Nov. 11, 2011
QUOTES FROM COACH SENDEK FOLLOWING 78-72 WIN OVER MONTANA STATE (NOV. 11, 2011)
"I thought Trent Lockett played an outstanding game today. I thought he really put us on his shoulders with his toughness, as reflected by his 10 rebounds, and allowed us to hold on for a hard-fought win. Obviously, the two things that stand out in an unfavorable light for us: our defensive rebounding, allowing 17-second shots. We were annihilated on the glass. Johnson, No. 24, did a fantastic job for them...seven offensive rebounds. But, it seems like they shot a much higher percentage than .344 from the field because every time that they missed, they got another shot and sometimes a third shot. So, I was really disappointed with our effort on the glass. The other thing that allowed the game to be hanging in the balance time and time again was our turnovers...careless, sloppy turnovers. Twenty-two turnovers in the game. That's really way, way too many. We just didn't take care of the ball anywhere near the way we need to. So, defensive rebounding and turnovers were two obvious, glaring shortcomings of our team today. On a positive note, I thought Trent was outstanding. We did a very good job at the free throw line, especially from our post spot where we made all 10. Kyle made all four and Ruslan made all six."
ON THE INTENSITY OF PLAY IN THE SECOND HALF
"I just don't think we did a very good job of concentrating, of being alert, of being aware. I don't think we played very smart. If right now, as the old adage goes 'you shoot your own toes off"...we'd be walking around with clubfeet. We did not play very smart and we did not rebound the basketball. That's a bad combination."
ON THE OUTCOME OF THE GAME BEING A PRODUCT OF BEING THE FIRST GAME OF THE SEASON
"It was their first game too. So, we're not going to go there. These guys have all played enough basketball that they should understand the importance of rebounding the basketball. Some of the mental mistakes that we made I have no explanation for because we should be more advanced than that, by the time you get a scholarship to Arizona State."
ON Chris Colvin
"Obviously, Chris did not have his best game. He was much better a week ago against Grand Canyon. He's been great all fall. You guys have been talking about that and writing that. Obviously, if you look at our guard play, we had a preponderance of our turnovers there. But, we also had a bushel basket full in the post. I don't mean to...I know I'm coming across as very negative right now, but it's fresh in my mind. It's raw. Those are the things that I know we have we have to address to get better. Having said that, there were some good things. There really were. We know that Montana State is a good team. They had a great offensive attack. They have good shooters. They make shots. They're good from behind the arch. They are a competitive, good basketball team...very well coached. I didn't come into the game with any elusions of grandeur. I knew we would have to play well to win, especially given the fact that it's our first game and it's so early in the season."
ON Keala King
"Well, he made a couple big threes for us. I think he ended up with three three's. Those were really big baskets for us. Obviously, it's a positive that we had five guys in double figures. That's a real positive. Of course, we only really played seven. John got some minutes in the first half. I would have liked to have gotten him back in the game and probably should have done that. But, we did have good balance in our scoring."
ON KEALA'S IMPROVEMENTS
Well, I think he has gotten much better with his ball handling. Last year, with being thrust into the point guard position, put a lot on his shoulders. I feel much more comfortable with him putting the ball on the floor right now. He's doing a good job in pick and roll for us. Obviously, his shooting has continued to get better."
ON CHOOSING THE STARTING LINE-UP
"It wasn't so much as taking Ruslan out of the starting lineup, because obviously, he started against Grand Canyon. But, we just thought that it would be better for our rotation to not have Kyle and Ruslan on the floor together to start the game. Remember, a week ago, they both had three fouls in the first half. Just where we are as a team right now, those guys are going to have to platoon for each other regularly. I would like to be in a position where they could play together like they did last week. The way that Montana State was attacking us with their offense, it wasn't as easy for us to go that direction."
ON GAINING POSSESSION OF TURNOVERS
"We had three turnovers that led to breakaways that were big momentum shifters in the game, no question."
ON HAVING A TIGHT ROTATION
"Right now, as you know, we only have nine guys on scholarship ready to go with our team. So, I know we're not going to be playing real deep. I think Jordan is most certainly capable of playing for us. He has in the past, and Jonathan as well. He really just had his best week of practice. He will continue to get better."
ON SHOT SELECTIONS
"I thought our shot selection was okay. I don't remember questioning too many bad shots. I think we had probably a handful. The thing that was just a constant irritant was the turnovers just one after another...just unnecessary, unforced turnovers, poor decisions or sloppy play. We'd throw the ball to a guy wide open, he'd drop it and it would go out of bounds."
ON GIVING UP TURNOVERS
"We scored 78 points and had 22 turnovers. So, I guess there's a silver lining there."
ON JORDAN NOT PLAYING
"Well, obviously I chose to play him against Grand Canyon, but today was another story. I think match-ups and what happens in practice are the two factors that play most heavily into it, as well as who may be in foul trouble. But, make no mistake about it, as a team we have to get better. On the flip side, just to put it into some type of perspective, it's November 11. It's November 11 and four weeks ago we started practice. Doug reminded me this week with a text that my first year (in coaching in the fall of 1993), our game opener was November 27. So, college basketball starts early. You see it. This week you saw St. John's had to eek out to come from behind wins at home. You see it in some of the exhibition games. It's early. So, it's really incumbent upon us to get better in every way. We'll do that. We'll get back tomorrow together. We'll watch the tape and I'm sure we'll make some good improvements."
Trent Lockett QUOTES
"We would have liked to end it a little bit differently. I think we had a 10-point lead with about a minute and a half left, tried to extend it rather than see it shrink. But, it's good to get a win. Montana State is a great team, so we're thankful to come out here with a win."
ON ADJUSTING TO Chris Colvin'S STYLE OF PLAYING
"I wouldn't necessarily say adjust...I mean, he's a great player and he can obviously create a lot of different opportunities for other guys in the lane. I think maybe guys are just getting used to it, used to different situations when they're not used to receiving the ball when he throws it behind the back path or something like that. But, I think our big guys are getting used to it."
ON GIVING UP TURNOVERS
"Some, just careless. Some, just time of possession. Just a multitude of different things coming off the turnovers. Definitely one thing we'll look at in film and try to fix coming into this week."
ON REBOUNDING
"Continuing from last year, they out-rebounded us. They had 17-second shots, I think. That's a stat that we'll definitely try to fix. We'll look at what we can do on film. But, really it's just aggression and going in the ball. I think 24...he's like 6'6...and had seven offensive rebounds. So, it isn't all about size. It's a lot of want-to, I guess, as well."
ON THE GAME SETTING PRECEDENCE FOR THE SEASON
"I think we just had a good week of practice, getting ready and preparing for this team. Coach Pera did a good job of personnel...we knew where their shooters were. So, we definitely were ready of the team coming in. I just tried to do whatever the team needed on the floor."
ON THE CLOSENESS OF THE FINAL SCORE
"We saw them on film and they're pretty impressive. They have some athletic guys and they have a good motor to their team. But, like I said, we were up 10 with about a minute and a half and we would have liked to extend that lead rather than see it diminish."
ON OVERALL IMPRESSIONS OF HIS TEAMMATES' PERFORMANCES
"I think our big guys did a great job at the line (10-of-10). Other than that, we have a lot to work on. It's still early in the year. But, I was happy with the way our big guys shot the ball from the line. That's about it right now."
ON Keala King
"Keala has done a great job of improving. I think it's a lot of mental for him. He's more in-tune in the game and he's just always there to help his teammates. He's just kind of putting it all together, I feel like."
ON DEFENSE
I think we did a pretty good job, especially in the first half, keying in on their shooters. I know they missed a couple open ones, but they did an even better job of matching our zone. I think they had 51 points in the second half, which is horrendous. A lot came at the end where we need to match up and really know what they're looking for, like again, time in possession. But, we'll go into film and see what we can work on coming in tomorrow."
QUOTES FROM Keala King
"Credit to Montana State...they play hard and they came back in the second half. But, all this conditioning we did this past summer seems like it was big."
ON HAVING ISSUES WITH TURNOVERS
"Chris and I were basically just trying to feel out our players. We really didn't play too much over the summer. Turnovers...they're going to happen."
ON THE TEAM BEING IN SYNC
"It better happen fast...season time is here. I think everybody is going to feel each other out through the course of time."
ON HAVING CONFIDENCE WITH THE BALL
"I feel a lot of confidence. Just working with Coach Wenner this whole summer. I've been here the whole summer school, so I've worked on my shot through the course of this whole summer."
ON SHOOTING
"It feels good. The first time that I shot my three, once it went down, I just knew I was going to shoot my second shot."
ON THE THREE-POINT SHOTS THAT INCREASED THE LEAD
"To be honest, I don't really even look at the scoreboard. I just look at the shot clock. I look at the time we have, the time we have to be on the court. So, when they were coming back up, I didn't really look at it as we have to play harder. It's just that we have to play our game."
ON MAKING ADJUSTMENTS FROM LAST SEASON
"Leadership, talking, coming on the bench when I get subbed out, not getting mad, just trying to help out my other teammates on the bench and just try to create more energy."
ON IMPROVEMENTS ON THE COURT
"I worked out with Chanse throughout the whole summer because he was here for summer school as well. So, him and I were shooting a lot. In the game, I have to shoot...I had to shoot a thousand shots a day."
ON USING NEW STYLES OF PLAY
"Well, we have this play called burn. What that is, is we like to get the ball on offensive or defensive side, and get the ball and push. Instead of how we used to play, which was get the ball and call out a set play. This year is different because we don't really look into doing plays. We just look into passing the ball and burning, as we should say."
ON MAKES AND MISSES
"Makes and miss...we just want to establish ourselves as a running team, not just as a team that just wants to get the ball on offense and call off set plays."
ON ISSUES WITH THE BOARDS
"We just need to do a little boxing out, I guess. We miss a lot of assignments, but at the same time, we are all young. As you can see, we only have about two or three juniors on the team. So, we're all young and all trying to learn more."