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Thursday, March 15, 2007
The Salukis have been to the Big Dance before. But then, so has Ralph Willard.
One of the biggest differences between these two teams is experience.
Not only do the Salukis have twice as many seniors (4-2) as Holy Cross, but two of their four are fifth-year guys, redshirting being a common practice at SIU (the roster also includes two second-year freshmen, two-third-year sophomores and three fourth year juniors. And most of the Salukis have been here before since Southern Illinois has made the NCAA Tournament six seasons in a row.
Tony Young, a fifth-year senior, added some perspective to that experience.
"I think maturity level is the big difference for us," said Young. "Before we came in knowing we won't win, but having the outlook that if we lose, we'll be back next year, having something to look forward to as far as getting ready for next year, but with it being our last year, it really just hits you, the fact of reality that once you lose it's all over with."
Contrast that with Holy Cross, which made it to the tournament three years in a row between 2001 and 2003, but has not been back since any players on the current roster arrived on Mt. St. James.
"When we were coming over here we had about three police escorts and I was like, Coach, we've got escorts, he said, if you would have made it to the tournament a couple more times, you would have known that," laughed HC guard Torey Thomas, one of the Crusaders two seniors.
Five of the Salukis have even won a game in the tournament, beating 10th seeded Saint Mary's in 2005 when they entered the first round in Oklahoma City as a No. 7 seed.
Being the higher seed this time won't change their approach, Tatum and Young both said.
"I definitely think we have the same mind set as we had the year before and the year before that, no matter what seed we are. We go in and fight every day in practice, we go in and work hard and we compete and I think fourth seed or 10 seed or 12 seed, we're going to go play the same," Tatum said.
"As far as being a favorite, you look at every game the same because going into the NCAA tournament, anyone could lose at any day, so you can't come in and think that just because you're a favorite that you're automatically going to win or you can't disrespect your opponents. I think the big thing is to stay level headed and play our hardest," Young added.
Having been here before is a definite advantage for the Salukis.
"It definitely makes a big difference that they've been here. The experience is always key," said Thomas.
That experience edge is limited to the players. Holy Cross coach Ralph Willard has been to five NCAA Tournaments -- including three with the Crusaders -- and three NITs.Salukis coach Chris Lowery would have been a freshman in college when Willard first coached a team (Western Kentucky in 1993) to an NCAA Tournament appearance.
Holy Cross will rely on Willard's experience, and his game plan, to even things with Southern Illinois.
"Coach Willard is a great Coach, he's been doing this for a long time, he's been at every level of college and the NBA. We've been trying to take a lot from his experience, he's been here with Holy Cross three times and with other teams so we try to look to him for guidance and I think he's done a really good job this week in preparing us for this situation and leading us with his experience and he's a great asset in this game because he's our leader and he's our coach and hopefully he can steer us in the right path," Simmons said.
"Experience is definitely something that they have on their side. It's a definite advantage for them. But we've developed a game plan and we're going to go out there and try and execute our game plan. We're really focusing ourselves in doing what we do best. Southern Illinois is a very good team and they are really experienced but we're going to concentrate on executing our game plan and playing the way Holy Cross plays," said Simmons.
Added Thomas: "Coach Willard is a great coach in this situation, you've got a chance to prepare, plenty of days to prepare for a team for one game and I feel like he's always got a great game plan to help us to a victory in that regard. He's going to help us play to our strengths and try to help us make them play to their weaknesses."
Willard said having a precise game plan will make it easier for his team to focus and avoid some of the distractions that come with playing on the game's grandest stage.
"This is the NCAA, but it's also another basketball game. We compartmentalize the game into sections. We come with a very detailed game plan, so I think by concentrating on the little things, I think you can tend to block out the surroundings and the so-called stature of the stage or the magnitude of the stage. So I think our guys, I know the two seniors, this won't bother them at all. Some of the young guys, it may have an effect, but again, we pa so much attention to detail and concentrate on that so much, I don't think the stage will be that big a factor," Willard said.
One of the biggest differences between these two teams is experience.
Not only do the Salukis have twice as many seniors (4-2) as Holy Cross, but two of their four are fifth-year guys, redshirting being a common practice at SIU (the roster also includes two second-year freshmen, two-third-year sophomores and three fourth year juniors. And most of the Salukis have been here before since Southern Illinois has made the NCAA Tournament six seasons in a row.
Tony Young, a fifth-year senior, added some perspective to that experience.
"I think maturity level is the big difference for us," said Young. "Before we came in knowing we won't win, but having the outlook that if we lose, we'll be back next year, having something to look forward to as far as getting ready for next year, but with it being our last year, it really just hits you, the fact of reality that once you lose it's all over with."
Contrast that with Holy Cross, which made it to the tournament three years in a row between 2001 and 2003, but has not been back since any players on the current roster arrived on Mt. St. James.
"When we were coming over here we had about three police escorts and I was like, Coach, we've got escorts, he said, if you would have made it to the tournament a couple more times, you would have known that," laughed HC guard Torey Thomas, one of the Crusaders two seniors.
Five of the Salukis have even won a game in the tournament, beating 10th seeded Saint Mary's in 2005 when they entered the first round in Oklahoma City as a No. 7 seed.
Being the higher seed this time won't change their approach, Tatum and Young both said.
"I definitely think we have the same mind set as we had the year before and the year before that, no matter what seed we are. We go in and fight every day in practice, we go in and work hard and we compete and I think fourth seed or 10 seed or 12 seed, we're going to go play the same," Tatum said.
"As far as being a favorite, you look at every game the same because going into the NCAA tournament, anyone could lose at any day, so you can't come in and think that just because you're a favorite that you're automatically going to win or you can't disrespect your opponents. I think the big thing is to stay level headed and play our hardest," Young added.
Having been here before is a definite advantage for the Salukis.
"It definitely makes a big difference that they've been here. The experience is always key," said Thomas.
That experience edge is limited to the players. Holy Cross coach Ralph Willard has been to five NCAA Tournaments -- including three with the Crusaders -- and three NITs.Salukis coach Chris Lowery would have been a freshman in college when Willard first coached a team (Western Kentucky in 1993) to an NCAA Tournament appearance.
Holy Cross will rely on Willard's experience, and his game plan, to even things with Southern Illinois.
"Coach Willard is a great Coach, he's been doing this for a long time, he's been at every level of college and the NBA. We've been trying to take a lot from his experience, he's been here with Holy Cross three times and with other teams so we try to look to him for guidance and I think he's done a really good job this week in preparing us for this situation and leading us with his experience and he's a great asset in this game because he's our leader and he's our coach and hopefully he can steer us in the right path," Simmons said.
"Experience is definitely something that they have on their side. It's a definite advantage for them. But we've developed a game plan and we're going to go out there and try and execute our game plan. We're really focusing ourselves in doing what we do best. Southern Illinois is a very good team and they are really experienced but we're going to concentrate on executing our game plan and playing the way Holy Cross plays," said Simmons.
Added Thomas: "Coach Willard is a great coach in this situation, you've got a chance to prepare, plenty of days to prepare for a team for one game and I feel like he's always got a great game plan to help us to a victory in that regard. He's going to help us play to our strengths and try to help us make them play to their weaknesses."
Willard said having a precise game plan will make it easier for his team to focus and avoid some of the distractions that come with playing on the game's grandest stage.
"This is the NCAA, but it's also another basketball game. We compartmentalize the game into sections. We come with a very detailed game plan, so I think by concentrating on the little things, I think you can tend to block out the surroundings and the so-called stature of the stage or the magnitude of the stage. So I think our guys, I know the two seniors, this won't bother them at all. Some of the young guys, it may have an effect, but again, we pa so much attention to detail and concentrate on that so much, I don't think the stage will be that big a factor," Willard said.
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