Playing Favorites?

Playing Favorites?

Southern has always forced respect from its opponents but Arkansas Coach Stan Heath sounds like he’s scouted SIU pretty well, and he knows he’s in for a battle. Heath goes as far as calling SIU a possible favorite to win the whole tourney… Like I said in the last post- It’s a huge week.

Following is a partial transcript of head coach Stan Heath’s press conference:

“This is our first trip on the road and I want to make sure we have the right attitude. We need to be business-like. With the team we’re facing, we can’t look ahead.

“Southern Illinois is highly regarded nationally. They return all five starters and they won the Missouri Valley Conference tournament championship last year. They’ve had tremendous success over the years.

“They play a very deliberate style. They run a ball control offense. It will not be a pretty game, but my concern is winning. For us, we can’t get concerned with the way they play. We may have to guard them through the shot clock.

“In two games, we’re averaging around 62 or 63 possessions a game. In SIU’s last game, they allowed 46 possessions. The number of possessions goes down. They wind down the clock and play for the shot in the last four or five seconds.

“We will make adjustments, but we have to be good enough to guard in the half court.”


The tournament field:

“I think every team in the tournament except for Western Michigan and Virginia Tech was in the post-season last year. The teams that are considered mid-majors are very good. It’s a good field. We should find out a lot about ourselves.

“I don’t get caught up in rankings, but I know SIU is very good and they could be the favorite to win the tournament, but we want to win it.”