Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Men's Basketball hosts Evansville on Hall of Fame weekend
02/13/2015 | 12:00:00 | Men's Basketball
CARBONDALE, Ill. - The Southern Illinois University men's basketball team hosts Evansville at 3:05 p.m. on Saturday on Hall of Fame weekend. Newly inducted Hall of Famers Muhammad Abdulqaadir (Football), Harry Gallatin (Men's Basketball coach), Lauren Haas (Softball), Alison Hiller (Women's Golf), Charles Ropiequet (Gymnastics) and Bob Schroeck (Baseball) will be introduced at halftime.
| Evansville 17-8, 7-6) at Southern Illinois (10-16, 3-10) | |
| Date | Saturday, Feb. 14, 2015 |
| Time | 3:05 p.m. CT |
| Location | Carbondale, Ill., SIU Arena (8,339) |
| Game Notes | Southern Illinois  |
| Radio | Saluki Sports Network |
| TV | None |
| Live Video | All-Access |
| Live Audio | Stretch Internet |
| Live Stats | Stat Broadcast |
| Social Media | @SIU_Basketball |
Head coach Barry Hinson met with the media before Friday's practice.
What does Evansville do well?
They'll be at full speed. They haven't been at full speed for quite some time, but they've got their whole lineup in now. I think Evansville is always the same. You have to be able to guard guys coming off back screens and staggers and down screens, slip screens, fade screens, all that stuff. At the same time you have to pay attention to probably the second-best big man in the conference next to Tuttle. (Egidijus) Mockevicius is such a good player -- he's averaging a double-double -- then you throw in (D.J.) Balentine who is one of the conference's best scorers. That's what makes them dangerous.
You've hedged ball screens on the perimeter pretty well, how different is it against Evansville?
We've done a good job for the most part on our ball-screen defense. We didn't do a great job at Loyola, but for the most part we've done a decent job. For us, you just can't show too much, because if you show too much, they slip the screen. You have to make sure you stay in contact the entire time with the big guy setting the screen. They're so good at reading them. You have to have ball pressure on the guy who is passing the basketball when he's reading the screens.
Talk about Deion (Lavender) and Jordan (Caroline) really starting to grow up.
They're growing up right in front of our eyes. It would be really nice if those sophomores would grow up as well. It would be nice if they could revert back to the last eight games that they played last year as freshmen. Those two are doing exactly what we thought they could do. We knew it would be a time and a process. Let's get one thing straight, I don't think it's a flash in the pan, but consistency is still an issue when you have freshmen, but I sure do like to see what they've been doing in the last few games. I think the maturation process when you get to February, that's pretty much when you get everyone tuning in.
Do you feel like you're getting continuity with this lineup?
I think so. I think the continuity we need to get is the opportunity to sub a few guys, specifically Deion and Anthony. I don't want to play those guys 39 minutes a game, but when I look down at the bench, it's really hard who we're going to put in, who can take up the slack. It's hard to take out Anthony when he's making shots. It's hard to take out Deion when he's making shots. We've struggled so much offensively and now we're starting to kick it into gear, we just got to find somebody else out there who can help us coming off the bench.
Has Sean O'Brien shot it better in practice recently?
I think Sean is his worst enemy. No one is telling Sean not to shoot the ball. Sean is getting good looks, good shots. At Loyola he had three layups inside the paint that he could have made. I think Sean's is a confidence issue, more mental than anything. I've told Sean I believe in him. He's just got to grow out of it.
Between Jordan and Sean, is it a big problem finishing shots period around the rim?
Yeah, I don't mind telling you, that's a sore spot with me. Jordan, if you want to look at the other night, had a double-double, but would've been in the high 20s if he'd just made the shots around the basket. If that kid will start concentrating and quit worrying about contact or getting hit or getting fouled, I think you'll see his numbers go up tremendously. Right now, for whatever reason, he just doesn't want to get around contact. He shies away from it. If he every figures out that he can get fouled a lot, it will really help him.
How much more energy do you have playing in front of the Hall of Famers?
When you bring the Hall of Famers back -- I walk by Coach (Harry) Gallatin's picture every day outside my office -- this is a proud moment for our University. It's great moment for Coach Gallatin and for us to pay honor to what he did for our University and basketball program.
