Oct. 20, 2016
By Zac Ellis
VUCommodores.com
Nashville, Tenn. — The Vanderbilt men’s basketball team ventured to Bridgestone Arena on Wednesday for SEC Tipoff 2017. It was a chance for new head coach Bryce Drew to face the media ahead of his first season on West End. Junior guard/forward Matthew Fisher-Davis and senior forward Luke Kornet also represented Vanderbilt at SEC Tipoff.
Here are the top comments from the Commodores on Wednesday.
Head Coach Bryce Drew
On adjusting to his new job:
It’s going great. Guys are working hard. I think we’re at that point of the season  I think everybody probably is  where we’re ready to play games against someone else to see what we really need to work on. As we get closer to the season, we’ll really fine-tune some of the stuff we’ve been working on the last couple of months.
On being picked sixth in the SEC in preseason:
I’m more concerned about our team just getting better. When we came in the summer, we had a goal to get the best out of every player that we have. Everyday at practice, that’s what we work towards. Hopefully all our preparation will prepare us to have a great season. At the end of the day, I’m not as concerned with the polls as much as our team getting better.
On his thoughts on the SEC as a basketball conference:
It’s got great coaches. It’s got great players. It’s definitely a league that’s on the rise. I definitely feel like this league is trending up and is going to make a lot of noise the next few years.
On Luke Kornet’s potential:
Unfortunately he was injured part of last year, so I don’t think Luke showed how good he truly could be. If he’d been healthy, we might not be talking about him right now. He might be in the NBA.
On Ole Miss coach Andy Kennedy teasing him about “The Shot” vs. the Rebels in the ’98 NCAA Tournament:
It was good we don’t have to go [to Oxford] this year. Actually, my brother is going there in the Big 12 Challenge — Baylor is playing there. So he can feel it out for me.
On how many of today’s players ever ask him about “The Shot”:
Zero. It’s too far removed from them. In my past experience, usually when a kid gets to be on our team, and it’ll get brought up, they might YouTube it. But a lot of times, they’ll have no idea.
On Matthew Fisher-Davis’ growth this offseason:
We want him to be good in all areas, both ends of the floor. We’re working a lot on defense and on him attacking the rim. We don’t want him to be a one-dimensional player. He’s got a really quick first step. Hopefully he’ll be in situations where he can use his shot-fake and drive by guys.
On why he chose to come to Vanderbilt:
It has geat tradition. It’s a destination city. And it has one of the best degrees you can get in the country.
On his biggest surprise since arriving in Nashville:
The biggest surpise would be the traffic around the gym. Everyone wants to move to Nashville! It’s a popular place.
On Vanderbilt’s fan base:
What I’ve found in doing this is, it just kind of reinforces the involvement of our alums. There are so many stories of people being season-ticket holders for 20 or 30 years, or their families for 40 and 50 years. It brings excitement to our staff when we hear these stories about the interest and how much Vanderbilt basketball means to families in our community.
On speaking to local groups in the community:
We have really good food down here, so there’s always good deserts at rotary clubs you go to. So I can’t do too many of those, because I can’t stay away from those buffets.
On getting to the NCAA Tournament:
We want to get to the tournament and move on in the trounament. But my biggest concern right now is just getting better. If we’re getting the most out of our players and playing with passion, that’s my biggest concern right now instead of wins and losses.
On replacing two NBA draft picks in Damian Jones and Wade Baldwin:
There will have to be seven, eight guys collectively to do a bit more to make up for the loss of those two. I don’t think we can just sub in two guys to make up for what those two did.
On Memorial Gymnasium:
If you’re a fan, if you’re a media member, if you’re an opoosing coach who comes in, you always remember your experience at Memorial. I think that’s part of what makes Vanderbilt unique nationally.
Luke Kornet
On Coach Drew’s coaching style:
He’s defintiely intense. I don’t think a lot of [coaches] make it to that kind of job witout being competitive.
Matthew Fisher-Davis
On adjusting to a new era under Coach Drew:
It gives us something to look forward to everyday, because you don’t know what to expect.
On Vanderbilt’s offensive philosophy under Coach Drew:
We will definitely still shoot the three. I mean, there’s a streak out there that we need to keep intact.
