[Rosiak's Blog] Exit interviews

[ToddRosiakSays]

Exit interviews

Written by: Todd Rosiak


I'll dispense with the commentary here and give you the interviews I conducted recently with coach Tom Crean, Jerel McNeal and Dominic James.

First, Crean, who I spoke to last Wednesday: 

What's the status of Dominic James and Jerel McNeal? Will they explore their draft options? Right now what you want to do at the end of the year is gather as much information, talk to as many different people, and try to give them a realistic view of where things are at. Same thing we did last year, do the same thing this year. Until you get more of a feel for that, it's too early. So once you get some information and let them chew on it, then I think that helps. I'm not putting a lot of thought into what's going to happen in a month; I think the most important thing is to see where it's at today, day by day, as far as gathering information. It's fun to talk to those guys about not only status of players, but also what they think they need to work on. So it gives you an opportunity to really gauge some things and compare notes, and I like that, and in due time have those conversations with those guys.

Will Jerel's great finish perhaps convince him to try the draft? It's too early to tell. I think what he's done is put himself in position for people to see his improvement, and to get a taste for how good he can be - especially on the offensive end. It's just a matter of what that means for the future, for the next level, and more importantly for him. It's shown him how much better he can get. That's what the end of the year did, and it's something we've just got to kind of work through, see where it stands.

Do your four incoming recruits have the potential to address some of the team's weak points? I think it has the potential to do that. When it's March and that's so far off it's really hard to project it. But when you look at the years the incoming players had, the versatility that they bring, when you look at what's needed on the team I don't think there's any doubt that we're extremely hopeful that it's going to help, and how it plays out remains to be seen. But every young man that we signed had an outstanding year, they won - some at an incredible level - and I think that's only going to help the entire program.

After the struggle you had against bigger teams, most recently Stanford, does trying to add size to the roster move up your list of priorities? I think it's always a priority. It's a matter of finding the right fit and being able to get people to come in and understand what you want done. The 5 spot obviously by far the hardest position to recruit in the country - especially in the Big East. It's a challenge. What you have to do is be creative, be innovative, and you have to sell people on what's there. The best thing that happened to Trevor is that he came back at the end of the year, because what that showed him and us is what he's got to get better at. Where the improvement lies, strength-wise, getting his knee stronger, where all those things stand, and how tough and competitive it is to compete in this league. I think that's going to be really good for him. Well, it's the same thing as you go through recruiting. You want to continue to find people that can match up with the size that's in this league.

In hindsight, would you have encouraged Trevor not to play this year? No, not at all. He and I had this conversation (following the Stanford game). It was the best thing for him. He got enough of an opportunity in games to see where he was at. Would he have liked to have done more? Would I have liked for him to have done more? No question. But he wasn't dealing with any type of experience level to gauge any of that on. Now he's got that. Now he sees what's needed strength-wise, what's needed in the sense of physical play, what's needed skill-wise. Where he stands, how competitive the games are, all those things where, if he was coming in after a full year off, we might not have been able to recognize until we got into the Big East season. Now I think we're both totally on the same page with that. Again, I would have seen him be able to do more, but that's just not the way it worked out and that's not what he was able to do. Now he's got an opportunity to really just get better every day in this spring, summer and fall before the next season.

Where do you see the perimeter shooting coming from next season? Will Dominic, Jerel and Wesley have to improve, along with David Cubillan? Will you be expecting some out of Nick Williams and Tyshawn Taylor? You didn't mention Lazar, who ended up being our best three-point percentage guy over the year. But in answer to your question, I think it's going to come from a lot of different people. There's no question that one of the major areas that everyone on this team can improve upon - some more than others - is perimeter shooting. Now whether it's three-point shooting, catch-and-shoot, inside the arc, mid-range, pull-ups, whatever it is, we can get a lot better. And I think a great example, and one to hang the flag on right now, is the improvement Jerel made in the last month and a half, two months because of his work ethic of getting in and doing extra, three to four mornings a week. We were basically not even scheduling individual workouts for him because he was coming in so much on his own to work with Tim Buckley on his shooting. The job that our coaches did with him is phenomenal, and it showed up certainly in the way that he played at the end of the year. He's always been an outstanding player for us, but his offense went to another level. And I think that's the key now for everybody to learn from - that there's always more you can do in the way of shooting.

All those guys that you mentioned, certainly there's much-needed improvement in Wes' and Dominic's perimeter games. David has got to get back to being an outstanding shooter; he did not have an outstanding finish with his perimeter shot, but certainly has the capabilities. Maurice improved a great deal in his shooting, and I think Scott Christopherson is going to provide for us; I don't have any doubt about that. He's going to get stronger, have that much more knowledge of what it takes, he's going to be that much more athletic, and there's absolutely no doubt that he's one of the best pure shooters that's ever come in in our nine years. And Lazar will continue to improve - not only his three-point shooting, but his ability to pull up, use the glass, all those kinds of things. So perimeter shooting, our ballhandling/decisionmaking, post offense and post defense certainly have to make some real moves this off-season, and I think our guys will understand that as they get into it.

You mentioned the areas in which your team needs improvement. In which areas do you think the team performed well?  I think there were a lot of positives, and I think the thing you can never lose sight of in this is 25 wins in arguably as hard a league as there is. Eleven wins in this league, which night in and night out is incredible...to win in it, you know you're improving. I think that's what's most important. I think our perimeter defense got much better this year. I thought our three-point defense was, among some of the better teams in the nation, we were as good as any in that area. I thought our free-throw shooting, although sporadic, some guys really got better at the foul line, which was important. Our ability to score off turnovers, steals, things of that nature at times was phenomenal. Not as good at the end of the year, but we played some teams that were much better with the ball at the end of the year. Our rebounding certainly improved. It was improving as the year went on, but it really, really got better at the end of the year, and needed to be. I thought that was a real positive. I thought our decision making, to have low turnovers in some of the biggest games of the year was crucial. So I think on offense if I had to pinpoint a couple things it would be decision making, the next pass really got better, and we had different guys that could score in the post. Certainly we didn't score a ton of points out of our 5 spot , but we had guys score points in that lane and we were getting to the foul line with it. And on the defensive end I thought our perimeter defense and especially our three-point defense improved. Our ability to defensive rebound improved. And we were able to create a lot of turnovers and score points off of them.

Do you expect any changes to your staff? No, I don't expect anything. But at the same time you're always prepared for something, and I think that's what's most important. We've got really good coaches. This is, from top to bottom, as good a staff as we've had here in my nine years, and at some point in time those people are going to be able to go on and do other things. They're going to go on and be head coaches or advance up the ladder, and I understand that. So I think the most important thing is to understand how good it is, keep helping the staff get better, and at the same time make sure that my checklist for how I would replace somebody is never too far from my back pocket. But I love this staff. We've got so many high-quality people in a program where there's been some high quality. I mean, look at a Darrin Horn. I'm proud of what they're doing, and what these guys here are doing, and if change comes we'll deal with it. But I don't anticipate any right now.

You're oversigned by one. When do you expect that to shake out? We'll deal with it as the time comes, and see how everything plays out inside of our present roster, inside of our recruiting, and deal with it accordingly.

Here's the interview I did with McNeal on Saturday night:

What's your status at this point? To be truthful, I haven't thought about it too much. It's definitely an option that I haven't made a decision on yet that me and Coach are going to discuss in the future. But thus far the whole focus has been on us as a team, making it as far as we could in the tournament, and now that's over you have a little time to sit back and reflect and think about the next move.

Without that strong finish to the season individually, would this be a decision you'd even be faced with making? It still may have been an option, just depending on how well we played as well as a team. I think that has a lot to do with it, a lot more than people know. Being a good player on a really good team always helps your chances, gets you more exposure and gives you opportunities. A  lot of players on bad teams may get overlooked a lot of times because of things like that - just because their team isn't winning they don't get as much exposure and recognition. I think more importantly, what determines my success as an individual depends on how well the team does. I think we played well the last month of the season, and that includes the post-season and everything, and more than anything the fact we were winning games was the reason why I had the ability to go on a streak there and play as well as I did. It's all about the team and us winning those games and putting ourselves in situations where all of us can get more recognition, and playing on the big stage like we did the last month put us in that position.

Dominic went through the whole process last year. Have you guys talked about it yet? We talked about it when he first got back. He definitely shared a lot with me about how things go, the whole process and what it's like going down to Orlando and competing in the pre-draft camp. That definitely helps you, somebody that's close to you telling how everything really is, all the things that you may need to do or work on if you're thinking about making that next step. We talked about it, and that helped him grow a lot as a player and a person, going through that experience. He's been a lot better from it. As far as that goes, if that's what I'd decide to do I'd be pretty prepared.

Do you have any timetable right now as to when you'll make a decision? I don't have any timetable or anything set up. I'm going to keep talking with coach, and we'll sit down and discuss things with my family and get something figured out. Chances are that I'll be back at school for my last year. That's been my primary focus the last three years, and it's hard seeing myself anywhere else.

If you return, along with Dominic and Wesley, you have plenty to play for, don't you? Definitely, definitely. When you've been with a group of guys for so long, after a while you have a situation where you're playing for each other and you want to succeed at the highest level and help each other reach their goals. Definitely for all of us our goal is to get a shot and an opportunity to play at that next level and I think we all feel that if we stick together and keep playing for each other we can all help each other reach those goals.

Did you watch the Stanford-Texas game? I watched bits and pieces of it, but mostly they were playing the Wisconsin game. By the time they turned to the Stanford game it was pretty much over.

Do you think you guys would have matched up better against Texas than Stanford did? Definitely. No doubt. I thought about that right after the game was over and we found out that Texas had won the next day. That would have been a great Sweet 16, you know what I mean? The style of game it would have been, I think it would have been real fun for all the fans in the nation to watch. Just two teams with a number of talented players and exciting guards and great athletes on both sides of the floor. I think it would have been a great game, and I would have enjoyed the opportunity to go up against those guys from Texas, but we were a point short.

Have you been watching the tournament? It gets to a point where, especially after the way we lost, you get that sick feeling, you know what I mean? It's just a real bad feeling, ‘I don't even want to think about basketball, I don't want to watch it.' Then, being such a junkie and a fan, that goes away so quick and you can't help but want to know who's going to keep winning and who's going to go home. Just being so interested in the game and just excited about this time of year, and what basketball is, it's hard to just not watch it. I've got to keep watching it, even though it makes me sick at times.

Have you second-guessed yourself on that last play in regulation against Stanford? In retrospect, would you have been better-served to drive, or did you feel like you had to get a three up at that juncture? I haven't second-guessed myself at all. I definitely think about things when we lose games that close, and everybody starts going off on how well so-and-so played. There's definitely some things I felt I could have done differently, a couple of shots that I should have made that just didn't fall for me - I definitely think about that. I'm not going to beat myself up over it. You've got to put yourself in those types of situations time and time again, just to know how to win games and hit those types of shots.

At the end of regulation it was definitely a situation where I could have gotten a better drive to the basket, but at the same time it was a tough spot. When I think of those kinds of situations you always want to know the time and the score, and that's something that we practice just on an unbelievable level, just every day in practice knowing those game situations. I feel like I could have gotten a lot closer to the rim and gotten an open look, or maybe all the way to the rim and gotten an open look. But at the same time I wanted to put my team in a situation where I wanted to take a shot with enough time to get an offensive rebound and another shot. It was a situation where I wanted to wait and take the last shot of the game, but I also wanted to give us a chance at an offensive rebound or putback, possibly. At the same time you don't want to shoot too quick and give the other team a chance at the last shot of the game.

So that play was designed for you to choose whether to pull up or to drive? Yeah, that play is one we run all the time. I could have made a better decision on that play. I could have gotten into the lane and drive and kick, or even gotten a closer shot than what I got, an easier shot. But a lot of things were running through my head at that time. I didn't make the best decision, but it was a situation at that point where we were either going to win the game or just go into overtime. 

And finally, here's the interview I did with Dominic James prior to the McDonald's All-American game last Wednesday:

Have you made any decisions yet on your future? I'm just taking the time out right not to reflect back on the season. I'm not going to make any irrational decisions. Obviously it was an injury-plagued season for me, but obviously I'm going to weigh my options, and that's what I'm still doing right now.

When might you make a decision? I don't have a timetable right now. I haven't spoken with anybody. I haven't even spoken with my family about it. It's only a couple days after a tough loss, so right now I'm not even trying to worry about basketball. Just get my thoughts together, and think with a clear head. When you rush decisions like this, as big as this, that's when you find yourself in trouble. But right now I'm just trying to take my time, and I'm not trying to think about it right now.

Do you see positives in returning? Oh yeah. Senior year, with the team we've got coming back, obviously you want to make a better run and you can build off the last few years of being here. But coming back to a core group of guys that wants to win.

Do you think you guys have an even deeper run left in you next season? Most definitely. I feel like we were a couple seconds away from making a run this year. I feel like the next game with a matchup against Texas, that was a game to look forward to. But if we come back I know we're going to make a run. It's just all of us making a decision. We're all juniors now, and we all have the same dreams. With the way Jerel played at the end of the season, the possibility of him making his dream become possible is a little closer. That's what it's all about. We haven't discussed it together yet, and that's one of those decisions we're going to make together when that decision needs to be made.

Has it hit you yet that the season's over? It's still sinking in. It's hard to even turn that TV on and watch basketball, even if it's a pro game, just knowing that your season's over with. I've been trying to just get away from it. Sometimes you just need time away, just to get your thoughts together, and think about other things besides basketball.

Will you watch the Final Four? We'll see. This week off will probably help me. There's not a lot of games on -- just talk --but just watching those guys play is kind of frustrating. Just knowing you want to be out there on the floor; that's what it's all about. Knowing that you lost, you've just got to deal with it.

Do you feel like the Stanford game was a missed opportunity? Yeah, everything. Just the way the tournament was set up after that game - I feel like we matched up well with the teams that were left. But the Sweet 16 sounds so much better than just advancing to the final 32. Obviously we took that loss, but it's a tough loss to deal with and not get ahead of yourself.

On the whole, was it a successful year? I think so. We wanted to make a deep run in the tournament, but we accomplished a lot of things that we wanted to.



http://blogs.jsonline.com/muhoops/archive/2008/03/29/exit-interviews.aspx

[77ncaachamps]

Lots of juicy interview bits, but this one stuck out like a sore thumb:

...I think Scott Christopherson is going to provide for us; I don't have any doubt about that. He's going to get stronger, have that much more knowledge of what it takes, he's going to be that much more athletic, and there's absolutely no doubt that he's one of the best pure shooters that's ever come in in our nine years.

For Crean to say that, it really makes me want the 08-09 season to get here QUICK! 

[MUFanInGreenBay]

I really see James and McNeal coming back after they weigh all of their options. I see the Big 3 not wanting to go out on a loss like that to Stanford. And as Jerel said, them playing another year together will only help them all to enhance their chances at the next level. A deeper run in the NCAA's next year will really do wonders for all of them and their pro prospects. Just ask DWade.

[mviale]

I agree - after going 3 years together - finish the deed.

[Oldgym]

When exactly does the oversigning issue has to be resolved?

[PuertoRicanNightmare]

If McNeal is assured of a draft spot in the 2nd round, I think he should go. His stock will never be higher.

[mu_hilltopper]

Umm .. What's McNeal's ppg this year, like 14?  If he continues playing like he did in the BET/NCAAs, starts scoring 18-20ppg .. his stock will be much higher than now .. just with the "star watch" frenzy alone.

[Coobeys Oil Depot]

If McNeal is assured of a draft spot in the 2nd round, I think he should go. His stock will never be higher.

I agree with this. Doesn't mean he wouldn't be a better player next season, rather, it speaks to the hype and perception that comes along with the NBA drafting pool. Look at the McGee kid from Nevada: people love the frame and the potential, and writers said he should stay in school, and since he comes out now he can be drafted on hype rather then undrafted due to being exposed in college (I'm sure the Fazekas recruitment is an up close lesson for anyone at Nevada).

[NYWarrior]

I agree with this. Doesn't mean he wouldn't be a better player next season, rather, it speaks to the hype and perception that comes along with the NBA drafting pool. Look at the McGee kid from Nevada: people love the frame and the potential, and writers said he should stay in school, and since he comes out now he can be drafted on hype rather then undrafted due to being exposed in college (I'm sure the Fazekas recruitment is an up close lesson for anyone at Nevada).

Agreed on McGee......but he's also a 7-footer, and those guys need to get the NBA $$ while they can so they dont turn into the next Chris Marcus (the WKU 7-footer who shoulda gone pro but stayed for 2 more yrs, got hurt and never got a sniff).  U think that kid from Bradley would have ever gone in the first round again?  I say no.

I think the rules are different for guards -- especially guards who shined so brightly for 6-8 games in March.  At the camps and workouts, what he did in March will matter very little.

[PuertoRicanNightmare]

At the camps and workouts, what he did in March will matter very little.

But what he did in March may get him invited to camps -- giving him a leg up on DJ who practically had to beg for a spot last year.

[NYWarrior]

But what he did in March may get him invited to camps -- giving him a leg up on DJ who practically had to beg for a spot last year.

Right, it should get him an invite to camp.......as for when players get invited, that is irrelevant in terms of evaluations.  As long as you're there, its doesn't matter if you were the first invitee or the 50th (if there are that many)

[rugbydrummer]

Yes, you're all right -- Jerel's stock has never been higher.  But I'd like to think, barring career-ending injury or any other of life's wayward obstacles, that Jerel can stay for the senior season, give NCAA bball his all, further enhance his lofty stature in the MU Bball history books, and still be able to elevate his game to NBA level in summer 2009.  I think our team would be devastated if he left, and no one else could really take his place in my mind (although I'll have to reserve full judgment until I see our incoming class).  Maybe it's me being selfish, but in all honesty, does anyone get excited about NBA finals like we do about March Madness?  You can change NBA allegiances in a flash (I'm thinking Allen Iverson here), but you truly only belong to one university/college ever in your life (transfer or not).  Yeah, it will be awesome to see another recent MU product doing us proud in the pros, but I'd like to see the culmination of the Amigo Dynasty first.

[harryp]

I don't see either James of McNeal in the same class as Stephen Curry.

[Coobeys Oil Depot]

I don't see either James of McNeal in the same class as Stephen Curry.

Well, they're Juniors and Curry's a Sophomore. 

Curry is not going professional so they won't have to worry about that cloud. Now that the Lopez twins have declared perhaps this is a good time for MU to send some tapes of McNeal's performance versus their team for NBA people to see what he can do.