2012–13 Charlotte 49ers men's basketball team

Transcription

Hi fans, welcome to our Charlotte 49ers men's basketball preview. Ryan Rose with you and of course that means we've got the head coach Alan Major back and we've got a youth movement in here today but a couple of guys have played thirty minutes a game last year so fire tested I would say sophomore Pierria Henry we've got junior Demario Mayfield here with us coach let's talk about uh... this coming season but to do that let's kind of do a real quick rewind three games lost by one point so that's something that you figure you build the flip side of that a couple of tough losses but some really big wins sprinkled in last year and a lot of guys that played significant minutes coming back so that's gotta be some positives as you look forward to this season did you learn some things about some of these guys last year that you didn't know and what kind of things have you guys been doing in the off season to kind of get this thing moving towards the way you want it to go. Yeah I think especially with these two they showed a level of toughness for really been in their first years of college competition, you know you've got Pierria right out of high school and Demario's situation is unique you know a lot of people don't know freshman year at Georgia you really don't play a whole lot not so much in their rotation and then he sits out a year due to the transfer rule so you almost have a guy, you've got one guy right out of high school, fresh and then you've got one guy that's literally sat for almost two years coming right into the mix so they showed me a level of toughness that uh... I thought they had but they showed more than that and so I was really proud of these two for logging the minutes that they logged and getting thrown into the fire right away is going to be nothing but help in terms of our team when you're close like that we took a step last year and we got better I want to take a couple more steps but when you go through the fire like that that shows you that you're not as far away as you think you are and now this year we want to take that next step and get over the hump on those nights where you're right there and so a big part of the off season has just been skill improvement, each guy individually developing his game clearly the summer structure you know with weights and conditioning and then we were fortunate enough to have an overseas trip where we got to have ten extra practices and a couple more games. Good with a kind of a younger core of guys to get away and and just focus on basketball with you guys away. Let's talk about your off seasons and Demario we'll start with you. What things have you done to kind of improve your game in ways that you think you may be able to contribute to the team cause this year. My biggest concern that I took into the spring like after the season was working on my free throws you know I had a bad shooting free throws last year you know also I've been working on being more of a leader communicating with guys a whole lot better and I've also been working on being more of a consistent mid-range shooter Alright, some things we will look for from his game. Pierria a whole lot of steals last year one of those guys and uh... as a freshman you know dishing it out what are some things that we may see from your game that are better from last year? Just decision making making sure that my team gets the best shot every possesion I remember growing up my high school coach he told me if you don't do anything play everytime every game every second every play like it's your last and every time you do that the best should fall in and take care of the rest so really just having faith in my team and being a point guard controlling you know the offense and then on the defensive end just trying to lead by example and hopefully you know I believe that my team will fall in handy they'll fight with me. You're the guy that gets in a lot of passing for point guard to be that involved in the defense is pretty impressive and we haven't talked about Braz your thousand point scorer along with the court who played basically thirty minutes again last year what bright things for you guys this year perhaps yeah I think you got these two guys you know you've got your point guard a wing and a big that were all heavy minute guys and so you got three experienced guys at your three key positions you know point guard a wing guy and then the post so I even though they've been through it and they've got experience we still want to continue to drive them to improve and beat the nail on the head in terms of us continuing to be that this team that gets a great shot every time down the floor and I don't think this year we can be just a good defensive team I think we have the potential to be a great defense team now with that corps of guys obviously you've got some guys back from from injury and let's talk about your depth little bit the guys that you've brought in here as you start to build towards this year, how happy are you with the way this team is put together at this point I like our depth and what that number is I don't know is it nine guys a night is it ten I wanna play as many as we can to keep our intensity level up from you know tip to buzzer for the whole forty minutes so uh... Terrence Williams has had a terrific summer E. Victor has really improved I think Mike is ready now off of red shirt year to have a role and contribute I have seen the freshman class Denzel Ingram, Willy Clayton Darion Clark Ivan Benkovich a three-point shooter Shawn Lester unfortunately won't be with us this year everybody knows that but we're happy that he is here and still as much a part of our team as he can be without being able to compete and obviously JT Thompson on a one year transfer you know a guy that's got a degree he gives some maturity as a senior and Ilija came on with a stretch last year and played really well in our last game against Saint Joe's so every night it could be multiple guys to make a contribution so that's the beauty of this early part of practice you know you let guys duke it out Mr. Mayfield you had to sit a year when you transferred and I know we've got guys we've got Mike Thorne redshirted Mr. Lester is going to have to sit out a little bit what do you get being around the guys the year that you transfer and the year that you have to sit out does it kind of help you in the way your game matures and learning system here the way the Charlotte 49ers do it? Most definitely it was rough I wasn't able to compete you know my family the coaching staff all kept me positive also my teammates also so the sit out year was a blessing for me you know I actually had a chance to work on my game got a lot closer with my teammates in practice practice was my games so by me going hard everyday and improving my game myself also helped my teammates so you know that was the biggest thing you know just getting better every day. And we hope that support exists for the young guys in here that may have to sit or that don't as get much playing time Pierria let's talk a little about the trip to the Bahamas A chance for the court to kinda get away from campus and really bond and get to know each other I have scores of one twelve seventy four eighty eight sixty three but more importantly you guys got a chance to work together on the court and kinda get a taste of what this team this year might be like talk a little about that experience and some of these guys that are going to be out there with you this year. For one it was a blessing you know just to be able to get out of here and seeing the Bahamas I didn't ever think a day in my life I'd see blue water. It's pretty blue isn't it? I just thank God for that but just, secondly it just it brought our team closer you know I can say that it it showed that everybody on the team is willing to win everybody on this team is willing to work hard and go out of the way for each other I mean if you really into those numbers it goes all the way on to our walk-ons they were dropping buckets and you know Colby man I love that man he's got the biggest heart I've seen and for him to just be able to actually get some playing time and show how hard he works because I mean for me when we're running and conditioning he's one of the guys that's really pushing me I haven't beat him yet in long distance but it just showed how competitive and how much time we put in together as a team as a family and we're willing to go that extra road for each other and the Bahamas man it just it was just a nice vacation. Good to see you guys kinda get paid off too because you know we see the the seven to nine rotation but the rest of the bench is all part of putting these guys in the best positions to win is kind of a good lesson to learn. Without a lot of people knowing that guys like Colby Lewis in his own way way are the backbone has become a backbone of our team because you know what you're going to get from him every single day. Now you go from Bahamas to now in season you're going up to Alaska that's quite a difference in weather and experience right but another chance to take the team away play in a tournament style setting I know its good for young guys to play back-to-back nights and do that sort of thing where they get used to it because the A-10 tournament comes it's the fire you going to get thrown in, your thoughts on scheduling something like that you know we we got a two-for-one with this deal because we thought we could go the bahamas and use that as like a training camp type of a deal for us knowing full well that we had Alaska coming down the pipe it's a chance for us to practice how we travel how we you know have meals and how do all the little things we do on the road and then you have the competition setting as well and we thought let's take them somewhere warm you know when we're getting warmed up and then you know obviously Alaska is a long way away it's more of a mental thing we will be a long way away but we'll still be together that's the most important thing and we've got a chance to play three games in three days it's a nice tournament feel but you know if we're continuing to improve and play to the level that I think we can play at by that time I like our chances. And lastly we get to this schedule couple of new teams in the A-10 you're going to play both of them VCU and Butler The schedule's laid out for you don't have a whole lot of time away as far as long stretches but boy, a challenging schedule laid out for you this year. Yeah but you know what uh... me, I can't wait because this crew has put it together a lot of time from the the day our Saint Joe's game ended we gave them a little bit of time off we got right back at it in the spring the guys had a terrific summer both on the floor off the floor academically with summer school and so it's as you'd try to build this to where we want it it's not just ball it's how you handle yourself both as a student as a man and guys are starting to understand when you do that all that's going to translate into being successful and with a the schedule like this clearly it's the toughest one we've had in three years but you know I want to find out you know any team has got a competitive part to it you want to know where you stand and the beauty of it is it's still five on five at the end of they day so they can't play eight guys against our five so if we play to the level that we're capable of on both sides of the ball anything can happen with this crew I think the sky's the limit for them and it will be so much fun to watch these guys play I can't wait I mean I know you guys are chomping at the bit to get out on the court but there's a rowdy crowd waiting in Halton Arena to watch you guys play it will be a lot of fun I appreciate your time today guys good luck this season best of health to you guys I know it's going to be a whole lot of fun we need Halton Arena rocking again fans we'd like to thank head coach Alan Major two of the core of this unit the 2012-2013 season Pierria Henry, Demario Mayfield thank you you guys we really appreciate it. That is our segment for the Men's Basketball preview show thanks for watching and we will see you in Halton Arena. Go Niners!