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DIRECTV CLASSIC MEDIA CONFERENCENovember 13, 2012Bruiser FlintQ.  Can you take a quick comment about your preseason practices and your first couple games of the season? BRUISER FLINT: Well, practice has been up‑and‑down and we played that way last Friday at Kent State and lost. So we have been not as smooth and crisp as I would have hoped for a team that returns a lot of players. But you know, we have got to try to get it together and keep working at it and see what we can do before we come out to the tournament and then the tournament. Q. Have any players stood out, any surprises? BRUISER FLINT: One of the things that we do have a lot of returning players, but last year we didn't have much of a bench. But I would say that my kids that I need to come off the bench and really help us have been a surprise. Kazembe Abif and Aquil Younger and Casey Carroll for that extent have been guys who have come off the bench and have pretty good starts to our season. We are going to need that throughout the year. Chris Fouch has always been a great bench player for us and always played well and we need some great guys and those guys have stepped up for us and played pretty well. Q. What are the strengths of your team? What are the things that you really think are going to carry you this season, especially coming off an NIT quarterfinal finish last season? BRUISER FLINT: One of the things we sort of pride ourselves on is that we play defense and we rebound the ball. So we can do that every night. Hopefully that gives us a chance to win. Last year I thought we were as good as an offensive team as I possibly have had in the past. But we defend and we rebound. We sort of play a physical style of play and that's what we pride ourselves on and that's what we try to do every night. Q. You've got a tough first round opponent in St. Mary's, talk about your first round opponent and then the format of the tournament where our playing two days, off a day and then playing the third day on Sunday. BRUISER FLINT: I mean, you know, St. Mary's has an unbelievable reputation and what they have done over the last few years as a team and as a program is unbelievable. They are well respected from coast to coast. I haven't really watched much of them in terms of, we have got a couple of games before, but they have always had great teams and I know about Dellavedova, their point guard, who is a really good player. We know we are going to have our hands full. They are a team that is usually one of the Top‑25, 30 teams in the country, so we have to be ready to play. Q. Do you like the format? BRUISER FLINT: Oh, yeah, we did it last year actually. I just enjoy the day off no matter when it is. It's always tough playing three games in a row, but you know, you get to enjoy yourself a little bit I think. Even if you are off a couple games, I think getting to catch your breath a little bit and sit down and have your kids enjoy the trip and also to maybe sit down and talk about some things that you might have done well and maybe not have done as well during the tournament. So I really enjoy the day off, I think is a very good format. Q. Prior to coming to the tournament, you play at Penn and that's all part of that Philadelphia seed and everything. Kind of special basketball when you play all those schools within the Philadelphia area. BRUISER FLINT: Yeah, we don't always play everybody. Actually this year we just play Penn and St. Joe's. We are the one school in the city that doesn't play everyone but Penn and Drexel are divided by one street and are neighbors, and it's a huge rivalry. That will be a big game on Saturday night before we come out. It's a big, huge thing for Penn, Drexel in all sports. So we are going to go down there and play at the Palestra and hope we can get some momentum coming into the tournament. Q. Is this a nice trip to go coast to coast? BRUISER FLINT: Yeah, I think you've got to get your guys involved. A lot of times we go places and we always say as coaches, you go places to see nothing. So at least with the day off, we get to enjoy Anaheim and Southern California a little bit, I think it's always great for these kids that go out for these types of tournaments, because you may not have the opportunity to do this again. But we know it's a good tournament with good teams and we are coming out to a great area, and we look forward to it. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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