Temple held its men's basketball media day Friday morning ahead of its season opener against Maryland Eastern Shore on Nov. 10. Head coach Aaron McKie, Khalif Battle and Jake Forrester were among the coaches and players who spoke with reporters after practice at the Liacouras Center.
The media was also allowed to see a portion of a team scrimmage at the end of practice where the cherry team defeated the white team.
The cherry team was comprised of Jeremiah Williams, Sage Tolbert, Hysier Miller, Zach Hicks and Forrester. The white team was comprised of Colin Daly, Tai Strickland, Emmanuel Okpomo, Quincy Ademokoya and Nick Jourdain.
Battle, Arashma Parks, Jahlil White and Damian Dunn did not participate in the scrimmage the media saw. The cherry team ended up winning the scrimmage, and then the team finished out that portion of practice with free-throw shooting.
You can listen to some of Friday's interviews here:
Jake Forrester and Khalif Battle
Here are some interview excerpts from McKie, Battle and Forrester talking about their expectations for some young players, the team as a whole and how they’ve improved this summer.
McKie on what they know about University of Maryland Eastern Shore:
“Nothing really. It’s been, I’d say, about two years since those guys have played. It’s a completely different team. I think they have one guy that was on their roster from two years ago. The rest are JUCO guys. We don’t have any information on them. For me, it is more about us and what we do.”
McKie on how having a full offseason allows them to change their offense:
“First, we want to be able to take care of the ball. I think we wanna play that free style of basketball. They call it position-less basketball where you keep the middle of the floor open. We wanted to do it, but we just weren’t seasoned enough to be efficient at doing it. For me, offense is always, you can run a lot of good stuff but if guys are not making shots at the end of it then it probably looks bad to the public. But, if guys are completing it and guys are scoring the ball like in the NBA … we want to be efficient, and we want to share it.”
McKie on forward Sage Tolbert, who will most likely start:
“He’s one of our hardest workers. He’s very consistent with that. He’s consistent with his voice. He’s consistent with his effort in practice every day. He’s one of our more experienced guys. We don’t have a lot of guys with experience. He’s one of those guys. We need him to help us in that department. Any time I’m in the gym late, I always hear the ball bouncing and it’s him in here shooting free throws or just working on his game.”
McKie on what the frontcourt needs to do this season:
“Defending. Rebounding. I always view the game as, even though you play this open style of play now, everybody is playing it. It’s not quite the way I grew up playing basketball, watching basketball where you got two bigs and you got guards out on the perimeter. I wanna attack from the inside out, so those guys become pivotal from that aspect.”
McKie on the team’s improvement:
“We’ve taken some steps. Guys are getting better. Like anything you do in life, if you practice at it, you’ll get better. They’ve been working all summer getting better. We haven’t played a game yet, and I think that is the real determining factor. Once you get out there and start playing games, then you get a chance to see those guys under duress and if they’re improving.”
McKie on guard Tai Strickland’s role:
“Tai is another one of our experienced guys. He’s been in a college program for four years. He’s been around. We need him to grow. We’re gonna need his help. He’s been good for us. Just trying to get him to slow down a little bit. He’s been good for us just being able to defend those point guards. He’s got footspeed. He can get into those creases and those gaps. I felt that was something that we desperately needed last year.”
McKie on forward Nick Jourdain:
“Nick is coming around. He’s one of our most skilled guys. He got a chance to play late in the season last year. I just thought he wasn’t ready early on just because of the physicality and the experience. In our conference, it is older guys. It is men that you’re playing with. Sometimes it can have a good effect on you and sometimes it can have a bad effect on guys where they completely lose their confidence. We just wanted to have him play a little bit, and have him watch and keep getting better.”
McKie on Jourdain’s most improved traits:
“His IQ of the game. He’s got a pretty good feel for the game. He’s one of those guys we gotta get to slow down. He gets a little excited with the ball, trying to make too many passes. Just gotta get him to play on balance and use his legs more, but he can play inside for us. He can play outside for us. He does a really good job. He’s got good feet. He can get out and show on screens. He can switch and guard smaller guys. He’s versatile from that standpoint.
McKie on freshmen Zach Hicks and Hysier Miller:
“They are coming around. I’ve been pleased with their progress. Zach’s been the one guy on our team, it is one thing to be able to score 20 points or try to get 20 shots. Zach knows how to do both because he had to carry a team where he’s the best player, and he’s on the board every game. There’s a difference between those guys between those sort of players. He’s a guy who is bloodthirsty to score the ball. He can shoot the ball. What he lacks in athletic ability and mobility, he makes up for with feel for the game.”
McKie on forward Jake Forrester:
“He’s getting better. He’s maturing on that basketball side. As a person, obviously, he’s gotten better and matured. I think he’s starting to get a good sense of who he is and that is always important. Some guys get outside of themselves. Everybody wants to be a star, and one of the things that I get the guys to understand is ‘be a star in your role.’ When everybody can be a star in their role it makes for a good team. That’s what Jake has been buying into”
McKie on how he views last season:
“I look at it. We got the opportunity to play 16 games. It didn’t turn out the way I wanted it to turn out, but we got to play basketball games. All my life I had to grow from adversity. It is nothing that I’m afraid of. I love the challenge, and I want the guys to embrace it and grow from it. You can grow from those sorts of situations… I’m not flushing it. I don’t get the luxury of flushing it. I think about it all the time. Trying to get better and providing a great product for our fanbase.”
McKie on point guard Jeremiah Williams:
“Just manage games. I think he’s got a long way to go. In terms of his growth as a lead guard. His defense is ahead of his offense, but if he can manage games for us and limit turnovers, I think we can be in pretty good shape.”
McKie on what Williams has improved the most:
“Last year I thought he was on the floor a lot. Falling because he didn’t really have a lot of legs. This summer I thought he got a chance to get into the weight room and get a little strong and build some core strength. Hopefully, he’s not on the floor as much this year.”
McKie on Wake Forest transfer Emmanuel Okpomo:
“When we got him he didn’t touch a basketball for probably about two months. He was just finishing up school and like a lot of us he was still in that COVID phase. We had to get him in shape. He’s still getting in shape. He’s coming around. He’s another one of those guys that works hard. He’s been in a high level program, so he understands what it takes. He’s just working. He brings us a physical presence.”
Forrester on what improvement he’s seen this year:
“I think most of the improvement definitely comes from our team chemistry. Every single one of us enjoys each other. We’re all comfortable playing together on the court. We are really deep this year, so we are going throw a lot of guys at teams. I just think the most improvement is team chemistry and maturity. Although we have a young team, a lot of guys have experience.”
Forrester on how Okpomo has changed his game:
“I think he definitely changed my game around a lot. He made me a lot tougher than I was. You see him out there, he’s just crashing into bodies. When the shot went up, I just use to chase the ball. Now, he makes me find a body for us every single time. Box out basically, and focus on rebounding.”
Forrester on who has stepped as a leader on the team:
“There has been a lot of guys that have been really vocal. That is the good thing about it. It is not just one specific leader on the team. Me being a senior, I’ve been using my voice a lot although I am a senior. [Jeremiah Williams] is using his voice a lot. [Battle], [Tolbert], [Damien Dunn] we are all using our voice. I think that benefits us.”
Forrester on how the Owls look back at last year’s 5-11 COVID-shortened season:
“It is no excuse. We are going to learn from last season. Take all of the in-game experience that we had and apply that to this year.”
Forrester on if he thinks the team is more athletic:
“Yes. I mean you see us out there. We’re definitely flying around. Guys like [Tolbert] and long guys like [Okpomo] and guys like [Jourdain], [Battle]. All of us from top to bottom are really athletic and can run the floor like deers. It’s going to be a much different pace than last year.”
Forrester on the team’s potential this season:
“We’ve been together since May. Every single day with each other, we’ve been together since May. We did have that last, and we’ve been with each other just in the gym every single day. Our chemistry is like I’ve never seen before. I feel this is the most promising group since I’ve been here for sure.”
Battle on Jourdain’s development:
"A lot of people haven’t seen Nick from where he started. I played my last year of AAU with Nick, and he was one of the last guys on the bench. To see where he is now. He’s playing major minutes and making a major impact. During COVID, whenever I was going to work out, he was right behind me.”
Battle on how the team’s athleticism looked during their scrimmages:
“Sky is the limit for where we could be. Like coach said today in the huddle, we’ve made tremendous strides. We had a great summer and great practices leading up to this point, and I think it showed in the scrimmages. We saw some great things, especially the young guys. They stepped up. I think they’ve been picking it up pretty fast coming out of high school.”
Battle on Hicks potential:
“I’m hard on Zach because I see the potential. You know, he’s a six-foot-nine-inch guard. You don’t find too many of them, and honestly, he’s quiet when he first came here. Now, he’s loud and jokes around a lot. [Miller] too. I think there are doing a great job in their roles right now. We expect a lot out of them, and they are going to produce a lot. I don’t think people are expecting much from freshmen, but they could take you by surprise.”
Battle on his growth from his freshman season:
“Every freshman has their moment. I’ll say this, my freshman year at Butler I had like three guys on the team that were already engaged. They are about to be married after their final year, and I was coming in 18-years old. They were talking about stocks and wife. I was talking about video games still. It is a big transition, and I really feel like [Hicks and Miller] are a lot better than me. I was really immature my freshman year. I had to grow really fast.”
Battle on his chemistry with Dunn and Williams in the backcourt:
“Last year, everybody was new. We were still feeling each other out. I couldn’t practice or do anything for the first three months. I was out. My first game back was against Tulane. I couldn’t complement Dunn as much as I wanted to. I couldn’t complement Williams as much as I wanted to. I didn’t go home this summer. We’ve just been in the gym together and it is showing in practice. The way we find each other in our spots. The way we communicate with each other.”
