Not that I've seen. Maybe every once in a while our training staff just talked to him a little bit to make sure, 'What are you feeling?' But they've done that in the past with other guys, too, that have had injuries. |
OK, that means there's opportunities for some of these younger guys to jump into those minutes. |
Over the years we've wanted to bring in high school people-not just players-but people who are interested in our team and our program that can't get tickets, they can't see us in the Kohl Center, so this is an opportunity, as well as our scrimmage on Oct. 30, the Red-White scrimmage, ... This doesn't replace that. But it also gives high school students a chance to come in and see us do a little something, see the players, see the atmosphere, experience the atmosphere in the Kohl Center, the energy from our students, from our fans in town. |
People that know basketball recognize effort opportunities that a guy takes advantage of and he's done that every minute he's been on the floor. Here's a freshman that's come in an really chipped in on the glass, defensively, making good passes and playing with a lot of energy and kind of uplifting the team when he gets on the floor. |
Right at the end there, if we score on about three or four of those possessions where we had decent shots, we could have gotten it to two or three (points). Our free throws weren't going in. Who knows. But when you can come into a ranked opponent's gym and be in that position and get it to six it's do-able. Our guys battled tonight. |
Right now, they're playing their best basketball. They're coming in with a heck of a lot of confidence. What our guys better do is make sure they haven't lost any. |
Some campuses had a problem with certain establishments emptying out at midnight for people coming over to the 'Midnight Madness' and maybe not comprehending exactly what was going on on the court. So take that to mean whatever you might think I mean, |
Sometimes that's a lot to ask, so I'm not going to pressure them into being at a certain stage. As a coach and a teacher I learned a long time ago you've got to bring them along, and then when they're ready they'll show what they can do. You push, you prod, you pat and you do the other things that everybody does in teaching, and it's amazing how our guys over the years have kind of stepped forward and picked up and filled that void. |
That was his shot in the 1920s and 30s. |
That was the ball game right in that stretch. They played better than we did. |
That's been the biggest key so far. Our young guys realize it is a transition. |
That's the ball game right in that stretch. |
That's the ball game right in there, that stretch from the 5-minute to the 2-minute mark. We get a couple of free throws that don't get in. It's a couple-of-possession game there, and that's where you'd like to keep it. |
That's what college does for people when given the opportunity, ... We've watched him grow into manhood right in front of our eyes. He has enveloped the knowledge, the experience and is a better person who can give more back than anybody I've ever coached. He has grown in so many ways beyond how he plays the game. |
That's when you have to take advantage. |