Pirates Meet With Media Before First Practice
October 03, 2014 | Men's Basketball
GREENVILLE, N.C. --- East Carolina Head Coach Jeff Lebo and selected the members of the men's basketball team met with members of the media prior to the start of practice Friday afternoon inside the Smith-Williams Center.
Below are selected quotes from Lebo and players.
ECU Head Coach Jeff Lebo
On the level of excitement about getting started
"It's different now. Back in the old days, you could [start] practice on Oct. 15. With the new rules we feel like we've already begun having several team workouts, so it has a little bit different feel to a typical first day of practice. The new rules allow us to start 42 days before our first contest, but we can only practice 30 of those 42 days. We've got a lot of new faces, so it's really important this preseason that we're all together and on the same page."
On his expectations from the newcomers
"We're going to have a lot of guys that are going to have to play for us that haven't played. Whether its guys that were hurt last year or guys that were sitting out, it takes time for them to get back into the rhythm of playing in games situations. We do have some guys with some experience back. The last two years we've had a lot of season-ending injuries. When we won the CIT we had four guys go down with season-ending injuries. Last year all our inside guys, but one went down. We've got to find a way to get guys through the season without suffering any major injuries."
On the difference between going into a new conference as compared to last year
"I felt like we were in a different conference last year. It was the same name but a lot of different teams. It feels like it's going to be another learning experience for us this year and it's going to be some different teams; a lot of them familiar to us, but we didn't play them last year. It's a jump up in the quality of opponents in our league. Last year, the American had five teams at one time that were in the top 25 in basketball. That's going to force us to grow our program and grow it rapidly."
On the continuity of the team
"I think most of the guys understand what is expected of them. Again, we're going to have a lot of guys that didn't play last year that are going to be expected to play major minutes for us and contribute a ton. We had to paste things together last year. We played more zone last year in one season than I played in all my years coaching combined just to find a way to competitive on a night in and night out basis. Hopefully we'll be able to play more traditional, particularly on the defensive end."
Overall view of the new players
"We have Terry Whisnant, a transfer from Florida State, who is expected to score the ball for this year. He's athletic, he can shoot it and take the ball to the basket. He started multiple games in the ACC which I think is important for us because he won't be in awe when we go places to play. We're expecting him to see a lot of court time.
"We're also going to have Michel Nzege, who has a great motor and a physical body. He hasn't played at this level yet but he gives us a guy inside that can run and he can guard his position, the power forward position. We also have BJ Tyson, a kid that sat out for us last year and will be a freshman. He's very, very talented. He's a strong, athletic and tough kid. Marshall Guilmette has been hurt for two years. He won't start with us here today because of injuries, but he's going to be key for us. He's a talented inside scorer that can stretch the defense for us.
"We've got a couple of freshman that I've been pleased with. I love Lance Tejada's ability to think on the floor. He can shoot. He's good in transition and plays under control. Grant Bryant is guy that has a nose for the ball. We have a junior college transfer, Kanu Aja, who is very big, very physical and an excellent screener. He's going to be space eater who will be able to push around and hold his ground against some of the big guys we're going to play in this league.
On the eagerness of the newcomers
"I think they're excited to get out there and play. Off our team workouts so far, there's not a lot of separation between our best player and our No. 16 guy. I like that because they are forced to bring it every single day. One day you may be the second-best player on the team and if you don't bring then you'll be the 14th-best the next day. Those are the type of teams I think get better because they have competition every single day."
On the team's conditioning
"The rules are different. We get to work with them almost year round. Our strength coach [Matt Slatcheka] has done a terrific job getting them ready. We've got guys that I think made major jumps in strength and weight during the off-season, particularly Antonio Robinson. You have to be really careful now, because we have them year round you have to be a little smarter as a coach and cut it back a little bit."
On the television exposure the Pirates will receive
"We're not going to play any differently because we're on TV. A lot of people know about East Carolina regionally. Not a lot of people know about East Carolina nationally. The chance to be on national TV as many times as we're going to have to be on is not only great for our program, but great for our university."
Redshirt Sophomore Marshall Guilmette
On his rehabilitation process
"I am doing well. I had a little set-back with my quad. I think I came back and did a little too much to early. I am just taking off these two practices and I will be back on Monday ready to go, but other than that everything has been feeling great. It has been great to be able to go up and down full force and I am just ready to get back into it."
Sophomore Caleb White
On team chemistry
"We are really cool with each other. We played a lot of pick-up over the summer and this preseason we're trying to get more familiar with everybody and get the freshmen integrated. We have put in a lot of work in our early practices with the new offense. We are really familiar with each other, but as you know it still takes a lot more work."
Senior Paris Roberts-Campbell
On how things went over the off-season
"We had a lot of team workouts. The team knows each other pretty well going back to the summer. There are a lot of new faces, but we know the new faces because they were here last year, they just couldn't play. We are just really to get after it."
On the newcomers
"I expect Terry Whisnant to have a really good season and to step into Akeem Richmond's shoes. He is a terrific shooter. Lance[Tejada] really knows how to control the flow of the game. Grant Bryant can shoot it, step out and shoot it, drive past you and post you up a little bit. Then we have Ziggy, [Michel Nzege]. He is a monster on the boards and Keith Armstrong is a big body who is trying to move people and we should have Marshall Guilmette too. Everybody knows what he is capable of."
On playing in the American Athletic Conference
"I think this is going to be a huge help getting some of the students to come out and pack out Minges. We are really going to need them if we are going to really make a push at making the tournament this year."
Junior Michael Zangari
On the off-season workouts
"I just got into the gym here and took a lot of game-like shots. We really hit it hard in the weight room. We have coach Slatcheka in their now and he definitely changed the mentality. We went a lot harder. From a strength point-of-view we will definitely be a lot stronger this year than we have been since I have been here."
On the areas in which he has improved as a player
"I will be able to stretch the floor a little bit more than what I did last year. I will work behind the arc more than I shot last year. I know I took a couple of them but being the only big guy last year kind of meant that I had to be the presence inside. I will definitely be able to stretch it out more this year."
