Players Q&A: Lamar Wilkerson, Reed Bailey react to Indiana's win over Alabama A&M

Indiana basketball players guard Lamar Wilkerson and forward Reed Bailey spoke with the media Wednesday night following Indiana’s season-opening win over Alabama A&M.

Below are their full Q&As — as well as a transcript of their conversation, to be added once it becomes available.

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Q. For both of you guys, Coach DeVries said at Big Ten media day, threes are going to be a big part of who you are. You came out tonight 42 percent. Just your thoughts on how you shot it in the opener?

REED BAILEY: I mean, I thought we shot it great. We had our guys there. Mar, everybody, they were looking for their shots and they were going down. It was a lot of fun to be out there to play.

LAMAR WILKERSON: We have a team with a bunch of shooters, so shots going in, that’s a good thing. It carries over to the defensive end and we was getting out and running in transition, and that creates open threes.

Q. For either of you, the ball movement that led to those, is that something that you guys have seen even going back to the summer obviously through Puerto Rico through the preseason, the ability this team has to just keep the ball moving one pass ahead of the defense?

LAMAR WILKERSON: Yeah, for the most part, Coach DeVries is big on just moving the ball, being unselfish. I think it was one practice like two weeks ago we had 31 assists to two turnovers. The ball is always moving. We feel like we’re better playing when the ball is moving, moving off ball again, getting us open shots.

Q. Lamar is a shooter. Where does he rank among the top ones that you’ve had the blessing to play with here?

REED BAILEY: He’s No. 1 for sure. I’ve got to give it to him. It’s fun to play with him. He spaces the floor well, and you see it when he shoots it from the logo and it still goes in. It’s fun to be out there with him and get him the ball.

Q. One of the things Coach DeVries mentioned earlier this week was he wanted defensive intensity, defensive being aggressive, physical. How do you think you guys graded out in that performance, and do you think you guys maintained that throughout the whole game?

LAMAR WILKERSON: I feel like we definitely could have been better in the second half. I think at one point they were shooting 70 percent. Coach DeVries came in, let that be known. If we play like we played the first half, I feel like we’ll be good as far as on the defensive end.

REED BAILEY: Yeah, same way. First half we came out strong. We really tried to make them feel uncomfortable, and then I think we can always get better down the stretch in that second half, just making sure we keep it consistent all 40 minutes.

Q. Lamar, after Tucker eclipsed 2000 you were the first one to celebrate with him. How has your relationship grown with him to this moment in these last seven months

LAMAR WILKERSON: So Tucker was one of the first people that actually reached out, so he reached out with Coach DeVries or whatever, so from the jump we’ve always been close. He’s always been that vet that you can call on and help me learn the system, help me learn how his pops want us to play. We’ve been tight ever since.

Q. Reed, the way Sam Alexis played, he hit a three-pointer as well as got a bunch of dunks. Just the contributions he makes?

REED BAILEY: Yeah, Sam is an awesome player and he can change the game just with the way he can play under the rim, play strong and attack the basket, as well as space the floor. You see him knock down that three, and he took another one in that corner that I thought was good, and we have full faith in him to be able to do that.

Sam is awesome for our team, and he’s a great player. I’m excited to see what he does this year.

Q. Lamar, both in that Baylor exhibition and tonight you really showed an ability to not just shoot threes but get to the rim when they were taking that away from you. How much of a point of emphasis has that been for you over the last six months to a year to really make sure when teams try to take that away you’ve got that in your bag?

LAMAR WILKERSON: In the most humblest way. Even at Sam Houston, teams tried to run me off the line, so I really took that personal during the summer to try to put the ball on the ground and expand my game to score at three levels. That way they can’t stop me; I won’t be one-dimensional.

Q. Reed, you talked about Sam Alexis and what he does on the court for you guys. How important is he off the court for you guys?

REED BAILEY: He’s great. He’s one of the lives of the locker room. You come in, he’s chatting, he’s talking, and he really keeps us — keeps the good vibes up. Also on the court during practice he’s always talking throughout those defensive drills, whatever it is, just keeping the energy high.

It’s great to have him around.

Q. For both you guys, I know it felt good being out there and playing against somebody else, but how good did it feel to get a win for your coach, first game here at IU?

REED BAILEY: It’s awesome. We’re all new here, and we just wanted to come out and be able to show what we can do. Then also for Coach DeVries it feels good to get him that first one because I feel like it’s only just a start for him and what he’s going to do here

LAMAR WILKERSON: Yeah, to piggyback off what he said, it’s major just because we’re all new here, so for us to go in and see that the work is actually working, man, it was great for us.

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