Derek Thomas

Derek Thomas
defense guys locking passing shots turning
Our shots weren't falling, but we were able to do it by locking up on defense and we just didn't let them score. On the other end, we had guys passing the ball, not turning it over and it got exciting.
basketball dangerous extremely fought great guys hard hate last proud saw step team
We can be a dangerous team when we play like we did for the last 10 minutes. We fought extremely hard after we got down. I hate to be proud when we lose, but I am tonight. You saw some great basketball and a great team effort. A lot of guys had to step up to make it happen.
catching chance college difficult guys junior level longer settling takes teach
Getting used to this level is difficult and sometimes it takes longer for junior college transfers. We hadn't had a chance to practice, and I think guys are now settling down, and we have a chance to teach and re-teach and they're catching on now.
chance guys limit people rebound shots tough
I told our guys that if you rebound and limit people to one shot, you have a chance to win. Unfortunately, (IUPUI) made some tough shots there at the end.
double figures four guys played proud seniors three warriors
We want three to four guys in double figures every night. Our two seniors played like warriors tonight. I was very proud of them.
box great guys help job ran
They ran a box and one on him and always had guys on him, but he did great job with rebounding and other things to help us win.
change gave guys harder respected shot time
I think the guys respected him too much and gave him his shot and we didn't take it at him enough - we'll change that, he's going to have a harder time getting 35.
couple felt floor gave good guys heard helped legs longer practice saw time week
I think (the week off) has helped a lot. I saw it in practice yesterday, I saw a lot more bouncy and livelier legs and guys were able to go longer and harder. I heard a couple of guys say they felt good to be on the floor after we gave them some time off and I think it really helped.
asking call coaches few guys learn lose means playing problem reviewing talking tape three time weeks work
This has been some of the roughest two or three weeks as a coach. You call all your mentors, your dad, you're asking coaches what do you do when you're going through these type(s) of situations, you're reviewing tape and talking to guys and part of the problem was we're playing every other day. We haven't had much time to work on things and guys are having to learn on the job, which means you're going to lose a few games.
bad fire free good hit hurt learn saw stop throws tonight
We hit free throws tonight and got that one stop when the other night we didn't do that and that was the difference. Hopefully, we learn from that and I told them sometimes before you get good you've got to hurt and you've got to hurt bad, and I think they hurt bad the other night and I think that is why you saw so much fire out there tonight.
road
Right now, we're a zombie. Do we have a four?game road trip? Honestly, I couldn't tell you. We just play, play, play.
aggressive ball definitely depending patient score
The thing was that (Jackson) was doing other things but I would like him to score more, but he got the ball to other people. I would definitely like for him to score more than that, but we have to be patient and try to be aggressive depending upon what is going on out there.
add court great knows needed qualities run winner
(Washington) is a winner who knows how to run a team. He has great qualities on and off the court and he's an outstanding shooter. Those are all things we needed to add to what we have going on now.
change finally fix focus free legs next percentage practice rest throw
We finally get some rest next week. We'll be able to practice for a change and put some new things in. We need to get our legs back, focus on getting our free throw percentage back up and fix our turnovers.