Nov. 11, 2013
Tim Fuller
Interim Head Coach
Opening statement…
“Well obviously, I thank each of you for coming out again. Mizzou sports are doing quite well right now with football and volleyball and we have high expectations set for basketball. We're going into our second game now and facing Southern Illinois. Obviously Coach Henson is familiar with what we do here, having been at Kansas. He's very familiar with the state and the talent from his time in the Missouri Valley. If it's a battle of my wits, mine versus his, I think he'll win that one, so hopefully our guys will come out and do a good job against (Anthony) Beane (Jr.) and (Desmar) Jackson, both top level players in their conference. Beane is going into his sophomore year and had a great freshman year and Jackson was one of the top 10 players in their league. So Earnest (Ross), Jabari (Brown) and Jordan (Clarkson) have their work cut out for them.”
On Wes Clark's successful first game…
“It was good to see when Jordan got into foul trouble, we had Wes come in and was the player we knew he could be. He struggled a bit in the exhibition games, so we weren't quite sure how long it would take him to get out of his freshman jitters and hopefully that was a sign and he can build on some of that confidence. I also realize that we need to get our inside game established, although it was good to see Ryan Rosburg come out and play well.”
On having a backup point guard…
“We have a backup point guard and in the past, we didn't. We envision us being able to play fast, a lot like we did in that first year here where we were No. 1 in the country with our offensive efficiency rating. With Wes playing the way he is playing, it gives us a lot of encouragement and gives his teammates confidence.”
On Wes Clark…
“When you play Jordan at the one, he comes down and he's all speed, speed, speed. Wes plays with a change of pace and gives us a different look. I call him a mini Mike Tyson because he's like a boxer out on the court. He just keeps probing and probing and jabbing and jabbing until he gets what he's looking for.”
On scouting Southern Illinois…
“We have been able to watch two of their exhibition games, so we have a pretty decent feel for what they're about. We know that Beane and Jackson are two talented guys, they could play here at the University of Missouri, so our work is cut out for us. Coach Henson does a great job. They run a lot of similar things that Kansas runs so some of our guys will be familiar with it and obviously I'm familiar with it.”
On Ryan Rosburg…
“One of the things I told Ryan early on, was that he went against Alex Oriakhi every day in practice. There will be maybe one or two Alex Oriakhi's that he'll face this season, so just go out and play like you played against Alex. It's all about confidence for Ryan and he showed that at our last game.”
Jabari Brown
Junior Guard
On the importance of getting through that first game with some new faces…
“We got that first game under our belts and it was great to see those young guys play so well and respond. This will be another challenge tomorrow. Southern Illinois is a good team. They finished pretty strong last year and will have a lot of confidence. We just have to start on the defensive end.”
On helping encourage some of those young guys early in the season…
“That's a big part of being in this program. We have been through the ups and downs and we just encourage them and work to get the best out of those young guys.”
Ryan Rosburg
Sophomore Forward
On earning that first start last Friday…
“It really doesn't matter to me. It's more important to be on the court at the end. I just want to get out there and contribute to help our team win games. That's the most important statistics I'm worried about.”
On helping the post players become more consistent…
“Like you said, we are a younger group, so that will be a process. We have some players and guys that are capable of big nights. You just have to stay diligent in practice and the production will come.”