Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Men's Basketball travels to Indiana State on Wednesday
02/09/2016 | 12:00:00 | Men's Basketball
CARBONDALE, Ill. - Southern Illinois (18-7, 7-5) travels to Indiana State (13-11, 7-5) on Wednesday at 6 p.m. in a battle of teams tied for fourth place in the Missouri Valley Conference standings. The Salukis won the first meeting between the teams in Carbondale, 79-66, on Jan. 20.
| Southern Illinois (18-7, 7-5) at Indiana State (13-11, 7-5) | |
| Date | Wednesday, Feb. 10, 2016 |
| Time | 6 p.m. CT |
| Location | Terre Haute, Ind. • Hulman Center (10,200) |
| Game Notes | Southern Illinois  |
| Radio | Saluki Sports Network |
| Watch | ESPN3 |
| Live Audio | CBS All-Access |
| Live Stats | Stat Broadcast |
| Social Media | @SIU_Basketball |
Head coach Barry Hinson met with the media on Tuesday before practice
What has been the message the last few days?
"One of the things we've tried to do with our guys is let them know there's nothing wrong with them. What we have is good enough. Just as confidence is contagious, so is lack of confidence. We've got to figure that out, including the head coach. In the first 21 games it was pretty easy. We won 18 of them. Now you've lost four in a row, you've got to figure out how do you teach these guys and how do you talk to them about what they're doing wrong and when they're not doing things? I said something the other night in the pressroom that these guys have shut me out and really they have. It's not in a selfish way or a way of disrespect. It's just human nature that when we start getting beat, get depressed or get hurt we go into a shell and we just think we can do it on our own. You can't, you just can't. Including the head coach. The first thing I did after the game the other night was visit with my staff. What do we need to do? What do we need to change? How do we go about this? It's a great thing about coaching. I'm 55-years-old and I learn every day. You never stop learning. I watch every interview that I can from every other coach. I read all the quotes that I can. I was enamored by the Super Bowl and listening to those guys in how they talk at the end both in defeat and victory. I think you learn from those guys. I'm learning all the time. We tried some things with our guys. We cut back a little bit on some things we do in practice. I'm old school. I don't deal with less is more very good. I've always thought when you're not doing something so well you work harder. In the physical part of the game, that's not always the correct answer. I've even gone against some of my old ways and we cut back on some things. We'll see if it works."
What has the issue been?
"I think the biggest thing for us right now is we're not focused. We're not tuned in. Whether it is as a unit or as an individual. When we get depressed, or we get upset or we get hurt we go off on our own when that's the worst thing you could do. You need to be around people. Certainly, my family has been through enough tragedy in the last few years, I understand that and I can relate to that. I think you have to learn by experiences that you have to drift towards a group of people that all have one common goal and one common bond. That's kind of what we've done this week."
What things have you pulled back on in these last four games?
"I'm a workaholic. My wife will tell you I don't take vacations. I like to work. I love practice. Just because I love practice doesn't mean those players love it as much as I do. Instead of going two hours and fifteen minutes, yesterday we went an hour. You'd have thought I was Adele and just finished singing ‘Hello'. They gave me a standing ovation. Did it strike a cord, I don't know. I think the guys welcome it. Today we'll go and hour and fifteen minutes. For me that's kind of cutting back a lot."
Is the team still positive as a team when thinking about the MVC Tournament?
"Yes and no. I think that's the biggest thing we have to do as a staff. If at the start of the season we had said we'd be tied for fourth and 17-8 right now you guys would have said we need to drug test coach. So yeah, we need to tell that to our players. We have to tell that to ourselves. We've got six games left in the regular season. We have an opportunity to win 20 games. I don't follow the stats. I don't know the last time this program had 20 wins. We've got a chance to have 20-plus wins this year, so yeah, that's one of things we need to do and that's one of the things the head coach needs to do, too. He needs to quit beating himself up so much."
How important is it to finish strong going into the conference tournament?
"I think it's really important. I watched a top program in the country score 22 points before halftime. Everybody is going through what we're going through right now. This is very typical of February. But, some of those teams don't go into it until right before the postseason tournament. Like I said in the press conference the other night, this is one of the best things that were going through it now. This is not catching me by surprise at all. I think the four-game skid has caught me more by surprise than anything. I felt like one of those games we should have won and didn't."
Indiana State is a team in a similar situation as SIU.
"Yeah. It's going to be a heck of a game tomorrow night because I think you've got two ball clubs that are very similar in everything that they are doing. We've got six games left, three at home and three on the road. We know we have to play extremely well. I told the guys yesterday; forget the score, let's just play well. Let everything else worry about itself. We also have gone back to focusing on one game at a time."
Tomorrow the team faces a player that has taken the most free throws in the Valley. How do you limit him form bating the guys in to fouls?
"I think one of the things you have to do is continually stay focused. The free throw situation is one of the things that bothers me more than any other situation. In our four losses our opponent has attempted more free throws than we have made free throws. That bothers me a lot. Free throws to me on our side of the coin is we have to get to the free throw line more."
What is the scariest thing about Indiana State?
Those two guards are really good. Brown and Scott are like Batman and Robin. As far as points go, they're the best two guards in the league. We've got to do a good job and make sure we stay focused on those guys. Here, we did a decent job on Scott, but we let Brown get a way from us. We've got to do a better job on him. At the same time, its hard to take them both out."
