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BIG TEN CONFERENCE MEN'S MEDIA DAYOctober 16, 2014Chris CollinsCHICAGO, ILLINOIS CHRIS COLLINS: I didn't realize I was following Coach Miles, so I won't even try to be funny. The comedian of the conference. Obviously, it's exciting to be back here. It's that time of year again. We're excited to get going with our season. For us it's almost like a whole new team. Of the 12 guys we have on our team, six of them are newcomers, so it's literally a fresh start. That being said, I've been really pleased with the development and leadership of our returning guys, and although a lot has been talked about our incoming freshmen class, I think still, when you play in a conference such as the Big Ten, the most important guys are those guys that have been through it and have played and can show the way for young players. I've been really pleased with what the returning guys have done in the summer and fall that we've had. There's a good vibe. The guys have good chemistry, which any time you have that many new players as a coach, you always worry about how the pieces are going to fit together. The guys are coming together, their practices have been spirited, and I think with anything, we're just excited to kind of get out there and get going. It's going to be important for us to get off to a good start to the season. I've talked about it a lot in the off season. For us we didn't play as well last year in November and December, and we didn't kind of figure out who we had and what we were until the conference started, and then I felt we became a pretty good team. We played very hard. We were a great defensive team, and I thought we were very competitive night in and night out in our league. It's going to be important for us to get off to a good start and hopefully see for our young guys‑‑ get some wins early, so when you get into the conference you can come in with some confidence. Q. You talked about the makeup of your roster. Ohio State is in a similar situation this year with a lot of seniors and a lot of freshmen. I don't know if you went through this at Duke at all, but is it a different dynamic to coaching a team like that and trying to get it to blend? CHRIS COLLINS: Well, I think it is. I think, first of all, for me it was important because I'm going into my second year, and now these were ‑‑ all the guys who were in the program were guys that were in the program before I got there. And now we're bringing in a big group of guys that were part of our first recruiting class. I think it was important for me when those guys got on campus, I wanted our older guys to really show the way and be at the forefront of showing these young guys the way we do things. I think that was important for them to spend time, not only in the workouts and on the floor, but to spend time off the court because no matter what, if you want to become a good team, there has to be that chemistry. There has to be that camaraderie. I think we have a good mix, though. I think the leadership of our team, especially the two guys, Tre Demps, JerShon Cobb, two guys that have been good players, had really good years for us last year, they've really stepped up. We lost a lot with Drew Crawford. Drew was kind of our Mr.Everything, not only what he brought on the floor, but his leadership and what he did off the floor. The veterans, I've challenged them to kind of take control of the team in the off season and set the environment and show these young guys what it takes to play at this level. That's what I was proud of is ‑‑ kind of that's what last year was about for us was creating that culture, creating that environment of the way our program was going to be and how we dealt with things on a day‑to‑day basis, and our veterans have done a great job with the young guys and helping to bring them along. Q. You mentioned Crawford. He was obviously such an important piece of this program, having led the conference in minutes last year. From an Xs and Os standpoint, how do you begin to try and replace his production, namely his ability to get into the paint? CHRIS COLLINS: Yeah, I don't think any one guy can do that. I don't want to put that on any one player. I think as a whole, I think we have more fire power offensively, not just with some of the young guys we brought in, but also the development in some of our returning guys. I felt last year we were pretty predictable in terms of what we were going to play through Drew, and we had Demps and Cobb, and those were kind of the three guys. And if teams were able to take one or two of those guys out, we would really have a hard time scoring. I'm looking forward to seeing how our offense can evolve. That was certainly our struggle last year. We were a really good defensive team, we played hard, we battled, we gave ourselves a chance to win, but when we ran into problems, it was when we had long droughts where we couldn't score. Certainly you take Drew's production out of there, we need some guys to step up, and I think it's going to have to be a collective effort. But what I've seen so far is we have some more players and more depth and more athletes that can make some plays and hopefully help in that regard. Q. What are your expectations for Vic Law here in his first year? CHRIS COLLINS: Well, Vic is going to have a big role on our team. We're going to expect him to play a lot early and to be a big part. Although I don't want him to feel the weight of the world on his shoulders that he has to be a savior because that's not the case. He's a tremendous player. He's very athletic. He can make a lot of plays, and he's long and is good on both ends. What I want for him is to go into it and not feel pressure, but he's going to be in a position right away to go out there and play but also learn. There's not a freshman in a America that doesn't have a transition from high school to college, and I think it's going to be important for us that he adjusts to the college game and learns how he can be successful. And then, hopefully, as the year goes on, he can be more and more productive because certainly we need him to be an impact guy for us from day one. Q. Have you specifically addressed the pressure this group of freshmen may feel, the expectation? CHRIS COLLINS: Yeah, I don't want them‑‑ obviously, it's a talented group. There's been a lot talked about them coming in, and I'm excited about the freshman group. I think they're all going to be really good players for us in their careers. But I think a lot, and not just us, but I think we're kind of in a day and age right now where there's too much too soon on a lot of these freshmen. For me, I really want to rely‑‑ I've got four starters coming back that have played a lot, that did a lot of good things last year, and I want those guys to kind of be at the forefront where we can bring these young guys along and not have them feel that they have to be the ones to, like I said, be a savior or take our program right away to new heights. I want them to be part of the equation. They're all good guys. They all want to win. They all want to be a part of the group, and they've done a really good job adjusting so far in the early season. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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