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26 ILLUSTRATED VOLUME 25, ISSUE 2 f they have great work ethics and attitudes and that will really help. Just taking a snapshot of the past two years, you live and learn. We just have to be better together and continue to work on the things that we have had success with in the past, and fix some of the things we have struggled with. No. 1 was chemistry and we feel like we have fixed it." Gold and Black: What do you do as coach to change the direction of things now? Painter: "I think we have done that through person- nel changes. Having guys that understand what it takes to play together and win together and make sacrifices. The root of it is getting the right guy, and we feel we have done a better job of that." Gold and Black: Have the past two seasons made you question your methods or strengthened your resolve in them even more? Painter: "Our No. 1 flaw as a team was not doing what we were supposed to do. No matter what, whether it's a structured offense vs. a free-flow offense, a press- ing team vs. a halfcourt defense, you have rules for what you do and you have to follow those rules, and if you don't, you have guys out there who don't know what you're doing when you're freelancing. They just don't, so that was our No. 1 thing. … It has just been follow- ing our assignments, doing what we are supposed to do, just making the reads we make over and over and over. We just didn't have the discipline to do that. "I used to say this about our team six or seven years ago when someone would say, 'Man, your team plays re- ally, really hard': I would say, 'No, we have about three guys who play really hard and two guys who play hard half the time or most the time, but does our whole team play hard? No.' But when the key figures play hard, it projects over the whole thing. "And when you have key figures fighting what you are saying, it ruins it. Especially when your talent level isn't as high as it used to be. So now those things weigh on you, they weigh way heavier than they did before." Gold and Black: Do you feel pressure now after the way the past two seasons have unfolded? Painter: "No, I don't. I think it gets back to being strong in your convictions in what you do, how you han- dle yourself, how you go about yourself. I have always felt if you get guys to go to class, to be on time, to work hard, things work out. I know it's corny and I know it's vague, but it's also true. There is no doubt about that. Exceptional people and exceptional teams do simple things really, really well. And we need to do those sim- ple things really, really well and have fun doing them. Work hard, and put all your eggs in that basket and good things will happen for you. And for me, it just strength- ens my conviction on how to play the game and how to go about it. If you have the right people on the ship, it is a people business. "If those guys believe, and they play together, good things are going to happen. But we had doubt when we won the league, we had doubt when we went to the Sweet 16. There is doubt in what you do when you play different opponents. Things are always changing. You are always learning. You can learn from a lot of other people's successes and you can learn from a lot of other people's failures, but nothing beats your own. You've just got to keep your eyes wide open and do the best you can." Gold and Black: You seem a little re-energized. Painter: "Well, I think you're always re-energized to start the season, but I think we have some guys that want to prove themselves and I'm excited about our young guys, excited about Jon Octeus. I think he can give us a shot in the arm. Watching our three sopho- mores, who were freshmen last year, they are all talent- ed, all good players, but can they be a mature player? All three of them need to show the maturity of going from a freshman to a sophomore. Be accountable for their actions, be responsible as a basketball player, really buy into our basketball program. We need all three of those guys to take a big jump. They have to first and foremost be accountable every single day. And they have made some strides in their work ethic, they've made some strides in their effort. Now if the pieces fit together and become productive players, all three can be productive at this level." Gold and Black: Seems like the sophomores real- ly have to take a step forward. Painter: "You don't want to clump them all togeth- er, but Kendall Stephens has gotten physically stronger, and we need him to be a player for us, not just a guy who shoots a lot of threes. Sure, that is a weapon for him, but he needs to play off the bounce, play through his shot fake, use his length defensively to guard people and rebound the ball.