Q & A With Behrend Men's Basketball Coach Dave Niland

1. WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON HOW THE SEASON HAS STARTED AND WHERE YOUR TEAM STANDS RIGHT NOW AT 5-2?

Fairly pleased with what we have done, have had two tough losses on the road against very good teams, we had a good chance to win both but did not.

2. WHO IS PERFORMING WELL FOR THE TEAM?

Everybody has played well. Adam Potter, Adam Kaiser and Deshawn Haynes have been great leaders while Chris Saltzman and Justin Kovac have been solid. The younger players have all contributed which is important.

3. HAS ANYBODY REALLY SURPRISED YOU?

Nick Thorsen really worked hard in the off season and it has paid off and Nick Collela has been a key guy as well. Russ Conley and Nick Dvorsky have been impressive as first year players. We are looking forward to getting some of our younger guys healthy and in the mix if possible.  

4. WHAT IS THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE HEADING INTO THE SECOND HALF OF THE SEASON AFTER THE SEMESTER ENDS?

The league is looking to be balanced as we thought. Defensively we need to improve if we are to reach our goals.

5. WHAT IS YOUR EXPECTATION FOR THE END OF THE SEASON AND POSTSEASON?

We look ahead game to game , and practice to practice in trying to improve. If we do that then we should have a chance to reach our team goals.