Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Men's Basketball resumes conference play at Drake on Wednesday
02/20/2012 | 12:00:00 | Men's Basketball
Feb. 20, 2012
By Tyler Wooten
SIUSalukis.com
CARBONDALE, Ill. - Southern Illinois (8-20, 5-11) will play at Drake (15-13, 8-8) in a men's basketball matchup at 7 p.m. on Wednesday.
Head coach Chris Lowery met with the media prior to Monday's practice.
Q: "Does Drake look any different without Ben Simons?"
"Yeah, definitely. He was their leading scorer and he was on a big time roll. They missed him a great deal because he was rolling along, and that puts more pressure on Rayvonte (Rice). Aaron Hawley stepped in and played for them but he obviously can't do all the things that Ben can do for them."
Q: "They did win two games without him. Has Rice taken control of the team?"
"Yeah, he's taken the most shots. His percentage was great when Ben was playing, but now he's getting more of the free throws, he's more aggressive. They were doing well when they were a two-headed monster, and now he's just saying it's my team now and moving forward."
Q: "What would a win do for you?"
"It would help, any win helps. We need Josh (Swan) probably more than anybody because he's our best guard defender and our best guard rebounder, and not being able to play him means we've had to play guys more than we want to. It's unfortunate for us that he's out. Mamadou (Seck) and Dantiel (Daniels) are finishing off the season the right way, but we have to get guys on the other side. The guards have to get going. It can't be just when we're down, they have to be consistent the whole game."
Q: "How have you and the team stayed positive in such a negative atmosphere?"
"It's me being positive with them, I can't be negative with them at this time. They need me to even-keeled, moreso than ever because it's easy to get caught up in what's being written and what's being said and believe that to be the only thing to believe in. We're just getting them to try to believe in doing things the right way. We understand where we are, but they don't play like where we are. We don't quit, we don't get down, we don't lose our mind. We're playing hard enough and in the guts of certain games, we've played very hard. It's to maintain a level of consistency, and that's one thing you can't teach. Mamadou has been great and his leadership has been great. We need another person, and that's what we've needed all along -- another person with him -- because leadership is not a one-person thing, it's an everybody thing. Everybody can be a leader at some point during the game and everybody can lead at some point during the season. And he's been the only one, whether it's by example or by talking or by being in the right position at the right time and being a good person. I feel for him because he's done everything right this year. He's worked at his game, he's done the thing that you want your seniors to do, and it's unfortunate that it's come down to this for him."
Q: "How meaningful are these games for the seniors -- Mamadou and Justin (Bocot)?"
"I think it's huge, and Mamadou is playing that way. As a player, you always remember your last game on Senior Night. I remember mine was here against Drake, and I remember how many points I had because you remember that stuff because it's important, particularly as a player. Knowing what's at stake as a player is always important, too, and these guys know. We've put a lot of pressure on them. we put the pressure on them to understand how it feels."
Q: "Since the seeding has basically already been set, how do you keep your team motivated these last few games?"
"The one thing is if you love the game, you'll play, and that's what I've really been preaching. If you love the game, then do it. We haven't talked about what our seed is. We have eight guys that have never been to Arch Madness, so they don't know what's at stake, and whether that's goof or bad, that's a good way to continue until you get there where you can say, 'Okay, now this is a big deal, we better play.' Right now, they could care less about that. We're not in the position like Wichita or Creighton where you're playing not only for a seed in the (MVC) tournament, but also in the NCAA Tournament, where the pressure is really on you to make sure you can't have any mistakes. You can't have any bumps in the road, which will hurt you from the talking heads saying these guys can't get in. Our deal is being competitive and building upon something for the future."
Q: "With the contrast between Mamadou and Justin, has this season changed your theory on leadership?"
"No. Leadership is either in you or it's not. You can learn how to be a leader because you are capable of it, but some people have it and some people don't. I think learning how to be a leader will never change. From the way I was brought up to the way kids are brought up now, as basketball players it's different. You automatically knew who was the leader because we picked teams. We picked teams when I grew up -- guys now don't have to pick teams; parents do. It's different. You have to show them how, that's the biggest difference now. It's unfortunate for (Bocot) that things have gone the way they have, but we've given him every opportunity to be successful. You can't make shots for him, you can't lead for him. It's unfortunate because you want to see him have success with all he's been through and all the things he's gone through to even be a basketball player here at Southern. As for right now, Mamadou is our leader. It's clear. Everybody knows who the leader on our team is. He's been the only consistent leader on our team. When you talk about our returners, he's the only one who hadn't been suspended or ineligible or in trouble, and that's who you want to lead. That's who you want to give your keys to."
Q: "When you look back, do you regret suspending Justin without there being any charges?"
"I can't even answer that because, number one, you got a daughter, I got a daughter. If somebody says that, I'm gonna respond the same way because you have to do the right thing. You're a student-athlete, you're held to a different level of accountability, and anytime where something like that happens where it's a male versus a female -- I talk to our guys about it all the time -- you have to side with the young lady, and that's what we did and I don't regret that."
Q: "What do you see as the main factor as to why your team is tied for the most losses in school history?"
"I think the main factor is how we started. We don't have everybody who you expect and you have guys let you down from a standpoint of academics, which we had no control over. I think that hurt us more than anything. The new guys weren't taught the right way until it was too late, we were already in the fire. It's too late to go back and say this is how you do it, you have to learn on the fly. We've been teaching them through film, and that's the wrong way to teach when you have that many new guys in your program. They have to learn by example on the court. When those guys aren't on the court to show them the way to do it, you really have to learn on the fly like we did."
Q: "Has this been the toughest year for you?"
"It's only tough if you make it tough for you. It's tough because I've never experienced anything like this ever, at any level, at anything. I was a leader and I would never allow it to happen. When you're brought up a way, and you try to put that on a team, it's hard because the guys that need it are the guys that are unavailable to you, and the guys that are available to you aren't ready yet, and that was a big part of why so many freshmen played who should have redshirted. If things are right, we probably redshirt three of those guys instead of playing them and then they won't be shooting 20 percent because they won't have percentages as freshmen until next year, and that's the downfall of what has happened to us this year."
