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Panthers men's basketball coach preps for upcoming year
Ahead of their season opener, FOX6's Lily Zhao went beyond the game with Panthers men's head coach Bart Lundy.
MILWAUKEE - This year, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Panthers men's basketball team is hoping to make a splash.
The Panthers were picked first in the preseason polls for the first time since the 2006-07 season and have their sights set on a Horizon League title and a berth in the NCAA Tournament.
Ahead of their season opener, FOX6's Lily Zhao went one-on-one with UWM men's head coach Bart Lundy.
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FOX6's Lily Zhao: Another year is upon you guys. I know you guys are picked number one in the preseason polls, but you are more excited about things beyond the preseason polls with this team. What is the excitement level knowing that the tip off for the season opener is right around the corner?
Panthers men's head coach Bart Lundy
"The excitement level is off the charts. We put in all this work in the offseason. It's great to be picked, but I think all the guys are just excited to get on the court, play in front of fans. Our fans are excited to see them really, really pick it up and play against somebody else, so it's right around the corner."
FOX6's Lily Zhao: You talked about the 2:58, 2 minutes and 58 seconds right? What was the big motivator for you to bring that up to the guys in the offseason to drive them to want to be better this year?
"You reflect, you know, 2 minutes and 58 seconds short of that NCAA tournament run and hats off to oakland. They had a great run in the NCAA tournament. We're proud of what they did, but for us, we look at opportunities missed in the offseason that you can work just a little bit harder. You can get just a little bit more and for those guys, especially our returners, they feel that and they have used it as fuel."
FOX6's Lily Zhao: What gives you confidence from what you've seen this offseason from this team that they can make another run this year?
"Your confidence comes from your work. They have worked and they're gritty and they're tough. They're together, so as long as we can keep those ingredients in, we're going to try to coach them the best we can and step out of the way and let the players be players, but we've got a lot of talent and a lot of guys that really want to win and want to play well together and a lot of guys that take pride in Milwaukee."
FOX6's Lily Zhao: Speaking of Milwaukee, you have seven Milwaukee players on your roster. How important was that and talk about some of those guys who will make an impact on the roster this year.
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"We brought John (Lovelace) back from Youngstown State, Danilo from Louisville, so the seven, there are some walk-ons, some scholarship players, but as you continue to open doors and people trust your program, I think you'll see more and more of that as we go along."
FOX6's Lily Zhao: What is your message to Panthers fans? Having seen your product, your brand of basketball the last two years, for how well this team has done, what's your message to the fans this year about this team?
"Oh, they're going to love these guys," said Lundy. "They're tough. They're fun to be around. We're going to play really fast, really hard. They're athletic. It's a really good Panther team. I got to not screw this up because those guys are winners, and the fans are absolutely going to love them."
The Panthers' season finally tips off on Monday, Nov. 4 against Lakeland at the Klotsche Center.