July 17, 2008
GREENVILLE, N.C. - East Carolina head coach Mack McCarthy met with members of the local media on Thursday afternoon in the Club Level of Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium. Coach Mack discussed a variety of topics including academic progress, the incoming freshmen, the upcoming season and much more. Below are selected quotes from the press luncheon.
Opening Comments
"Summertime is obviously a little slow for basketball, but we just wanted to get everybody together and answer any questions. We're trying to do that with the website with the "Letters of Marque" each week; trying to keep people abreast with what's going on with our program and answer submitted questions from the fans. We enjoy doing that and I think that it's turned out good."
"We have all eight returning players and the three freshman enrolled in the second session of summer school. Our kids have worked very hard in summer school and we're really proud of the recent announcement that we had the highest GPA of any basketball team in Conference USA. The kids did a really good job of working hard. The staff did a really good job. The student development folks did a really good job. Everybody pulled together. That was a nice accomplishment when you're competing against schools with the academic reputations and traditions of schools like Rice, SMU and Tulsa."
"Last year we made some progress. We had some bumps in the road, but I think we had enough things we can build on for this year. The returnees are awfully excited. They've worked unbelievably hard in the weight room with Danny Wheel and Mike Golden. They're having a great summer of conditioning. They're doing a very intense, up-tempo type of workout and a lot of things that convert directly from the weight room to the floor."
On the youthfulness of his team
"We have eight freshman and sophomores out of the 10 scholarship guys. Some of the sophomores played significant minutes, but some of them didn't. I think you'll see some real improvement. Just like you always talk about the football team improves the most from the first game to the second game, I think you'll see some guys improve a great deal from the first year to the second year. Whether they were guys that played, or guys that didn't play. The light has turned on for a couple of them. They have really made some progress. If the feedback we get from their teammates is any indication we've got some guys that are greatly improved and finally understand what it takes effort-wise and commitment-wise to play successfully at this level."
On Brock Young
"Brock had almost the exact year we'd hoped for as a freshman. He played 15-20 minutes a game. The games he played well, he played more. The games he didn't play well he didn't have the pressure to perform and we could take him out because we had a senior at his position. He did his internship and now he's ready to take over. He's really worked hard this summer at being more of a leader on and off the floor. The other guys are taking him and that scenario seriously. He's done a really nice job of accepting that without letting that bother him too much. He's earned the respect of the fans by being competitive and giving great effort all the time; and now I think he's ready to grow into that point guard roll.
On the newcomers
"We have three new guys. Chris Kupets is a point guard. He's comes from The Patterson School and from a very athletic family. His two sisters are world-class gymnasts. If he got a little bit of their ability we're in really good shape. He's a really intense young man. He's a high-energy guy who was a great scorer and basically went to prep school to hone his point guard skills to become more well-rounded than just a scoring guard.
"Chris Turner is a guy who has been in a couple of different prep school situations. Went to school this year in Texas and has played at a very high level of prep school competition. I think he will bring a dimension that we don't have. We've got some good shooters and we've got some people who can score but he can do a little bit of both. He can get to the rim and finish; he's very athletic and he can shoot the basketball too. He gives us a little bit of a different dimension.
"Darrius Morrow is an outstanding player. He played on two state championship teams at his high school in Atlanta so he's used to winning. That's another thing that we liked about all these kids, they came from winning programs and they came in with that attitude. Darrius has great feet, great hands, and has a really good knowledge of the game. He understands it because he has been well coached and he has played in a winning program. I would be surprised if all three of them don't have some immediate impact."
On what is needed from Chad Wynn
"We really need Chad to be more productive and we need him to be on the floor more. He's got to do some of that on his own. I think the weight room has probably had as big an influence on he and Daquan Joyner as anybody on the team. I think you'll see Chad more mobile and more productive. He's growing in confidence. That's one of the great things that happens in the weight room. When you have success in there you do feel better about yourself. I think that will carry over to what he can do on the basketball court.
On Jamar Abrams' athletic ability
"Jamar is an outstanding athlete. He really plays hard. The one thing he has been able to do from the perimeter is shoot the basketball. But if he's going to spend more time out there and be more of a threat, he's got to be able to put the ball on the floor and then make decisions when he puts the ball on the floor. That part of his game has been missing. That's something that he's working on a great deal this summer."
On how the offense may shape up in 2009
"I think Sam Hinnant and James Legan will be better than they have been. They were in the role they were in because that's what complimented the other players that we had. They were basically catch-and-shoot guys. Sam can do more than that. He has played injured since his freshman year. He still has the same injury but has been able to overcome it, strengthening the leg to that point that it doesn't bother him all the time. I think James can do more. Chris Turner is going to be a big part of that. Brock Young and Chris Kupets as point guards are going to be guys that can create. Kupets in particular is good at shooting off the dribble. Brock got to the free throw line a huge number of times and shot over 80 percent as a freshman. We need to get to the free throw line a whole lot more. We have more offensive weapons than we've had. I think we'll be better offensively in that regard. We want to try to get out and run mostly because it's just more fun. It's more fun to watch. It's more fun to coach. It's more fun to play. However, our goal is to win and we'll do whatever it takes to win."
