Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Men's Basketball hosts Indiana State on Wednesday night
02/15/2011 | 12:00:00 | Men's Basketball
Feb. 15, 2011
By Tim McGaughan
SIUSalukis.com
CARBONDALE, Ill. - Southern Illinois (11-15, 5-10) will host Indiana State (14-12, 9-6) at 7:05 p.m. on Wednesday at SIU Arena.
Head coach Chris Lowery met with the media before Tuesday's practice.
Wichita State was a pretty deep team. Does Indiana States depth comparable to them?
"Wichita is obviously a different animal. They are the deepest team in the league by far. We don't know a lot about Indiana State. I've never played a team this late in the year for the first time. Watching them on tape, they had some guys injured earlier in the league, and now those guys are back. We don't know if Jake Kelly will play. He hasn't played the last three games, so he's injured again. Their young guys, the new guys are the ones really playing well down the stretch."
What kind of a game changer is a player like Odum?
"He is a guy who came there as a walk-on. Some things didn't pan out and he walked on as a redshirt freshman. With the injuries to Jake Kelly and some of those other guys, that allowed him to get in the starting lineup, and he never got out. He hasn't played like a freshman. He's taken hold of their offense, and when they went on that five-game losing streak, he is the guy that stepped up. Winning Newcomer of the Week when they won two games last week, and he was a big reason why."
How important is it to keep him in front of you?
"It's not so much to keep him in front of you. He does a lot of things. He's a tall point guard, and he passes very well. He's passing well and taking open shots. We just can't allow him to dribble and make plays for other people. If we can make him get rid of the ball and become more of a shooter instead of a passer, that will obviously help our cause."
Carl Richards has been a great player for them, what are you concerns about him?
"He's starting to grow up. He's a junior now. He's taken some lumps early in his career. Now he's physically mature. At 6-5, playing the 4 spot in our league, he's had to go against some bigger, stronger bodies. Now, physically he's able to some things, and he can make the 3. That's been the biggest thing with him. He's taking and making the 3 point shot."
You've gotten more aggressive play out of your guards the last few games. How do you balance that with Gene returning to the lineup?
"I think he has to conform to us. When we got him back after the injury, we had bad movement. We didn't allow ourselves to have driving lanes or any other options. The biggest thing for us is to have other options while he is in the game. Not to make him a focus point on offense but to make him a decoy, and let the other guys play."
Will all three of the suspended players be back Wednesday?
"They will be back Wednesday."
Do you expect them to play as much as they did before?
"It's hard to say. We couldn't practice them in the beginning, for obvious reasons. We couldn't travel them with us on the road. They still have to get back in shape, and it will obviously depend on how they play, too."
What is the latest on Justin Bocot and John Freeman's injuries?
"They are injured, it's nagging. They aren't out, but they aren't healthy enough to be significant contributors. You saw at Creighton when we needed them to play and they couldn't, it hurt us. We had to play zone, play guys longer, we used timeouts to rest. We can't do that. Already being limited on the guys we had, it really hurt us. It showed in Seck -- his worst game in our uniform, just extremely fatigued and having to fight against a bigger guy."
Do you think they could help your depth or are you just unsure?
"We've tried to get a set rotation all year. Having a rotation and being healthy was obviously good for us. We have the injuries and some guys can get some more minutes because Freeman is not near 100 percent. He didn't take a shot. Similar situation with Justin. He just can't get over the hump from the ankle injury. We're going to see who wants to play, see who physically can play, and go from there."
Were you pleased with Diamond's contributions? Do you think he's getting better every game?
"He definitely is, when you talk about giving him significant minutes. Giving him an opportunity to rest, we haven't done that for two games. We've won one and we've lost one. That's where he's slowly grown into understanding what it means to play hard all the time and be a positive force on the floor. He missed some opportunities in the Creighton game, I think because he had to play long stretches and couldn't come out. If he has a chance to rest and go back in, those are plays that he makes."
What becomes the focus down the stretch, in the final four games?
"I think the focus is staying together. We've had adversity throughout the season -- with injuries, with new guys, suspensions. We have to stay positive. If they see me down, if they see me acting a way that is not conducive to winning, that's how they are going to act. I think right now we've seen great guard play out of Kendal. Diamond is getting better. If we have to play those guys longer periods of minutes, that's what we have to do, because those guys are the future."
What do you want to see out of your guys tomorrow?
"We played hard at Creighton, we just didn't have enough bodies. It was pretty simple. I think the number one this for us is to keep playing hard again. We have different people, we have guys eligible. Seck has to come back and play like he's played since the beginning of the year. Another body down there will help him. You can't ask him to play 40 minutes, then play another 40 minutes. We broke him, he's tired. That's a part of being a good player, but it's also a part of being on a team where the other guys have to hold their own, too."
