On the Hawkeyes’ 3-7 start: “We never sell ourselves short. We always want to compete at a high level. We have done that, but just not consistently enough. The teams we have played are 50-11 right now. We have challenged ourselves with a good schedule.’’
On the Big Ten’s start: “You do follow the Big Ten. You follow your peers and the league appears to be as good as advertised. I watched the Purdue game (at Alabama) the other night and some of the Indiana-Kentucky game. It’s a high level. The coaching in the league and the commitment to defense is second to none.’’
On Anthony Tucker’s development: “I’ve been proud of Anthony. He’s basically finishing out his freshman year. We’ve thrown him out there twice now. He’s expanded his game. He had a really good scoring game a couple of games ago. If we can get him to where he is comfortable shooting the ball and making them at a clip we think he can make them out, he’ll be there. I think you have to learn how to compete at this level. Things that worked at another level just don’t work as well. It’s almost a process of elimination. You have to be willing to change and Anthony’s been great at that.’’
On how Tucker handled his situation last year: “Anthony didn’t do anything malicious. He didn’t do anything that I didn’t think he could redeem himself from. He approached it the right way. He didn’t let it define him. He used it to grow. Would it be great if it was all smooth sailing? That’s not the way it is. … If a mistake is made, they have to own up, correct it and stay away from it from then on.’’
On his health: “I’m on the mend, I think. I just follow the doctor’s instructions. I went in on a Friday for a check-up and they kept me. Unchecked, it could have been dangerous. They said you need a week where you just rest. It’s not an easy thing. I’ve watched the games. That wasn’t easy either. I met with the team, explained the situation. Now, one of the doctors said they see this as a bump in the road. Today, I’m going to go back and be involved in practice at the energy level I can. We’ll ease into it and go from there.’’
On if he sees the Big Ten being a league where four or five losses could win it: “I haven’t evaluated it to that extent. I’m a little overwhelmed with our situation. I just know that there are some really good teams.’’
On if recruiting and evaluation of players is trending younger and how early he looks at players: “I hear about it, a young child who is playing to get recruited. I feel like a young child should play for the love of the game. I don’t think it’s fair to the young person to go out there and recruit somebody and present a problem for them. I’m not going to recruit somebody until they are in high school. It has sped up. You didn’t use to recruit freshmen and sophomores. Now you have kids coming on campus. We’re finally in good shape here. I’m not going to worry about sixth and seventh graders, that’s for sure.’’
cookieman wrote on Dec 16, 2009 8:01 PM: