They Said It: Mercer Postgame
Samford Scoop got the chance to talk with Samford head coach Bucky McMillan, Rylan Jones, and Julian Brown following the 100-79 win over Mercer. Brownell led Samford with 23 points on 7-9 from three along with six assists and four rebounds. Brown had 15 points on 5-9 from deep with four rebounds, thee assists, two assists and 2 steals.
Q: What was the message in the timeout after the slow start? Was it just to play more free and loose?
Bucky McMillan: “Well, the time that we talked about we were gonna go amp it up a little bit and get the game going fast and all that, but we made some weird decisions when they got it out of our press. Like, when they got it over the top of our press, we made some really strange decisions, like not reading the floor, correctly. Like, they'd have three guys on on one side, two on the other and all of a sudden I look up and five guys would run to three. Like there's a fill element to this thing, right?
And that starting group, you couldn't guess worse than that starting group guessed those first six minutes and we couldn't get to the dang media timeout. I didn't want to burn one up right there and burn your use it or lose it timeout like in hindsight, I probably should have called (a timeout), because like we were so gassed and couldn't get the next group in. But I think when our second group came in versus our first group there were fresh, I think that's when we made a run right back at them.
But the message before the deal was, man, let's enjoy this, man. Let's have fun and play aggressive and just whatever happens happens. You know, like let's not get so caught up into like well, we gotta win the league, or we gotta, you know, do this like, let's just play. Our good, best basketball, playing and enjoy it playing as hard as we can is gonna give us the best chance to have success anyway. And so let's do that and let's do it every play and let's stay the course.”
Q: You’re going on the road to ETSU on Saturday and we know what happened here at home. What is it going to take to get a W in that environment?
McMillan: “They’re always a tough team, but it's just gonna be focusing on blocking out the noise and doing what you're supposed to do. I guess what it takes. I mean, you know, on the road, you gotta take care of the basketball, you gotta take elite shots, and you gotta clean the glass, so, you know, do what the game calls for, but it's gonna take an intense focus. Like it's coming down the home stretch, like who can lock in?
I told our players the other day that in the offseason, right? You're dreaming about these moments in February and March. Like in the offseason, you're dreaming about, like, when you're in the gym by yourself, you're thinking of late conference, late season conference games and then going to the tournament and the three, two, one. That's what you're working for.
Like, you're thinking about this moment. We can't be in this moment thinking about the offseason. Like, you can't be in this moment, thinking about the offseason like, well, I'm a little tired or you know, just the day-to-day routine getting old, like, we can't have any of that. And you never get that from the seniors. You're never gonna have that from the seniors, because the seniors know what it is. Sometimes the younger guys can walk in and say I got next year, but that's unfair to those seniors. That's why last year we were very successful there. We had a lot of seniors. and they knew, like this is the moment, and so we got to be completely focused on this moment right here. And if we do that, you know, we'll have the best chance to be successful.”
Q: It came down to the wire to beat Mercer at their place. Was that game apart of the message this week to not have that happen here at home?
Rylan Jones: “We didn’t play out best game up there. We were kinda in slow motion at their place. and his message was we gotta be us. We gotta attack them in our gym, on our home floor, with our crowd, and, get the pace going. You know, that's what we did and it was hard for them as well. They play six, seven guys, eight guys, and we were on them 94 feet and it made it tough for them.”
Q: How important is it to have a great atmosphere here at Pete Hanna and what is your message to the students?
Julian Brown: “Oh, I encourage all the students to come out and enjoy and enjoy performances that were gonna come up with. But first I want to say, we’re all doing this for the older guys like, you know, last year, he (Rylan) made it an amazing run and a couple of guys from the team. But you know, guys like me and the new guys coming like Trey (Fort) and Colin (Holloway), we know what's important to win. We wanna get to March Madness again, for guys like that, for guys like Rylan, you know what I'm saying? For guys like Riley, let's been there last year, you know.
So we're that's what we trying to do, but for the fans, we really want you to come out and support us. We can't do this without ya’ll. I'm gonna keep I'm gonna keep it honest. We can't do it without ya’ll. The aura you come in to the building with. We really appreciate if y'all can come and enjoy a show. Please come out, please come out and support men’s Samford basketball.”
Samford is at ETSU on Saturday before coming back home next Wednesday vs Chattanooga at 6:30pm.
