Corey is out and Chris is out, this is kind of a 'when it rains it pours' kind of a deal here
How we choose to look at it, obviously missing what Corey brings to the table hurts but it gives someone else an opportunity to step up and play and contribute and see if they can continue to grow.
On what he wants the players to take away from the season of great adversity
That the biggest thing when you face adversity is how you deal with it. Life is that way, there's ups and downs and peaks and valleys. When you have adversity you have the choice of how you approach it. Do you look at it and feel sorry for yourself? No, you can't because other people are going through their hardships and their own adversity. You look at it you attack it as an opportunity to grow, learn about yourself and try to get better. Next man up, that's how you have to approach it. There's no one out there that's feeling sorry for us, that's for sure.
Did you approach the season knowing there might be a little survival instinct needed?
Well yeah, you don't know what the challenges are that the season is going to bring. You hope to stay healthy you hope you have everyone available, but through the normal rigors of the season you have your injuries, you have your miscues, your challenges and adversities and how you approach it determines how you grow as a team.
Mentally and physically how are the guys holding up?
Physically the rest of them seem to be pretty good. That week that we had off from games really helped us in terms of getting healthier, getting treatment, getting in the weight room a little bit more where we can go a little harder instead of maintaining try to build some more strength and we kept that going here the last few days. So everyone I think physically is in good shape and mentally the guys seem to have pretty good spirits. Considering everything that we've endured this whole season.
On Troy Holston
He's certainly someone that has taken the opportunities given to him and tried to maximize them, especially here during the last few weeks of the season. Early on he dealt with some injuries and he had to go through the normal growth pattern as a freshman. Getting adjusted to playing high division one caliber basketball against good opponents. He's continued to get better, he's continued to work, he's continued to get stronger. He's maximized his opportunity. I think the game has slowed down for him a little bit now. There's a comfort level in the amount of minutes that he's playing and so what you're seeing is a kid go from being a high school senior to being a freshman to now almost a sophomore.
Troy didn't have great results during most of the season did his confidence get shot
No it's just that the level of the quickness of the defenders and the athletes is a whole lot different than now than they are in high school. So you have to get into your shot before you get the shot. You have to be able to read the defense as it approaches you. Is it an open shot or is it a guy approaching you too fast that you need to drive because you're not going to get it off or the appropriate shot off and those are the things that you have to learn and the only way you learn that is through experience and tape and us constantly being on them about that.
Now he's recognizing, he's preparing himself prior to shooting the ball and he's not rushing his shot. It's a lot smoother softer shot than earlier on.
On having only one guy available with previous D1 experience
It's hugely important with what AC brings to the team. But as I joked, now at this point in the season all of them have had division one experience so they know what's expected of them and they know how hard you have to compete and how hard you have to work in practice. We don't have a whole lot of room for error but when you have a veteran like Anthony that's been able to control the game and manage the game as he has been that's huge for hour team.
Has he been asked to modify his game a bit down the stretch
Absolutely. We've asked him to be a little more aggressive throughout the whole year just because we need that from him. He's shown that the times he's been aggressive offensively it really helps us and at times he gets a little gun shy so to speak so we have to continue to encourage him to look for opportunities to distribute but also look for opportunities to score the ball.
How big would it be for the team to win this rivalry game
Every game is big but this is the next opportunity for us to win and it happens to be against Central Florida at home and we certainly want to get that taste of winning at home again. This will be another great opportunity for us especially considering Corey not being available.
How is Corey?
He's good, he's good. His spirits are good. He's continued to do everything that we've asked of him in terms of taking care of business with school and his class work. He's still part of our team he's going to contribute as much as he can while he's here and what the rules let him do.
On Senior Day
We certainly would look to honor what he's (Corey) been able to do for us in this program.
Will this affect his recognition for All-Conference?
We would absolutely would love for him to get recognized. The numbers speak for themselves what he's been able to do on the court. I just think, you know, on a personal note as I've said before he's one of the toughest kids that I've gotten a chance to coach, pound for pound, and I'd really love to see that for him.
How we choose to look at it, obviously missing what Corey brings to the table hurts but it gives someone else an opportunity to step up and play and contribute and see if they can continue to grow.
On what he wants the players to take away from the season of great adversity
That the biggest thing when you face adversity is how you deal with it. Life is that way, there's ups and downs and peaks and valleys. When you have adversity you have the choice of how you approach it. Do you look at it and feel sorry for yourself? No, you can't because other people are going through their hardships and their own adversity. You look at it you attack it as an opportunity to grow, learn about yourself and try to get better. Next man up, that's how you have to approach it. There's no one out there that's feeling sorry for us, that's for sure.
Did you approach the season knowing there might be a little survival instinct needed?
Well yeah, you don't know what the challenges are that the season is going to bring. You hope to stay healthy you hope you have everyone available, but through the normal rigors of the season you have your injuries, you have your miscues, your challenges and adversities and how you approach it determines how you grow as a team.
Mentally and physically how are the guys holding up?
Physically the rest of them seem to be pretty good. That week that we had off from games really helped us in terms of getting healthier, getting treatment, getting in the weight room a little bit more where we can go a little harder instead of maintaining try to build some more strength and we kept that going here the last few days. So everyone I think physically is in good shape and mentally the guys seem to have pretty good spirits. Considering everything that we've endured this whole season.
On Troy Holston
He's certainly someone that has taken the opportunities given to him and tried to maximize them, especially here during the last few weeks of the season. Early on he dealt with some injuries and he had to go through the normal growth pattern as a freshman. Getting adjusted to playing high division one caliber basketball against good opponents. He's continued to get better, he's continued to work, he's continued to get stronger. He's maximized his opportunity. I think the game has slowed down for him a little bit now. There's a comfort level in the amount of minutes that he's playing and so what you're seeing is a kid go from being a high school senior to being a freshman to now almost a sophomore.
Troy didn't have great results during most of the season did his confidence get shot
No it's just that the level of the quickness of the defenders and the athletes is a whole lot different than now than they are in high school. So you have to get into your shot before you get the shot. You have to be able to read the defense as it approaches you. Is it an open shot or is it a guy approaching you too fast that you need to drive because you're not going to get it off or the appropriate shot off and those are the things that you have to learn and the only way you learn that is through experience and tape and us constantly being on them about that.
Now he's recognizing, he's preparing himself prior to shooting the ball and he's not rushing his shot. It's a lot smoother softer shot than earlier on.
On having only one guy available with previous D1 experience
It's hugely important with what AC brings to the team. But as I joked, now at this point in the season all of them have had division one experience so they know what's expected of them and they know how hard you have to compete and how hard you have to work in practice. We don't have a whole lot of room for error but when you have a veteran like Anthony that's been able to control the game and manage the game as he has been that's huge for hour team.
Has he been asked to modify his game a bit down the stretch
Absolutely. We've asked him to be a little more aggressive throughout the whole year just because we need that from him. He's shown that the times he's been aggressive offensively it really helps us and at times he gets a little gun shy so to speak so we have to continue to encourage him to look for opportunities to distribute but also look for opportunities to score the ball.
How big would it be for the team to win this rivalry game
Every game is big but this is the next opportunity for us to win and it happens to be against Central Florida at home and we certainly want to get that taste of winning at home again. This will be another great opportunity for us especially considering Corey not being available.
How is Corey?
He's good, he's good. His spirits are good. He's continued to do everything that we've asked of him in terms of taking care of business with school and his class work. He's still part of our team he's going to contribute as much as he can while he's here and what the rules let him do.
On Senior Day
We certainly would look to honor what he's (Corey) been able to do for us in this program.
Will this affect his recognition for All-Conference?
We would absolutely would love for him to get recognized. The numbers speak for themselves what he's been able to do on the court. I just think, you know, on a personal note as I've said before he's one of the toughest kids that I've gotten a chance to coach, pound for pound, and I'd really love to see that for him.
