FULLERTON, Calif. – The Cal State Fullerton men's basketball team has been practicing for more than a week, and recently second-year men's basketball head coach Dedrique Taylor spoke with www.FullertonTitans.com about the 2014-15 squad.
Dedrique Taylor: The main focus for the first week of practice was to pay attention to details and to understand the concepts that we are trying to introduce. We've got a lot of new faces and a lot of new bodies running around. We are trying to get the newcomers to understand what we are doing on both sides of the floor while paying attention to the minor details, which I think will eventually make the big things happen.
Dedrique Taylor: It's actually been a pretty unique process. We've tried to approach it as if we were starting from the bottom, and we've been reintroducing and teaching all of our concepts. Obviously the returners are picking things up quicker, and are able to move a lot faster, but what the returners are also doing is bringing the new players along by coaching them on and off the floor. The players are really holding each other accountable to pick things up quickly, and I think we are moving along well.
Dedrique Taylor: First of all, as a coach, you look out on the floor and you feel like you have a basketball team. We have six guys that are 6-foot-7 and taller, and last year we had only four guys at 6-foot-7 or taller. Our size gets the staff excited to be able to protect the rim and protect the paint, but also to be able to have some size running around, especially when you look at our conference with players like Alan Williams at UC Santa Barbara and the post players at UC Irvine, it gives you a different level of comfort to be able to match up. Now obviously we still have a long way to go from a skill standpoint, but it's a huge advantage in year two to be able to grow literally and figuratively the way we did over the summer. We are excited about what our players can do on the floor with their mobility, size and athleticism.
Dedrique Taylor: I think the biggest surprise is that you look around and there is talent on the floor. It's not necessarily a surprise to me, but I think it will be a surprise to our fans just how quickly we have been able to amass a different level of talent than we had last year. The players are picking things up pretty quickly, and are starting to put the ball in the hole at a pretty consistent clip. I think being able to score will be a bit of a surprise for our fans.
Dedrique Taylor: What I would like to see is Titan Gym full with our fans to watch our team on public display for the first time this year. And I would like our team to be able to interact with our fans and create an environment that I think we can establish at Titan Gym.
And on the other side, I'm anxious to see our guys perform in front of our fans, get comfortable with that atmosphere, and see what we do from execution standpoint. I think it's an awesome opportunity for both the fans and the team to get familiar with each other.
With our style of play, I want to give the fans a reason to come back and support us throughout the course of the year. The product on the floor will be a lot different than last year. We are anxious to get that on display and to have our fans see it, have something to talk about, and create a buzz for our program.
Dedrique Taylor: I think moving forward we will be able to score from different spots and positions on the floor. Last year, I thought we were limited in that area. Moses Morgan might come down the floor and hit a three-pointer. The next possession, Jordan Mason might drive the lane. We can throw it in the post to Kennedy Esume or Steve McClellan. Lanerryl Johnson can push our pace and tempo while also making three-pointers.
We have a bunch of new faces with a lot of talent that can score from multiple spots on the floor – and that's not even mentioning Alex Harris, who is an energy bug and a player that can score however you want him and need him to score. I think if you look at our team, we have multiple options to be able to go to each game, and I think that will increase and improve our scoring.