http://www.kstatesports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=400&ATCLID=658965Men's Basketball Coach Bob Huggins
On the first week on practice...
"They're trying and I think that they have bought in. Actually, I kind of think that they enjoy the way that we're playing. They've been doing fine and I don't have any complaints."
On a comfort zone at practice...
"I don't know if you ever fall into a comfort zone. It's hard, and it's hard to work for that hard and that long. They've been fine, but we have to keep bumping it up. There is a lot of things that we can still do that is effort related. But certainty we can't do everything at once.
On the expectations for returning players...
"I didn't really have any expectations for the players. I don't go in with preconceived expectations for anybody. I want to play the best guys. I want to play the guys that give us the best chance to win."
On who has impressed him the most thus far...
"Probably just from a work stand point, from day one until now, Cartier (Martin). Cartier has really worked hard. He has really tried to be a leader. He's been real good. Dave's (Hoskins) been good, but not as consistent as Cartier has been."
On Cartier Martin...
"Cartier really shoots it; he's really got a great touch. We are trying to get him to work on creating his own shot. That's an area that he really needs to work on, but he's working hard at it."
On Lance Harris...
"The last three or four days Lance has been working hard. Lance kind of gets in a comfort zone. We kind of have to push him out of that comfort zone sometimes. I think he has really responded the last couple of days. Now the battle is to get him going. I think, athletically, he is probably our best guy. He's shot the ball pretty well and he's shot it pretty consistently. He can really be a good defender because of his athleticism, but we have to continue to get him out of that comfort zone and have to have him work a little harder."
On Clent Stewart's status after surgery...
"I think he pretty much went the whole deal yesterday. We're trying to get Blake (Young) and Jermaine (Maybank) a lot of reps at point. Clent's played some point and he's played some off-guard because we have three guys there. Cartier and Dave pretty much never come out, so Clent's not getting that many reps, so we're kind of easing him in that way."
On the team's defense...
"They've been trying hard. It's a lot easier to coach defense than it is offense, because you can see the results. It is so much effort related. We haven't figured out angles yet, and angles are very important."
On the battles at practice...
"Cartier and Dave are always on the floor, they have been our most consistent guys. Jermaine and Blake are battling each other everyday. Lance and Akeem battle each everyday. And inside they just fall over each other everyday. They just bang into each other."
On his excitement on the up coming season...
"Not as anxious as other people are. I like to have a little time to get ready. We have the next couple weekends when we get to play somebody other than ourselves. That will certainly help. Then we can watch the film to break it down and show them what they need to work on."
On if things have changed since being away...
"I'm not very smart, I kind of have a tendency to do what I know. I don't think that it was much different. It is from the standpoint that, for along time, I always had somebody there that knew what was going on in my sixteen years at Cincinnati, well fifteen years at Cincinnati, because the first one the they didn't know what was going on. Four years at Akron, the first year they didn't know what was going on the other four they did. It kind of helps get people where they need to go and explain some things."
On the team's post play...
"Darren Ken has been out for maybe a week with an ankle sprain, same ankle that he's injured before and he's a week or so away from coming back. Basically, it's been those other three guys, and we've kept Cartier with the frontcourt guys, but we may well end up playing him at four. We really want to keep him on the perimeter. He really needs to learn to play in the perimeter if he's going to have a future in this game. We are going to have to play him there a little, just so he knows what he's doing and so he knows how to guard in there."
Senior Guard Cartier Martin
On how the team is working out this year...
"We are working extremely hard, this is obviously my last season so I want to have a successful year. I have been working as hard as possible and trying to help my teammates as much as I can. "
On Coach Huggins' expectations of him...
"I think I can live up to his expectations. As long as I come out here and work hard and believe in what he brings to the table, then I think everything will be fine."
On what Coach Huggins brings to the table...
"Coach Huggins is very intense; he brings a lot of enthusiasm to the team. He has a chip on his shoulder and he wants to win. Coach Huggins is just a good guy and he is going to help us tremendously."
On the team's postseason potential...
"We feel that making it to the postseason is very realistic. We feel like we could have done some of those things last year. The luck didn't quite go the way we wanted it to last year, we had a few games that we lost by less than five points that we think we could have won. This year we have very high expectations, we don't only expect to get to the tournament, we expect to get to the tournament and win some games."
Senior guard Lance Harris
On the excitement generated by Coach Huggins...
"I am not surprised at all; he is a big time coach. This is what we expected to happen when he came here."
On the excitement he feels on campus and in the community...
"Going around campus you hear people saying that this is the year for the basketball team. They have high expectations for us to go out and play well, and we got a good coach so it is going to be a different year for the men's basketball team."
On the expectations for the team...
"I definitely like it, I like pressure like that; knowing that we have to win, with the confidence that he has and what he brings to the table. He wants us to be confident in knowing that we are going to go out there and win."
On what Coach Huggins is working with him on...
"He has definitely talked to me about being in a comfort zone. Last season sometimes I got a little too comfortable and he is trying to work with me on always playing hard so I can be consistent. He is working with me about not coming out one game with six points and the next game with 20."
Senior guard Jermaine Maybank
On the team...
"We have a lot of guys that can do a lot of different things, nobody on our team can be limited to just doing one thing. We have guys on the team that can shoot, penetrate, our big guys are getting stronger. We have a legitimate team here, and I think we can go somewhere."
On whether or not they have chips on their shoulders...
"We all should have chips on our shoulders, fifth is not first so we can't just settle for that. "
Junior forward David Hoskins
On his leadership role on the team...
"I think I have guys around me that look up to me in some instances so I just have to lead by example."
On the crowds being larger this year...
"It just adds excitement to the game; last year I still got pumped up and excited for the game, but when you see those large crowds it definitely helps."
On his eye surgery over the summer...
"I can see the rim now so it definitely helped, I was a little nervous about how it would turn out."
On the confidence among the players...
"When you bring a coach in that is proven, and the players don't question what he says, people just go with the flow and it definitely excites us. Coach Huggins brings a lot more intensity to us and it has helped"
Junior Guard Blake Young
On his expectations for the team this year...
"Everybody is very excited about the team this year, we are excited, and the coaches are excited. This season we are going to try and make a big run for the tournament. Personally I would like to go to the Final Four if we can't win it all. I think we have the team to do it."
On the play of the point guards...
"Jermaine (Maybank), Clent (Stewart) and I are the point guards so we have to set the tone for the team. We have to practice hard and make everyone else practice hard too."
On why he came to Kansas State...
"Coach Huggins was the biggest reason, he drew me in and then the fans got me too. When I came here on my visit the fans were calling out my name and that got me excited. Having that kind of fan support always helps."
