March 6, 2012
Download Interview: Coach Stallings on The Wake Up Zone
by Brandon Barca
Head Coach Kevin Stallings joined Kevin Ingram, Mark Howard, and Frank Wycheck on 104.5’s The Wake Up Zone Tuesday morning to recap Vanderbilt’s regular season and preview the SEC Tournament.
During the segment, Stallings said the Commodores (21-10, 10-6 SEC) will approach the postseason as if it’s a clean slate.
“We keep looking forward and try not to look behind. It’s a new season now. We’ve got two tournaments coming up here that are sudden death opportunities. The obvious goal is to survive and advance and play as long as you can.
“I don’t think there’s any benefit in dwelling on what’s behind you. We would have liked to have done better in the regular season, but at the same time, it’s not something for us to dwell on because what matters now is getting ourselves ready for tournament play.”
The Commodores earned a first-round bye in the SEC Tournament and will face the winner between Mississippi State and Georgia in the quarterfinals Friday night at 9 p.m. CT in New Orleans. With three more days to get ready for an unknown opponent, Stallings will have the luxury of devoting practice time to improving his squad rather than only preparing for the next game.
“It almost forces you to focus on yourself,” Stallings added. “We’ll try to fix some things that haven’t been good for us lately, and maybe get better at some things that have been.”
Also in the interview, Stallings discussed the health of senior center Festus Ezeli, and how the Commodores’ top 10 preseason ranking affected the media and fan base more than it did his team.
“Our team has kind of always known what we are. The reality of who we are is in how we play and how much we win and how much we lose. I think (the ranking) affected the whole scenario around us more than it affected us.
“This team has tried to work hard. At times they’ve been inconsistent. But they’ve worked hard, they’ve had a great attitude, and they try hard.
“We would have loved to have performed like the No. 7 ranked team in the country, but we didn’t. We have some time left here to try to make some neat things happen and that’s what we’re determined to do.”
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