Meet The Press: Moonlight Madness
10/14/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Oct. 14, 2011
Head Coach Scott Drew
On Baylor participating in Moonlight Madness...
"I think the last couple of years our fans have asked why we don't do a Midnight Madness, and this is the year to do one - from the standpoint of ESPN wanting to put it on national TV and the outstanding dunkers we have this year. I think this could be the best college dunk contest ever when you are talking about Perry Jones III, Pierre Jackson, and Deuce Bello, I mean those are some great dunkers."
On the team's chemistry...
"Well, I think the best thing is that the last few years we have had great chemistry. But I think this year, if you are comparing teams, is one of the closest teams - if not the closest team - we have coached since we have been here. If you ever see one of them, you see all of them. They like one another, they enjoy one another, and I think that is very important because you will fight harder for people you like. The other thing is that we have a lot more leadership and a lot more experience this year than we had last year with Lace(Darius Dunn) being our only senior. This year, you have four seniors and you have a lot more people who have been involved in college basketball."
On the depth of the team...
"Well I think that coaches love to have options and love to have depth, and we know iron sharpens iron. These guys will get better competing against one other in practice every day."
On how the team is dealing with all of the preseason hype...
"Two years ago, we were predicted to be 10th in the conference and we went on to play in the Elite Eight. Last year, we were predicted high and didn't end up finishing so well. I think this team realizes it is not about where you are ranked in the beginning of the year, but about where you finish. You like when people pick you high because it does show respect, and it does show that your program has progressed. You look at it and I think this is the fourth straight year that we have been ranked in the Top 25 and that shows good stability and consistency. At the same time, you come out of a season where you stopped playing sooner than you wanted to. I think that helped lead into a good summer, and the guys really worked hard and got after it."
On trying to figure out minutes with such a deep team...
"I think when you have a month's worth of practice you can kind of start to see how people start to separate themselves, and the other thing with that is that normally you do have to deal with some injury and illness so depth gives you the ability to be able to sustain through that. I think every coach would rather have 10 guys who can play rather than just seven or eight so I think that is a good problem to have."
Junior G A.J. Walton
On the preseason hype surrounding the team...
"I can't speak for other teams, but we are going to play hard and give it all we have. We are going to try to win games as a team and pick each other up and just do what Coach Drew asks us to do. We are just going to try to win games, and try to win the Big 12."
On the value of playing in Canada over the summer...
"I can say that it helped. Mentally, just being in another country, international rules are different so teams over there are going to get home court advantage and you really don't get calls over there. Just playing through that and different teams, different styles of play, you learn and it helps you out. It helped me to just go over there and play with different players that play college ball over here and just see how they play. It helped me just to play around them."
Sophomore G Brady Heslip
On sitting out last year...
"Sitting out last year was tough, but at the same time, I looked at it as an opportunity to get better at certain things and to change my body so I can compete with these guys at this level. The wait was really tough, but it is over now. All of the work that I put in last year I am happy with and I am just ready to get started."
On playing with Canada's Senior Men's National Team...
"Well first of all, it was a huge honor. That is something I have dreamed about all of my life. Taking away from the experience, I was around older guys who are pros who look at it a little differently than a college player. I was able to take some habits away like how they approach practice, how they approach shootaround, how they approach different things and just learn from them in that standpoint."
Sophomore F Perry Jones III
On getting back to basketball...
"I am very excited. I am excited to come back and play with these guys once again, I think it was a great decision I made to come back this year and play with these guys. So far I am having the most fun I have had in years. I am looking forward to having a great year this year."
On coming back this season after not participating in postseason play last year...
"Everybody had a bad taste in their mouth last year and no one wants that taste again. Everybody wants to get to where we were at before last season. There is a sense of urgency for the team to get better by the whole team. You can see it in open gym, you can see it in practice, and you can see it in individual workouts. Everybody is competing and not backing off."
Senior F Quincy Acy
On coming off last season's disappointing finish...
"I made sure that everyone knew that we didn't want to end this season with the same taste in our mouth that we had last season. We have been working hard, we changed a lot of things and we got our heads on right for a better season this year."
On the talent of this team compared to past Baylor teams...
"We have a lot of youth, we have a lot of length, and we have a lot of depth. We haven't had this much depth since I have been here. That will play a huge roll this season in keeping everyone fresh, and everyone getting equal minutes. Everybody is going to play and everyone is going to contribute and everyone works hard."
