Ball State University Athletics
Men's Basketball Press Conference -- 12/12/06
December 05, 2006 | Men's Basketball
Thompson gave fans and media members updates on the team.
The Cardinals (3-6) host in-state rival
Coach Thompson on the health of team:
“We are a little dinged up. I feel so bad for Jarelle Redden because he has not been healthy all year. Once he started to get better with his toe, then he twisted his ankle. Peyton Stovall is still coming around. Micah is a little dinged up, but nothing out of the ordinary. Skip is still trying to get back in shape because he missed so much time during the preseason. There is nothing major at this point, just little nicks and dings.”
Coach Thompson on Micah Rollin's progression:
“Micah is progressing right on schedule. He is doing very well. Each and every game we are seeing improvement in Micah. As his learning curve increases, he has the chance to be a dominant force. Micah has the right mentality to be good and he works his tail off everyday to get better.”
Coach Thompson on the leadership of the team:
“I think we have to do it collectively, and can not look to one person to lead this team. I think you always want your upperclassmen who have gone through it to pave the way for the younger guys who have not been through it before. I think it is unfair to put the whole weight of the team on just a couple guys.”
Coach Thompson on offensive woes:
“I think if you play good defense, you will always have a shot to win games. I still think we have a good shooting team, we just need to start knocking down shots. I think we will, because the guys are spending their time getting extra shots up. Eventually the shots will start to fall.”
Coach Thompson on coaching consistency for his team:
“You have to hope that guys are going to come around. Certain guys pick up different things at different times. Guys make adjustments at different times. Anthony Newell is working his tail off each game and I think that we will start to see more consistency coming from each of our guys.”
Coach Thompson on the Cardinals' next opponent,
“They are a very well-coached team. They are going to be very prepared and rested for this game because they have had close to two weeks to get ready for us. They are going to be ready to come in here and try and get a win. It is definitely going to be a fight as most of our games this year will be. We have to start the game well and not have our lulls in the middle. I think our guys will be ready to fight.”
“They like to run a motion, and they are the kind of team that likes to beat you with the pass as opposed to the dribble. They have good guards, but I am hoping that our press will be effective. They have a good-sized team and we have to find a way to compensate for that. We have been working on that all year as most teams we play will be bigger than us. If we come to fight, we will be fine.”
