Bowling Green State University Athletics
Dan Dakich Weekly Press Conference
January 11, 2005 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 11, 2005
BGSU Coach Dan Dakich
"Eastern Michigan is a very physical, tough team with a real tough guy, (John) Bowler, inside. They're a little like our team, their seniors (Michael) Ross and (James) Jackson are having really good senior-type years. Ross may not be the leading scorer but when you look at the MAC statistics he's around the top in a lot of them. And as their point guard, he's a four year starter, he's been very good. I think they're a team that competes very hard. They got down eight against Toledo late in the game but they stay with their stuff, they pound you inside and they play 40 minutes of physical basketball. They really go to the offensive and defensive boards and I think they just have a really good basketball team."
"They've gotten good play out of a freshman, (Darryl) Garrett who has scored a lot of points. He's filled a valuable role for them as a kid that can get a shot on his own. But what you watch them do is what good teams do. They do their offensive and defensive plans for the entire game. They don't vary from it, they don't get excited when things don't go their way early or late in the game and that is attributed really to seniors, particularly a senior point guard."
"Bowler is a junior that has started since he's been there. (Markus) Austin has started since he's been there, he is a senior along with Jackson and that is what makes them a good team, they stay with their plan for the entire game."
"The road team doesn't normally get 60 free throws but that is a little bit how Eastern plays. They throw it inside and have enough quickness that they make you guard them."
"I think that one of the things that our team hopefully understands it that when you look back and you're at the end of February, it is hard to even remember the 10th of January because it is such a long season. We need to make certain that we continue to improve. Good starts to games don't just happen, they happen for a reason. ...Most of the time it is because we're really ready to play. Other than two games... Marshall and Oakland...those were the only two games that I thought we didn't have the right aggressiveness and mindset. But we have been able to sustain it for the most part, you never play the perfect game, but the other night it would've been nice when we got up by 18 to win by 27 but that is more of Northern Illinois being tough, than us. Basically, other than a couple of times, we've done a good job at playing well for 40 minutes, or at least certainly playing hard for 40 minutes."
"If I ask anybody if they're ready to play they're going to say yeah but it has to be real, it has to be where they've done the things in studying film, studying the opponent, coming to practice ready, coming to walk-throughs ready and going back talking about the game if you're on the road in your hotel room. I think our seniors have provided an environment where those types of things are important. They've done a good job providing an environment where what I, or my staff thinks are important, they think are important. Not just how you lead up to a game, but through the course of a game."
"I want to see how mature we are. It is a funky kind of schedule, I don't think I've ever had this with Sunday, Wednesday, Saturday and there isn't a build in day off, so you have to have a maturity about you and I'm looking for that."
