Nov. 9, 2008
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Ohio head coach John Groce
Nov. 9, 2008
Ohio vs. Mercyhurst - Athens, Ohio
On the overall game:
Overall, I was pleased with our effort once again. Similar to last Saturday, we've got to figure out at this point, and obviously I'm being really picky, how to be able compete for forty minutes. I felt like we did that for the majority of the game but there was a lull in our competitiveness to start the second half. I'll have to watch the tape and take responsibility for that, that's my job as a coach to get them ready to play in the second half and we weren't ready out of the gates. I did challenge them to compete with toughness and I thought we did that for the majority of the game. I challenged them to share the ball--we had 16 assists and 13 turnovers. We were shooting to play the game with 12 or less, so we were close there. I was happy with that. The extra thing I added this week was execution and we'll have to watch the film, but I thought our execution was better than last Saturday. I felt like Mercyhurst was a challenge from the standpoint of playing multiple defenses, which I liked because it helps us get ready as we continue to move forward in terms of a recognition phase, and I thought that Michael [Allen] and Frankie [Dobbs] and the rest of the team did a really good job understanding how to attack the zone and come right back and attack the man. I thought our best offense was in transition and we did a good job of getting out and running, and playing that up-tempo style that we want to play.
On the play of senior guard Michael Allen:
The thing I'm most proud of with him is he's the epitome of toughness. Honestly, he plays like he practices every day. He competes, he always brings it. I never have to worry about if he's in a good mood, a bad mood, or what kind of practice Michael Allen's going to have today. He's always got his motor revved up and I've alluded time and time again to the leadership he's provided since I've arrived and that's really helped my transition and most importantly it helps the guys on our team. He was one assist away from a double-double, perfect from the foul line, no turnovers, and you really can't ask more from a point guard than that.
On the play of senior forward Jerome Tillman:
Obviously our guys know what he means to this team. We're trying to get him the ball, but we have a lot of weapons out there and one of the things that we want to do is throw the ball inside and I've told the guys that, we want to play inside out, that suits our team best. But we're going to take what they give us. We have a lot of guys on our team that are able to make plays and the phrase I use all the time is to "share the basketball" and they did that. Jerome and the experience level he has, he knew, "Hey, I need to amp it up here a little bit," because they made that run on us to start the second half. He and Mike [Allen] got the guys to respond in a very positive way after that run. I felt like they dealt with some adversity there as well, which during the course of a college basketball season happens all the time. A lot of times, it's how you respond to it and I was very pleased with the way our team responded to that.
On the play of freshman guard Steven Coleman:
Steven's been playing well. The thing I'm on Steve about--and he knows this, that's why it's funny--he had 12 points in the first half. I've been on him to be aggressive, he's a playmaker and I think that when our team's going to ultimately play our best basketball, that's with Steve being in attack mode. I thought he was really in attack mode in the first half and even in the second half, he got the third foul early in the second half and I didn't want to risk him getting a fourth at that point. Sometimes, especially when you're a freshman, and you sit for that long and you go back in it's hard to get it amped back up. But I thought Steve did that, I thought he competed and was a part of the team that made that run there when they hit us in the mouth to start the second half. He'll be the first to tell you he's not where he needs to be yet, but he's made a lot of progress and we're excited for what the future holds for him.
On Mercyhurst:
I thought Mercyhurst was going to have more size and little bit more depth than Wooster, and in Wooster's defense, they were a little bit banged up last week with some of their players out. [Mercyhurst junior forward Jordan] Armstrong was a load today, in the first half he was 15 points and five rebounds, he finished with 20 and six, so we did a better job on him in the second half. Jerome had the assignment in the second half. But I want the guys to understand this, when a guy scores, it isn't that he scored on Jerome Tillman or he scored on DeVaughn Washington, it's our team defense, because we're all out there helping one another defensively. Today I was proud of them because Mercyhurst is a team that runs a lot of set plays. It seemed like they were calling every state and city in the book every time down, Georgia, Detroit, and I thought that was good because it allowed our guys to be able to talk, to be able to defend different actions. I thought that was good for us, that was really a good challenge. I thought they competed and they were great the first six to eight minutes of the second half, they hit us in the mouth a little bit and it was good to see to way that we responded.
Senior guard Michael Allen
On playing 30 minutes in a high-tempo offense:
Part of being tough is not showing your opponent any signs of weakness. Sometimes I just continue to compete and understand that every four minutes there will be a media timeout, so I just go as hard as I can and don't worry about getting tired.
On Ohio's transition/fast-break style of play:
It fits our point guard personnel here well. Frankie (Dobbs) and I are both good at pushing the ball, while we have players on the wings that can make big plays. Transition is going to be a major style of play for us this year, so I am all for it.
On what the team needs to work on before the regular season begins (Nov. 16 vs. William & Mary):
For the most part we need to work on not turning the ball over and not fouling as much. We need to cut those down. We want to commit just 12 or 13 fouls (per game). As for turnovers, as long as we have more assists than turnovers we should be okay. Our main goal in practice is just to get 100 percent better each day.
Freshman guard Steven Coleman
On his improved performance today (from his first exhibition game):
I just practiced hard. My team kept pushing me and without them I wouldn't be able to do (what I did today).
On individually committing no turnovers against Mercyhurst:
In practice we just kept going over taking care of the ball and not throwing one-handed passes, while looking for open teammates.