Nov. 1, 2010
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On the game:
"We were able to use our athletic ability tonight, obviously as time goes on what we want to do is have that half-court offense where if a team takes away your transition and defense breaks off your pressure, you can still score. So tonight we were able to score in transition. We did a pretty good job in our offense and that's what we're looking to do - get better in the half court as we go along here.
"Defensively, we knew they would come out shooting threes. That's what they did against Butler the other night. So there's some concern when they made their first three threes, but we just stepped it up a notch defensively. I thought we took some of their looks away and we were able to get some things out of our half-court defense which is encouraging. We shouldn't have to press to be an aggressive team so we were able to get some turnovers forced out of our drop back defense.
"We were able to sustain it with the bench coming in, obviously some new guys, but they were able to play at the pace we were playing at in the first half."
On Cliff Tucker's balanced play:
"Well this is just one exhibition game, but that's what I expect out of Cliff. He's very capable of playing like that, that isn't anything out of the ordinary for Cliff to play at that level. Hopefully he can give us that every night. It would really help us if he does."
On the play of freshmen point guards Terrell Stoglin and Pe'Shon Howard:
"I thought when Terrell Stoglin went in the game he really played well in the first half. He was really alive, active; he showed no fear. He got a little sloppy in the second half. He was probably a little excited with the way he played in the first half. Pe'Shon Howard was solid. He gives you that very strong - he weighs about 205 pounds - very strong guard. I thought Adrian Bowie was really good tonight. I thought he played very well."
On creating turnovers:
"That's how we have to play this year, we have to be aggressive. Like I said we won't always get all those steals and loose balls but we have to be there so the other team doesn't either. We got some good hustle plays from people like Berend coming off the bench (and) Terrell, Pe'Shon, and Haukur (Palsson), so it was good to see the bench play with that activity, because you really want that from your bench when your starters are getting tired. They come in and they're aggressive because they're a lot fresher and they can really keep us there until we get our starters back in the game."
On whether he had seen anything tonight that he hadn't seen yet with the team:
"Well that's what you want to see like the scrimmage Saturday, you saw some things there and could we do it tonight? Even with a team that doesn't have the athletic ability we have, they still know how to play. They're used to winning, they run some good stuff with their 3-point shooters. We competed and that's what you want to see just their effort in that situation. I have a pretty good handle on the guys that were here last year, guys like Berend, Haukur, and Mychal, people like that, you're looking to see what they do in the game. Right now, that's as close as we can get to a game so starting next week when things count if they can do that next week that's another step."
On how he played today:
"I was a little nervous out there and not used to [the game]. You could tell by my first four free throws, horrible. But once I got into the flow and started getting into it I felt really good. "
On playing the ball to the forwards first:
"We're trying to. I think this year they're going to really try to look to me and Dino [Gregory] first and then when they start collapsing on me and Dino, open up for Adrian [Bowie], Cliff [Tucker], Pe'Shon [Howard], Hawk [Palsson] and everyone else."
On the athleticism of the team:
"Absolutely, a lot of the young guys are very athletic. I think we have a lot more guys that can come off the bench and score then we had last year. It's definitely exciting to think about. We started out kind of slow this game. The freshmen had some jitters, but once we got into the game we were all good."
On leadership of team:
"The positive thing about having three seniors and two experienced guys is big for us to have spread-out leadership. Last we year we depended a lot on Greivis [Vasquez], Landon [Milbourne], and Eric [Hayes]. I think this year the five of us are going to step up big, so it's exciting."
On the team's new style of play:
"Coach has put in a lot of new things. We'll press a lot more than last year and we're going to run as much as we can and score a lot of transition points."
On team's focus:
"We're not really worried about scoring points, the main thing is defense. We just need to focus on the defensive end and we will be OK."
On personal play:
"I've always been a pass-first person, always trying to do whatever it takes to help this team win. Coach told me at the beginning of this year that I have to help lead this team, so tonight I wanted to do whatever it took to lead the team."
On being a starter:
"Definitely being a starter you have more of a comfort level."
Florida Southern Head Coach Linc Darner
On Maryland's athleticism:
"They just wore us down, their athleticism, their 6'5, 6'6 guards against our 6'1, 6'2 guards. There's a reason their guards are at Maryland and our guards are at Florida Southern. I thought we played well the first 10 minutes. I think we ran out of gas and one reason was that it was so hard to get back on them. Then they got the press going and got some steals. I think it was about a 30-2 run, but hopefully it'll be a learning experience for us. We had some young guys out there playing at that time who made some mistakes that they can learn from. I'd rather them learn here in an exhibition than in a regular-season game."
On who stood out in tonight's game:
"I thought (junior) Preston Frederick played really well. He had a great freshman year for us, kind of a sophomore slump last year, but I thought he played really well, made some good moves, hit some jumpers, competed inside with their big guys. I thought Terry Jenkins played well for us. His shooting stats you might say he didn't, but he kept us in the game there at the beginning. But like I said he's not going to shoot over 6'7 guys and 6'6 guys every night. I thought [Maryland] did a pretty good job of trying to chase him around, get right up on him. I thought he made some good moves. I thought those two guys played really well for us. I thought Jon Gardner made some baskets for us right before the half. We didn't score for nine and a half minutes and then he made a few for us. But I thought those two guys played really well for us."
On the tempo:
"Well we play this way. It's like I told Coach Williams, I wish we could run like you guys. We play up and down that's probably a disadvantage coming into play these exhibition games because we race it up, down, probably took some quick shots that people are probably saying why're they shooting. That's the way we play. Will we run as fast as Maryland? No. Get up the court as fast as Maryland does? No. We won't play anybody as fast as what [Maryland is], except maybe next Monday."
