Indiana University Athletics
Player Practice Quotes
2/6/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 6, 2003
A.J. MoyeRegarding his new hairstyle (bald) -
"Right now it's just a way of refocusing myself. I don't care how I look, I just want to play ball. It's like the Army, the first thing they do when you go there is they take your hair off. That's the mentality, that's me. I want to be a warrior, I want to be a rebel. I just want to win at all costs."
Regarding the mood of the team post-practice on Thursday -
"The mood is a little more relaxed. A lot of guys that were playing intense are playing relaxed and there were more smiles today. Guys had more fun and it was just as competitive, so that was good. The mood is one where we need to go out and prove ourselves, so it's more relaxed. Me personally, my mood is that I've got to win in the worst way. I just don't like losing. It's hard for me to even talk to my family when I lose. It's hard for me to go around in public when I lose. Indiana basketball is a big part of it, but it could be Binghamton and I want to win. I don't want to lose."
Regarding what it is going to take to turn things around and being `out of the regular season Big Ten race' -
"We're not out of the race. The thing is, we can't concern ourselves or be consumed with the race like last year, where we thought `what about the race?'. We can't do that this year. We're not leading the Big Ten, we're not even second. What we have to be consumed about is breaking it down one win at a time. Coach Treloar is always preaching that, take it one game at a time. So we're consumed with Michigan State. After that, it's the same with Michigan. It's got to be a one-game approach. We can't overlook anyone and we can't underlook anyone. We can't sell ourselves short and we can't sell ourselves long."
Regarding how having Bracey at full strength will help the team effort -
"It will be great because Bracey's a guy who can give you 30 (points per game) or can give you 20. He's just getting his rhythm back. Once he gets his rhythm back on his shot, he's the same Bracey. Teams have been able to let him shoot a little more as of late because they know he doesn't have his rhythm back. Once he gets his rhythm back, he's going to add another dimension."
Moye's take on what it's going to take to win -
"Loose balls - got to have them. Stops - got to have them. We can't have mental lapses that are going to cost us the game."
"I've just got to win."
Regarding team morale -
"This is a great bunch of guys and they know how to just let go and move on. We're getting better, we're improving. I think if anything we're anxious. We're glad we're back home. That was a tough road trip. I hope we learned from it so the next time we go back on the road for those three games we'll be ready to compete at a higher level. No one is frustrated. Frustration is temporary. If you let it set in, the frustration grows to be disappointment and then you've got a disappointing season. We're not making that. We're moving on from here. We're taking it one game at a time, we've got eight conference games. We've got a tournament. We know we're going to the NCAA. There's no way that's not happening. We've got to improve. That's the bottom line."
Regarding the need to win the remaining Big Ten games -
"We have to play hard, and that's the thing. I think some of us put so much pressure on ourselves to perform out of fear of coming up short. I had a fear, of maybe being taken out of the game or something. We just need to give it everything we have. The win takes care of itself. Whatever our role is, we need to do it. If I'm a defender, I'm going to defend the best I can. If I'm a rebounder I'm going to block out and get every board I can. If I'm a scorer, I'm going to get open in our offense. If I'm a passer, I'm going to make the best pass and a good decision. Everyone has a role."
Jeff Newton
Regarding Coach Davis' claiming to have taken the fun out of the game -
"He's been trying to get the best out of us, I guess. Today we just kind of scrimmaged, ran up and down a little bit."
Regarding the team and its eagerness to play games and win
"It's one thing we need to get back to doing, having fun. I think once we figure out how to do that, that's when we start winning."
When asked if the team has not been fun the last few weeks
"The only thing not fun is losing. Once you start losing, people get down, people start hanging their head. That's when the fun is taken out of it. This is a team effort, a team game."
Marshall Strickland
Regarding the four-game losing stretch -
"It's tough losing games, especially four in a row. I think it would be easy for us to lose our confidence and start blaming people but we have to stick together and try to turn this around."
Regarding the loss to Northwestern and the team's attitude -
"I think it was a panic thing. I think a lot of people made poor decisions and we froze up a little bit, we'd lost three games in a row and we didn't want to fall to Northwestern at Northwestern."
Regarding Assembly Hall as being a cure to the team's losing streak
"I think it would be good to get a win this Saturday and get over this hump and we can break this streak and get things going and rolling again."
Mike Roberts
Regarding the team and snapping the four-game losing skid -
"We just need to find a way for everyone to play well and help with the win. I don't know, we're searching for answers right now to be honest."
Regarding his play personally
"I'm just trying to come in and play really good defense and rebound well and if offense happens to come my way, it happens. I just want to make sure I come in and play really good defense and rebound well. Some games I've been alright but last night I don't think I played that well. I just want to come in and play hard and don't let my man score anything easy."
Regarding his increasing role and playing time -
"Personally it's something I've always wanted but the main thing is we've got to win. Whether I'm getting zero or 20 (minutes) we've got to find a way to win. That's the main thing right now."
Is it easier to shine when you're playing with the first unit in practice?
"It obviously helps when I know I've got guys like (Jeff) Newt(on) and (Tom) Cov(erdale) who can score. Sometimes when I'm on the second unit I try to score more and that's probably not my strength, especially at this point. I know I need to rebound, get scrap points, look for the open man and play good `D' and I like that role."
Regarding the opportunity of more playing time?
"The biggest thing right now is trying to turn this around. Obviously it's a good personal opportunity, whether it's me or someone else, I just want to win. I can say that last night that's honestly the worst I've felt since we lost to Indiana State my freshman year. We just need to find a way to win some games."
