Men's Basketball Season Preview Press Conference Wrap
10/16/2001 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Oct. 16, 2001
Head men's basketball coach Dave Bliss, junior guard Wendell Greenleaf and senior forward Greg Davis spoke with the media Tuesday at a preseason press conference. Below are excerpts from their comments.
Head Coach Dave Bliss:
"Basketball season is upon us. I think it is an amazing quality that allows people - in this case, me - to enjoy each season even more than perhaps you looked forward to the last one. There's no doubt that part of the excitement that you have is built on the fact that hopefully your product continues to get better and better.
"In our case, hopefully this is a team that will as time goes on develop its own personality. The way I thought last year's team came together was terrific, and we accomplished a lot of things.
"This year's team, while it lost a great deal of experience in Terry Black and DeMarcus Minor, I think it has the ability to do certain things. We may start out slowly because of some inexperience, but hopefully we will be able to cinch our belts in a little bit and make even greater strides this year.
"There is no doubt that in the Big 12 Conference you can make strides every year and appear to be just paddling in the water. Everybody else is pretty good. Up until the time we start playing in the Big 12, I think our team will continue to improve.
"I think we can be a very versatile basketball team. We can play as a very tall team, we can play as a better shooting team, and we can play as a team that is much better defensively. Unfortunately, those aren't all in the same people. That's why you have depth, and we'll try to figure that in. But in the three practices we've had thus far, we've made some great strides. We look forward to an exciting year."
On importance of depth in the Big 12 ...
"The recognition we have as a staff is that the Big 12 is a very physical league whether it's football, basketball or tiddly winks. Physical demands depth because if you're going to compete, fatigue and injuries become a factor of how well you can progress. In our case, I think we can keep our level of play a lot more consistent by having as many people as possible fill in. You can change things by changing people in the line up, and you can keep fresh people out there.
"We didn't always do that in the past. DeMarcus (Minor), just because he was such a solid point guard, we would run him into the ground. Terry (Black) obviously would have to play a lot of times when he was tired. But I don't think we'll have to do that this year. It's not because we don't have good basketball players, but we have more of them.
"A great part of this year's team comes from the fact that a lot of these players have played for us before. Whether that was last year or at New Mexico, I think that usually makes the transition a lot better."
On Lawrence Roberts ...
"Lawrence Roberts will be a tremendous basketball player. Obviously, it would be unfair to put any tag with him because he's going to go through a lot of the normal growing pains that a lot of young players around the country will. But he comes here with great credentials. The part that I love about Lawrence is that he's a great competitor. He is capable of playing inside and outside. Once he understands the college game, his upside is tremendous."
On first few practices ...
"We've worked a lot on defense and trying to get people to understand the philosophy, but that's also true with the offense. Before you can really understand something, you have to understand the philosophy behind it. So we spent a lot of time Saturday trying to understand the philosophical background of what this team can be. Then as your team plays, you modify what you can do based on what your abilities are. Right now, we're a team that is composed of the things I think we're composed of. We become the best team when they take what I think they can be and they run with it. That's what is always exciting about coaching: you put certain things in front of a team, and then you watch them mature and progress. That's what happened last year."
On John Lucas and Taylor ...
"John Lucas is certainly capable of being a fine basketball player. He's 5-foot-10, 150 pounds soaking wet, but he has learned very well how to play. Certainly his dad might be responsible for that. John has some abilities that will allow him to be a good player in the Big 12. He also has a great learning period to go through.
"Kenny Taylor has one of the prettiest jump shots this side of I don't know who. I think what he needs to do is to get a sense of urgency up. Certainly, having played in the Willowridge system, he understands winning, as do both Lawrence and John.
"These three freshmen are from a great state. I think they are going to contribute a lot to a great personality on this year's team so far as what we feel about ourselves."
On who will fill Terry Black's shoes as an "electric" player ...
"Nobody. He's the most electric player I've seen in the 27 years I've been a head coach. And we've had some great players. The second-closest guy I can think of was a guy named Carl Wright.
"Terry Black was a tremendous basketball player in terms of the electricity. But Terry Black also was a great contributor in the locker room, his character was unbelievable. You wanted to follow a guy like Terry. So, as much as we'll miss the high-wire act - and believe me, I was up there cheering on all those dunks with all the players and fans - but we'll also miss the quality of the person.
"And that holds true for DeMarcus Minor, too. DeMarcus was a tremendous leader by example. He was one of the unusual point guards who was not a good holler guy. He was not the typical pepper-pot point guard. He was like having Earl Campbell at the point because he would just absolutely run over you to get a basket.
"Two players that added a lot to our team are gone, but we have different personalities that can enhance what we are as a basketball team, as well."
Junior Guard Wendell Greenleaf
"We're very excited. We came back ready to improve on last year because we know we lost two great players in DeMarcus Minor and Terry Black. Everybody is going hard right now, we're giving it our all so we can get back to where we need to be. We're still trying to gain respect. The only way we can do that is by showing people that we can play.
"We played some good games last year, but we have to do it consistently. We had some ups and downs, and we're really trying to not do that this year.
"We have a lot of depth, we have a lot of really good players on this team. In the past, we really haven't had all that. Practice has been really competitive because we all are working really hard. We all want to make each other better and improve. You can see that in practice every day."
Senior Forward Greg Davis
"Practice has been great. Everyone is working really hard. We have a good mix of new guys and old guys, and we're just trying to help each other along.
"Last year we showed people what we're capable of doing. This year, we hope to be a little more consistent about it, maybe knocking off some more of the top teams and moving our way up.
"This is a great mix of guys. There is a lot of depth. Last year was definitely something to build on, hopefully to bigger and better things."
