Monday, October 27, 2008

Catch up with Ben McCauley


Q&A with N.C. State men’s basketball center Ben McCauley (right):
Q:
How is Courtney Fells responding to his move from shooting guard to small forward?
A: He’s more of a slasher now instead of just shooting from the 3-point line, which is big because he can get up and he’s long and athletic. Not only that, but he can help with the defensive rebounds, too. He can jump and maybe get those long rebounds that Brandon (Costner) and I can’t get underneath.
Q: Did you lose weight during the offseason?
A: About five to eight pounds.
Q: How did you do it?
A: Eating right. Not eating the North Carolina food that gets you overweight. Not barbecue, stay away from the sweet teas and stuff like that. Making sure I eat right and work out every day.
Q: Coach is saying having the big guys running the floor is important to his new style?
A: It is important. Me as a five-man (center), maybe there aren’t as many five men that can run up and down. To have that advantage or slight advantage is really important.
Q: How is your post rotation working. Does it look like Tracy (Smith) is a backup to you and Dennis (Horner) is a backup to Brandon? How is that working?
A: That would be a fair assessment. I see Tracy sticking with the five man and Dennis sticking with the four man (power forward). But at the same time, I can see Brandon sliding over to the five man and Dennis at the four man. There are some different options we could throw at different teams.
Q: I hear Dennis has improved during the offseason. Is that true, and if so, how has that manifested itself?
A: Coming into the program his first couple years, he was long and lanky and kind of would get pushed around a little bit. But this offseason he has really worked on gaining some weight, getting stronger and being able to post up a little bit. Because with his height, he has an advantage on some people. So he has done a great job with that, and he’s also worked on his shot a lot. It was an off-year shooting last year, but he definitely came into this year with the idea that he has to get his shooting down.
-- KEN TYSIAC

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