Barry Hinson press conference transcript
11/29/2018 | 4:02:00 | Men's Basketball
Head coach Barry Hinson met with the media on Thursday afternoon to recap the team's trips to Las Vegas and Fort Collins, and to preview the upcoming game at SIU Edwardsville. Below is a partial transcript. To view the entire press conference, click here to watch on YouTube.
What's the challenge with SIUE?
It's a regional rivalry. You go in, especially with all the stuff that's gone on with our campus here in the last year, it's heightened a little bit from that. Now, if I sat here and told you that our players would be into that, I'd be a liar. I don't think they have a clue what's been going on, to be honest. I don't know what (SIUEÂ head coach Jon Harris) would say about his guys, but for us, it's the end of a four-game road streak that we had. We had made our mind up that we wanted to have a great showing in these four road games. This is the last of those four games, so it certainly weighs heavy on our heart.
They haven't shot it well from the 3. Can you be more aggressive?
We're not going to change what we do based on our opponent. This is what we do. This is how we guard. I'm really comfortable with our defense. I wasn't comfortable with our defense in the first half against Colorado State, but we have a new defensive system, and we're sticking with it. We're not going to change it. We're bought in. It's really paid off for us, with the exception of two halves this season.Â
On Eric McGill
He's one of the most explosive and athletic guards I've ever had the opportunity to coach. When you put him and Aaron (Cook) and Darius (Beane) on the floor at the same time, we're about as athletic as any guard combination in the country. I told you guys last year before (McGill) broke his hand what I thought about him, and I'm standing by what I said. He has a chance to be a special player. We caught a break, in all honesty, with the medical redshirt, to have two more years with him. He's going to make a great impact. If his numbers on Saturday are anywhere near what they have been, he has a great chance to be player of the week in the Valley. His numbers in the last three games, I'll put them up against anyone in the country.
On Kavion Pippen's improvement
He's improved a lot. Last year, Thik's injury kind of microwaved the process, sped it up. I think it has helped Thik and Kavion both this year, that when one of them gets in foul trouble or has an injury situation, they don't have to play extended minutes. Kavion is a much better player when he's fresh. When you look at his numbers, even though his minutes have gone down, his field goal percentage has gone up. I think he was 8-for-11 at Colorado State, and we were all upset at the ones he missed. We expect him to make every shot he takes. That's kind of hard on a young man, because that's not going to happen.
How do you avoid two steps forward and one step back?
I don't care who we're playing on Saturday. It doesn't matter. We have a group of young men that are really focused right now, and tuned into what we're trying to do on the basketball floor. As far as I'm concerned, what's on the front of the jersey has no affect whatsoever on the game. Our guys understand the regional part of it, but our wanting to win right now has to do with much more than who our opponent is.Â
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What's the challenge with SIUE?
It's a regional rivalry. You go in, especially with all the stuff that's gone on with our campus here in the last year, it's heightened a little bit from that. Now, if I sat here and told you that our players would be into that, I'd be a liar. I don't think they have a clue what's been going on, to be honest. I don't know what (SIUEÂ head coach Jon Harris) would say about his guys, but for us, it's the end of a four-game road streak that we had. We had made our mind up that we wanted to have a great showing in these four road games. This is the last of those four games, so it certainly weighs heavy on our heart.
They haven't shot it well from the 3. Can you be more aggressive?
We're not going to change what we do based on our opponent. This is what we do. This is how we guard. I'm really comfortable with our defense. I wasn't comfortable with our defense in the first half against Colorado State, but we have a new defensive system, and we're sticking with it. We're not going to change it. We're bought in. It's really paid off for us, with the exception of two halves this season.Â
On Eric McGill
He's one of the most explosive and athletic guards I've ever had the opportunity to coach. When you put him and Aaron (Cook) and Darius (Beane) on the floor at the same time, we're about as athletic as any guard combination in the country. I told you guys last year before (McGill) broke his hand what I thought about him, and I'm standing by what I said. He has a chance to be a special player. We caught a break, in all honesty, with the medical redshirt, to have two more years with him. He's going to make a great impact. If his numbers on Saturday are anywhere near what they have been, he has a great chance to be player of the week in the Valley. His numbers in the last three games, I'll put them up against anyone in the country.
On Kavion Pippen's improvement
He's improved a lot. Last year, Thik's injury kind of microwaved the process, sped it up. I think it has helped Thik and Kavion both this year, that when one of them gets in foul trouble or has an injury situation, they don't have to play extended minutes. Kavion is a much better player when he's fresh. When you look at his numbers, even though his minutes have gone down, his field goal percentage has gone up. I think he was 8-for-11 at Colorado State, and we were all upset at the ones he missed. We expect him to make every shot he takes. That's kind of hard on a young man, because that's not going to happen.
How do you avoid two steps forward and one step back?
I don't care who we're playing on Saturday. It doesn't matter. We have a group of young men that are really focused right now, and tuned into what we're trying to do on the basketball floor. As far as I'm concerned, what's on the front of the jersey has no affect whatsoever on the game. Our guys understand the regional part of it, but our wanting to win right now has to do with much more than who our opponent is.Â
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Players Mentioned
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