Wake Forest Athletics News
Quotes From Basketball Press Conference July 6, 2004 Winston-Salem, NC - Quotes from Basketball Press Conference July 6, 2004 Men's Basketball Head Coach Skip Prosser: 1. Obviously the biggest news of week was Coach K and the Lakers, were surprised by decision or the seriousness of his consideration? "I haven't talked to Mike, so I don't know how seriously he considered the offer, but I'm not surprised at his decision. I'm glad he's staying, good for college basketball, the ACC and Duke University. The landscape of college basketball has changed for him in 24 years, so the idea of his entertaining discussions with another entity was not shocking. While I don't want to speak for him, I do think he's a field of education guy instead of a field of entertainment guy." 2. Coach K's concern for college basketball, do you share it? "I think college basketball is in a state of flux, which is not necessarily good. I'm not certain what he means by losing it's brand, but there are some general concerns that we as coaches see." 3. Are you going to the coaches meeting tomorrow? "Yes I'm going. The issue of the Lakers non-withstanding, there have been discussions of college basketball in the past, this just lead to a refocus on it. Things need to be done with guys leaving early, recruiting and academic packages... progress has been made, how it manifests itself is still to be determined. I feel there has been some positive dialogue with the NCAA and coaches, and there needs to be one between the NCAA and the NBA, because right now it's senseless." 4. What do you want to see happen in terms of rules and/or regulations? "The NCAA needs to make more rules in terms of recruiting and academic reform. Our sport is unique, so there needs to be a reshuffling of the rule book that are more men's basketball specific." 5. Has the way in which you deal with your players changed in light of all of the controversy? "I've always stood by the fact that if you come to Wake Forest, which is a great academic and athletic institution and in the best league in the country, and being a student is not what you want for college, then Wake Forest is not something you should entertain." 6. The school has historically been seen as 'nice program, nice school', what do you think about the idea of the atmosphere in the Joel being one that no one enjoys playing in? "We don't want to be a place where people enjoy playing, this should not be a place people come to have some barbeque and go home, we want people to come here and not enjoy it, we want to be a team no one looks forward to playing, if that is the perception, I'm ok with that. We want our fans to be a part of what we do." 7. There are obviously high expectations this year, do you want that? "It really doesn't matter what we want, it's a reality, the press decides those rankings and expectations. I tell the players all the time that the press predicted us 7th in the league two years ago and we won the league, so they obviously didn't know then and don't know now, so our goal is to be the best Wake Forest team that we can be and ignore other peoples expectations. We're not going to have a Tim Duncan, who was arguably the best amateur in the world when he played here, so we have to be good as a unit in order to win. Those expectations are going to be there whether we like them or not." 8. A lot of experience on this team, is it just a good college basketball team? "We have the best blend of talent and experience since we've been here. But the level of competition in the ACC and in our non-conference opponents is both without question very challenging." 9. Are there any positives you see in the three guys trying out for the Jr. Olympic team? "They are being coached by Kelvin Sampson, Tommy Crean, and Dan Monson for 2-3 weeks, that's a real positive. They are in a competitive environment with 3 of the best coaches in the country, a tremendous positive. I hope all three guys will make it and I've spoken with those coaches on each of my guys' behalfs in the past few weeks. There are really a lot of good players on that list of 24 but there are only 12 spots." 10. Paul's preseason expectations are clearly high. What can you do to calm him down? "He comes from great stock, his parents have raised him correctly, he understands the hype that comes with it, and I tell him all the time he has to worry about making just one person happy, and that's me, and if he makes me happy, we'll get along famously. He's a guy who has a tremendous passion to learn, listen and get better. He's a joy to coach and I think he'll handle all that hype in a real positive manner. He's surrounded by some experienced teammates who will get him through that and I'm confident that if anyone can handle this, it's Chris." 11. Can you discuss Paul's weaknesses? "First and foremost, he needs to guard better. It begins at the beginning; with basketball so much of what you try to do begins with your point guard, both offensively and defensively. Towards the end of the year he set a positive tone for us on the offensive end of the floor and one of the challenges for him this year is to do the same on the defensive end of the floor." 12. The last game of last year against Jameer Nelson and the other guards at St. Joe's, how did that affect him? "That Sunday after the game he called me at home and said 'hey coach thanks for recruiting me I really enjoyed the year'. And I said 'thanks for coming,' haha. He spoke immediately of his need to get stronger so he can battle against those types of guys, so he's really put in a lot of time in the weight room to be able to get stronger. It's much different playing in high school against kids than it is in college against men. He also learned that I trusted him and he must trust me trusting him to follow his instincts as a player. At the beginning he was trying to please as a player, in excess almost, but as the year went on he gained more confidence in his ability and followed his own instincts more." 13. This time of the year is critical for players for improvement in certain areas, what's your theory on that progress in the off season? "We're not allowed to watch them play, or be in a gym with them (which retards their growth as players), or watch them lift weights, (which is comical)... but what I sense is a little more seriousness of purpose. The backbone of this team, without which you cannot survive, are it's seniors. Vytas, Taron and Jamaal have that advantage of 'no choice', which is a great advantage when you have no choice but this year to make it count. They have a determination to go out on a high note. They've had a great three years but I believe they want to do even more this year, that's my read at least, and I hope it's correct." 14. Thoughts on Cameron Stanley? "He's getting big as a house, he's done a great job in the weight room, he's already been through one summer session and has volunteered to come back for another, he loves it here. We have the best trainer in the country in Greg Collins and he's done a great job of rehabbing Cam., I know little about medical issues, but I sense and I hope he'll be ready to go when school starts. An ACL is hard to come back from, so we are not pushing him at all." Women's Basketball Head Coach Mike Petersen? 1. What have you first orders of business been? "To get established, and get a great relationship with returning players. We need to make sure everyone's expectations are the same, mostly establishing guidelines that everyone agrees on, how hard we're going to work." 2. From what you see coming back, what are your realistic hopes and expectations for this year? "I'm a bad guy to ask, because my goal going into every season is to win whatever conference we're in. So I don't know if we'll win the ACC next season but that's our goal. I know that coaches say we'll try to come in in the top half, but that's cheating you players that way, so we're going to prepare every day like we'll win the ACC. And perhaps that is not realistic for next year, but when it becomes a realistic goal for us, then we will not have to change our approach when we get to that point. Our goal is to be the best basketball team we can possibly be, be the hardest working basketball team we can possibly be, best prepared, and most unselfish we can be. If they do a preseason coaches poll, I'll pick us first so when you see that one vote, that's me." 3. Do you think there will be a big change with fans and media and outside viewers and how they see or support the team? "Some, and that may have to do with how we play. I've always been committed to increasing tempo, multiple possessions in a game, we'll play as fast as our ability will allow us to. We'll play very, very hard, so I think and hope that when people come to see us play they will be impressed with how hard we play. I've been so impressed with this group of returning player, they have accepted this new coaching staff as well as I could have possibly hoped for, they've really bought into the things that we've asked them to do thus far. So I think we'll be able to implement our system early on." 4. Good chance of growing pains with up-tempo type style when you bring it into a conference that has as good of athletes as the ACC does? "Always going to be growing pains, and the ACC is as good as any in the country, and the two sports which benefited most from the expansion were probably football and women's basketball. Boston College, Virginia Tech and Miami all went to the NCAA tournament last year, so we add three great programs in women's basketball. I'm not so sure it's any harder to go fast and play basketball than it is to go slow and play basketball. If we go fast enough we only have to make one or two passes before we shoot, so that is less chance to turn it over as far as I'm concerned, haha. So I don't know if it's any harder to play faster if you're disciplined and in great shape, and if you understand what you're doing." 5. What do you think was lacking in the past 20 years in women's basketball in your opinion that has prohibited it from excelling like the men's program or even other women's programs within Wake Forest athletics? "Well basketball is a players sport, and to me the right personnel has not been in place here yet and I mean that from a student athletes standpoint. The student athletes need to come here for the right reasons, Wake Forest is a great academic and athletic institution. We need to recruit young people that embrace both of those things, but at the same time we need to recruit the very best basketball players in the country. I've told my assistants as we prepare to do that, that no on in the country is too good to play at Wake. We do not want to recruit the players that people think we ought to recruit, so that's the biggest thing. Aside from that, it makes no sense to me why Wake Forest has not excelled in women's basketball." 6. Having been here only 3 weeks in the spring when you were allowed to coach the players on the court, you must be pretty anxious to get going? "No question, I know I'm really looking forward to Oct. 16, when we can have everyone on the court at once. And at this point I'm looking forward to the start of school when we can go to skill instruction, and everyone back in small groups where we can work with them. We have to teach everyone from scratch, no one will know what we are trying to do offensively or defensively, it's a new system and a new set of skills. So it will be challenging but also exciting, I love being in the gym, I love working with athletes and I'm really looking forward to this." 7. Have you told the girls it's a clean slate, not starters or guarantees? "Yeah I do that every year. No one is a starter when season practices start. Some of the kids who have played really well here and already have some 'money in the bank' so to speak, will be on the same playing field as everyone else, it doesn't mean anything to me. It's the only way to be fair, I've told the girls, I'll start five freshmen, I'll start five seniors, I'll start five posts and I'll start five point guards, I really don't care, I'm just trying to win." 8. What characteristics do you look for in terms of players and starters? "Effort. Everyone who comes to Wake Forest is talented, so I honor effort over talent. We are not going to recruit kids that are not talented, no one comes to the ACC that is not talented. Talent is a gift, effort is a responsibility. So we'll have very spirited, very competitive practices that will hopefully lead to spirited and competitive games. So our program will be all about effort." 9. Have you looked at old game films or are you just going to start clean with everyone? "I've watched everyone, and I'm a huge film junkie. I see players that are pretty good, I think we have some kids in our program that have the opportunity to compete in this league. We have a group of players who were close a lot. We need to win those close games, so we need to do the work and gain the confidence. I want them to feel that games are not hard after you've been through our practices, I want them to look forward to games. These girls are all very close, these kids love each other, this is the tightest-knit group I've been with ever. That's a very positive thing." |