Week Five of the Big East Conference Weekly Basketball Coaches Teleconference finds Envision Sports Media / Free Sports Press correspondent Mike Crook discussing the past seven days worth of games with Mick Cronin of the University of Cincinnati and legendary head coaches Jim Boeheim of Syracuse University and Rick Pitino of the University of Louisville.
As always, all materials included within this post remain the sole property of Mike Crook and Envision Sports Media and may not be reproduced in any format without explicit permission, obtainable by emailing jason@envisionsportsmedia.com.
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The Big East continues to make a splash in the rankings after stellar performances by its top teams last week.
With the final full month of the regular season just days away, the coaches are trying to make sure that their teams aren’t taken out of rhythm and just keep rolling with the positive energy they’ve built throughout the year.
There wasn’t much shake-up in the polls from last week. There are currently four teams from the Big East ranked in the Top 10 and all seven ranked teams appear in the Top 20.
At this pace the Big East may be trying to do something that has never been done before: Have an all-conference Final Four.
And judging by the talent playing on the hardwood each night, that scenario is not out of the realm of possibilities.
Here’s a recap of the Q/A session I had with the coaches from Cincinnati, Syracuse, and Louisville.
Mick Cronin
Cincinnati Head Basketball Coach
Opening Statement:
As everybody knows whenever you win a game in our conference you have to be happy. I thought our guys played great in the second half especially. It was a good hard-fought win for our team. We’re just fortunate to get another win and stay undefeated at home. We’ll turn-around and get ready for a tough West Virginia team on Saturday night.
Q: You had a couple setbacks this month, but regrouped nicely in your last two games. What do you say to your team to keep them hungry and focused heading into the final, full month of the regular season?
COACH CRONIN: Really I don’t have to say a whole lot because we have preset goals. Our focus is on improvement. As individuals, kids have the hopes and dreams. You’ve got to make sure they’re giving their maximum effort to chase those and improve as players everyday. And collectively as a team, if you have good chemistry and you’ve got good leadership, which we do in our upper class, those guys are pretty focused on what they want to do.
I think the key is keeping them fresh and not having a burnt-out team as the year grinds on. Because it is a grind, its like no other, and your mental state is really, really important as a group. And you’re going to suffer some setbacks, like you eluded to. We’re 18-3 and our three losses are all in January. But we understand that’s going to happen and we’ve got to use it to get better. And that’s our focus.
Q: Can you talk a little bit about the season that Yancy Gates has had?
COACH CRONIN: He’s having a very good year. His numbers aren’t off the charts. His blocked shots are way up. He’s getting to the free throw line much more than he did in the past. But his defense has been the difference in our team. He went from a decent, defensive liability to a defensive plus for us. His off-the-ball defense, his rotations, everything you could ask him to do. We went from a liability to a guy that anchors the back of our defense and with consistency.
And that’s the difference. That’s why our record is different. Its just a matter of a guy becoming an upperclassmen. You’re playing a guy now that’s had some experience and learned how to play college basketball at this level. And that’s what its really all about. We had to play him his first two years when he probably should have been coming off the bench. But we just didn’t have anybody else in the rebuilding process that was going to play over him.
Jim Boeheim
Syracuse Head Basketball Coach
Opening Statement:
We didn’t play well against Seton Hall and they played extremely well. Now we’ve got to get ready for Marquette and that’s a tough road game. They play very well at home and we’ve obviously got to play a little better.
Q: You’ve had a tough stretch of games recently. Was there something missing in your team’s focus or energy that may have contributed to the last three losses or was it something else?
COACH BOEHEIM: I think sometimes when you lose people look for some energy issue or effort issue. I think we have good effort, good energy. We made a great comeback against Pittsburgh, really good comeback against Villanova. We could not get back against Seton Hall. The last six minutes we were down 25 and Kris Joseph scored all his points and Brandon Triche scored six or seven points so we were still trying but we just didn’t have it. We didn’t play well and Seton Hall did. They played extremely well and made some difficult shots. Sometimes that happens in basketball.
Q: How do you keep your team focused on “righting the ship” heading into Marquette before the showdown with UConn?
COACH BOEHEIM: We go to work every day at practice. We knew there would be tough times in this league, there always have been. Nobody is going undefeated in this league. Last year the winning team lost three games. You’re going to lose games in this league. You have to practice, you have to work hard and get prepared for the next game. There’s no magic formula or no magic lecture or talk you can give. You have to go back, you have to work hard. Our young players have to get better. That’s what we’ll be focused on doing.
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Highlights of Week Four’s Big East Conference Weekly Basketball Coaches Teleconference
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Florida State University
University of South Florida
After struggling through a seven-game losing streak stretching back to mid-December, the University of South Florida began to turn the tides Sunday afternoon at the Sun Dome by edging out the visiting Providence University Friars 79-72 for the Bulls’ first Big East Conference victory of the 2010-2011 season.
Duke Blue Devils vs. Florida State University
University of South Florida vs. University of Cincinnati
