On his level of concern on John Fulkerson’s play of late:
“When you’re a fifth-year player, I don’t think there is any questions. We’re never going to quit on him. We’ve seen him do it. I’ve seen guys go through it for whatever reason, but I’ve also seen guys just flip it around and turn the switch on. That won’t happen though unless it comes from within. I don’t think there is any question that he has seen that if he’s not doing it, he’s not just going to get to stay out there. He owes it to his teammates, and we owe to each other to get guys that are going to be productive. Also, it’s on the defensive end where he’s making some mistakes. That has to do with where he is mentally overall. Anytime you start doubting yourself and get back on your heels, you’re not going to be a factor. You won’t be able to be aggressive, because when doubt creeps in, it freezes you. I think some of that has happened with him. I can tell you, that if he does what we ask him to do, because we know it has worked in the past, but if he’ll just try to do what we ask him to do, it’ll flip for him.”
On how it helps to have a real “dog” on the court:
“It’s huge. If you want to use the word ‘dog,’ you need some dogs that are just going to bite you. You need some junkyard dogs regardless of how the game is going, they are going to bite. They aren’t going to bark; they’re going to bite. There are a lot of guys that bark with no bite. You need those dogs if you got them. It can’t always be coaches, it’s a player’s game and always has been, always will be. We need more of that. We talk about, but we need more of it. We don’t really care who does it, we just need more of it.”
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