---
Q. Obviously a lot of attention on Luka, but Joe Wieskamp has showed steady improvement. How is he going to be a better player?
FRAN McCAFFERY: The thing about Joe, he's an incredibly hard worker and he's smart. What you're going to see now is a guy as a junior who started for two years, been a really good player, not only in our league but nationally, and he's just going to be better. He's stronger. He's really worked on his ball handling, his attacking the basket, his shooting. He's a great shooter, but he really works on it, so he's even shooting the ball better. He's just going to be a really aggressive offensive player in his junior year, and now he's physically ready to be one of the elite players in the country.
Q. There were a few games last year, I think at Minnesota for one, where they just defensively just got physical and really hounded him and --
FRAN McCAFFERY: I don't think that'll be a problem for him this year at all. He'll be able to handle that.
Q. How has Jack Nunge responded now that he's been fully cleared?
FRAN McCAFFERY: Jack has been terrific. He looks great health-wise. He's in great shape physically. He's been lifting now for the better part of two years, even though he had an injury. His upper body looks really good. Terrific shooter, skilled big guy who can play multiple positions. He's a shot blocker, he's a tremendous low post defender, he's a runner, he can stretch the floor, and he can really pass. We're really excited about getting Jack back.
Q. Too early for you to project a starting lineup?
FRAN McCAFFERY: I think so, but the good news is we have a lot of options, and right now fortunately everybody is healthy.
Q. How did the game with Gonzaga come up?
FRAN McCAFFERY: It's like anything else this year. We were all set to play Oregon State. Their schedule was in flux. They didn't know what their league schedule was going to look like, whether they were going to start playing this semester or next semester only. They didn't know when their conference games were going to be. A lot of the conferences were talking about trying to get as many conference games in December as possible. So it really wasn't going to work for them.
So then there was an opportunity -- the thing about those folks up in Sioux Falls, they're in constant communication with various programs, and so Gonzaga was interested in playing a game, we were still interested in playing a game. It had to be on the 19th. I think it was originally scheduled for the 20th or the 21st.
So you just have to be flexible with what you're doing with your schedule as best you can. Obviously we would want to play Gonzaga if we could in a situation like that. The fact that it's going to be on CBS is great for both programs. It's an opportunity to play a team that could very well be ranked No. 1 at the time, and I think it's important that you recognize an opportunity to play people. I always say to have a good team you've got to go play people, and that's what we're doing.
Q. You have so many good players; how does that elevate the level in practice?
FRAN McCAFFERY: The practices have been incredibly competitive. I try to not always have the same five guys going against the same five guys. Okay, this is my top five, six, seven. We kind of rotate those guys on different teams, try different combinations because we very well may have to play different combinations this year not knowing what's going to happen week to week.
The good news is we have a lot of different options to look at if we need to. It starts with our experienced guys, but I think the freshman group in particular has been really competitive. They got here in the summer and were able -- we had the quarantine period, but those guys have been able to lift and learn, and they're good players, and they're versatile.
I like so far how those practices have gone in terms of competitiveness, and that only makes you better when guys are challenged every day and you don't have to be where you're, okay, we're going to get ready today because we have a game. No, you have to be ready today in practice because guys are coming after you.
Q. With the uncertainty with COVID, can you project redshirts at this stage?
FRAN McCAFFERY: We wouldn't redshirt anybody this year because everybody has a free year. It's kind of a non-factor. We were thinking about it. I think it would have made sense to because you want to protect --
Q. Is everybody ready to play?
FRAN McCAFFERY: Yeah, everybody is ready to play. You want to protect eligibility and space your classes if it makes sense, but then of course you deal with injuries. Sometimes injury will dictate more opportunity or less opportunity for a particular individual, but now it's all hands on deck because at any point in time somebody could be pulled out for 21 days.
Q. What kind of team are you going to have this year in general and compared to the one that went through the Big Ten season last year?
FRAN McCAFFERY: We're much deeper, substantially deeper. We've got veteran guys coming back who have produced at this level, but at the same time it won't change in terms of our ability to share the ball. It's a very unselfish group. You've got a lot of guys that can score, a lot of guys who want to score, a lot of guys who can carry a team on any particular day. But I have seen no selfishness at all in terms of I want to get mine. It's not like that at all. They move it, they share it, they communicate with each other.
So I think we have enough weapons offensively. I think we have enough depth to keep fresh bodies on the floor defensively. I think we have enough size. I think most importantly we have enough three-point shooters because you can't have enough of those, especially the way the game is being played today, and especially the way we play.
I really like our team. I like how we sort of handled the pandemic, from last year's disappointment at the end of the year through the uncertainty, through we're back to playing, but no, we're not playing because some guys got sick, now we're back to school and now there's a spike. I think we've got sort of a singular focus on what's in front of us, and I think our guys have for the most part made good decisions off the floor, and that's absolutely critical. But you would expect that from a mature group, especially guys that have character.
Q. The virus, is that something that's addressed every day with your team?
FRAN McCAFFERY: We don't address it every day, but we address it pretty consistently because all of the success that we hope to have is going to have predicated on the ability to stay healthy.
Q. What will it be like to play games in Carver without fans, and have you kind of tried to prepare the team for that?
FRAN McCAFFERY: Well, you really can't. We're going to have a dress rehearsal on Saturday. We'll have refs and we'll have the table set up the way it is. We'll have the benches set up the way they are for games. We'll have some crowd noise the way it's going to be. There won't be any cardboard cutouts or anything like that. Maybe that will happen down the road.
But it's interesting because you have to just deal with whatever comes before you. We've been doing that now for months, and hopefully being a veteran group we'll be better capable of handling that.
Q. Will not having fans on the road make you an even more dangerous team?
FRAN McCAFFERY: I think that's a fair observation, maybe it would. But you could argue that we'd be better off on the road being that we have a veteran club. So there's two ways to look at that.
I think what you just hope is that this group knows and understands what we have to do night in and night out to beat our particular opponent, and if we lose, that we're mature enough to evaluate what needs to be corrected, make those corrections and be better the next time we play.
But consistency of effort, concentration and the ability to play together is going to be critical in any year, whether it's pandemic or not. I think this group in particular has what it takes to play with what would be certainly a non-traditional atmosphere.
Last edited:
