Murray State University Athletics
Weekly Press Conference
12/30/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Quotes from head coach Mick Cronin during the weekly men's basketball press conference on Dec. 30 at the Regional Special Events Center following the Racers' 65-56 road win over Delaware State last Sunday. Up next, MSU takes to the road to challenge 11th-ranked Louisville on Saturday at 1 p.m. CT at Freedom Hall.
Opening statement:
"We're 10-1 with one day left until the New year, and obviously, I'm happy with where we are at this point. I'm also pleased that we're healthy at this point in the year. I think that's a big thing, especially for me because I've been apart of two teams in the last three or four years where we lost our best player to injury in Ellis Myles (2003, Louisville) and Kenyon Martin (2000, Cincinnati). So, it's always good when you stay healthy. I'm looking forward to a long week of practice and we're going to need it."
On senior center Andi Hornig getting the starting nod over junior Kelvin Brown against Delaware State:
"Andi outplayed Kelvin in practice. We got outrebounded by double-digits against Georgetown College. I'm not taking anything away from Georgetown because they really played hard, but that's unacceptable for us. I was emphasizing rebounding in practice, and Andi did the best job of anybody."
On getting nearly a full week to prepare for the Cardinals:
"We may need a year of practice to get ready for what we're facing on Saturday. I think it's good for us to have practice time. Obviously, Saturday's game is big, but the bigger picture for us is the Ohio Valley Conference. So, the week of practice is a chance for us to get back and work on some things and maybe change a few things now that we've played 11 games. Obviously, we're not going to change a lot, but tinker with a few things offensively here and there to try and get ready to win the OVC championship. It's more about preparing to combat against what teams are doing against us defensively."
On the keys to the Racers' offensive success:
"As the season has gone on, our assist totals have gone down and that concerns me. That's something that we emphasized for the Delaware State game and we're going to continue to emphasize it. We have to pass the basketball effectively and get back to passing it the way we were early in the season. Shooting is a direct reflection of passing. If you take wide open shots, you're going to make a much higher percentage. We can't have guys hunting shots or taking quick shots. I'd love to take the first shot available if it's wide open. The key to making shots is taking easy ones."
On whether he thinks his knowledge and understanding of the Louisville players and coaching style from his stint as an assistant will be an advantage:
"Well, I'm sure Coach Pitino's going to tell everybody that it's an advantage because he's been telling me that. I think Freedom Hall and their personnel will negate any advantage I have or (MSU assistant) Coach (Matt) Grady has of knowing their style or knowing their players or knowing their system."
On what matchup concerns him the most against Louisville:
"Francisco Garcia. He's a tough matchup. He's averaging 5.8 assists per game and almost 18 points per game, so he just carves you up in so many ways. He's not a one-dimensional guy. He's a three-dimensional guy. He can shoot it or he can drive it for points, and he can also pass the ball and hurt you. Their whole offense goes through him. The genius of Coach Pitino is that he's not afraid to change and run things through his best players. That's not for him to shoot it every time either. It's just for you to have to defend him and Garcia's just so good with the ball in his hands. You can't just stop him because if you run too many people at him, he's going to pass it to guys for layups. So, we've got to try to find a way to keep out of his hands. And then we've also got to make him play defense. It would be nice to get him in foul trouble, but that's easier said than done because they're a big help team. He's a very smart player, and it's not like we're the first team that may try to attack him. He is, by far, everybody's biggest matchup problem when they play Louisville."
On whether he's spoken to Rick Pitino this week and some points on this Saturday's game with the Cards:
"I spoke to him right after the UK game, which was a big win for them, but we haven't talked about our game at all because I know he's going to start telling me how good we are...but I'm not buying it. It's going to be a monumental task for us on Saturday, which is okay. When we scheduled the game, neither one of us thought we would have the records we have at this point in the season. We're talking about a team that's knocked off the No. 1 team in the country...twice. They have a future NBA lottery pick, and they're 10-deep. They're second in the nation in blocked shots, and they're only giving up 35 percent from the field on defense."
On whether he thinks there's any chance the UofL coaching staff or players will overlook the Racers:
"No. Their coaches know we're going to play too much golf in the off-season and spend too much time together in the summer to overlook this game. Coach Pitino doesn't let them overlook anybody, and that's what makes him so great. Believe me, the players will be motivated as well. I did my share of intense coaching in practice, and I'm sure those guys will want to beat us. It's just like two brothers playing. The last thing you want to do is lose to your brother. Obviously, it goes both ways and I'd love to find a way to win that game. It would be a huge win, not only because of my relationship with those guys, but for our program at Murray State."
On the importance and emphasis of this game for the Racer players from the Louisville area:
"I'm sure it is a big game for those guys, and that's the real reason I wanted to play the game. I always thought it was nice to let guys go back and play close to home. For those guys to get to play one more time in Freedom Hall and in front of their hometown fans is a great thing."
On what he expects to gain from the game with Louisville:
"We're going to approach it like we don't have anything to lose. At the same time, we're going in there expecting to play well. That's my big thing. We've developed a toughness about us and a pride in our program, and that's what I'm looking for our guys to go showcase on Saturday. Obviously, it's a game you could go play extremely well and play with great toughness and still get beat. Not that I would be happy with that, but I certainly expect us to go in there and play hard and play tough."
