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I was able to go and check out Panther Media Day on Tuesday and I'll give you a little recap of everything that I wrote down.
Coach McDermott
- Talked a little bit about each player and the positions
- Jacobson, Crawford and Stout would start no matter what
- Brooks McKowen has worked on his jump shot to get it quicker and have a higher release point
- Said Jared Jostens has tremendous speed and quickness
- John Little has improved very much on the offensive end of the floor
- Adam Viet is "probably the best shooter on the team" may get some situational minutes
- Grant Stout has added 15 pounds to his frame and has no proble going on to shoot the 3
- Vincent Polakovic needs to learn defensively, but is rapidly improving
- Tyler Griffin is another player that can go out and shoot the 3
- Jon Godfread is in the best shape of his college career-was behind Gruber and Schneiderman and more or less just accepted it, now knows this is his time to shine
- Eric Colman has been the biggest suprise-uses his quickness and lower body much like David Gruber
- Atila Santos has continued to develop physically, needs to continue to learn the game
- Chris Foster is at about 80%
- Talked about Cincinatti and the defense that they play. Georgia Tech's style from a year ago should have them ready to face that physical style.
- Talked about last years victory over Iowa. They were happy after the win, but they knew that would not make the season like in 2001-02. He knew right there that this team had a chance to be very successful.
- I asked coach about not being on ESPN after winning the Valley Tourney a year ago and he said that ESPN is looking at ratings for games. He went on to talk about ESPN going against a 15 year precident of showing a game with a team that won the conference. (After the Luncheon an assistant came up-Jacobson?- and said good question. You could tell that the staff was a little upset about the situation)
Player interviews
Eric Coleman (my notes: looks like a freshman in the face, in fact he looks like he is about 15, very thick threw the upper body, and very long arms)
- Said his main strenth is rebounding
- Came to UNI because of the coaching staff
- Early on he needs to give a lot of effort to the team
Vince Polakavic(notes: you can tell that he has been interviewed many times before, gave good answers and is very well spoken. He is already a favorite of mine)
- Talked a little bit about coming over here from his German Club team-his coach had some connections to American staffs and it went from there
- He talked some about the European style of basketball and how it is more technical over there. Vince said it is much more physical over here (I'm not sure how much he likes that right now
- He was asked if their is any pressure right now in helping to replace Gruber and Schneiderman, he said no, they just needed to do their best
- In talking about why he chose UNI, he said that he liked the team spirit along with the success from last season
- He said that he wanted to be part of something special and be special himself
Chris Foster (I have had class with Chris over the past 2 seasons and talk with him quite a bit. He said that he is back to cutting and practicing, but his quickness is just not there.)
- Wants to get back into the flow of practicing all the time
- Talking about the team, he knows that it is harder to stay on top once you get there
- He said that the guards will be able to help the new guys out inside. Last year Gruber and Schneiderman would help out if the younger guards were beat, now the guards will have to help out the younger bigs.
- He likes having 4 guys inside that will be able to help out
Jon Godfread (he is one big boy and looks a bit leaner from a year ago.)
- The team wants to continue to build on the success from a year ago
- Defense is where is starts and talked about how he needs to continue to work on D
- He says it is an advantage being one of the bigger players in the Valley at 6'10.
- Has worked mostly on his quickness and conditioning in the off season
- His biggest strength is his ability to score inside
- Talked about using his senior leadership to help continue to build the program up
Coach McDermott
- Talked a little bit about each player and the positions
- Jacobson, Crawford and Stout would start no matter what
- Brooks McKowen has worked on his jump shot to get it quicker and have a higher release point
- Said Jared Jostens has tremendous speed and quickness
- John Little has improved very much on the offensive end of the floor
- Adam Viet is "probably the best shooter on the team" may get some situational minutes
- Grant Stout has added 15 pounds to his frame and has no proble going on to shoot the 3
- Vincent Polakovic needs to learn defensively, but is rapidly improving
- Tyler Griffin is another player that can go out and shoot the 3
- Jon Godfread is in the best shape of his college career-was behind Gruber and Schneiderman and more or less just accepted it, now knows this is his time to shine
- Eric Colman has been the biggest suprise-uses his quickness and lower body much like David Gruber
- Atila Santos has continued to develop physically, needs to continue to learn the game
- Chris Foster is at about 80%
- Talked about Cincinatti and the defense that they play. Georgia Tech's style from a year ago should have them ready to face that physical style.
- Talked about last years victory over Iowa. They were happy after the win, but they knew that would not make the season like in 2001-02. He knew right there that this team had a chance to be very successful.
- I asked coach about not being on ESPN after winning the Valley Tourney a year ago and he said that ESPN is looking at ratings for games. He went on to talk about ESPN going against a 15 year precident of showing a game with a team that won the conference. (After the Luncheon an assistant came up-Jacobson?- and said good question. You could tell that the staff was a little upset about the situation)
Player interviews
Eric Coleman (my notes: looks like a freshman in the face, in fact he looks like he is about 15, very thick threw the upper body, and very long arms)
- Said his main strenth is rebounding
- Came to UNI because of the coaching staff
- Early on he needs to give a lot of effort to the team
Vince Polakavic(notes: you can tell that he has been interviewed many times before, gave good answers and is very well spoken. He is already a favorite of mine)
- Talked a little bit about coming over here from his German Club team-his coach had some connections to American staffs and it went from there
- He talked some about the European style of basketball and how it is more technical over there. Vince said it is much more physical over here (I'm not sure how much he likes that right now
- He was asked if their is any pressure right now in helping to replace Gruber and Schneiderman, he said no, they just needed to do their best
- In talking about why he chose UNI, he said that he liked the team spirit along with the success from last season
- He said that he wanted to be part of something special and be special himself
Chris Foster (I have had class with Chris over the past 2 seasons and talk with him quite a bit. He said that he is back to cutting and practicing, but his quickness is just not there.)
- Wants to get back into the flow of practicing all the time
- Talking about the team, he knows that it is harder to stay on top once you get there
- He said that the guards will be able to help the new guys out inside. Last year Gruber and Schneiderman would help out if the younger guards were beat, now the guards will have to help out the younger bigs.
- He likes having 4 guys inside that will be able to help out
Jon Godfread (he is one big boy and looks a bit leaner from a year ago.)
- The team wants to continue to build on the success from a year ago
- Defense is where is starts and talked about how he needs to continue to work on D
- He says it is an advantage being one of the bigger players in the Valley at 6'10.
- Has worked mostly on his quickness and conditioning in the off season
- His biggest strength is his ability to score inside
- Talked about using his senior leadership to help continue to build the program up
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