The Iowa State men’s basketball team will host Bradley on Sunday. It’s finals week in Ames. That was one of the hot topics at today’s media session that took place before Iowa State’s practice. CycloneFanatic.com was in attendance. Read what McDermott had to say about finals, injuries, and a team update in this Q&A.
How did finals go?
GM: We are still in the middle of them. I think that we have six or seven guys who still have a test tomorrow. Some of them are finished up. All of the reports I am getting so far have been good. The guys are anxious to put them in the past.
What kind of rust will the guys have on Sunday?
GM: I hope not very much. We have been able to get some good work put in this week. Half of the team now is finished with finals. They should be really focused. By the time we practice tomorrow afternoon, everybody will be done. We’ll still have an opportunity to practice twice before we play on Sunday. I think that will give us ample time to get locked in and focused and understand what we need to do to be successful over Bradley.
Have you noticed a lot of positive momentum after that win over Iowa?
GM: I think so. We desperately needed that. This team was lacking a little confidence. I think that we were able to regain that with some of the things that we were able to do on both ends against Iowa. It is far from perfect. We are certainly not a finished product but I think we are moving in the right direction.
In a long wait like this, how much time do you spend working on stuff and how much time do you work on installing new things?
GM: You don’t put in a lot of new stuff until you perfect what you are doing already. That’s where we have spent the most of our time during the course of last week where we only had one game and with our limited time on the practice floor this week. It has really been spend on ourselves to this point. We will zero in a little bit more on Bradley today and tomorrow.
What have you been working on with the team?
GM: A couple of different looks defensively. Just our timing and movement on offense is something that we feel we need to improve upon. We have made strides in that area but it’s not where it needs to be. I think that the guys understand that. They’ve taken to heart what we have shown them this week.
What is the health of the team like right now?
GM: We are a little banged up right now. Diante sprained his toe or something yesterday. I’m not sure if he’ll go today. Jamie Vanderbeken still really hasn’t had a full practice this week. Hopefully we can get him back in the next day or two. We have the normal flu and colds going through our team that I think most teams in the Midwest have at this time of year.
Everybody should play on Sunday?
GM: As far as I know, everybody will be cleared by then.
