B1G Media Days

[throwback]

Coverage starts on BTN at 8 am Central - 2 hours of coverage

 

Coach Miles set to go around 8:45

 

Media Day Central - http://www.bigten.org/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/101415aad.html#_

[throwback]

Wisconsin Bo Ryan up first at 900

 

Rutgers Eddie Jordan 908

Purdue Matt Painter 916

PSU Pat Chambers 924

OSU Thad Motta 932

NW Chris Collins 940

NU Tim Miles 948

 

Then a break

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Wisconsin - Bo Ryan (36-4) 2 starters return

More teaching in practice this year, rather than managing, because of a young team

 

Shot clock to 30 sec?  Working on press break and press earlier in practice than usual to prepare for this rule change. Preparing for whatever teams may try to take advantage of it on both sides of ball. Not sure what other teams will do, but we'll be ready.

 

Rule changes impact game right away? Were big changes necessary? Media influences rules, want more dunks, try to maximize ad dollars, no matter what rule changes, must still stop other team, and must score. Simple. 30 sec is enough time to get a good shot, must teach to it, practice to it. Just play to it. Have to see how season plays out & how they'll call the rules. Had officials in to work our practice, I've only had 18 disagreements with them so far in practice, so that's pretty good.

 

 

*He's a vet at these things - took all 8 min to answer 2 questions with lengthy answers, never had to talk about his "retirement" 

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Rutgers - Eddie Jordan (10-22) 2 starters return

Hope to improve in 2nd season in B1G - lost top 3 players from last year. 7 newcomers, but I like talent & depth. 

 

Difficulty in losing top players? Don't necessarily look back, look forward to coaching the team. Not running as much Princeton-type offense, we'll be more perimeter oriented. We have more athleticism. Hoping to have 6-7 guys averaging 9-10 ppg. We just struggled to score last season. Good defensively last year, need to score more. Like how we're practicing.

 

Rule changes, how impact RU? How impact offensive play? Don't see us changing any philosophically. Always start with guarding in half court, we didn't press much last year. Wanted to concentrate on solid defense in half court. With more athleticism, we may press more full court, but not because of clock change. Told guys who can make 3s that they can shoot it at first good look, even early in shot clock. We don't look at clock as something to play to or defend.

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Purdue - Matt Painter (21-13) 4 starters return

Excited for start of season. Try to build on what happened last year while trying to stay healthy, which can be tough. Very healthy now - but we have a lot of big bodies and trying to be physical and get better and compete is tough to do while avoiding injuries. Davis & Hammons, 2 seniors returning, will have their best seasons. Had a great conference season last year after an average non-con season.

 

Hammons improvements? Needs better consistency, over last 2 1/2 months last season, he was engaged and consistent. His motor will always be questioned, so challenging him and entire team to have a complete season. He can erase mistakes, may not get blocks always, but will change shots. 

 

Rule changes? How long will it take for new rules to take an effect? Lot of changes this year. Whatever they choose to do, have to stick with it. If call it close on perimeter in November, do it in March too. A lot of times that hasn't happened. Officials need everyone on same page. Don't want 2 different answers to rule questions from Tuesday night game to Saturday game.

 

Flexible lineups? Edwards may be most improved player in practice, more athleticism, can defend multiple positions, good passer. Can put all over court.

 

5-6 Top 25 teams in B1G? A lot is dictated by non-con. Need to stay healthy, I think we can get a lot of spots in NCAA tourney, had 7 last year in a "down" year. Talented league, can't just mention 1 or 2 teams. To have a good league, we all have to do our parts in the non-con. Will have some 8-10, 7-11 league record teams that will be really good.

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Penn State - Pat Chambers (18-16) 2 starters return

Gaining momentum and want to build off last year, winning 3 of our last 4. Taylor, Jack, Foster, Dickerson combined with newcomers will be great. No Newbill, no Frazier, so we have to share ball well. Great frosh class now, great one will be signing. Been a long process, but we're working hard. We're here. We're ready to take necessary steps for success and something that's built to last.

 

More balance this year without Newbill? Taylor is ready to become a better scorer, more versatile player. Garner is shooting ball better. We're big, biggest team we've had in a while. Looking to get inside and get dunks, layups and FTs.

 

Rule changes? Started in July working on them, did one day of skill, one day of 5 on 5, worked with shorter clock, some days worked with 20 sec, some days worked with 10 sec. Going to need guys who can hit shot in last 5 sec, no matter if it's a post player or a guard. Have to work on time outs, as players must call them. We've reached out to NBA people to learn more about arm bar. The 5 sec less on shot clock shouldn't bother us, not the way we play.

 

Blending older and newer players? Sometimes best thing for a team is having 4-5 leaders, we have a leadership council. They're teaching how we do things at PSU, how hard we have to play, teaching young guys about setting up a great routine, which will help academics, in weight room, on court, etc. Everything we do is competition, driven by our seniors, our leaders.

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Ohio State - Thad Motta (24-11) 1 starter returning

No seniors, one junior, but I like demeanor of team, attention to detail, energy. We're still in a learning process with just 8 practices. Excited to have this team for a few years.

 

Rule changes? Beneficial being so young, so they don't know any better about old rules? Had situation in practice with 2 frosh who didn't move from lane till ball hit rim, had to stop and teach. They're having to learn everything on the fly.

 

Rebuilding year for OSU? Some truth to that. Usually when there's no seniors, you have a lot of juniors. We don't. I like rebuilding term, it's a complement because it means we've been good. I like the unknown with this team. They'll have to go through the rigors, but seem eager to do it.

 

Challenges so far as a coach? Had to slow things down. Normally we try to practice fast with shorter time. Now we're slowing things down, break down more to get concepts of offense and defense installed. 

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Northwestern - Chris Collins (15-17) 5 starters return

Top 3 scorers return - all B1G programs are at such a high level, great basketball. We look forward to see where we fit, led by Demps & Olah, both are ready for big senior seasons.

 

Importance of having players you've recruited in the system in 2nd year? 1st year can be tough, lots of trying to figure out who the players are, they're trying to figure me out. With virtually everyone back from last year, that's a positive. Best programs are ones where players can carry out the culture, players hold each other accountable. We're getting to that point.

 

Point guard improvement from last year? Fed McIntosh to wolves last year, he did a great job, hope to make big jump this year.

 

Olah this year? Improvements from frosh to senior shows his work ethic. Very skilled big man, good shooter, good passer. Gaining confidence as he has success. Need him to be a consistent presence down low, double-double guy. Need him to be great to maximize ourselves as a team.

 

Newcomers? I put a lot on guys who were winners in high school, we have that in freshmen. 

 

NCAA berth? How important to finally do it? Been asked about it a lot, nice that people feel like we're at a point where that's in the discussion. We don't talk a lot about it with players. It's not on this team's shoulders, the pressure of never being to NCAA tourney. Can't think about March now. So much between now and then, must do well in non-con, must do well in league. Confidence and belief we can be a good team. My goal is always to be in NCAAs. It's a matter of when, not if, for us. Be great if it's this year, but really want to make a step forward most of all. Not easy to get to NCAAs in Big Ten, must climb over people who are really good. 

 

Spain trip, extra practices? Always an advantage for any program to take a trip like that, extra practices. Can treat them like exhibitions, can experiment with different defenses, different lineups. Great to incorporate 4 new guys into team with the trip. Doing things together as a team helps too. Learned more about strengths/weaknesses, can address those items immediately when practice starts.

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Nebraska - Tim Miles (13-18) 2 starters return

Opening statement - "I'm just here so I don't get fined."

 

Chicago kids on roster? What expected from them? Very important with only 4 returners. Morrow played at a very high level in HS and with AAU, ready for B1G. Watson led his team to state title - playmaking guard, excited about his future with us.

 

Rule changes? Flow to game, will it help? Been at all levels as a coach, best games are always the most physical games. For whatever reason, best teams are willing to do battle. Rules changes are interesting. In NIT scoring went up with some of rule changes. Not sure I love changes to time outs. I'd prefer to have control, but I understand why. Hands-off stuff/freedom of movement, you have to either tighten it up or make court bigger, and bigger court is not going to happen.

 

You guys are subdued, this is not church. I'm not happy with Cardinals loss.

 

Shields? He's a really good player. He could be NBA player. Going to score a bunch, improve outside shot, will get better and better. Whole team had horrific year from 3-pt line.

 

More Shields, pro football hall of fame trip? Glad he could make time for it this summer, such a neat moment for whole family, such a small group of people honored that way. Great for him to speak on his dad's behalf night before, he'll never forget it. Not a better rep of athletics than Will Shields, so supportive, it'd be easy for him to pressure Shavon, but he doesn't do it. He's unassuming, and Shavon is that way too. First team academic all-American, can't believe he's not considered one of top 10 players in our league. He'll just do his job, and you'll be surprised at what he can do.

[HuskerFever]

[Mr. Red]

Coverage starts on BTN at 8 am Central - 2 hours of coverage

 

Coach Miles set to go around 8:45

 

Media Day Central - http://www.bigten.org/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/101415aad.html#_

Who needs the Big Ten Media day website when Throwback is providing all the coverage here at HHC.  Thanks Throwback!

[throwback]

Richard Pitino - Minnesota (18-15) 3 starters return

Like our young team, not an excuse, they'll need to play, and learn on the court.

 

Trip to Spain? Not sure how much carry-over we'll have basketball wise, but it'll help young players get a feel for flow of how we operate for games, how we act in hotel, how we act in locker room, how we act in time outs. Chemistry aspect was huge, guys had fun.

 

Loss of Mo Walker? Progress of young big men? One young player with stress fracture in foot, will miss 3 weeks. We are looking at playing small too. Bicari (sp?) will have a chance to be a great big player once he heals.

 

Rule changes? For us we don't go deep in clock offensively anyway. Could see more teams go to press to burn time off shot clock before you get into half court, but I don't think 30 sec is a big deal. Other changes could be tough, no 5 sec call will be big adjustment for us because of the way we pressure, using arm bar in post is different.

 

Difficulties for young team in B1G? Had an older team last year & B1G wasn't easy last year. Hopefully they'll be ready by the time B1G play rolls around. We're not going to talk about it much, we're young, but have potential. B1G is a veterans' league, so we have to grow up quick.

 

30 to 35 sec, why isn't a difference? Just don't think it'll be sustantially different, so few teams in B1G play deep into shot clock at 35, so 30 shouldn't affect. Hasn't been an issue in our practices. Just don't want it sped up so much that there's bad shots. Everyone wants the NBA model, but not everyone has LeBron James to hit a tough shot at end of shot clock.

[49r]

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Tom Izzo - Michigan State (27-12) 3 starters return

Competely different team than most I've had, great shooters, more athletic, spent hours and hours shooting FTs to try to improve. "Worst FT shooting team in captivity last season." Good depth. Concerned about our defense, "shooters seem to think it's illegal to guard people." Can play Valentine at point and be big, can play small. Good leadership and chemistry. "We haven't lost a game, everything's positive."

 

B1G strength this year? Been here 30+ years, some incredible years in there. Depth of this league & great coaches, top to bottom, last 4-5 years, best in country. Injuries last year, some teams didn't live up to expectations, those teams will all be better. Would be nice if Wisconsin came back to pack a little bit, but they'll be great again. Not a 3 yards and a cloud of dust basketball league, which has helped recruiting. Maryland is definitely top dog, Indiana will improve a lot, everyone else fighting from there.

 

Transfer Harris? Fits in well, great shooter. Needs better shot selection, better defense, he's getting better there. He's helping other players become gym rats like he is.

 

Rule changes? How does TV play into these? We played 24 sec clock in Europe this summer, I'd like to have every rule like NBA, would make a better working relationship with them. Too many lines on court is not great. Be good to be more unified with NBA, maybe not 24 sec shot clock, 30 is good. No 5 sec call is good. Take judgment calls out of ref's hands. Wish we'd unify basketball from HS to NBA. We always hear on rule committees, we don't want to be like NBA. Why not? Kids want it. Women are experimenting with 4 quarters. I like that. I love some of NBA rules. 

 

Time demand for college athletes? Limit time? I think it's a joke. Are we going to limit time on Twitter too? Coaches are smart, we're not going to beat kids down with long practices. I don't see surgeons or musicians worrying about time commitments. When we give the kids more free time, they sometimes get in more trouble, then I'm in trouble. Guys who want to be great, they want to be in the gym, they want to practice. I think too much is made of this. I struggle with it. I wish we'd ask the kids, I don't know of many who don't want to be in the gym.

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Michigan - John Beilien (16-16) 4 starters return

Have a team, true team. LeVert is a great talent, but he's a great teammate, leader too. Love going to practice every day, great mentality. Want to stay united, who knows what can happen?

 

Difficult last season with injuries? Benefits now? Was painful to go through it, lot of close losses. Right now you can see the effect has been terrific, made us hungry. We have a lot of gap to make up with a young team, but without question, it was beneficial for all of us, coaches too.

 

LeVert return from injury? Been cautious, but he's running faster, jumping higher, built his body during injury rehab for foot. Young senior, just turned 21, still developing.

 

Greater depth from injury situation last year? May have some guys lose minutes with players returning, but some of them may keep their minutes. Depth is great, gives coaches a lot of choices. But sometimes that's a challenge, won't have all the answers when season starts, team will evolve.

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Maryland - Mark Tugeon (28-7) 3 starters return

Really like my team. With all expectations, they've only worked harder.

 

Expectations? Our schedule is really tough, we wanted to challenge our team. We even got a tougher B1G schedule than usual, play 6 of top 7 teams on road. We'll stay humble because of our schedule. It'll make us better, we'll be prepared for anything. Expectations can change quickly. Had a lot of hype this summer.

 

Maryland 1st season in B1G, not sure what to expect? Did you see this coming? I know we were good 2 summers ago. Didn't see 28 wins. It's all come together for us this year with talent we have. Must do it on the floor. Great basketball tradition at Maryland. We can do great things there.

 

Stone improvements over summer? Lost weight, become better at managing time. Great offensive player. Great feel for game. Defensively he needs improvement like most freshmen. He'll help us win a lot of games.

 

Georgetown game? Buzz? That's an understatement, could prob sell 100,000 tickets. Two great teams. Coaches, players, fans, should be a great night, tons of excitement.

 

Rule changes? Biggest adjustment is different defense you'll see with shorter shot clock. Added some things to practice earlier than usual to deal with different situations we may see. We plan to play faster than the 30, we practice with 24 sec shot clock. Challenging for coaches to try to find good shot when shot clock at 35, even tougher with 30.

 

Trimble POY? Handing pressure OK? I'm sure he's excited about it. But he wants to be better, so he works hard at improving his body, better first step, better leadership. He did a lot of scoring for us last year, but he'll be a better distributor this year with better players around him.

 

 

 

* You know you have a great team when you don't get a question about your preseason player of the year until the last few seconds. 

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Fran McCaffrey - Iowa (22-12) 4 starters return

Unique team, 4 starters back, almost count Clemmons as 5th starter, then a lot of young guys, most of whom didn't play last year. Challenge to get those guys ready. Need at least 10 players ready to play.

 

Woodbury? His role will change this year as he's the main guy at the post now, may go from 20-22 min to 34 min. Always been physical in past, not as much of an issue when playing 20 min, have to stay out of foul trouble when playing 34-35 min.

 

Leadership? When you have 4 seniors with tons of experience, leadership is a collective effort. Last year was White's team clearly, but this year it's different. All have different leadership styles. 

 

Depth allows for more pressing, more running? Logical assumption - may try to press more, even though we press quite a bit already. Don't see shot clock issue affecting us, we want to shoot early. But will other teams try to press more to try to burn shot clock before you get into half court? Will teams run more set plays with less time? We're not changing our approach though.

 

Immediate impact among frosh? It changes day to day. That's the issue I'm going through, haven't had consistency from those guys yet. And I'm not sure you can expect that yet. It should solidify over the next 2-3 weeks.

[throwback]

Indiana - Tom Crean (20-14) 5 starters return

Battling injuries in early practice sessions. (Wahhh.) Have a long way to go. Great attitude. Biefeldt has been a great addition. B1G is great top to bottom, have a long way to go for us.

 

*Looking very orange today. And only threatened to fight 4 people during his opening comment, so not too bad. 

 

Depth? We want to have a true 2-deep. Want competition at every spot. We're not there yet. Frosh & sophs need to get us to that point.

 

Middle of B1G pack last 2 years - challenges to climb upward? Need more consistency, have to battle through injuries and losses. Rebound quickly from challenges. Mental toughness is needed & control the paint, must get lay-ups and get to FT line. Keep other teams from shooting high percentage in paint. History of this league is high shooting percentages, low turnovers, good FG percentage defense, all top teams have these things.

 

Ferrell vs Trimble? Wouldn't trade Ferrell for anyone. Trimble is a great player too.

 

Thomas role in team as frosh? Zeller was like that, made everyone better. Thomas is a different player. Great athleticism. He practiced first 2 sessions, then we held him out. We obviously missed him. He has great work ethic, great energy. Need to get him healthy.

 

Non-con schedule? We even scheduled tough in the exhibitions. Tried to schedule teams with great perimeter quickness, and teams that battle you inside. Not sure we've had a tougher non-con schedule on paper in 8 years, also not sure B1G has been better in my 8 years. Star power in youth in B1G, plus experience, this is as good as B1G has been, can't imagine there's a better league in country.

[49r]

[throwback]

Illinois - John Groce (19-14) 2 starters return

Euro trip helped us a lot, practices were especially helpful. Lots of newcomers between frosh and transfers. Proud of guys in offseason with how they improved themselves. Great classroom work by our guys, great work in community (classic comments of a coach on hot seat  ). Must get healthy. Had some bad luck early on. I succeeded in staying healthy on way from hotel room to press room today. Know it's bad when trainer says a guy will be out 4 weeks and you are happy because it's only 4 weeks. Had guys miss 80 games last season. 

 

Nunn injury? Don't know much yet. Didn't bring him today, injured in practice 2 days ago, thumb. He had to have examination today, so didn't come along. Don't know if it's broken. Don't have any info yet. 

 

Injuries affecting team morale? It is what it is. Guys in locker room went through this last year. We're going to get them back, but it can be tough to grow & get better when you're getting guys back at varying times in season. Takes time to gel and develop. 

 

Difference in post losing Egwu and getting Thorne? Thorne more gifted offensively, great rebounder. Defensively he has work to do, must place importance on defensive end equal to offensive end. Egwu was opposite, great defensive player.

 

Turned corner as program? Anticipating getting guys back. Like versatility of our team, guys can play multiple positions, can play small, can play big. Adding more talent all the time. Just need to get healthy.

[hhcmatt]

[AuroranHusker]

[AuroranHusker]

[AuroranHusker]

 

[AuroranHusker]

Barfknecht's quick takes: http://www.omaha.com/huskers/blogs/basketball-husker-notes-from-big-ten-media-day/article_285b00fa-7372-11e5-b1c5-5be9383dc556.html

 

Despite Big Ten snub, Tim Miles says Husker forward could warrant NBA talk

 

When the Big Ten revealed its 10-man preseason all-conference men’s basketball team this week, absent from the list was Nebraska forward Shavon Shields.

The snub was news Thursday to the 6-foot-7 senior, who was ninth in the conference in scoring last season (15.4), 14th in rebounding (6.0) and fifth in free-throw shooting (82.7 percent).

“Hmm ... that’s kind of disappointing,’’ Shields said in an interview at Big Ten media day. “Actually, that’s really disappointing.’’

Motivating, too?

“Yeah,’’ he said after a pause. “You could call it that.’’

 

http://www.omaha.com/huskers/despite-big-ten-snub-tim-miles-says-husker-forward-could/article_b7fd4684-7370-11e5-bd78-1f6ed36ce6c3.html