July 20, 2007
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VUcommodores.com recently caught up with rising senior Alex Gordon of the men’s basketball team to see what the Commodore is doing to keep himself busy during the summer.
How has your summer been so far?
It’s been great. We’ve been working in the weight room on getting stronger individually as well as stronger as a team.
What has been your focus in the weight room?
Overall strength. I’m a smaller guard so strength is a key part of my game.
Talk about your progression as a point guard last year.
It’s been a journey during my career and has turned out for the better thanks to our coaches. I’ve developed into a better point guard shooting the ball as well as getting my teammates involved in the offense.
What is one of your main focuses for this season?
A big thing for me is working with the younger guys on team chemistry. Since I’m a senior, we have a lot of goals to improve as a team and chemistry is a key factor.
Talk about building team chemistry again this year. It was one of the focal points of success in the Sweet 16 run.
Chemistry means everything especially with the level of competition in the SEC. We won a bunch of games last year under two minutes that can make or break your season. We want to win those close ones again this year and good chemistry is an important factor in closing out tight games.
Your thoughts on getting back to the NCAA Tournament?
During workouts, we always emphasize the goal of getting back to the NCAA Tournament. We constantly talk about taking our team to the next level. The seniors won’t let that vision go unnoticed.
What does it mean to you to be a senior leader?
I want to lead by example. Being an upperclassman, it’s important for me to put in the extra work. That says a lot to the younger guys.
What are some of the things you’re doing outside of basketball this summer?
We’ve been hanging out as a team when we’re not working out. We’ve gone to a couple of movies as a group. One film we watched recently was Evan Almighty, which I enjoyed.
What do you do to relax back home?
I’ve always enjoy fishing. I’ve been doing it since I was six. I think fishing is a great way to relax. It serves as a way for me to get away from basketball and lets me have some peaceful time to gather my thoughts. There’s also an adrenaline rush of catching a big fish.
What music are you listening to?
I like to listen to some of my friends that have recorded stuff back home. Outside of my friends, I’ve been listening to Lil Wayne, T.I. and Kanye West.
How do you see your role on the team this year?
I’ve taken on a lot of challenges that Coach Stallings has thrown at me. Right now, it’s about doing the right things every day. I just want to go out, do the right things and let my play do the talking. I want to be a leader on this team and continue to do whatever it takes to win games.
Are you ready to get the new season started?
It’s going to be exciting when practice gets here. We’re going to have a lot of expectations and will set the standards high. We’ve had a good summer so far and want to end on a good note. We’ll continue to work on team chemistry between now and practice. Our goal is to win the conference and make another tournament run.
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