by Bill Seals
Opening comments:
“It’s great to be back in Ames, Iowa. Those tournaments are great, but you’re down there from about Tuesday to Sunday so it’s long. It’s good to be back and have a day off today. We’ll get rested. I’ve been watching tape of Cincinnati all morning. I’ll get out of here and do some things with my staff and then get back and continue to watch them so we’re ready for Tuesday and Wednesday.
“We’ll have short practices because it’s been a long week, but really focus on Cincinnati and what we need to do to get our team better. It’s a great opportunity. I think we learned a lot about our team in Florida. We had opportunities down the stretch against a really good Gonzaga team. That’s an area we just have to grow in and we will.”
On how much of a factor the press on defense was in comeback against Zags:
“This team has to change defenses. We have to use our athleticism. We have to use our activity to make it tough on people. We moved it back a little bit and I thought that gave them some problems. The biggest thing we did in the second half is competed at a whole different level. We held Gonzaga, a team that averages 80-some points to 29 percent shooting in the second half. I’m sure they missed some open shots, but we flew around, contested and competed. That’s what we have to do every possession, every game, every half. If we do that, good things will happen.”
On what he learned about his team during the experience in Orlando:
“The first thing, you go down there with the new guys and learn about guys you haven’t been around in their first year. We have good depth. We don’t have great size, 6-9 or 6-10, and that’s not going to come right now. But we have great depth. Darrell Bowie played exceptional down there. Donovan Jackson, especially in the Miami game, played really well for us. I’m obviously a big fan of Nick Babb’s. With those guys and Solomon Young out, those three guys played really well down there. We have to get Matt (Thomas) some more shots.
“I think the character of our team is really good. When we’re locked in defensively, we can be a really good basketball team. This was our tough stretch that we’ve started, with a neutral game against a good Missouri Valley team which was going to be a good test in the opening round, a good ACC team in Miami and then a top-10 team in Gonzaga. Now we have a really good Cincinnati team on Thursday. Outside of conference, we still have Iowa and Vanderbilt, high major-wise.”
On what he’s thinking in terms of the number of players in the team rotation:
“Seven to nine. Solomon is out right now and I don’t know when he’ll exactly be back. He’s probably nine right now with the injury. Those eight guys are going to play. Everybody each game isn’t going to be exactly happy with their minutes, but they have to produce when they’re in. Most of the guys off the bench are going to play in that 15 to 25-minute range, which is good. Some games with foul trouble it’s going to be more and some games with style of play it’s going to be more. Seven to nine is what you look at (for rotation).”
Opening comments:
“It’s great to be back in Ames, Iowa. Those tournaments are great, but you’re down there from about Tuesday to Sunday so it’s long. It’s good to be back and have a day off today. We’ll get rested. I’ve been watching tape of Cincinnati all morning. I’ll get out of here and do some things with my staff and then get back and continue to watch them so we’re ready for Tuesday and Wednesday.
“We’ll have short practices because it’s been a long week, but really focus on Cincinnati and what we need to do to get our team better. It’s a great opportunity. I think we learned a lot about our team in Florida. We had opportunities down the stretch against a really good Gonzaga team. That’s an area we just have to grow in and we will.”
On how much of a factor the press on defense was in comeback against Zags:
“This team has to change defenses. We have to use our athleticism. We have to use our activity to make it tough on people. We moved it back a little bit and I thought that gave them some problems. The biggest thing we did in the second half is competed at a whole different level. We held Gonzaga, a team that averages 80-some points to 29 percent shooting in the second half. I’m sure they missed some open shots, but we flew around, contested and competed. That’s what we have to do every possession, every game, every half. If we do that, good things will happen.”
On what he learned about his team during the experience in Orlando:
“The first thing, you go down there with the new guys and learn about guys you haven’t been around in their first year. We have good depth. We don’t have great size, 6-9 or 6-10, and that’s not going to come right now. But we have great depth. Darrell Bowie played exceptional down there. Donovan Jackson, especially in the Miami game, played really well for us. I’m obviously a big fan of Nick Babb’s. With those guys and Solomon Young out, those three guys played really well down there. We have to get Matt (Thomas) some more shots.
“I think the character of our team is really good. When we’re locked in defensively, we can be a really good basketball team. This was our tough stretch that we’ve started, with a neutral game against a good Missouri Valley team which was going to be a good test in the opening round, a good ACC team in Miami and then a top-10 team in Gonzaga. Now we have a really good Cincinnati team on Thursday. Outside of conference, we still have Iowa and Vanderbilt, high major-wise.”
On what he’s thinking in terms of the number of players in the team rotation:
“Seven to nine. Solomon is out right now and I don’t know when he’ll exactly be back. He’s probably nine right now with the injury. Those eight guys are going to play. Everybody each game isn’t going to be exactly happy with their minutes, but they have to produce when they’re in. Most of the guys off the bench are going to play in that 15 to 25-minute range, which is good. Some games with foul trouble it’s going to be more and some games with style of play it’s going to be more. Seven to nine is what you look at (for rotation).”
