Coach Amaker talks about the status of Lester Abram, the NIT match-up with the Missouri Tigers...
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On the opportunity to face Missouri in the NIT:
"First of all, we're excited to be in the postseason. I think our kids were a little disappointed initially, as most people were, when we didn't get selected in the field of sixty-five. But certainly getting the phone call from the NIT and getting a chance to extend our season, I think it's terrific for our program and another step to where we want to go. Certainly playing Missouri, I think we all know how very good this team was touted to be at the beginning of the year, they hit a stretch there that was tough for them, but I thought they really rallied here late. Quin (Snyder) has done a phenomenal job. I'm very good friends with Quin and happy for how he's been able to turn things around. I wish we were both having a chance to play (different teams) -- I don't know how he feels, but I imagine having a chance to play someone else, both of us could have hopefully extended our seasons in postseason. Obviously that won't be the case after tomorrow night, but that's the way that the draw has been determined, and we'll go on from there. But I'm excited for our team. Certainly to have a chance to play in the postseason is a first for us, and I think our kids are looking forward to it."
On if he gave his team a pep talk after the selection show:
"Not necessarily a pep-talk. I thought it was important that we share with them the significance of being in the postseason. I think obviously we were all holding out a little bit of a hope that we'd be selected, we kind of felt it was a long shot, but we were nonetheless a team that was curious, I thought we probably had generated some dialogue, however limited that the dialogue took place, about our program and our team getting in, but I think there was naturally a little disappointment there, but right away we talked about the opportunity that we had in front of us and hopefully to get the phone call because we didn't know right at that moment that we were even going to be in the postseason. I thought we had a good chance, but certainly with the number of teams, you look at this field in the NIT, and this is probably as strong as it's ever been in terms of the names that are in this tournament, so we weren't exactly sure, we wanted to wait and see if we got the call. We did get the call. I told our players if we did get the call, how excited and proud we were going to be to represent our school and to be in postseason play."
On if he's shared the history of Michigan in the NIT:
"Not yet, but obviously you can imagine things have moved pretty fast. They didn't know, we had to give them the phone call, the news, from our staff to let them know. We knew that if we got in there was a chance that we would play tonight, because it starts tonight and you don't know if you're going to get in, you don't know if you're going to play the first night, you didn't know if you were going to be home, so we didn't know. Obviously things have moved pretty quickly. Those kinds of things I think will be interesting tidbits for our team prior to us pitching it up tomorrow night."
On Lester Abram's injury:
"I think right now he's doubtful. We don't have a definite on that yet, but my guess is right now he's doubtful. He's still pretty sore, I think he has some stretched or strained ligaments in the shoulder area, so that's the best I can do in terms of describing it. He's pretty sore and certainly won't practice today. As of now those are the guidelines that I think we've been given, but certainly we're going to continue to do the necessary tests to find out if there's anything else that we can do or needs to be done."
On filling the hole left by Lester Abram:
"We'll try to figure out a way, but Lester, as we all know, is an incredibly consistent and dependable player, maybe our most dependable to be quite honest. I think that's always been the way we've described him, as a consistent and dependable player, he's turned into obviously our leading scorer, so that is a tough task, but we have to find a way. I think that's the nature of sports, dealing with some unknowns at various moments of the season and you can find different ways to have your team rise to the challenge then that's the name of the game."
On playing at home:
"I think anytime, if you get a chance to get a game here for us, we were thrilled about that. We were very fortunate, because they give you the call and tell you whom you're playing, where you're playing, and what time you're playing and hang the phone up. I mean that in a very positive way, it's just the way that this is run, and we're very pleased to have had the chance to get the invitation. So we're obviously even more so to have the chance to get the invitation to play at home. I'm not so thrilled about playing Missouri, but other than that, we're fine."
On Missouri:
"I think first of all, you're looking at a ball club that, I think it's been documented very well over the course of the season, their prospects coming into the year. They are a team that some people thought could be a Final Four team, I think they were ranked as high as somewhere in the top five at various points during the preseason and maybe even at the start of the year, so I think that you don't get those kind of predictions or accolades for nothing. I think when you think of them right away, you think of experience. I think with Arthur Johnson and Rickey Paulding in particular, two local kids who have a chance obviously to come home, so I think those two players, being senior players, are really outstanding players in their program over their careers. With (Arthur) Johnson being an anchor on the inside and Paulding being as explosive and as good a shooter and a streaky player and very athletic player on the outside, so that's not all that they have, but those are the players that jump out at you right away. So obviously we'll have our hands full. They're a team that I think has played their best basketball down the stretch. I think they were really putting a strong push on to make the tournament, obviously they came very close, so I think this is the kind of team that we're going to face that certainly has the potential to do a lot of damage in this tournament. Hopefully we can derail that right away."
On preparing for Missouri:
"It's not like we taped a lot of Missouri games, but you never know, you try to tape games as you go along, catch games on TV. But certainly we've started to watch and break down some of the film. Obviously we've gotten information in terms of stats, things that we can analyze and study from that perspective, a lot of things you do, at times you can call on people that have played them and try to get little tidbits of what other teams have tried to do against them, and their thoughts about the Missouri basketball team, and I'm sure they've done the same thing with opponents that we've played and friends that they have in the business. You just do as much as you can from a coaching standpoint as quickly as you can, but you have one day, but we traveled back and were off yesterday, and we found out late last night, practice today and play tomorrow night. It's not a lot of time obviously, and you have to be very selective I think with what we give our players. We can't force-feed them and overload them within just hours of time to get prepared to play. That's why we're fortunate to be at home."
On the similarities between the Wolverines and Tigers:
"You coach to your personnel and certainly to your personality. I think there are obviously some similarities in things that they're trying to do and what we're trying to do. They've been an outstanding program and I think right now that you're going to see a lot of man-to-man out there, some zone such as what we've done, the change-up, to utilize that. Their front line is very good and in addition to (Rickey) Paulding and (Arthur) Johnson, two kids I've mentioned, they have another senior in Travon Bryant, who's another front line player that's very strong and can step out and shoot it. Their personnel, Quin was very excited about his team, he has been for a while and rightly so. I think he's done a terrific job with the ball club. There are a lot of different things, but some similarities there."
On Missouri head coach Quin Snyder:
"Well, obviously a lot has happened. I think he's guided that program incredibly well, through a lot of turbulent times here this season the season. I think that's the mark of who he is. He has a lot of strength, certainly a great leader and obviously an outstanding coach. I admire what he's done, we've can talk about things in similar tones in terms of our programs and kinds of distractions, so we've had conversations about that, but certainly he's done an outstanding job. You get going in your own season and you try to chat and talk, but so much is happening with your programs that you don't get as much time as you'd like."
On if he has spoken with Quin Snyder:
"I have not talked to him. I think they come in really late tonight, I think they're trying to get their travel plans organized, but I haven't had a chance to speak to him yet. Probably the first time I'll talk to him is when they come in for the shoot around."
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On the opportunity to face Missouri in the NIT:
"First of all, we're excited to be in the postseason. I think our kids were a little disappointed initially, as most people were, when we didn't get selected in the field of sixty-five. But certainly getting the phone call from the NIT and getting a chance to extend our season, I think it's terrific for our program and another step to where we want to go. Certainly playing Missouri, I think we all know how very good this team was touted to be at the beginning of the year, they hit a stretch there that was tough for them, but I thought they really rallied here late. Quin (Snyder) has done a phenomenal job. I'm very good friends with Quin and happy for how he's been able to turn things around. I wish we were both having a chance to play (different teams) -- I don't know how he feels, but I imagine having a chance to play someone else, both of us could have hopefully extended our seasons in postseason. Obviously that won't be the case after tomorrow night, but that's the way that the draw has been determined, and we'll go on from there. But I'm excited for our team. Certainly to have a chance to play in the postseason is a first for us, and I think our kids are looking forward to it."
On if he gave his team a pep talk after the selection show:
"Not necessarily a pep-talk. I thought it was important that we share with them the significance of being in the postseason. I think obviously we were all holding out a little bit of a hope that we'd be selected, we kind of felt it was a long shot, but we were nonetheless a team that was curious, I thought we probably had generated some dialogue, however limited that the dialogue took place, about our program and our team getting in, but I think there was naturally a little disappointment there, but right away we talked about the opportunity that we had in front of us and hopefully to get the phone call because we didn't know right at that moment that we were even going to be in the postseason. I thought we had a good chance, but certainly with the number of teams, you look at this field in the NIT, and this is probably as strong as it's ever been in terms of the names that are in this tournament, so we weren't exactly sure, we wanted to wait and see if we got the call. We did get the call. I told our players if we did get the call, how excited and proud we were going to be to represent our school and to be in postseason play."
On if he's shared the history of Michigan in the NIT:
"Not yet, but obviously you can imagine things have moved pretty fast. They didn't know, we had to give them the phone call, the news, from our staff to let them know. We knew that if we got in there was a chance that we would play tonight, because it starts tonight and you don't know if you're going to get in, you don't know if you're going to play the first night, you didn't know if you were going to be home, so we didn't know. Obviously things have moved pretty quickly. Those kinds of things I think will be interesting tidbits for our team prior to us pitching it up tomorrow night."
On Lester Abram's injury:
"I think right now he's doubtful. We don't have a definite on that yet, but my guess is right now he's doubtful. He's still pretty sore, I think he has some stretched or strained ligaments in the shoulder area, so that's the best I can do in terms of describing it. He's pretty sore and certainly won't practice today. As of now those are the guidelines that I think we've been given, but certainly we're going to continue to do the necessary tests to find out if there's anything else that we can do or needs to be done."
On filling the hole left by Lester Abram:
"We'll try to figure out a way, but Lester, as we all know, is an incredibly consistent and dependable player, maybe our most dependable to be quite honest. I think that's always been the way we've described him, as a consistent and dependable player, he's turned into obviously our leading scorer, so that is a tough task, but we have to find a way. I think that's the nature of sports, dealing with some unknowns at various moments of the season and you can find different ways to have your team rise to the challenge then that's the name of the game."
On playing at home:
"I think anytime, if you get a chance to get a game here for us, we were thrilled about that. We were very fortunate, because they give you the call and tell you whom you're playing, where you're playing, and what time you're playing and hang the phone up. I mean that in a very positive way, it's just the way that this is run, and we're very pleased to have had the chance to get the invitation. So we're obviously even more so to have the chance to get the invitation to play at home. I'm not so thrilled about playing Missouri, but other than that, we're fine."
On Missouri:
"I think first of all, you're looking at a ball club that, I think it's been documented very well over the course of the season, their prospects coming into the year. They are a team that some people thought could be a Final Four team, I think they were ranked as high as somewhere in the top five at various points during the preseason and maybe even at the start of the year, so I think that you don't get those kind of predictions or accolades for nothing. I think when you think of them right away, you think of experience. I think with Arthur Johnson and Rickey Paulding in particular, two local kids who have a chance obviously to come home, so I think those two players, being senior players, are really outstanding players in their program over their careers. With (Arthur) Johnson being an anchor on the inside and Paulding being as explosive and as good a shooter and a streaky player and very athletic player on the outside, so that's not all that they have, but those are the players that jump out at you right away. So obviously we'll have our hands full. They're a team that I think has played their best basketball down the stretch. I think they were really putting a strong push on to make the tournament, obviously they came very close, so I think this is the kind of team that we're going to face that certainly has the potential to do a lot of damage in this tournament. Hopefully we can derail that right away."
On preparing for Missouri:
"It's not like we taped a lot of Missouri games, but you never know, you try to tape games as you go along, catch games on TV. But certainly we've started to watch and break down some of the film. Obviously we've gotten information in terms of stats, things that we can analyze and study from that perspective, a lot of things you do, at times you can call on people that have played them and try to get little tidbits of what other teams have tried to do against them, and their thoughts about the Missouri basketball team, and I'm sure they've done the same thing with opponents that we've played and friends that they have in the business. You just do as much as you can from a coaching standpoint as quickly as you can, but you have one day, but we traveled back and were off yesterday, and we found out late last night, practice today and play tomorrow night. It's not a lot of time obviously, and you have to be very selective I think with what we give our players. We can't force-feed them and overload them within just hours of time to get prepared to play. That's why we're fortunate to be at home."
On the similarities between the Wolverines and Tigers:
"You coach to your personnel and certainly to your personality. I think there are obviously some similarities in things that they're trying to do and what we're trying to do. They've been an outstanding program and I think right now that you're going to see a lot of man-to-man out there, some zone such as what we've done, the change-up, to utilize that. Their front line is very good and in addition to (Rickey) Paulding and (Arthur) Johnson, two kids I've mentioned, they have another senior in Travon Bryant, who's another front line player that's very strong and can step out and shoot it. Their personnel, Quin was very excited about his team, he has been for a while and rightly so. I think he's done a terrific job with the ball club. There are a lot of different things, but some similarities there."
On Missouri head coach Quin Snyder:
"Well, obviously a lot has happened. I think he's guided that program incredibly well, through a lot of turbulent times here this season the season. I think that's the mark of who he is. He has a lot of strength, certainly a great leader and obviously an outstanding coach. I admire what he's done, we've can talk about things in similar tones in terms of our programs and kinds of distractions, so we've had conversations about that, but certainly he's done an outstanding job. You get going in your own season and you try to chat and talk, but so much is happening with your programs that you don't get as much time as you'd like."
On if he has spoken with Quin Snyder:
"I have not talked to him. I think they come in really late tonight, I think they're trying to get their travel plans organized, but I haven't had a chance to speak to him yet. Probably the first time I'll talk to him is when they come in for the shoot around."
