more than any senior we've ever had to this point. He's really just trying to do too much. He's rushing and being speedy, and we just need him to be patient. His turnovers are high right now. He's not trying to make plays for himself, which we want him to do more than he has the last couple games."
Q: "Even if he doesn't have a great night scoring, can he (Bocot) help you in other ways too?"
"Yeah, I think he has. The one thing we are getting done is getting to the free throw line. We've shot many more free throws than our opponent. But, we have to make some shots from the perimeter. We've shown that we can get to the basket, but we have to make perimeter shots, and that starts with Justin. We're confident that he'll get going and really get back into a rhythm, because he's shooting the ball well in practice, he's playing very hard and he's doing all the things we need him to do, it just has to carry over into a game for him."
Q: "What do you have to do to get your transition offense going again?"
"We struggled against Saint Louis in transition and we struggled against Ohio Dominican. I thought against Northeastern we got some things accomplished. We were fouled a lot in transition. I think that was a good thing for us. When we did go to the basket we got fouled. Only having four turnovers in the second half was great because we did have some opportunities in transition the second half. What hurt us was half-court offense down the stretch, especially when Seck fouled out."
Q: "What do you think of Treg (Setty) coming off the bench?"
"Treg has played very well. Obviously, he's a guy who stepped his game up. He's been really the only freshman that has done well on both sides of the ball the whole time. So now he's rebounding better, and that was our biggest concern for him, to rebound the ball at a high clip, and I think he's starting to do that. I think he's shown that he can guard different people. He played a bunch of minutes, and those are going to continue as he continues to progress."
Q: "But you still like him (Setty) off the bench?"
"I'm not sure, I'm just not sure with him. It just depends whether Dantiel (Daniels) can play or not. He has a groin injury, and that's a part of why he's not played very much. Treg is probably going to move into the starting lineup, if that's what you're asking. But it's because of injury as opposed to play."
Q: "Do you think Dantiel will play at all?"
"We're not sure, he hasn't practiced yet. We're still going to hold him out again today and see how he feels the next day."
Q: "What do you foresee for T.J. Lindsay? Can he play the shooting guard spot?"
"That's where we're going to look at him, because Josh (Swan), obviously with one turnover in his last start, that's what we want to see until we get Kendal (Brown-Surles) back."
Q: "How important is getting that first win out of the way?"
"I think it's very important because you don't want them to get used to losing. It works both ways - you either get used to winning, or you get used to losing, and how you handle that is key. I think we've handled that very well and I think we've practiced hard. Our vision of where we want to go as a team hasn't changed, and their ability to listen hasn't changed either. Now we just have to execute and get some things done, and it starts with your seniors. They have to play well. We're putting a lot of pressure on them. Justin's been here five years, it's his turn to really be the go-to guy, and he needs to do that."
Q: "Is it frustrating that you're practicing hard but it's not paying off on the court?"
"We're playing hard on the court, I don't think that's an issue. We haven't won, that's the issue. We're playing hard. Justin Bocot is playing hard, he's just not playing well, and that's upsetting to him. As soon as he gets his confidence back in the games, I think you'll see us continue to get better, too."
Q: "Is the positive attitude still there that was at the start of the season?"
"Definitely, it is. We don't practice hard and come out here and bust our butt like we did yesterday if that wasn't the case. We're playing a lot of new guys, and they're learning on the fly. We have to continue to coach them and teach so when it comes time in January and February, we are getting better."
Q: "Can you talk about how Kourtney (Goff) came here?"
"He's a walk-on. He was at Olive Harvey in Chicago. He's as good a walk-on as we've ever had. To do what he did on the road, with no turnovers in the press and they're trying to get after him, not really knowing who he was on the scouting report, he's saved us, honestly, to this point. If we don't have him, we really struggle, especially with our situation with Kendal."
