With the start of the 2015-16 University of South Alabama men's basketball season right around the corner, head coach Matthew Graves sat down with USAJaguars.com and discussed many different topics regarding the upcoming campaign, including what he likes about the team, how he has improved as a head coach, and why it was so important to win a Sun Belt Tournament game last year.

What stands out from last season?
I'm really proud of how we finished the year. Obviously we struggled in the non-conference season, and it would have been really easy to ride out the last 2 ½ months of the year, but I felt like we battled back. Even though we played around .500 basketball, we showed signs of growth and maturity as the season came to an end.

What was the high point of last season?
I think the high point was our win at Arkansas State on the road. It clinched a spot in the conference tournament and that was one of our initial goals, to make the conference tournament. When you make the conference tournament, you have an opportunity to win it. That win on the road was huge for us at the end of the year.

What was the low point?
The low point was, you get to Christmas and you haven't won a Division I non-conference game and you're coming off losing consecutive games to Pepperdine, Richmond and IUPUI, and you follow it up with probably the worst loss in that group in Howard – not in terms of who our opponent was, but just our overall performance. That was one of our most poorly-executed games of the entire year, and you head into Christmas not knowing what's going to happen after that. But it makes me very proud of how we did bounce back and have a decent conference year.

What improvements do you think you made as a head coach in your second season?
I think I'm more confident in adjusting during the flow of the game. I'm able to see and process things at a quicker rate and make adjustments during the game. I think that's where I've improved the most.

How will you approach this season differently than last?
The biggest difference will be, with our depth, our ability to hold guys more accountable to how we want to play, especially defensively. I think we have guys that can come off the bench and can contribute. I think there's a greater sense of accountability, not only from the players, but from the coaching staff in holding them to what we want to do.

What was the biggest positive from not only making the Sun Belt Tournament, but winning a game?
I think it was a huge step in the right direction winning a conference tournament game; it was the first one since 2012. I think it gave our team a lot of confidence and momentum heading into our offseason workouts. We're trying to take that next step to be a program that competes for championships every year, and it was a great stepping stone last year.

How do you feel about your roster?
I'm very excited about how the roster is taking form. The one thing that's really evident is we have a lot more versatility. Different guys are capable of scoring and different guys are capable of guarding multiple positions, so any time you have versatility, that allows you to change the way you play, not only from game-to-game but during the course of the game, and it allows you to match up better or create different mismatches. It gives you a lot of unique combinations that we haven't been able to work with in the past.

How do you feel about the rules changes this year?
I'm indifferent right now. I'm excited to see how they'll be incorporated though. The shot clock change will be interesting to see how it plays out, but I don't think it'll have the impact that a lot people think it will. I do like having one less timeout to help the flow of the game. I like the change of taking a media timeout if a timeout is called within 30 seconds of it because I think you can be in a good rhythm and the flow of the game gets disrupted by a timeout, and then 10 seconds later, a media timeout. I think it'll make the game much more fan-friendly as well.

What are your goals for this season?
Our goals don't change a whole lot from last year. First and foremost, we have to improve every day. We have to get better, and I think we did that last year. We certainly don't want to be playing our best basketball in November. This team has a lot of room for growth and a high ceiling, and we just have to continue to improve and get better every day, and then secondly, we have to qualify for our conference tournament. The top eight teams go and ultimately we want a shot at winning it, but you have to get there first. If we're playing our best basketball at the end of the year and we qualify for the conference tournament, I feel like we have a shot to do something special.

What do you like about the team?
I like our versatility, our ability to play different lineups, the depth that we have, and that we're older and have some experience. Even though some guys haven't played in a year, they've been in our system. I like having an older, more experienced, versatile team.

What are some of your concerns going into the season?
Our ability to show resolve, be able to fight through tough situations and not knowing if we're able to sacrifice for each other. I think we have a lot of talented scorers, but are we going to be happy when other guys are scoring? Will jealousy creep in? Are we able to see the big picture and the big picture is, the more the team wins, everything else takes care of itself.

What can our team improve upon the most from last year to this year?
There are two areas that we're looking to improve: one is our turnover percentage; we've got to take care of the ball better. We can have all the scorers we want, but if we turn the ball over, we'll severely limit our opportunities. Secondly, our defense has to get better, specifically, our transition defense and ability to rebound the basketball.

What were the most important items on your agenda during the offseason?
From a recruiting standpoint, we wanted to continue to find versatile guys that really fit our system, and I think we did a good job with that. Secondly, continue to set a tone in the weight room and develop a toughness mindset. (Strength and conditioning) Coach (Keith) Swift was able to do some things in the weight room and we made great strides in that area. Third is having a defensive mindset and focus. That started some in the summer, but more as we headed into the fall.

What was the focus of your workouts in the offseason?
About 85 percent of the time we were doing individual workouts, and the theme was increasing our overall skillset. That's why we purposely do a lot of individual workouts and our coaches do a great job of enhancing our ability to pass, dribble and shoot.

Before last season you wanted to play faster - did we accomplish that and how will that style be adjusted this season?
Statistically, we were the 21st-fasted team in the country, so we certainly checked the box on that. To be quite honest, it was probably a little too fast because our turnover percentage was really high. We still want to be a top 50-75 team with the pace of play because it fits our personnel really well, but it goes back to taking care of the basketball. We still plan on playing just as fast, just a little smarter with the ball.

How does the offense and defense change with Nikola Marijan in the game?
He gives us a true back-to-the-basket presence. With that size, he's able to carve up a lot of space around the block. We have to do a good job of being able to find him. He's a good passer and he gets to the free-throw line a lot in practice. He gives us a different presence than what we've had before because he's a true back-to-the-basket big. Defensively, he gives us a presence of not necessarily shot blocking, but when a guard penetrates, they're seeing and 7-foot-1 person standing there. It's different than seeing Dionte (Ferguson) at 6-foot-7, or Abdul (Lewis) at 6-foot-9. The size alone just creates a presence that you can't duplicate.

What are the challenges in having to replace your top two posts from last year?
It goes back to experience and reps. We've got some guys that are capable of playing those minutes. Early on it might be by committee until the guys start to separate themselves. We have four of five guys that are capable of playing minutes at the '4' and '5,' so there's competition and accountability, and those are really good things for our team.

Two important big guys, Tafari Whittingham and Nick Stover, missed most or all of last season – what difference will they make this year?
With Tafari, you have a guy that's in his fourth year – two in junior college and last year as a redshirt. You have an older guy that has valuable experience – not necessarily at the Division I level – but he's been around our system, he competes really hard, has a good motor and is extremely physical. Any time you can bring those attributes to the court, you can see some success there. With Nick Stover, he is probably our most versatile player. He's capable of playing multiple positions and guarding multiple players. He has a really good basketball IQ and his ability to stretch the floor or handle the ball offensively, or be able to switch ball screens, is going to enhance our overall team presence.

What do you expect to see from Barrington as a senior?
I think he needs to continue to build on the year he had last year. He was one of the top guards in our league last year, ranking third in assist-to-turnover ratio. I think we have more guys that can score the basketball, so with his ability to get guys the ball in the right position to score, we should certainly see his assist numbers go up this year and hopefully his turnover number will remain low like it was last year.

Ken Williams made a huge jump, not just from his freshman to sophomore year, but from the first half to second half of last year – what do you expect from him this season?
The biggest thing with him is to show the maturity and consistency you would expect from a third-year guy that has played a lot of minutes and has a lot of experience. I'm looking for him to shoot the ball more consistently like he did at the end of the conference season, right out of the gate.

Where do you want to see Taishaun Johnson improve?
Taishaun's two biggest areas of improvement would be defensively off the ball, staying engaged and locked in to what we are doing, and secondly, being able to cut down his turnovers. He does a great job of getting to the free-throw line, but we need him to take care of the basketball better.

Which of the newcomers do you expect to contribute right away?
We've talked about two of those guys in Stover and Marijan. They both give us more versatility, size and length. Don MuepoKelly is another guy that gives us great versatility at 6-foot-7 and 240 pounds, with his ability to move and he has a high motor. I'm really excited to see those guys get out there and figure out how they fit in this puzzle.

What are your thoughts on the schedule?
It's certainly very challenging. It's going to give us a good test to see where we are as a team. Those first three games away from home, with N.C. State, LSU and Belmont, I think you're looking at three NCAA Tournament teams, so it will give us a clear picture of what some of our strengths and weaknesses are as we move forward. Again, it's not about playing our best basketball in November, it's about improving each month, and when it comes to March, we've got to be peaking at the right time.

How do you see the race for the Sun Belt Conference title?
I think it's really top-heavy with Louisiana-Lafayette having a lot of guys back, and Louisiana-Monroe has everybody but one senior back, and from there, you get a lot of parity. Most teams in this league have several guys either back, or significant transfers that schools are excited about. There will be a lot of parity, but based off of who people have and who's coming back, I think the two Louisiana schools are the two that everyone needs to be looking for. You can't count Georgia State out because they have that experience. They went to the NCAA Tournament and won a game, and have some significant contributors coming back with some good transfers sitting out. They're a team you have to be aware of.

A position-by-position breakdown:
Point guard
At point guard, what we're looking at is Barrington, a senior that has played that position and has done an outstanding job. His assist-to-turnover ratio is outstanding and his understanding of our system has improved, so we're excited about his leadership going into his senior year as well. Taishaun is coming off a great freshman year. You can argue he's more of a combo guard, but he'll see some minutes at the point as well, as we figure the right combinations of guys and be able to blend all the pieces together. As a third point guard, Ken has shown some ability to play the point, but I think playing him there might take away his strengths in other places.

Shooting guard
You start with Ken – he had an outstanding conference season and is probably going to be picked on the preseason first team. He's a guy that has shown the ability to score the basketball in a variety of ways. As his perimeter shooting continues to improve, and with his ability to get to the free-throw line, he's able to score at many different levels and we continue to look for him to be able to score the ball at a very good rate for us. Taishaun has the ability to slide over and play some at the shooting guard. He does a tremendous job of getting to the free-throw line because he's so hard to keep in front. Shaq Calhoun, off the bench, could be a guy that has the ability to stretch the floor. He has shown flashes of being able to score the ball in bunches.

Small forward
At that spot, Nick Stover, with his versatility, will be able to play and provide us with an inside-outside threat. He can make 3s, he can post up a little bit and drive the ball. He's going to give us a unique ability with his size and length. John Brown brings great athleticism and the ability to get out and be a highlight reel in transition. He does a great job of running the floor and getting to the basket. He's really improved his 3-point shot over the summer; he's worked really hard in that area. Shaq, with his strength and size, he's probably pound-for-pound our second-strongest guy on the team, so he'll be able to play some there and stretch the floor with his shooting ability.

Posts
It's going to be by committee right now. You've got a lot of different combinations there. Georgi (Boyanov) has a lot of experience going into his third year. He can stretch the floor and make 3s, and he's a hustle, energy guy that gets his hand on a lot of basketballs. He had a couple of double-doubles for us last year. Don has the ability to play the '4' or the '5' with his strength and length. He has a great ability to drive the basketball from the perimeter. Tafari has really improved his outside shot and he's another aggressive driver. Nik Marijan gives us a true back-to-the-basket guy, and Nick Stover can play some minutes at the '4' spot if we want to play small.

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