-Alone on the court before any of his teammates had left the locker room, Bryant McIntosh could be seen working on his three point shot with the assistance of a ball-retrieving machine. According to the freshman, he was told to tone it down on Thursday, so he wanted to shake off that rust before practice.
"Coach [Collins] kind of made me relax yesterday, so I had to get in here and get some shots up. I feel like I haven't shot in a while," McIntosh said.
The point guard said the 24 consecutive threes he hit in practice does not begin to rival his personal record of 42.
-Regarding playing his father's favorite team (Indiana) on Saturday, McIntosh said "it was a great honor to play against them. I'm sure it was a heartwarming experience for my father, but I was just focused on making sure we get a win."
-McIntosh also talked about the upcoming game against Illinois and how the team's demeanor has changed during the winning streak:
"We got to handle ball screens better because that's a lot of [Illinois'] offense. It's something that we guards have to take personal, on that end. Just getting through them and that will take them a little bit out of their offense and what they want to do."
"Coach started a clean slate. He's made some huge changes for us and I definitely think it had paid off if you look at how we've played on both ends of the floor. He's changed how we practice, we are a little bit more loose in practice and everything and then in the game, he made some big in-game adjustments, going to a 2-3 zone. I think has paid off quite a bit for us."
-Collins on McIntosh:
"Well he just has a feel. I think you see it with the really good guards. They see a play ahead of the game. He's been well-coached, well-drilled as a kid, but also he has that innate vision, a feel for where guys are. He likes to pass, that's another thing. Not a lot of guys like to pass. A lot of guys like to score, including me. But he likes to pass."
-McIntosh on whether he'd rather drain a three or make a pass for a slam dunk: "I would absolutely rather make a good pass for a slam dunk, that's the best thing I think is being able to help a teammate score."
-Alex Olah opened up about his all-time block record, which he set against Indiana. He now holds the record with 138 career blocks.
"It's cool to be the all-time block leader. It's a good accomplishment, a good milestone. I hope I can still build on it, I still have one more year. It feels awesome."
-Largely responsible for the Cats' recent success has been Collins' decision to go with a 2-3 zone defense. Olah talked about how the zone helps him and in turn his teammates.
"The guards trust that there is somebody behind them who can protect the basket. I'm the voice down there. I'm kind of the quarterback of the defense, like coach says."
-Olah on whether the Cats should stick with the zone: "Right now yeah, I mean why not? We're winning."
-Head coach Chris Collins gave his take on a variety of topics, including Illinois.
"They are even better than the first time we played them…getting [Rayvonte] Rice back gives them another scorer, another proven, really good player at this level… John [Groce] does a really good job game planning, having his team ready to play and they're really good with their energy at home."
-On the zone losing its element of surprise:
"Every game we've played, teams have had a few wrinkles to try and throw against [the zone], and we've had to adjust on the fly during the games. Some things have been very successful against it, and we've made some adjustments and that's kind of how it goes when you're playing zone, there's no question it's not a surprise to anybody."
-On the difference between teaching man and zone defenses:
"It's a little bit like man. You see different pick and roll actions against the zone, different high-low situations, overloads where they bring three or four guys to a side and they make you have to talk and bump guys over. We have to try to do our best to prepare these guys for those situations, but in a zone sometimes you can't coach all those movements, and the guys just have to learn where are the shooters and who are the drivers. The good thing about it is a lot of times in the man so many coaches run good things, you're not preparing for a hundred different sets, your preparation is more about philosophy and where the ball is, which I think has helped our young team."
-On Tre Demps' play of late:
"I think early in the year he wanted to play well so much, sometimes I think he can force it a little bit. He's letting the game come to him, he's a lot more efficient, he's taking good shots. I think he's learning how to trust his teammates more when people double him or take him off his spots. In the Minnesota game he had seven assists. He's as proud about that as he is about anything…The other thing he's been able to do is find a way to get some layups. The other night I think he had three or four layups. You see the ball go in it puts a lot less pressure on your jump shot."
-On the team's mental outlook:
"I felt that after Michigan State, I knew we were on the edge of losing them…I felt like we needed to get some enthusiasm and spirit because we were losing and everybody was a little bit down, staff included. We're playing some music in the practice... trying to liven up, get the spirit going, trying to be really positive, which we are most of the time, but especially positive because we've been broken down... When you felt that as a coach, you know they have to be built back up, so real high energy, less time-this time of year you can't practice as long, so you've got to come in, you've got to be upbeat, it's got to be fast-moving. Just trying to have fun but still stay serious and compete and I think it's helped our guys."
-On JerShon Cobb:
"JerShon is out tomorrow, unfortunately. We've been kind of targeting to him to hopefully be ready for senior night. He's been doing some stuff in practice, moving around. Hopefully we've give him a couple more days, let him practice a little bit more. I'd love to be able to use him a bit on senior night if he can go."
This post was edited on 2/28 5:05 AM by Straus2018
This post was edited on 2/28 5:07 AM by Straus2018
This post was edited on 2/28 5:10 AM by Straus2018
This post was edited on 2/28 5:13 AM by Straus2018
"Coach [Collins] kind of made me relax yesterday, so I had to get in here and get some shots up. I feel like I haven't shot in a while," McIntosh said.
The point guard said the 24 consecutive threes he hit in practice does not begin to rival his personal record of 42.
-Regarding playing his father's favorite team (Indiana) on Saturday, McIntosh said "it was a great honor to play against them. I'm sure it was a heartwarming experience for my father, but I was just focused on making sure we get a win."
-McIntosh also talked about the upcoming game against Illinois and how the team's demeanor has changed during the winning streak:
"We got to handle ball screens better because that's a lot of [Illinois'] offense. It's something that we guards have to take personal, on that end. Just getting through them and that will take them a little bit out of their offense and what they want to do."
"Coach started a clean slate. He's made some huge changes for us and I definitely think it had paid off if you look at how we've played on both ends of the floor. He's changed how we practice, we are a little bit more loose in practice and everything and then in the game, he made some big in-game adjustments, going to a 2-3 zone. I think has paid off quite a bit for us."
-Collins on McIntosh:
"Well he just has a feel. I think you see it with the really good guards. They see a play ahead of the game. He's been well-coached, well-drilled as a kid, but also he has that innate vision, a feel for where guys are. He likes to pass, that's another thing. Not a lot of guys like to pass. A lot of guys like to score, including me. But he likes to pass."
-McIntosh on whether he'd rather drain a three or make a pass for a slam dunk: "I would absolutely rather make a good pass for a slam dunk, that's the best thing I think is being able to help a teammate score."
-Alex Olah opened up about his all-time block record, which he set against Indiana. He now holds the record with 138 career blocks.
"It's cool to be the all-time block leader. It's a good accomplishment, a good milestone. I hope I can still build on it, I still have one more year. It feels awesome."
-Largely responsible for the Cats' recent success has been Collins' decision to go with a 2-3 zone defense. Olah talked about how the zone helps him and in turn his teammates.
"The guards trust that there is somebody behind them who can protect the basket. I'm the voice down there. I'm kind of the quarterback of the defense, like coach says."
-Olah on whether the Cats should stick with the zone: "Right now yeah, I mean why not? We're winning."
-Head coach Chris Collins gave his take on a variety of topics, including Illinois.
"They are even better than the first time we played them…getting [Rayvonte] Rice back gives them another scorer, another proven, really good player at this level… John [Groce] does a really good job game planning, having his team ready to play and they're really good with their energy at home."
-On the zone losing its element of surprise:
"Every game we've played, teams have had a few wrinkles to try and throw against [the zone], and we've had to adjust on the fly during the games. Some things have been very successful against it, and we've made some adjustments and that's kind of how it goes when you're playing zone, there's no question it's not a surprise to anybody."
-On the difference between teaching man and zone defenses:
"It's a little bit like man. You see different pick and roll actions against the zone, different high-low situations, overloads where they bring three or four guys to a side and they make you have to talk and bump guys over. We have to try to do our best to prepare these guys for those situations, but in a zone sometimes you can't coach all those movements, and the guys just have to learn where are the shooters and who are the drivers. The good thing about it is a lot of times in the man so many coaches run good things, you're not preparing for a hundred different sets, your preparation is more about philosophy and where the ball is, which I think has helped our young team."
-On Tre Demps' play of late:
"I think early in the year he wanted to play well so much, sometimes I think he can force it a little bit. He's letting the game come to him, he's a lot more efficient, he's taking good shots. I think he's learning how to trust his teammates more when people double him or take him off his spots. In the Minnesota game he had seven assists. He's as proud about that as he is about anything…The other thing he's been able to do is find a way to get some layups. The other night I think he had three or four layups. You see the ball go in it puts a lot less pressure on your jump shot."
-On the team's mental outlook:
"I felt that after Michigan State, I knew we were on the edge of losing them…I felt like we needed to get some enthusiasm and spirit because we were losing and everybody was a little bit down, staff included. We're playing some music in the practice... trying to liven up, get the spirit going, trying to be really positive, which we are most of the time, but especially positive because we've been broken down... When you felt that as a coach, you know they have to be built back up, so real high energy, less time-this time of year you can't practice as long, so you've got to come in, you've got to be upbeat, it's got to be fast-moving. Just trying to have fun but still stay serious and compete and I think it's helped our guys."
-On JerShon Cobb:
"JerShon is out tomorrow, unfortunately. We've been kind of targeting to him to hopefully be ready for senior night. He's been doing some stuff in practice, moving around. Hopefully we've give him a couple more days, let him practice a little bit more. I'd love to be able to use him a bit on senior night if he can go."
This post was edited on 2/28 5:05 AM by Straus2018
This post was edited on 2/28 5:07 AM by Straus2018
This post was edited on 2/28 5:10 AM by Straus2018
This post was edited on 2/28 5:13 AM by Straus2018
