Interview Questions for Taylor Trojans Coach Paul Patterson

Now with high school football complete for Grant County, it's time to move on to winter sports!  The main sport that "The Windup" will focus now is high school and college basketball.  In our 10th episode airing Friday, November 11th at 12 pm, we will be chatting with Taylor University Men's Basketball Coach Paul Patterson.  Below you will see some of the questions that coach and I discussed today.

Make sure you catch the episode at 12 pm on WIWU-FM 94.3 tomorrow or listen online at www.indwes.edu/thefortress!  You won't want to miss it!

“The Windup:”  Week 10 Interview Questions: Taylor Basketball Coach Paul Patterson

I.                    Personal Career

a.       33 years at Taylor University. 40+ years in coaching.  What has kept you in coaching for so long?  Also, why have you decided to stay at one university for 30+ years? 

b.      What has changed in college basketball over this incredible career that you’ve had?

c.       I was reading your bio on the Taylor website and noticed that you were a court coach for the USA Basketball under 21 team back in 2005.  What was it like to represent your country in the sport you passionately love?

II.                  Last 2 Games

a.       Your team defeated the University of Michigan-Dearborn in the team’s opener, 75-56.  With the Taylor Trojans, your team is an unbelievable 29-4 in season openers.  How important is getting a W in that first game of the season?

b.      The Trojans traveled to Muncie on Monday to play an exhibition game with the Ball State Cardinals.  Even though your team lost 72-47, there can still be some positives to pull out from the game.  What benefit does your team get from playing a NCAA Division I basketball team?

c.       On Wednesday of this week, your team defeated Cincinnati Christian University, 95-91.  In that game, Junior Casey Coons passed the 1,000 point mark for his Trojan career.  What kind of impact has Coons made on the Taylor basketball program?

III.                Next Game

a.       The season may be young but your team has been together for a while now.  Who is starting to stand out as the leaders of this team?  What makes them a leader for this year’s Trojan’s squad?

b.      Saturday – the Trojans are on the road again…this time playing Concordia out of Ann Arbor, Michigan.  The team is receiving votes in the NAIA Division II Men’s basketball poll.  How is your team going to attack this match-up?

c.       Tuesday your team plays #18 Indiana Tech.  Basketball is quite different than football with multiple games happening throughout the week.  As a coach, how do you handle weeks where you might have 2,3 or even 4 games in one week?

IV.                Other Grant County/MCC Teams

a.       The big team in the MCC this year arguably the #2 ranked Indiana Wesleyan Wildcats.  They just came off a big win over #4 Bellevue over the weekend and just beat Union College last night.  What’s your thoughts on the team Coach Tonagel has put together?

b.      IWU isn’t the only top 10 ranked team in the MCC.  Grace received the #9 preseason ranking and projected to finish 2^nd in the MCC behind IWU.  How tough do you believe the Mid-Central College Conference is?  And then, why is that?

c.       Mount Vernon is a new addition to the MCC.  We have heard over the past couple of weeks how conference realignment has dominated college football.  Should the NCAA go through the same thing in basketball?  Why or why not?

V.                  NCAA/NBA News and Notes

a.       Along with the NAIA, the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball season is getting into high gear.  We saw Butler, Notre Dame, and Purdue make the national tournament back in March.  Which one of those teams do you see being a national contender again this year?

b.      The NBA lockout continues to drag on as it passed the 130 day mark this week.  What’s your thoughts on the lockout at this point when it seems neither side wants to agree on anything?