Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Men's Basketball hosts Bradley on Tuesday
01/23/2012 | 12:00:00 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 23, 2012
By Tyler Wooten
SIUSalukis.com
CARBONDALE, Ill. - Southern Illinois (6-14, 3-6) hosts Bradley (6-15, 1-8) in a Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball matchup at 7:05 p.m. on Tuesday. The Salukis are looking for a season sweep of the series after beating the Braves in Peoria on Jan 4.
Well-known author Steve Richardson will attend the game and sign copies of his book, A Century of Sports, that chronicles the 100-year history of the Missouri Valley Conference.
Head coach Chris Lowery took questions from the media prior to Tuesday's practice at SIU Arena.
Q: "Is this the first practice since Saturday?"
"We had a film session yesterday. It's hard to practice, we've had two three-day trips in a week, and we got back yesterday because we couldn't get out of Wichita after the game, so we had to stay another night. Some of it was we didn't have any legs. Realizing what we've done that past week and two of those games being where we had to go commercial and stay two or three days, those are tough. Now we get a chance where we have breaks where we can practice and be here, and now the rest of the way is charter (flights), so we can come back here that night and have a chance to practice the next day."
Q: "What will be the biggest thing to bounce back for tomorrow?"
"I think the separation between games, even though we're playing Tuesday, separation gives us a chance again. We're not making any excuses, that was a tough week for us last week with how we had to travel and who we had to play, two of the top two teams. Now we'll have better preparation time and more time to practice."
Q: "Did you play scared Saturday (against Wichita)?"
"No, we didn't -- we ran out of gas. We watched it on tape, it had nothing to do with fear. We were running with bricks on our feet, and they were sprinting. Fear was not the factor that caused us to play that way. A lot of it was just that we were tired."
Q: "How much talk was about it being about effort?"
"No, it was pretty clear that we were tired from the beginning, and it was pretty clear that they were clicking on all cylinders from the beginning. You have to give them credit. It was tough on us and it's unfortunate that we had to play that way and we got blown out like that, but now we got another chance and now we have some time."
Q: "After this game, do you look back to after the Evansville game (Dec. 29) and how you responded after that?"
"It's kind of a similar thing. We came off of some tough travel and then having to play Evansville and we didn't have a chance."
Q: "Bradley's playing better defensively -- what are they doing differently?"
"They're playing better, but some of it has to do with who they're playing. Missouri State is obviously a grind-it-out team, so Missouri State kept the possessions low and didn't give them very many chances offensively. They did a better job against them. The game before that, Evansville scored 90, so you have to look at it on that side, too. But then they beat Northern Iowa, and Northern Iowa is similar, they're a grind-it-out team where the possessions are important. Those two games it was more of who they were playing than them."
Q: "How important will be stopping their guard play?"
"That's the key to them. They're not playing (many guys). Their bench got zero points the last game. (Geno Ford) hasn't played them very much, with the exception of Jake Eastman, and he's really the only one that plays off the bench, and they're playing those guys 36 (minutes) and up, the three main guards: Dyricus Simms-Edwards, Walt Lemon and Taylor Brown -- those guys are playing 36 to 40 minutes."
Q: "What problems does Taylor Brown pose?"
"His problem is outside -- he can shoot threes. He presents the same problems that Mamadou (Seck) does inside, but the difference is (Brown) can shoot threes, and that's where he can stretch the defense and make people guard him. He's more explosive being out there around the three than driving and doing some other things."
Q: "How do you have to get better defensively as far as the dribble-drive penetration?"
"It's on us, it's on our guards, because if they limit dribble-drive then our bigs won't get in foul trouble. Dantiel (Daniels) is getting into trouble because he has to help off the dribble-drive."
Q: "Were you surprised by how many points in the paint you gave up?"
"Yeah, but a lot of it had to do with transition. When you give up layups that counts as in the paint. In the end we were pooped and they were rolling and they ground us to the stone."
Q: "What was the feeling like in watching film yesterday?"
"They were disappointed. I think they were shocked at what they saw, and that's very important for them to see how hard we didn't play and how sluggish we looked going into that game."
Q: "After a game like that does adversity come into the question as far as staying together as a team?"
"I think so, but we've had this before, and the good thing about it is that they've done a good job coming back. A lot of it has to do with our travel. We have a brand new team with a lot of guys playing, but the thing is now we get a chance to really be here and not only watch film, but practice, too."
Q: "How tough has it been to win with some of your older players not playing as well as you had hoped?"
"It's tough. We don't want to make excuses, but we need them to play better, and they've struggled, but we haven't made that an excuse or keyed in on them. We just need to get better, and right now it starts out there (on the practice floor), it starts in the games. Obviously, Mamadou is our main guy and he's really struggling. He's struggling in all aspects right now, physically, mentally, and we don't know why, because he's getting a heck of a lot of opportunities and we just need to get him back locked-in, and maybe this is a game against Bradley, as someone who's played well against Taylor Brown, so now he's got a chance to see him again."
Q: "Did you hear anything about the comments President (Glenn) Poshard made about the loss Saturday?"
"No."
Q: "He commented about the basketball program...What are your thought about where the basketball program is now and where it needs to go?"
"Obviously, we're disappointed at where it is right now and we need to move forward. We can't worry about what somebody says. Everybody's disappointed. I'm an alum, I'm disappointed, but I'm a part of it. It's like I've said before, don't jump off the bandwagon, bleed with us. Get better with us. And that's the key."
