Opening Statements on starters…
?We?re excited to have Joe Crawford who was a starter at the wing position, he?ll probably move to the shooting guard position. Joe had an up and down year, he was hurt, missed about four to five games last year, but he?s very, very talented. Randolph Morris started for us as a freshman and then he returned after sitting out 14-15 games last year, he should be able to step in and start in the four or the five spot. And then Bobby Perry, a 6-8 forward that really came on at the end of the year started about 15 games for us last year, so those are the three starters that we have returning from last year.
All things considered with the uncertainty and the games he had to sit out can you talk about the year Randolph (Morris) had and if you expect him to take his game to another level this year?
?Well you have to start with him missing all (last) summer, that was a real problem and so now he?s behind because when he entered his name in the draft last year he really didn?t work out at all, didn?t do any lifting, so he really didn?t get anything done until he came back in September for the fall; then not competing, missing not just 14 regular season games, but missing all the exhibition games and so those things hurt him a lot. But his attitude has been great; I like his energy level; he?s working extremely hard in the weight room. Our new strength coach, Scott Holsopple, has really been pleased with his effort. I think he?s ready to have an outstanding year; he?s very capable of it and capable of doing that. He?s a physical player that needs to continue to improve his inside and his outside game. He?s got to stay out of foul trouble, he had that problem as a freshman and it continued last year, so that?s something he?s going to have to improve a lot on as well.
With (Rajon) Rondo being such a big part of the team and having the ball in his hands and his decision making, and (Patrick) Sparks as well, with (Ramel) Bradley coming back and then a guy like Derrick Jasper, how do you see (the guard position) playing out?
?You lose two talented backcourt players, actually three or four because we ended up starting Brandon Stockton and Ravi Moss in the backcourt and Patrick as well, but especially with Rajon, the (21st) player taken in the draft, you lose a very skilled, and very athletic player, who is as good an athlete as I?ve had an opportunity to coach and we certainly wish him the best; but we feel that we get a lot bigger in the backcourt with guys like Ramel Bradley who?s 6-2. He?s bigger than both Rajon and Patrick Sparks. It?s hard to replace quality and outstanding players like Patrick and Rajon but moving Joe to the two-guard spot should help and you?ve got a guy like Derrick Jasper who?s a 6-6 freshman point guard along with Michael Porter who?s about 6-2 as well and very capable players and Jodie Meeks at 6-4 or 6-5. Those are guys that can step in and give us a lot of help immediately in the backcourt. I feel pretty confident about the young players that we have recruited that I feel will step up, but obviously it will fall on Ramel Bradley?s and Joe Crawford?s shoulders and they?re ready because they are juniors and they understand what needs to be done.
Because of the rule about high school players not being able to go straight to the NBA, is it the most talented freshman class in college basketball in the last 12-15 years?
?Probably so, because those guys that couldn?t go pro are in now in college, people like Greg Odon would have probably been the first player picked in the draft if he?d have come out. Right away the talent level in the college game was probably increased by those guys not going pro. But one year, that?s tough because one guy goes for one year and he?s gone, but then Carmelo Anthony brought a national championship to Syracuse so I guess it?s certainly worth the investment.?
Do you think the influence of fan message boards is a distraction to the program?
?Absolutely. You have people second guessing everything you do and making comments about things that aren?t true. I know the freedom of speech and freedom to say what you want, that?s all one thing, but it?s really asinine to be honest with you. I don?t think it helps anyone. As far as recruiting is concerned, we have some of the most loyal and most fanatical fans in the country and they see one thing or they put something on the message board it?s the gospel. It?s something we all have to monitor; it?s another element that?s in the process of recruiting and the process of coaching. At first it was the call-in shows and now it?s gone to this. Eventually who knows where it will lead. I?m not much on the message boards, you can see how it can get out of control, like the ?Facebooks? and ?Myspace? all the stuff that?s creating problems for a lot of people.
How surprised were you about all the Florida starters coming back?
?It means Florida is the preseason pick to be number one in the country with everybody back. They are a team that did lose six games in this league though. Billy (Donovan)?s done an outstanding job of recruiting, some of the players he has, like (Joakim) Noah, (Al) Horford, (Lee) Humphrey aren?t that big of name players at first, (Corey) Brewer, Taurean Green, those kids have really developed, obviously they had great chemistry because you can?t go on a run like they did unless your guys are really buying into the system and playing together.?
Are you surprised that none of them left, that all of them are back?
?They?re from different backgrounds. I think when you look at where kids come from and what their economic status, or whatever it is, I think those are things you have to look at. You have to weigh each individual as different and each individual?s motivation as different. I haven?t talked with anyone individually but I would imagine they all have parents that instilled certain values in them and they adhere to them.?
How serious are you at looking at Randolph at the four position and what are you expecting from (Jodie) Meeks and (Derrick) Jasper especially early in the year?
?Randolph is a player that can play at the power forward spot. We did that in the past, some last year, obviously he only played half the games so it was hard to really evaluate that, knowing whether he was going to be able to play or not, so it was hard to really investigate that. With Jared Carter playing better and having Lukasz Obrzut back, those are guys that have a lot of experience, especially Lukasz, at the center spot and Jared is really coming along. I?ve been really impressed with his development strength wise and mobility wise and I?m getting great reports on him. So that would free Randolph up to play some power-forward spot for us.
“Jodie?s able to come in right now and contribute because of his physicality and his athleticism. He?s a guy that can contribute, especially at the defensive end and he could contribute at the offensive end. He?s got the offensive skills to break people down off the dribble and attack the rim and take a licking and he shoots for a pretty good percentage. And Derrick?s an excellent passer I think that?s what he brings to the table at this point in time. He still has to improve his outside shooting. He?s a very heady player, but he?s pretty athletic as well. I think with a good, individual workout, conditioning and strength training, he should be fine. We like the changes that have been made within our program, especially personnel wise. We only have 11 guys on scholarship right now, and we?re probably going to stay at the point in time. If there are any players or player that looks to come in at this point in time, we don?t know. But we are excited about this group of guys and how hard they have been working.?
