Coach Davis Transcripts

Jan. 7, 2003

Opening Statement:
"We're looking forward to the Big Ten season and playing at home the first game, that's good for us. The key, like every coach knows, is to win at home and steal some on the road. Penn State has won five games, that should give them some confidence coming into this game. They played us tough last year, they probably should have beat us. This is a game that we've got to win."

Are (George) Leach and (Jeff) Newton ready to play?
"They'll be ready to play. That was a poor game for them on Saturday. But Newton is averaging 14 (points) and 10 (rebounds) and leading the Big Ten in rebounding. (Newton) has got it back, I think going home for Christmas really hurt him, but he's back, he practiced really well yesterday."

"Leach has got to work on his concentration. He's got to think there's more than just blocking shots, that's all."

Are you concerned about the offensive rebounds you're giving up - what needs to happen to fix that?
"It's a big concern because defensively we're holding teams to 37 percent and that's enough to win but when you add into that 11 or12 offensive rebounds per game, that's a big disadvantage. Our big guys have to do a better job of staying in their spot, standing in position. Our guys have to do a better job of rebounding the basketball. We have a tendency to stand outside and wait for the ball to come to us. If we can put our offense and rebounding together we can be a really good basketball team."

Is there something about your shot blockers being overzealous?
"Leach has been really poor. Some of those shots he couldn't block if he was 10 feet tall. He doesn't understand when to go and when not to go. I want him to block shots, that's a great thing for us to have, a shot blocker. But you can't go way out of your position to try to block a shot that you just can't block. We gave up layups against Kentucky, we gave up layups against Temple and I don't know how to solve it other than not playing him when he does that."

Did you like the longer three-point line and the wider lane?
"I liked it (the extended three-point line) at first, but it really doesn't make a difference to us because our guys shoot way out anyway. I hope they move it back. Right now, the average shooter can make it where it is right now."
"I didn't like the wider lane because it takes our guys away from the basket. I like the lane where it is now. The three point line, though, I liked that."

Newton's improvement from last year?
"He knows he's the guy now. Last year it was (Jared) Jeffries, the year before it was (Kirk) Haston. Now he's the guy and when you know that, I think you tend to feel better about your role on the team. It takes a while to make that adjustment. I think I screwed him up Saturday (against Charlotte) because he's had games where he's been off in the first half and then he comes back in the second half. I got him out in the first half when he wasn't playing hard immediately. You could see his entire demeanor had changed when he went back in, and I talked to him and I need to let him play through the game, more than I do with Leach."

Did you talk to Newton about his new role before the season?
"I told him that once Jeffries decided to go out (to the NBA) that he had to be the go-to guy and play with a little more energy. He's just got to play with energy. He's a really good basketball player and with the ball he can shoot, he can drive. He's coasting the first 5-10 minutes so he doesn't get in foul trouble. I think Jeff is taking it easy in the first couple minutes and not playing really hard. If you remember, in Maui (at the EA Sports Maui Invitational), he got in quick foul trouble against UMass and he doesn't want that to happen. If he picks up one or two quick fouls, that's my decision to keep him in or not."

Approach to Big Ten Conference play in his third season -
"I'm more confident now as a coach. My first year we went to Wisconsin and that's a tough place to play and we end up losing by two or three points. You're going against really good coaches in this league. It really helps me as a coach because you really have to study the opponents and study the game because they can beat you with coaching alone. I look forward to these games now because I think it can make us a better team."

Regarding the team's defense:
"It's what we do everyday in practice (defending shooters). When you have Bracey (Wright) and (Tom) Coverdale and (Kyle) Hornsby and our scout team with (Ryan) Tapak who is really good. Tapak in practice hardly ever misses. When you have to guard them in practice - guys who can shoot, you have to move your range. I think we guard guys that play against us like that. We guarded guys on Charlotte like they could shoot and they couldn't and we gave them driving lanes in the game, we played them like we play each other in practice."

Regarding Wednesday's Penn State game:
"(Sharif) Chambliss came in and really hurt us last year. We just didn't really respect him last year. Last year, they should have beaten us, looking back now at how the Big Ten ended up."

Is Penn State a dangerous team?
"I think they're all a danger for us, hopefully we have a new attitude going into Big Ten conference play. We do have a tendency to play down to the opponent. I'm not saying that Penn State isn't good, but they've taken a huge step, winning five in a row. They're trying to knock Indiana off and that's huge going into conference play."

Commenting on Donald Perry in the rotation:
"It seems to be working out great. We got him in in the second half and he saw the press and turned the ball over. I think the guys were relaxed and the game was over and that's what happened. We're just trying to keep it going, keep our rotation going and get Perry some minutes.

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