Oct. 12, 2002

The Univeristy of Missouri men's basketball team started practice on Saturday morning. The practice was a spirited one as the Tigers worked different game situations and focused on communication and interchanges. Prior to the practice, the Tigers were available for comment. Below are some quotes from that session

Missouri Basketball Team Quotes

October 12, 2002

Missouri guard freshman Jimmy McKinney

On team togetherness and preparation: "We're comfortable with each other and we're playing well together. We're just trying to go out and practice hard and be ready for the games."

Missouri guard junior Rickey Paulding

On new teammates: "They're great addition to our team, and I'm sure they're going to contribute really well for our team. I'm really looking forward to playing with them.

On expectations being as high as last season: "I think we still have a talented young group back with me, Travon, and A.J and the other guys. We're a pretty good group, and I think we're still going to achieve something we achieved last year.

Missouri forward junior Arthur Johnson

On new preparations this year: "I'm taking a leadership role. I find myself leading more this year than like following. A lot of the guys look up to us because we're the older guys on the team. That's the most new job.

On off-season focus: "I focused on condition to playing more minutes, and just my whole game as a whole from rebounding to scoring to free throw shooing. There wasn't really one part my game that I pinpointed.

Missouri guard junior Rickey Clemons

On playmakers of the Tiger team: "The playmakers are better than average. Everyone here is better than advertised. They're all great players, and I'm just excited to play with them."

On expectations: "We've got key players coming in. We've got Jimmy McKinney and Kevin Young, and they're both great players. I think with us, in addition to the players they had last year, we're going to be even better than last year.

Missouri guard junior Josh Kroenke

On leadership without Kareem: "I think it's mostly the upper classmen. Travon, A.J., Rickey and I, we've all been around a while, and we're all ready to lead this team. With Rickey Clemons coming in, we're also going to have leadership at the point guard position. We're going to have leadership in different ways and have different guys leading by example. We're going to have a kind of group leadership this year."

Missouri head coach Quin Snyder

On feeling about season: "Hard to feel too much better. We lost as much as anyone in the league, more than some team who we're ranked above. We'll play unselfish ball, stay together, and that excites me.

On last season: "That's who we are. We lost our identity for a spell, but we found it again. I think that's good, it helps us appreciate how committed you have to be to be successful. We know now we have to work hard to hang on to success."

On youth of team: "We're young, but we have a critical mass of guys who've been through the big time. Travon, A.J. and Josh all have experience. In our backcourt, Jimmy and Rickey both have high maturity levels."

On junior guard Rickey Paulding: "It was good for Rickey to see what Kareem went through last year. People are pointing at Rickey as the leader on out team and singling him out. We've talked to him a lot about handling the pressure by staying focused on getting better. I think he can draw a lot from Kareem's experience."

On up coming season: "This schedule is as difficult as we've had since I've been here. We'll be challenged with a long preseason this year. We'll be tested early, but I'm glad about that because playing in the Big 12 it will never get any easier."

On team's explosiveness: "We'll have lots of highlights through the season, but I'm more concerned with the low lights. This team hasn't proven anything yet. We have to focus on the fundamentals and make out game better than it was last season."