Indiana University Athletics
Practice Report Nov. 9
11/9/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
November 9, 2004
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - The Indiana men's basketball program will head into its second exhibition of the season on Friday, Nov. 12, as the Hoosiers host the University of Southern Illinois-Edwardsville.Head coach Mike Davis and a few players give their take on this week's practice.
Mike Davis
Head Coach
On the Hoosiers in practice:
MD: "We are still learning the timing of our offense and the intensity of our defense, but we are right on schedule. Some days are better then others. Some days we are really good at the start of practice and then we fade away, while other days it's just the opposite. It is just a matter of us getting into a groove and being ready for the game."
MD: "We are quick and we have a lot of athletes on this team so we are practicing a lot of different defensives tactics. The more you can do, the better your team can be."
On what he saw against Bellarmine on tape:
MD: "We passed the ball well. We made 37 field goals with 19 assists so we passed the ball a lot. We had a numbers of points in transition, and at the end, more then 70 percent of our offense came from moving the ball, which is what we did not do a good job of last year."
On James Hardy:
MD: "James Hardy can play. He looked real good. He's tough and hard-nosed, and he can just play. I hate to lose him, but he needs to go back to football. I appreciate coach DiNardo for letting him get a few practices in for a few days."
Errek Suhr
So./Guard
On his role this year:
ES: "I think there is a few things that I can do out there. I have to know my role and that is to always play hard on defense, always talk, and be very vocal on the court. If I am not playing the point, then I will play the two, which means I just need to spread the wings as much as possible and fill my lanes, as well as not necessarily shoot that much, but when I have an open shot I need to knock it down."
On his shooting:
ES: "Shooting is about confidence. You can't shoot well without it. Going through the same preparation for every shot, then you have a good chance at making it so that is what I have been trying to do is build a rhythm and keep working hard. "
On his improvement on defense:
ES: "A guy my size can guard bigger guys. It's all about positioning with me. If I get out of position, I will get posted up easily. I just need to force everyone into help, because that is what team defense is all about. We have a lot of big players on this team so if I can keep my position, we will be fine."
Lewis Monroe
Sr. Transfer/G
On how hard it's been in practice knowing he has to sit out this year:
LM: "It was hard the first few weeks, but I have to get through it. I am getting used to the system and all these plays, and I am just going out there having fun everyday making these guys better for the season. I look at the big picture here and hopefully, we will have a chance at competing for a national championship here, so that is all I think about"
On playing with Bracey Wright and Marshall Strickland:
LM: "They both have a good grasp of the game. They have shown me a lot with the offense, and telling me what I need to work on and look for."
Marshall Strickland
Jr./G
His take on the first exhibition:
MS: "I thought it was a good start. We showed signs of how good we can really be. Defensively, we held them to 43 points with seven minutes left in the second half. We also showed how powerful our offense could be."
What the team needs to improve on:
MS: "We need to become a quicker starting team. That will help us a lot against the North Carolina's and the UConn's on our schedule. We need to be able to come out and execute right from the start."
On what it takes to get focused for the two exhibition games:
MS: "We are really focused on us right now. We have been working on ourselves a lot and breaking down our strengths and weaknesses and just get better."
MS: "We could have come in against Bellarmine and played one-on-one ball and looked real good and please the fans, but that is not what we are about this year. Our goal is to execute our plays and get better as a team so when we play against the other great teams, we can compete."
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/ Men's BasketballThursday, August 13
Thursday, August 13
Wednesday, August 12
Wednesday, August 12