This is going to be a tough one to win tonight because Wichita State, which went 13-2 last season in conference play, is 0-2 after losing to Memphis and Houston and will be loaded for bear in an attempt to get its season back on track in what should be a hostile atmosphere with a large crowd. Wichita State has terrific basketball fans.
But if this is truly a team capable of a breakthrough, tonight would be a good place to start. Wichita State is by no means unbeatable, which is probably true for every team in the league now that Houston is down its leading scorer and top reserve for the rest of the year.
Three TV stations joined me yesterday for pre-game interviews, which is the most I can recall in any year since I began covering the team aside from the annual Media Day. Usually it's none or one (WGNO).
On another note, since so many of you (and other Tulane fans) were livid with Travis Jewett calling the non-conference schedule "preseason," last spring, Hunter was asked about the "preseason" on a local radio interview last week and the importance of turning it around once conference play began, like his team had appeared to do, and he said coaches who talk about preseason usually are engaging in coachspeak because they did not do well in the non-conference. He added all games were important and that's why he was so disappointed with the first nine games. Thought you guys might like that.
HUNTER
'We're 3-1 right now and we want to continue to just play good basketball and find some places where we can win some road wins like we did at Cincinnati, and the pressure comes when you're at home if you want to have a chance to win a championship, and that's what we're talking about. Like I told the guys yesterday, why can't we win it? There's no reason to say we can't win a championship right now. That's my goal right now. We've put ourselves in a good position, and if you want to do that, then let's talk about it and let's do it. It isn't one of these things where we just say let's keep this thing going and let's be happy. We're in the middle of things, so let's try to win a championship. I'm excited that they believe they can, and as I told them, we've got to find some ways to steal some road wins and then we have to win home games, and if we do that, we'll give ourselves a chance."
On third year being a typical breakthrough:
"Unquestionably but third year and third-year COVID is a little different. I'm not just saying that for me, but normally every third year I've had, my program has been to the NCAA tournament (not true at either of his previous stops, although IUPUI might have done it in its third year of eligibility for the NCAA tournament after moving up from D2; Georgia State did it year 4) and make huge progress. I think we're doing that now, but the problem is, not only us but anybody who has taken over a job in the last couple of years, you have COVID years and regular years, so you have to kind of fix those things. You don't get out as much. You don't see as many kids anymore. Some of these guys are all super seniors. It's a lot different than it was three or four years ago just because of COVID, but I know we're making progress. That's the most important thing. I feel like every night we play now, we have an opportunity to win. I didn't feel that way the first two years. Every night we lace up we have an opportunity to win, so that's how I know we're getting better."
On Wichita State needing this game:
"There's no question. One of the hard things about this job is there are some great environments in this league. We know we're going to go in front of 10,000 people and screaming fans just like we did in Cincinnati, and we are going to have to play our best. Of course we don't get that here yet. We haven't gotten that fan base yet grown, but we will. We need that. It's tough when you're going on the road and playing in front of 10,000 and then you come home and play in front of a sparse crowd, but that's just part of the building process. As I told the players, those things we can't control, but what we can control is how we play. They are really excited and they really believe they have a chance to win championships. That's the mentality that I want. When you're asking me about have you turned the corner, that's when you know you've turned the corner--when you're thinking about winning championships and not just, hey, can we be .500 or can we win two games in a row or those type of things."
On guys being angry about loss to ECU:
"As I told the next day, Houston went to the Final Four last year and they lost at East Carolina. That's just a tough place to play. The last two times we'd been there we lost by 20 and 25 (actually 10 and 19), and so we had a great opportunity to win that game and we just didn't. I liked that we were upset about it, but more importantly how they responded on Saturday was really impressive to me--beating a great defensive team in South Florida. To be honest with you, the last two years that loss probably would have cost us Saturday, and we don't do that anymore."
On talking about championship first or doing it and then talking about it:
"It can't be just me talking about it. I can say we want to win a championship and win the the Final Four, but until we have success at something, and beating Memphis and Cincinnati was a statement for us, and then coming back and being 3-1. When the guys look at their phones, they see us at the top of the league, so now all of a sudden the urgency's a little different and they are more excited about it. No one even on this campus is expecting us to win a championship, so why not do it? Let's put that chip on our shoulder that no one believes that. I just showed them a clip of part of the game between Memphis and Cincinnati, and they put four teams up there that they think have a chance, and we weren't one of the four. The way you earn respect is win. Don't worry about what happens next month. Let's see if we can go steal one on Wednesday and see what happens Saturday (against SMU at home)"
On if empty seats are depressing to players:
"Most of these guys have only played in front of empty seats because of COVID. We don't worry about that. The kids get excited when we play at Cincinnati or Houston and Memphis and there are 10,000 to 12,000 people there, they like that feeling. As I told them, one day we'll get it back to that (a packed Devlin Coliseum), but right now there's not been enough done at Tulane to warrant that honestly, but there were some other places I've been hat it didn't matter how much we won, it would never happen. I do believe that when that happens, as i told them, give ourselves a chance in March in that last home game and we're within one game. I guarantee there will be people in this arena if I have to go door-to-door, and you know me, I will, if I have to go door-to-door and bring people in. I'll offer folks 10,000 for the first seat. I've got things I can offer people to come in and watch us play."
On if he really just said $10,000:
"Yeah, but I didn't say 10,000 what (laughs). But I have some things in mind. I told our guys if you get to the point where we're a game out before that last home game, and of course we have to go to SMU (for the regular-season finale), but if we're a game out I'll make sure there are people there. I will go to every single door step in this town, even with a bad leg, because I think these kids would deserve that."
But if this is truly a team capable of a breakthrough, tonight would be a good place to start. Wichita State is by no means unbeatable, which is probably true for every team in the league now that Houston is down its leading scorer and top reserve for the rest of the year.
Three TV stations joined me yesterday for pre-game interviews, which is the most I can recall in any year since I began covering the team aside from the annual Media Day. Usually it's none or one (WGNO).
On another note, since so many of you (and other Tulane fans) were livid with Travis Jewett calling the non-conference schedule "preseason," last spring, Hunter was asked about the "preseason" on a local radio interview last week and the importance of turning it around once conference play began, like his team had appeared to do, and he said coaches who talk about preseason usually are engaging in coachspeak because they did not do well in the non-conference. He added all games were important and that's why he was so disappointed with the first nine games. Thought you guys might like that.
HUNTER
'We're 3-1 right now and we want to continue to just play good basketball and find some places where we can win some road wins like we did at Cincinnati, and the pressure comes when you're at home if you want to have a chance to win a championship, and that's what we're talking about. Like I told the guys yesterday, why can't we win it? There's no reason to say we can't win a championship right now. That's my goal right now. We've put ourselves in a good position, and if you want to do that, then let's talk about it and let's do it. It isn't one of these things where we just say let's keep this thing going and let's be happy. We're in the middle of things, so let's try to win a championship. I'm excited that they believe they can, and as I told them, we've got to find some ways to steal some road wins and then we have to win home games, and if we do that, we'll give ourselves a chance."
On third year being a typical breakthrough:
"Unquestionably but third year and third-year COVID is a little different. I'm not just saying that for me, but normally every third year I've had, my program has been to the NCAA tournament (not true at either of his previous stops, although IUPUI might have done it in its third year of eligibility for the NCAA tournament after moving up from D2; Georgia State did it year 4) and make huge progress. I think we're doing that now, but the problem is, not only us but anybody who has taken over a job in the last couple of years, you have COVID years and regular years, so you have to kind of fix those things. You don't get out as much. You don't see as many kids anymore. Some of these guys are all super seniors. It's a lot different than it was three or four years ago just because of COVID, but I know we're making progress. That's the most important thing. I feel like every night we play now, we have an opportunity to win. I didn't feel that way the first two years. Every night we lace up we have an opportunity to win, so that's how I know we're getting better."
On Wichita State needing this game:
"There's no question. One of the hard things about this job is there are some great environments in this league. We know we're going to go in front of 10,000 people and screaming fans just like we did in Cincinnati, and we are going to have to play our best. Of course we don't get that here yet. We haven't gotten that fan base yet grown, but we will. We need that. It's tough when you're going on the road and playing in front of 10,000 and then you come home and play in front of a sparse crowd, but that's just part of the building process. As I told the players, those things we can't control, but what we can control is how we play. They are really excited and they really believe they have a chance to win championships. That's the mentality that I want. When you're asking me about have you turned the corner, that's when you know you've turned the corner--when you're thinking about winning championships and not just, hey, can we be .500 or can we win two games in a row or those type of things."
On guys being angry about loss to ECU:
"As I told the next day, Houston went to the Final Four last year and they lost at East Carolina. That's just a tough place to play. The last two times we'd been there we lost by 20 and 25 (actually 10 and 19), and so we had a great opportunity to win that game and we just didn't. I liked that we were upset about it, but more importantly how they responded on Saturday was really impressive to me--beating a great defensive team in South Florida. To be honest with you, the last two years that loss probably would have cost us Saturday, and we don't do that anymore."
On talking about championship first or doing it and then talking about it:
"It can't be just me talking about it. I can say we want to win a championship and win the the Final Four, but until we have success at something, and beating Memphis and Cincinnati was a statement for us, and then coming back and being 3-1. When the guys look at their phones, they see us at the top of the league, so now all of a sudden the urgency's a little different and they are more excited about it. No one even on this campus is expecting us to win a championship, so why not do it? Let's put that chip on our shoulder that no one believes that. I just showed them a clip of part of the game between Memphis and Cincinnati, and they put four teams up there that they think have a chance, and we weren't one of the four. The way you earn respect is win. Don't worry about what happens next month. Let's see if we can go steal one on Wednesday and see what happens Saturday (against SMU at home)"
On if empty seats are depressing to players:
"Most of these guys have only played in front of empty seats because of COVID. We don't worry about that. The kids get excited when we play at Cincinnati or Houston and Memphis and there are 10,000 to 12,000 people there, they like that feeling. As I told them, one day we'll get it back to that (a packed Devlin Coliseum), but right now there's not been enough done at Tulane to warrant that honestly, but there were some other places I've been hat it didn't matter how much we won, it would never happen. I do believe that when that happens, as i told them, give ourselves a chance in March in that last home game and we're within one game. I guarantee there will be people in this arena if I have to go door-to-door, and you know me, I will, if I have to go door-to-door and bring people in. I'll offer folks 10,000 for the first seat. I've got things I can offer people to come in and watch us play."
On if he really just said $10,000:
"Yeah, but I didn't say 10,000 what (laughs). But I have some things in mind. I told our guys if you get to the point where we're a game out before that last home game, and of course we have to go to SMU (for the regular-season finale), but if we're a game out I'll make sure there are people there. I will go to every single door step in this town, even with a bad leg, because I think these kids would deserve that."