Wake Forest Athletics
Quotes From Basketball Media Day
10/11/2002 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Oct. 11, 2002
Head Coach Skip Prosser:
On what kind of team he has... "That's a great question. I guess we'll start finding out tomorrow at 11:30. I don't know. I think it will be a really hard playing team. I think it will be a very unselfish team. I think it will be a team that attempts to play quickly. Again, so many unknowns, I think everyday is going to be like Christmas, open up a present and hope something great comes out of the box. I'm looking forward to finding out."
On longer time to prepare... "Parameters of preseason are so different. Last year our preseason, with the Preseason NIT, our time was so truncated into a smaller time period, so it was pretty good that we had some veteran players because we had to play so early. We played November 12th where as this year we don't play until the 27th, and ideally this is a blessing because we have so many younger players. The challenges are much different but I think that's what makes what I do for a living good. It's fun. Each season is entirely different situation with entirely different group of kids and I find that invigorating."
On having a young team... "I don't think I've ever had a team that only had three upperclassmen, all of whom are in a state of limbo with injuries and things like that. So I'd say, without doing any research, this is the youngest team I'd ever coached. I think we have to go slower than we did last year. I have to become more patient than I am normally because being young they are going to make the mistakes of youth. We'll have growing pains, usually they call them pains because they're painful, and I'm sure some of that pain will be absorbed by me, but I'll try to spread it around a bit."
On the freshmen having to play... "That's why they're here. They came here to play. I really never really cared who plays. Every year I've coached but maybe one as a head coach, I started freshmen. I don't know if we've every been as dependent on so many young kids, and I think the crux of the team in many ways in terms of a barometer of our success will be the sophomore class. They're going to have to go from being complimentary players, from off Broadway to on Broadway type of players. I think that will be very revealing to how they respond."
On playing with two point guards [Downey and Gray]... "It's not how big you are, it's how big you play. I've done that in the past and I'm not adverse to that one. Roy Williams did pretty well with three point guards in the line-up last year."
On improvement of sophomores... "I think they had the deer in the headlights look last year, and I think [Taron] Downey especially has taken a much more vocal role in the preseason workouts. Vytas [Danelius] is in the best shape of his life. He's not as vocal as Taron, but he has worked exceedingly hard in preseason. And Jamaal [Levy] is having a much better preseason than he did last year."
On Howard's injury... "It's going to be a day-to-day thing. In the best of all possible worlds, he'll be ready to go everyday. Healthy, I wouldn't trade him for any player in the ACC. Right now, the health is a question mark. He'll have to play with some tolerance of pain. When he plays the way he can play, I think that will elevate the play of everyone else on our team. So without question that is an important factor, but if he can't, we'll just have to be successful with the players who can play."
Senior forward Josh Howard: On his injury: "As soon as I can get back on the court, the better things will go for both me and the team. I'd say I'm over 50%. Some days it hurts, some days it doesn't. There's not really a target date, I just want to get better. The sooner I get out there the better."
On being a leader: "The leadership part is just telling them what is on my mind, and what I expect out of them and what they expect of me. My injury came at a bad time but I'll be back and when I get back, you better watch out."
On his injury: "I had times where it hurt for a couple of weeks and times where it didn't hurt for a couple of weeks. The trainers have told me its going to hurt, as soon as I am going to play, I'm going to step out on the court with my teammates. I've been working hard and the trainers have been working hard and we're just waiting to get back out there."
Sophomore guard Taron Downey: On the upcoming year: "I have to be more of a leader this year. I have more of a leadership role, but its going to be fun teaching the freshmen new things like the seniors taught us last year. I'm really looking forward to it."
On being a vocal leader... "I've been working on that all summer. Since the end of the season, I've been trying to talk more in practice and be more of a leader and have a leadership. I think I'm ready for this year."
On his game and improvements: "As long as you're playing basketball, you can improve in everything. If you're not shooting 100% you can work on your shooting. Its just like seeing the floor, and different things I've been working on, liking watching film, I just did everything to get ready for this season."
On the freshmen: "They show me they can really play. They have tremendous talent - the sky's the limit for them. As long as they work hard, they're going to have to Coach Prosser will demand that from them, we're still going to be a good team. They are going to have to be mentally smart. They can't just stay up all night; they have to get some rest. They have to just make smart decisions."
