December 03, 2001
You said after the Loyola Marymount game that seven players were late showing up for pregame and that was why you felt the team lost. How will you handle the discipline problem?
"I have got a few things in mind. It will not be to the degree of suspension unless I find out more information."
Do you feel like you are working with a different team this year?
"I think we are showing a different look, a look that is more positive in terms of us becoming a basketball team and a basketball program that this place deserves. I think we have the personnel that can help us get there. It is not all the way there yet, but if we can get the contributions from our bench then we will have a shot. I am not saying we will go out there and win the Big 12, but I really think that we will be much more competitive since I have been here."
How would you evaluate Bernard King's play to this point?
"He is very mature. He has always been a talented basketball player. I think he just had to mature as a person, and I think he has done that. He approaches the game with a different way. It has caused him to show some of his talents. He is beginning to do a lot more, because we have surrounded him with a lot of other players that he is confident in. Overall I think he has just matured. And if he keeps maturing then he will have a future after college."
Was there a crisis point that caused him to move in this direction?
"To me it is more of a gradual phase. It was something that we had talked to him a lot over the off-season. He has been willing to take this thing to a whole new level."
Where is Tomas Ress headed?
"Tomas has taken some steps back physically. He is a really weak physically right now. We are having some trouble getting his strength back. I think it might have something to do with the sickness he had (he missed last season with a staph infection). His body just has not been able to get back to what it used to be. In pre-season practices he had lots of energy and was playing like he might be our No. 2 player, but he has not been able to build on that at all."
In terms of other players, who has come forward and done well?
"I think Jesse King came out of his shell a little bit in the last game. It has been more by committee than just one player, and I think that is a good problem to have. We just need to get some consistency out of Keith bean and Andy Slocum, because at times they have given us some real quality minutes."
Where is your point guard situation headed?
"I think it is just going to be a race between the two men (Gardener and Jackson). I would like for one to take charge and show me that they are able to lead the team."
What do you know about Southeast Louisiana?
"They are a team that has had some problems beating teams they should beat. They will be tough and we have to learn how to beat teams like that."
How about Miami this weekend?
"Wow. that is a whole other ball game there. They will be by far the most talented team we have played. They'll have some pros on their team and we will definitely have to be on top of our game, even though it is a home game. We better play for forty minutes if we want to have a shot at beating them."