Junior Christian Watford and sophomore Will Sheehey sat down with the media Thursday afternoon to talk about preseason workouts and their early thoughts on the 2011-2012 campaign.
Some of the highlights included the guys talking about the maturity with this team and Watford's role with freshman Cody Zeller in the post.
Click the jump for some quotes from the press conference.
Watford-On the expectations of making the NCAA Tournament this season and his overall expectations of the season:
"Yes sir, no dobut. If we didn't make it I feel like it would be a failure to our season. With what we've got now, time is now. We've got a lot of veterans that have played a lot of minutes. I've been on the court since I was a freshman, Jordan (Hulls) as well. The sense of urgency is there. I almost feel like a senior with as many minutes I've played and Jordan as well and the other guys that came in with me. The sense of urgency is definitely there."
Watford-On what he worked on over the summer:
"Just ball handling, ball moves and stuff like that. With Cody coming in, I feel like I'm going to be able to step out a little more so I wanted to work on explosion like stuff. I've gotten a lot stronger. Put on more muscle than anything. My weight is about the same, still around 225-230."
Sheehey-On what he worked on over the summer:
"Probably ball-handling and outside shooting, probably the two things that I could do on the court. Definitely getting stronger in the weight room."
Watford-On Coach Crean wanting to see a more focused Watford this season:
"More than anything I think you just kind of grow up. You realize what it takes and you realize that it's going to be hard work and you've got to embrace it instead of running from it. I feel like that's what I've done."
Watford-On the realistic expectations of averaging a double-double in 2011-2012:
"I feel like it is. We're going to have Cody (Zeller) down there eating some glass too so it's going to be pretty tough but I think I can do it."
Sheehey-On his role with the team heading into the season and on being labeled as guard or a forward:
"Definitely a guy that can do multiple things. Offensive rebounding, defensive rebounding, playing good defense really somebody that can do everything not going to back down to any task. Usually when guys talk about guard or forward they are talking about guarding somebody, if I can guard a big or guard a guard. If I can guard both positions than it doesn't really matter."
Watford-On a more mature team with now all four classes being recruited by Crean:
"We realize that the time is now. We don't have time to wait. We've got some senior guys that want to get some things done while they've been at Indiana and we don't want to send them out with a losing record or something like that. The sense of urgency is definitely there and we've been working hard. When I came in, there wasn't really any veterans. It's like we're leaders now more than anything. We're the veterans. We kind of take on that challenge, that role."
Watford-On the impact of Zeller:
"He's going to draw a lot of attention more than anything. He's a big guy that can pass the ball. That's what we need. He can also finish down there so that's going to help us out a lot too."
Watford-On playing the '3' position and maybe having to guard smaller guys:
"I feel like I'll do alright. It's going to be a challenge but I'm up for it. Just use what I have more than anything. Be long, use your length. Don't get up and pressure guys too much because I feel like I can do multiple things with my wing-span and how tall I am."
Will-On preseason workouts this year being different from years past:
"I feel like guys are more comfortable in a sense because they're veterans. They know what is expected from them so they can give the maximum effort. For the freshman, it's better for them because they get to learn from what the older guys do. Really, it's an advantage that we have."
Watford-On preseason workouts this year being different from years past:
"I feel like it's more player driven now more than anything because we're a veteran team. We kind of hold each other accountable more than anything. We kind of embrace the hard work. We know the workouts are going to be hard going into it and we try to attack it."
Watford-On the importance of junior Derek Elston in the front court:
"It's very important. As long as Derek stays healthy, he's going to help us a lot. He's going to be able to give us another big body on the inside. He's going to be a rebounder. He can stretch the defense because he can shoot the ball and as long as Derek stays healthy I feel like we will be in great shape.
Watford-On the Big Ten this season:
"It's going to be tough. The Big Ten always reloads every year. Good guys go out and good guys come in. You're always going to have your teams like the Ohio State's and the Wisconsin's and the people like that, that are always going to be tough, no matter if it seems like they're having a down year or not they're always going to be tough."
Watford-On having former head coaches (Tim Buckley and Steve McClain) now as assistant coaches:
"It helps. You get different views on different things. Some guys relate to guys differently. If you're doing something different, another coach can point it out."
Sheehey-On having former head coaches (Tim Buckley and Steve McClain) now as assistant coaches:
"They have so much knowledge of the game from being in the same position as coach (Crean) so they kind of take a step back and focus more on not really little things, but things that can help you improve."
