Lindenwood University Basketball Talk with Coach Kyle Gerdeman

Gary D Stocker (00:00.88)
Welcome back to basketball talk with Lyndon Wood University head men's basketball coach Kyle Goodman, where each week we talk lots of basketball, we talk Lyndon Wood basketball, NCAA, OVC academics and much, more. Coach Goodman, always a pleasure to get on the podcast with you. How are you today, sir?

Kyle (00:16.526)
Doing good, glad to be back on with you and I guess we got a little catching up to do maybe.

Gary D Stocker (00:21.292)
We do and the Linwood University men started off 4-0 and let's kind of do a quick review of what got you there but at the start of the year some nice a couple nice wins against Moorhead and University of Southern Indiana.

Kyle (00:32.938)
Yeah, I thought that was our first really two game home stand. We had a little different start to our schedule with one game being on the road and one game at home. And so we get those two games at home. And I thought those were obviously big to win your home games. But we did that with Jadis Jones being sidelined.

And I think anytime that you lose a good player, especially one of Jadis's caliber and the things that he does for us, not just from a statistics standpoint, but from a leadership standpoint, I thought our guys really stepped up well in those games. Point guards played well, Milos played really well. You saw Dontrez Williams kind of grow a little bit more in his role and the things that he's doing. I thought it was just, both nights was just a really good team effort.

which is kind what we're looking for. was those two were great to get us kind of jump started a little bit.

Gary D Stocker (01:25.988)
And then last Tuesday, I watched the game on TV and I thought that was prototypical of how tough it is to win on the road in general, because that was a tough game against SIU-Edwardsville. It just didn't fall your guy's way.

Kyle (01:35.0)
Yeah.

Kyle (01:40.332)
Yeah, I would agree. That's kind of the first thing that we talked about in the locker room was this is a conference road game. And that was really a first. We played one at Eastern Illinois and we're able to get that one. But I thought going over there with you got a little bit of a rivalry to it. People get more excited about it than some of the other games. But we knew they were going to be a good team. Here's a team that's been at the top of the league for the last two or three years, doing really well.

and you go over to their place, you know it's gonna be really tough. And we kind of got back and watched some film. We were up one with three minutes and 23 seconds left, I think, and just weren't able to get it done. So that kind of frustrates you a little bit, because we kind of pride ourselves getting to the last five minutes in a position to win. And clearly we were there on the road against a good team, and not to come up with it, I think, was kind of.

Kind of frustrating for everybody, players also, but I think again, can be a really good learning experience from us if we continue to grow and take that experience.

Gary D Stocker (02:41.564)
And I remember reading the local stories last March. SIUE of course won the OVC tournament, got that NCAA bid. That was a big deal. And boy coach, at some point you have to ponder that might happen to your program as well, right?

Kyle (02:54.776)
Well, I think as much as you worry about the next game, I think that that thought's always creeping in on everybody. I think every coach goes through it as, man, wouldn't it be great if you could get your program to the mountaintop, so to speak, of making the NCAA tournament as something that no matter how focused you stay on what's in front of you, that's always out there. But like I said, I think that's what makes college basketball unique is we have a tournament at the end that you earn your way into.

Gary D Stocker (03:00.934)
Hahaha

Kyle (03:24.61)
You know, some people get picked. Obviously, we wouldn't be in that situation, we have an ability to earn our way in that nobody could tell us no. you look at football and some of those teams, you know, they thought they were going to make it. And then, you know, a committee says you can't make it. Well, we don't have that. know, I mean, if we win our conference tournament, we're in. And, you nobody can take that away from me. And I think that's just kind of what makes college basketball a little bit special.

Gary D Stocker (03:43.395)
Yeah.

Gary D Stocker (03:52.608)
And we talked before we started recording that I watched a of basketball, a lot of basketball. And the gentleman from University of Arkansas, Little Rock, were in town Saturday afternoon and coach, they know how to play his own defense.

Kyle (04:06.478)
Yeah, they do. Unfortunately for us, they do and they're good at it. It's unique. It's something we talked about quite a bit in practice and watch film. But it's one of those things that there's very few things that you can't simulate in practice. Well, size is one of them.

And I think their zone defense is another one because they combine both. They take a lot of size. They cover the floor well with it. So it's something that we've seen zone from different teams all year long, but we haven't seen one with 269 guys at the top of the zone and then guards at the back that are still good sized. But it's just a unique style of play that they have. And I think it's hard because you kind of got to learn on the fly. And I thought we were kind of doing that.

Probably not enough consistent offensive possessions, but I thought as time went on we were starting to figure some things out which kind of showed up in the score. We got it back to, think again, I think we're down one with a minute and a half left and we're right there. so we kind of survived it, but it's definitely a unique style of play and it definitely takes some time to adjust to.

Gary D Stocker (05:15.964)
Yeah, I was impressed. That was an impressive basketball team that came to St. Charles this past Saturday. So well into the season, a nice solid winning record so far. What has surprised you about your team and the OVC so far? And then what has not surprised you?

Kyle (05:30.915)
Yeah. You know, I think the thing that surprised me about our team, I think is really kind of the cohesiveness that we have as a group.

I think we would always get there. think this team kind of got there faster than maybe some we've had in the past of just kind of coming in every day and working. The relationships that they've built with each other on their own. I think they want to see each other succeed. They kind of care about each other. And as much as it hates me to say it, in today's climate of basketball, that's not always easy to get to.

Gary D Stocker (06:07.398)
Yeah, yeah.

Kyle (06:08.874)
know, bringing in guys that transfer from somewhere. Everybody has their eyes sometimes on the next step, you know, where can they go make more money? Where are they going to transfer to next year? You know, these guys have kind of, I'm sure they have the same thoughts, but they don't, they don't show you that. You know, they show a bunch of guys that come in and they work every day. They want to be a good team. And so, so that's been, you know, again, not surprising, but maybe just surprising at the pace and how early we got to that. You know, when I look at the league, I don't, it's not really a surprise, but

I think just how competitive it looks like it's gonna be. After six games, you've got a couple teams that haven't got a win yet. But then all of a sudden you look up and you've got a handful of teams at three and three. And then you got another group of teams at four and two and only one team at five and one at Tennessee Martin. and I'm not sure, I mean, as I sit here today, we'll see what it looks like after Saturday when everybody plays two more games. But I mean, it just won't surprise me if it's a competitive league all the way through.

And you see a whole bunch of teams in that top six or seven that have a chance to win it.

Gary D Stocker (07:11.994)
Yeah, I bet it ends up with the winning conference team regular season with a 5-6 loss record, something like that.

Kyle (07:19.086)
Yeah, I think it just looks to me like it's going to be that competitive, is a fun conference to be in.

Gary D Stocker (07:27.182)
And so this is the time of year when every level of basketball is being played from first graders all the way up through NBA. And so let's just kind of step back and coach, if you would talk about this time of year when basketball going on everywhere, what's your approach to recruiting high school students for future teams? And even how do you look at the portal this time of year?

Kyle (07:46.543)
Yeah, well, know, it is because like you say, it's an interesting time because you're getting ready to get right in the middle of your conference schedule, which is what everybody's important and locked in on. But this is also in reality the time where recruiting really picks up. You you've got to try to make some decisions on some high school guys. You've got to try to get out to see some junior college guys and see if, you know, are they ready to make any decisions? Usually this is the time of year, you know, late January, February.

Some of those guys start to decide that, this is where my recruiting's at, so what are my options? And then the transfer report, like you said, you're going to start to see guys that jump in there. But more than anything, you start to get a lot of phone calls about guys. those aren't legal or illegal conversations. It's just what agents do now.

So you're gonna get, we'll get emails, we'll get phone calls from agents that their client is gonna do this and that. And those conversations don't go very far, but you start to find out about more and more guys as the year goes on, which again, I think it makes our jobs tough, but that's what part of it is. I you look at teams that have brought in players from, in our league, but you see the-

Gary D Stocker (08:45.328)
Yeah.

Kyle (09:07.81)
the teams that brought in the former pro players, guys that had played in the G League and guys that had played overseas and they're playing them at semester. So just when we thought maybe we were leveling out recruiting a little bit, now you have schools recruiting during the year to bring guys in semester. so it never stops, but you got to just manage your time and it's important. Getting out in the area still is important for us to see high school kids at this time of year, to see all the guys in the St. Louis and the St. Charles area and the state.

Gary D Stocker (09:11.344)
Yeah.

Kyle (09:37.71)
The same with the junior colleges in the state. So, you know, really it's just about planning and you just realize, you you're playing on Thursdays and Saturdays and, you know, who can you see on a Wednesday? Who can you see on a Friday? And maximizing those days and maximizing your time to try to stay on good recruits.

Gary D Stocker (09:56.699)
And then, know, of course, this podcast for those listening goes out as an audio only. But if you watch the video, as Kyle was talking about that last session, my head was shaking back and forth so many times because it's just almost impossible to imagine the rapid change in college sports. And the amount of turnover, I'm not going to go into that, but it's just stunning.

Kyle (10:05.55)
Ha ha.

Kyle (10:22.07)
Well, know, you watch the college football, the playoff, and I just follow it. I read a lot of stuff. I mean, those guys are talking about how they're getting ready for a national semifinal game to play on Thursday. But on Monday and Tuesday, they were hosting 15 transfer portal recruits. So you talk about how do we handle high schools in the area and our recruiting.

I mean, these guys are getting ready to play a national championship game here in a few days. And they have transfer portal kids on campus right now doing recruiting visits. so it just never, sometimes you feel like you just can't concentrate on what's important. But I'm not sure what's more important. What do you think is more important to Indiana, the national championship game or recruiting? I mean, it's probably a fine line, unfortunately.

Gary D Stocker (11:11.868)
It really is. Yeah, it really is. Well, I guess you get a jump on a bus again this Wednesday or Thursday whenever you head down to Cape Girardeau. So you've got SEMO coming up on Thursday and a good team and UT Martin on Saturday. Talk about those games.

Kyle (11:18.339)
Yeah.

Kyle (11:25.814)
Well, I think it's gonna be obviously a tough test. mean, SEMO is gonna be a big game, just like it always has been. We go back down there and we got take Jadis Jones gets back closer to home for a game. And now you add Don Tres Williams to that who's from the same area in Sexton. So they'll have a ton of people show up to support them, which we love to see. I don't know the games on national television on ESPNU.

So that adds a little bit more to it. So a lot goes into that one, but we just have to do our normal approach and show up and try to play our best. I think guys will be a little bit nervous, I think, and a little bit amped up. But I think that kind of goes away after the first couple minutes and we'll settle in there. And so that'll be a big one Thursday and then Saturday at Tennessee Martin who's in first place and they've had a great year. So.

Gary D Stocker (11:55.868)
I know that. Cool.

Kyle (12:20.878)
I think the thing for us is it's kind of strange because we're six games in, but this is our first true two game road trip of the year. So it'll be a little bit new to us, but at the same time, I think we know the test that's in front of us. And I'm excited to see what kind of focus and practice we get to this week. Cuz I think our guys are ready to kind of take a step forward. And that's what we talked about after the game on Saturday. And I think that's the thing that we always talk about. didn't matter if we had-

We started off 4-0, we didn't really talk about winning and losing. We lose a couple in a row and we're still not really talking about winning and losing. We're talking about trying to get better. And if we do that, we'll be in a good spot.

Gary D Stocker (13:00.976)
Well, coach, safe travels as you and your team head south on this week, and we'll look forward to chatting again next Monday. Thanks, coach. Take care.

Kyle (13:06.957)
Sounds good, thank you.