Student-Athlete Quotes - Eastern Michigan
Syracuse Men’s Basketball
Syracuse vs. Eastern Michigan
December 19, 2016
Carrier Dome, Syracuse, N.Y.
Frank Howard, So., G
How do you think the team moved the ball?
“That’s been our focus ever since our last loss – moving the ball, get everybody involved. Play with that good pace and that movement.”
How much of a lift is Taurean Thompson’s passing?
“Huge lift. Everyone has to play all five guys at that point. It makes the defense think. They can’t sag off of him because he can knock it down and they can’t come up to hard on him because he can pass. Having him, DC (DaJuan Coleman), Tyler Lydon, Tyler Roberson in there makes it very effective.”
What did you like about your team’s balance?
“I am very happy with it. It’s a work in progress. I think a lot of people forgot we’ve got a lot of new guys, a lot of new guys and new roles. I think that’s the biggest thing. Guys are getting comfortable. We have to be more consistent. After this we want to keep focusing and keep going with this same rhythm.”
Taurean Thompson, Fr., F
How comfortable are you out there against the zone?
“Pretty comfortable. We practice it every single day. We practice offense against the zone. It’s like second nature.”
Did you know how to attack the middle of the zone because that is what other teams try to do you?
“We practice it everyday. We know what to expect. Center man is either going to play up or is going to play back. It’s just your best judgement. However he’s playing is what you are going to give him.”
What did you like about your team’s balance, offensively?
“When everybody’s going I feel we are so hard to stop. Whenever we are all going, we’re so good.”
Dajuan Coleman, R-Sr., C
What was the difference today (attacking the zone)?
“The difference today was we were clicking. We did real well in the high-low. That is how we got the ball into the high post – we either had the short corner or the three. I think we moved the ball really well today and we just want to get better.”
You guys are so used to people trying to attack your zone. Are you pretty familiar with how that works?
“Definitely. Versus the zone you just have to attack the middle. High-post, short corner are going to be open most of the time or we can get it in and kick it out to the three so we just have to move the ball around and everything will open up and spread out the floor.”
Eight players were in double figures. It was pretty impressive.
“We moved the ball around and everybody was involved. We just all fed off each other. It was a good game. We just want to get on to St. John’s now.”
Andrew White III, Gr. St., G
So what do you have to do with the team to get ready for league play?
“We have another two games to get ready for that. Once you get into league play, it intensifies everything so we just have to up our urgency and get ready because, to a certain extent, we are zero to zero. We have a new opportunity to chase a goal, which is winning the conference and putting ourselves in a position for the post season. It starts today with our habits and doing everything that we can. We have a lot of work to do, but we can be ready by ACC play if we choose to.”
On Saturday you said that you wanted to work on your shot selection, what goes into that? What does that mean in terms of how you approach the game?
“As far as shot selection, I’m somebody who can get my shot off against most defenses and I’ve always prided myself on efficiency and if there’s a game where I wasn’t efficient, I try to look at it, look at the shots, look at my form, look at my technique and figure out what I could’ve done to correct that shot and what else was going on around me. So I always just try to make the right basketball plays and that’s what I meant by shot selection. But I think, for the most part, I take pretty good shots and do what I’m supposed to do. When you have other guys around you that can make plays, it’s good to get them open because that comes back to you. So that’s just something I try to keep in the back of my mind when I’m playing.”
Anything specific on more threes or less driving?
“I’d like to get to the hole a bit more. I think, early on, I had easy access to threes. Point-guard play here has been pretty good so I’ve been able to get more open threes, where in my last college season, I had a little bit more of an all-around game and I was inside slashing a little bit more. Offensive rebounding is something I’ve done more in the past. I’m going to try to mold that into my game so I can be more well-rounded.”
Tyus Battle, Fr., G
What do you think you can do specifically to really help push your grade up?
“Just be aggressive. I think I just need to get to the basket and, once I get to the basket, the defense has to converge and that leaves easy shots.”
Today you had 16 points. What specifically today were you feeling?
“I was just trying to be aggressive. I mean when I got out there I just had the mindset to be aggressive, not necessarily shooting the ball, but just making plays happen. “
Syracuse vs. Eastern Michigan
December 19, 2016
Carrier Dome, Syracuse, N.Y.
Frank Howard, So., G
How do you think the team moved the ball?
“That’s been our focus ever since our last loss – moving the ball, get everybody involved. Play with that good pace and that movement.”
How much of a lift is Taurean Thompson’s passing?
“Huge lift. Everyone has to play all five guys at that point. It makes the defense think. They can’t sag off of him because he can knock it down and they can’t come up to hard on him because he can pass. Having him, DC (DaJuan Coleman), Tyler Lydon, Tyler Roberson in there makes it very effective.”
What did you like about your team’s balance?
“I am very happy with it. It’s a work in progress. I think a lot of people forgot we’ve got a lot of new guys, a lot of new guys and new roles. I think that’s the biggest thing. Guys are getting comfortable. We have to be more consistent. After this we want to keep focusing and keep going with this same rhythm.”
Taurean Thompson, Fr., F
How comfortable are you out there against the zone?
“Pretty comfortable. We practice it every single day. We practice offense against the zone. It’s like second nature.”
Did you know how to attack the middle of the zone because that is what other teams try to do you?
“We practice it everyday. We know what to expect. Center man is either going to play up or is going to play back. It’s just your best judgement. However he’s playing is what you are going to give him.”
What did you like about your team’s balance, offensively?
“When everybody’s going I feel we are so hard to stop. Whenever we are all going, we’re so good.”
Dajuan Coleman, R-Sr., C
What was the difference today (attacking the zone)?
“The difference today was we were clicking. We did real well in the high-low. That is how we got the ball into the high post – we either had the short corner or the three. I think we moved the ball really well today and we just want to get better.”
You guys are so used to people trying to attack your zone. Are you pretty familiar with how that works?
“Definitely. Versus the zone you just have to attack the middle. High-post, short corner are going to be open most of the time or we can get it in and kick it out to the three so we just have to move the ball around and everything will open up and spread out the floor.”
Eight players were in double figures. It was pretty impressive.
“We moved the ball around and everybody was involved. We just all fed off each other. It was a good game. We just want to get on to St. John’s now.”
Andrew White III, Gr. St., G
So what do you have to do with the team to get ready for league play?
“We have another two games to get ready for that. Once you get into league play, it intensifies everything so we just have to up our urgency and get ready because, to a certain extent, we are zero to zero. We have a new opportunity to chase a goal, which is winning the conference and putting ourselves in a position for the post season. It starts today with our habits and doing everything that we can. We have a lot of work to do, but we can be ready by ACC play if we choose to.”
On Saturday you said that you wanted to work on your shot selection, what goes into that? What does that mean in terms of how you approach the game?
“As far as shot selection, I’m somebody who can get my shot off against most defenses and I’ve always prided myself on efficiency and if there’s a game where I wasn’t efficient, I try to look at it, look at the shots, look at my form, look at my technique and figure out what I could’ve done to correct that shot and what else was going on around me. So I always just try to make the right basketball plays and that’s what I meant by shot selection. But I think, for the most part, I take pretty good shots and do what I’m supposed to do. When you have other guys around you that can make plays, it’s good to get them open because that comes back to you. So that’s just something I try to keep in the back of my mind when I’m playing.”
Anything specific on more threes or less driving?
“I’d like to get to the hole a bit more. I think, early on, I had easy access to threes. Point-guard play here has been pretty good so I’ve been able to get more open threes, where in my last college season, I had a little bit more of an all-around game and I was inside slashing a little bit more. Offensive rebounding is something I’ve done more in the past. I’m going to try to mold that into my game so I can be more well-rounded.”
Tyus Battle, Fr., G
What do you think you can do specifically to really help push your grade up?
“Just be aggressive. I think I just need to get to the basket and, once I get to the basket, the defense has to converge and that leaves easy shots.”
Today you had 16 points. What specifically today were you feeling?
“I was just trying to be aggressive. I mean when I got out there I just had the mindset to be aggressive, not necessarily shooting the ball, but just making plays happen. “
