One-on-One with Phil Spoljaric

Pike first year head coach Phil Spoljaric was kind enough to take a few minutes to talk to me last night after a frustrating 73-60 home loss to 4A number eight ranked Franklin Central. I'll have some game notes and evaluations first, and then the transcript of the interview.

* The point differential in the loss looks way worse than the game was. In fact, with under four minutes to play, Pike was down three with sophomore sensation Marquis Teague at the line for a one-and-one bonus. He missed the front end, and from there, Pike never recovered.

* As stated earlier, Louisville head coach Rick Pitino was a very interested onlooker in this one, watching Teague, who recently visited the Cardinals campus with LN's Louisville commits Ryan Taylor and Michael Chandler.

* Teague has all the tools and skills that go along with his high early ranking in the class of 2010. He is unbelievable quick, pushing the ball in transition with the best of them. He also has sick moves with the ball in his hand, crossing over on defenders, and using a dynamic spin move to break down defenses and get into the paint. He was not very effective in the first half, scoring only two points, while Franklin Central controlled tempo. In the second half, Pike went to a full-court man press which allowed for turnovers (the Flashes committed 22 TO's) and transition opportunities, in which he excels. His outside shot needs some work, and he did miss several crucial free throws, including the one-and-one that could have cut the deficit to one in the fourth. He also needs to add some strength, but what sophomore doesn't? Teague finished with 13 points and several assists to teammates who benefited from his ability to penetrate.

* 6'4" junior Khristian Smith is a nice player. He is very long and athletic and has a decent touch. He finished with 19 points and a few highlight reel finishes in traffic.

* You can tell that RJ Hunter, freshman son of IUPUI coach Ron, is going to be a very good player. He's long and athletic, but right now is very physically weak. Between he, Teague, Smith, along with sophomore Chandler Thomas and an incoming eighth grader, Pike has a lot to look forward to. It would be nice for them to get a quality big guy, but outside of that, the Red Devils' future is very bright.

* Flashes guard Casey Coons is fast becoming one of my favorite players in the area. He was one of the only players who effectively dealt with Pike's pressure in the second half when his teammates were turning the ball over left and right. He seems to always make the correct decision with the ball, and he is an absolute deadeye from outside. To me, he was the most impressive player in the game. He finished with 18 points, five rebounds, and five assists, and that didn't even tell the full story of his impact on the game in Mark James' 400th career win.

* Purdue-bound forward Patrick Bade played decently. Pike's defensive game plan partly revolved around eliminating his touches, so he didn't have his best game, going for 13 points. He did have one thunderous two-handed slam in the second quarter off a nice drive-and-kick from Coons. His post moves are well-refined and he has good touch around the basket. Pike did not often let him get it in that position, and he seemed content to catch it away from the block and try to work from further out. His face-up game needs some work and he struggled with a midrange jumper. He is a true post player, and he didn't feel comfortable when he had to put the ball on the floor against the press. Most all of his points came in transition of from the line. He tenaciously goes after the defensive and offensive glass.

Here is the transcript of the interview with Spoljaric:

P-Hoops - Thanks for giving me a minute of your time, Coach. Tough loss tonight. What was the difference?

Phil Spoljaric - We didn't do the little things. We didn't get loose balls, we didn't get rebounds. I know we were at least doubled up on the glass. I think it was 24 to 11 (stats today show 37-13). We didn't make crucial free throws. Those are the kinds of things we have to do, to be a good team, to beat good teams. The "we're a young team" excuse it getting old. The mistakes we made will get exploited by a good team, and Franklin Central is a very good team.

PH - Yeah, they are. They obviously have two pretty big guns in Bade and Coons. Did you have any specific gameplan geared towards stopping them?

PJ - With Bade, we didn't want to let him catch it and have uncontested looks, and I think we did a good job of that. He didn't have many uncontested looks. Whenever he caught it, we wanted to have someone around. We wanted to front him and have good help-side defense, and then, you know, the game gets going and we have no help-side.

With Coons, we had to find him in transition. He's really good in transition, and he does a great job of relocating.

PH - Playing very tough competition, you're 6-4 so far. How would you assess the team at this point?

PJ - We're still a work in progress. That record could go a lot of different ways with some of the close ones we've had. We have a long way to go. We have a lot of good young talent, and we have to find a way to become good teammates.

PH - What is your goal for this team?

PJ - To be playing the best we can going into Sectionals.

PH - With so much young talent, and likely some more coming up, you have to be looking forward to the future.

PJ - Yeah, as a coach you always look to the years coming up. But we also have to work with what we have. We have enough to compete right now.

PH - What's it like for you as a coach and for the kids to have NCAA coaches like Pitino watching your games?

PJ - It's busy. There's a lot that goes with it--it works both ways. It can be a negative if kids take things for granted. They start buying into and believing all that they hear.

PH - Like rankings?

PJ - Yeah, anything like that. Rankings, accolades.

PH - Coach, thanks very much for you time. I appreciate it.

PJ - No problem.

Check back later on today for another interview with LN head coach Jack Keefer and also a great one-on-one with LN big man Stephan Van Treese, a great player and a wonderful kid.