Murray State University Athletics
Weekly Press Conference
12/11/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Quotes from head coach Mick Cronin during the weekly men's basketball press conference on Dec. 11 following the Racers' 6-0 start and the 100-95 double-overtime win at rival Western Kentucky last Sunday. MSU next hosts Chicago State on Saturday at 8 p.m. at the Regional Special Events Center in the Racers' second game in the Pittsburgh Holiday Classic.
Opening statement:
"We will go back to the experimental rules for the Chicago State game as a part of the Pittsburgh tournament. As you guys know, I'm not a big fan of those rules, so we're just going to try and ignore them and play the game."
"We've been focused on academics for the last few days. The only reason we've practiced is so that we don't get out of shape. We try to go as fast as we can and work on pushing the ball. The main thing we wanted to do is to get them to run as much as possible and stay in shape since we've had some very short practices. We're trying not to make it too tough mentally while they're studying and preparing for finals. So, we haven't really gotten focused for our game yet, but we'll start that today. Most of our guys wrapped up their finals today, so we'll practice at 3:30 p.m. and get focused on Chicago State."
"I know Chicago State's record is not the most impressive one in the world, but at the same time, they've played some very good teams. They played Northern Iowa, who beat Iowa and Iowa beat Louisville, so I have a lot of respect for Iowa. We're going to have to really get focused over the next few days. I've kinda let the guys step away mentally and let them get recharged after that Western (Kentucky) game. We haven't been too hard on them over the last few days, other than just running them and keeping them in shape. So, we've got two big days of practice to get ready for Saturday night, and hopefully get our focus back."
On the impact of winning a game like the one with Western Kentucky on Sunday:
"When you win, guys believe a lot more and that's the biggest thing Coach Pitino told me. Going into the first year, you've got to win and get the kids to believe, more than anybody else. The way we won that game was big as well. The longer the game went, the more we dominated the game. We dominated the first overtime, but we just didn't make free throws. Plus, our guys felt that they weren't tired, and they could see the other team crumbling a little bit. So, I think that was a good experiment for us -- to get a win and go through that process. Plus, we prepared for the game that way. We knew that Western was going to come out on fire, and we knew we weren't really going to be in the lead until the second half."
On whether it will be difficult to keep the team from looking ahead to next week's matchup with Southern Illinois instead of focusing on the game with Chicago State on Saturday:
"Well, I couldn't even tell you who's on SIU's team, so we won't discuss SIU at all until after Saturday night. Fortunately, I think I've got some guys that don't even know we play SIU next Wednesday, to be honest with you. Maybe the seniors know because they've been through the rivalry, and I probably underestimate what they know. But, I think we've been through that already, overlooking West Florida and SIU-Edwardsville and struggling a little bit in those games. You've got to come out and play the game that's in front of you, so, we won't discuss SIU at all. In fact, our staff is not allowed to even bring them up to me until Sunday."
On the play of senior guard Kevin Paschel:
"I think his attitude would be the main reason for his solid play early on. He's very coachable. He's extremely coachable. He's learning when to use his quickness, and he's learning when to drive and when to pass. I think the biggest thing for him is the defense he brings to us and the pressure he puts on the ball. Our defense goes up notch and our press is better when he's in the game because he has tremendous quickness and speed. He really harasses the other team's point guard and takes them out of their offense. He does a great job with that. He has some things that you just can't teach, with his quickness and speed. He's also had a tremendous attitude from day one. I'm sure weighing 175 pounds instead of 195 has helped to make him even quicker than he already was."
"I want him to shoot when he's open. Right now, he's a 'pass-first' guy. You have to shoot when you're open. He hit two big three's in the Wagner game that blew it open. But right now, he's concerned with defense and pushing the basketball. He's not thinking about his shot."
On the team's chemistry and solid play:
"It helps when guy's don't hunt shots. Right now, we don't have a lot of guys hunting shots. The guys are just playing the game and whoever gets the shot gets it. We've got to, some how, maintain that attitude and keep that unselfishness going because that's why we're 6-0. We're not overwhelming people with size and athleticism. We have good players, but all you have to do is watch warm-ups and see that we're not the most physically imposing team in America. But, our assist total is tremendous. We're averaging 20 assists per game, while our opponents are only getting 13 per game. So, that means we're forcing people to not pass the ball with our style of play defensively, but we're still passing it around on our end. If we can stay at 20, we'll be in good shape, although I don't know if we can maintain that because 20 per game is a monumental number for assists."
