Bryan Mullins weekly press conference
12/13/2019 | 11:57:00 | Men's Basketball
CARBONDALE, Ill. - SIU men's basketball head coach Bryan Mullins met the media on Thursday to discuss the upcoming game at Mizzou (Sunday, December 15 at 3 p.m.), finals week, good practices, an injury update, and more. Below is a partial transcript. To watch the complete press conference on YouTube, click here.
OPENING STATEMENT
I'm excited about our opportunity on Sunday at Missouri. Obviously, they're a great program, and Coach (Cuonzo) Martin is a great coach. It's a great opportunity for our team to continue to get better, to learn from last weekend at Southern Miss, and to improve. After Missouri, we have back-to-back home games for the first time this season before Christmas break. The biggest thing for our guys, like I've said all season long, is to continue to get better every single day. Hopefully, by the time The Valley season comes and we get to February, we'll be playing our best basketball of the year. We have had a good couple days of practice so far. Our guys are finishing up finals (on Friday). They have been doing great in the classroom. We're turning our attention to Missouri right now. It's going to be a great challenge and a great test because Missouri is an extremely hard-playing, well-coached team.
On limiting opponent scoring runs...
We constantly talk to them about possession-by-possession. We have to compete on every possession. If you take a couple possessions off in college basketball, it can change a game. They get their head up; a couple bad turnovers -- whatever it is. We need to be locked in and focused every single possession in a game. We play well in spurts, or for halves, or for 30 minutes. We need to play 40 minutes at a high level to be able to win on the road, or to be able to beat good teams.
On playing on the road...
Like I said after the Southern Miss game, the hardest thing to do in college basketball is to win on the road. When you have 10 new guys, and a lot of guys who haven't played Division I basketball before, it's a process. It's a learning curve. On the road, you have to be tougher than you are at home. That's where the possession-by-possession becomes a factor. You may not shoot as well on the road. You may not feel as comfortable on the road. You have to rely on your defense and toughness to close out some of those games.
On the positives of the season...
Our young guys are getting better every single game. They're getting so much experience right now. Barret (Benson) has had a really great non-conference season so far. The team had a great practice yesterday. (Friday) and Saturday our guys will be ready to go. I'm pleased with our practices, with our energy and focus. Now, we have to continue to translate that to games.
On what constitutes a good practice...
The energy and communication. You can tell when guys are locked in and focused; they're communicating with each other and going extremely hard. Obviously, throughout the season, there are a lot of practices -- more practices than games -- and sometimes when you have 18- or 19-year-olds, they sometimes take practices off. That's something about this team -- they practice hard every single day.
On Harwin Francois...
I think he's getting more comfortable -- more comfortable in our system; more comfortable on the court playing in front of people. He has put in the work since he got here in June. He's an extremely hard worker. He works on his shot every single day. He's getting some good shots. The ball is moving a little better as we continue to grow and develop as a team, and guys are getting good shots.
Injury update...
Besides Cook, everyone should be good to go for Sunday.
It's going to be a crazy environment. What do you tell the team?
We can control what we can control. If our guys are focused and do their job, no one needs to be a superstar; no one needs to be a hero; we don't need anyone to score 30 points or grab 20 rebounds. Everyone has to play the way they're capable, and they have to do their best every single possession. We have to compete on every possession on Sunday.
On Lance Jones...
Lance has done a great job, considering how much he was playing before AC got hurt to how much we need him right now. He has stepped up, and the guys love playing with him. He tries extremely hard every possession. Lance is one of our toughest kids. He gets on the floor. He has taken the most charges on our team. He's going to get better and better with experience. Valuing the ball is the biggest thing we talk with him about. Making sure we get a good shot every single possession. For a freshman point guard, that's not an easy thing. He's already grown so much from where he was two weeks ago to now.
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OPENING STATEMENT
I'm excited about our opportunity on Sunday at Missouri. Obviously, they're a great program, and Coach (Cuonzo) Martin is a great coach. It's a great opportunity for our team to continue to get better, to learn from last weekend at Southern Miss, and to improve. After Missouri, we have back-to-back home games for the first time this season before Christmas break. The biggest thing for our guys, like I've said all season long, is to continue to get better every single day. Hopefully, by the time The Valley season comes and we get to February, we'll be playing our best basketball of the year. We have had a good couple days of practice so far. Our guys are finishing up finals (on Friday). They have been doing great in the classroom. We're turning our attention to Missouri right now. It's going to be a great challenge and a great test because Missouri is an extremely hard-playing, well-coached team.
On limiting opponent scoring runs...
We constantly talk to them about possession-by-possession. We have to compete on every possession. If you take a couple possessions off in college basketball, it can change a game. They get their head up; a couple bad turnovers -- whatever it is. We need to be locked in and focused every single possession in a game. We play well in spurts, or for halves, or for 30 minutes. We need to play 40 minutes at a high level to be able to win on the road, or to be able to beat good teams.
On playing on the road...
Like I said after the Southern Miss game, the hardest thing to do in college basketball is to win on the road. When you have 10 new guys, and a lot of guys who haven't played Division I basketball before, it's a process. It's a learning curve. On the road, you have to be tougher than you are at home. That's where the possession-by-possession becomes a factor. You may not shoot as well on the road. You may not feel as comfortable on the road. You have to rely on your defense and toughness to close out some of those games.
On the positives of the season...
Our young guys are getting better every single game. They're getting so much experience right now. Barret (Benson) has had a really great non-conference season so far. The team had a great practice yesterday. (Friday) and Saturday our guys will be ready to go. I'm pleased with our practices, with our energy and focus. Now, we have to continue to translate that to games.
On what constitutes a good practice...
The energy and communication. You can tell when guys are locked in and focused; they're communicating with each other and going extremely hard. Obviously, throughout the season, there are a lot of practices -- more practices than games -- and sometimes when you have 18- or 19-year-olds, they sometimes take practices off. That's something about this team -- they practice hard every single day.
On Harwin Francois...
I think he's getting more comfortable -- more comfortable in our system; more comfortable on the court playing in front of people. He has put in the work since he got here in June. He's an extremely hard worker. He works on his shot every single day. He's getting some good shots. The ball is moving a little better as we continue to grow and develop as a team, and guys are getting good shots.
Injury update...
Besides Cook, everyone should be good to go for Sunday.
It's going to be a crazy environment. What do you tell the team?
We can control what we can control. If our guys are focused and do their job, no one needs to be a superstar; no one needs to be a hero; we don't need anyone to score 30 points or grab 20 rebounds. Everyone has to play the way they're capable, and they have to do their best every single possession. We have to compete on every possession on Sunday.
On Lance Jones...
Lance has done a great job, considering how much he was playing before AC got hurt to how much we need him right now. He has stepped up, and the guys love playing with him. He tries extremely hard every possession. Lance is one of our toughest kids. He gets on the floor. He has taken the most charges on our team. He's going to get better and better with experience. Valuing the ball is the biggest thing we talk with him about. Making sure we get a good shot every single possession. For a freshman point guard, that's not an easy thing. He's already grown so much from where he was two weeks ago to now.
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Players Mentioned
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