Murray State University Athletics
Murray State Basketball Media Day
11/1/2006 6:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Murray State Men's Basketball Head Coach Billy Kennedy met with local media members Wednesday in the Murray Room of the
The Racers host York University of Toronto, Ontario Saturday at
The Racers begin the regular season at the Shamrock Invitational hosted by St. Mary's
Below is a transcript of Kennedy's comments from today's media day.
Q: Much has happened to you since you were hired last April. What can you say about all the hurdles you've had to get over?
Kennedy: “It has been a tough transition but as smooth as it can get. We're still trying to get to know each other. I believe we are very strong at the
Q: How is Shawn coming along after the broken foot he suffered in the UNC game?
Kennedy: “He can go hard one day but then he has to back off and that's a concern to me. At times he tries to put too much pressure on himself and being in not 100 percent makes it hard on him. He's going to continue to get better, but its going slower than I would like. We're trying different orthotics in his shoes, but it may be something he has to play with all season. We try to back off when we need to but with a kid like spoon that's hard to do.”
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Q: How is the team shaping up? Kennedy: “We have a good group of freshmen and guys excited about playing the game and they're getting better every day, but we have good days and bad. We're going to go our and try to win every game, but we don't know what lineup to do that with yet. |
You're going to see a big lineup and a small lineup in the beginning of the season. Your going to see many different combinations until we find the one that gives us the best chance to win. Today I'd say out of 13 scholarship players, any 13 can play for us and that's a good problem to have.”
Q: What's going to happen when the games begin for real?
Kennedy: “It's a big time to figure what players can perform when the lights come on. We've got to get them reps in practice and get them in some real games. You can have a great preseason player who is good in practice and works hard in the weight room but if he can't put the ball in the hole you've got a problem.”
Q: What do you expect on the Racers season opening trip to
Kennedy: “I don't think you know until you play some games. I think by OVC time, we'll have a good feel for it, but our schedule is very demanding. The schedule will show us where we're at and what we need to work on. Ed Horton will play the one because we're missing Kevin Thomas with the knee injury, but Ed is a better two guard. Tyler Holloway can play the one but he's a better two. Kevin has a meniscus tear and he had surgery September 29th and hopefully he'll be ready by December first. Kevin is a mature guy, but he'll have to play his way back in when he comes back. Bruce Carter can play the one, but you'd like to have Kevin back so we don't have guys playing 35 min every game.
Q: How is the chemistry of this team coming along?
Kennedy: “We do look like a team that hasn't played together. We're going to win some games ugly and it's going to take us time to develop the roles we need them to play. We've got guys who won't be taking that shot in two weeks. Our shot selection is not good right now. We're trying to establish our system but eventually we want to score early and push it in transition. A month from now we may have to back that down because we're turning the ball over too much. I don't know about the other 320 in Division-I programs, but we have to be the team with the most with new guys. Our kids are listening; they want to do the right thing and it's good that we're not having any issues that you sometimes see this time of year.”
Q: How will this team come to being a good offensive team?
Kennedy: “That's my fault, but we spent the first two weeks working on defense, and working on the fundamental things that help you win. Now we're now getting to the offense and we'll get better. We haven't put in a lot of sets yet to run and for Spoon and Holloway.”
Q: How have Ed Horton and Dwayne Paul helped this team since coming to MSU from
Kennedy: “To bring in two veterans who have played in tough environments before was big for us. Ed and Dwayne bring character and toughness to our team. They are solid players and are tremendous assets; they've both been leaders on the floor and off. I know day in day out they are going to be there and they know what it takes to win.”
Q: What do you think about Shawn Witherspoon being the player everyone will want to stop?
Kennedy: “I've explained one thing to Shawn and that is he has to be patient. He's had a lot of help since he's been here and he's never been the go-to guy. He's scored off of other peoples misses; he's had wide open shots because someone else was the focus. Now he's pre season OVC Player of the Year and everyone is looking at him. We'd really be trouble if we didn't have him. He really wants to win, and if the other players want it as bad he does, we're going to be just fine.”
Q: What do you think about starting the season?
Kennedy: “The question will be how will we handle adversity? Will we grow or get beat down? Our schedule doesn't do us a lot of favors, it's very difficult. We're going to have to stay positive; we're going to be good, it may not happen as soon as we want.”
