While making A Run At the MEC Tournament with Trent Williams and Aidan Filippini:
Notre Dame College Men's basketball is nearly set for the MEC Tournament. I caught up with NDC freshman Aidan Filippini and NDC senior Trent Williams:
"We have really good coaches and they help a lot getting us used to college and the pace of it," NDC freshman guard Aidan Filippini said, "The adjustment was hard at first. The game is a lot quicker. It was easy for the first month of the season to fit in. Everybody took me in and we get along well as teammates. Originally I was going to redshirt this year. I did not start playing games until after Christmas. We had a lot of scrimmages and pre season activities as a team this year," he added.
"The coaches are different. They let us do what we are good at. We play freely for them," NDC senior Trent Williams mentioned.
Willams then talked teammates:
"I played GB (Gbolahan Adio) and Dre (Andre Harris) in high school. I went to Solon, GB went to Richmond Heights and Dre (Harris) went to Brush."
Filippini then gave this thought:
"We keep everything balanced on the court because anyone can make a play at anytime. We give our best every game and it works to our advantage that we do not have a superstar."
Williams spoke of the biggest life lesson he learned from NDC:
"I would say the biggest life lesson for me was to always stay positive and stay ready. At the beginning of the season I was not in the rotation. Now I am in the rotation and playing well. I think that is destiny that it has played out that way."
Williams talked about his time at Tiffin prior to coming to NDC:
"Tiffin was different for sure. I had two different coaches, one who was pretty good and normal while I had another who was kind of a hot head. Here we do a lot less scouting than we did at Tiffin. Less than I would like but I get guys to watch film with me to build team chemistry."
Filippini talked about Williams:
"Trent is a great shooter and a great teammate. Every time the ball leaves his hands we feel like it is going in. He helps others get in the lane when he is spacing the floor. He has made a lot of clutch shots for us this season."
Williams then talked about Filippini and team chemistry:
"Aidan has been fun to play with. When I saw him on the first day you didn't think he would be a guy who would be diving on the floor for loose balls, he is a freshman so he will grow even more. He has not shown his full potential yet. The chemistry of this team is still improving. We all know what we can do and have to be in the right mindset everyday. Then we hope for the best."
Filippini explained to me that the chemistry of this team is underrated, "Sometimes he said it does not translate on the court as much as we would like, you would never guess it we are all great friends off the court."
Filippini then gave his thoughts about ball movement:
"The ball movement did not start well at the beginning of the season. As the season has gone on we have begun to trust each other more and more. More drives to the basket means more good looks as a team."
Williams told me that his role has changed. "I have been spotting up with my hands out for as long as I can remember. I have transitioned to more of a point guard role where I am bringing the ball up because of my experience. This has happened late in the season and I am ready for the big moment."
Filippini talked about a misperception:
"The biggest misperception is that people think it is easy for us but it is not. A lot of people think we eat for free, we get help paying for school, but it is hard to manage everything. You need to stay consistent every single day."
Williams answered the same question:
"The biggest misperception is that the coaches and teachers don't do a lot for us, but they do. They put in so much time. They make sure we get gear, eat well while we are on the road, the teachers know our names."
Willams answered the question about not having a superstar:
"It is good for us. We all have special talents. We have been gelling more together. We need to clean up the little things like rebounding and defensive mistakes. We do that and we will be unstoppable."
Filippini talked improvement:
"The biggest improvement for me has to be a little bit my shooting and for sure my decision making. I have earned minutes this year because I make the right basketball plays and play really hard on defense."
Williams then gave this thought:
"I have to get to the hoop more. Other teams are closing out on me more than they used to. I need to get to the rim or kick it out to my teammates. Also my leadership has improved a lot. I give my two cents here and there whenever needed."
Filippini told me about improvement:
"Personally for me the improvement has taken a lot of time. I did a lot of pre-season stuff. It became easier to keep up because I had already improved so much in such a short time."
Williams talked about the work he has put into his jumper:
"My jumper is a lot different than it was my freshman year. I worked on my shot with a friend of mine named Mike Bekejia who plays for Kent now. We used to shoot together a lot and he altered my shot a little bit. Since that point I like where my shot has been."
Then he talked about the home court advantage:
"Our home court is way better than Tiffin's. Our fans support us night in and night out. Everybody seems to be in good spirits."
Filippini talked home court:
"We have good crowds at our home games. They do a good job of keeping us motivated during games, they are loud."
Williams gave another thought:
"It is my fifth season so I have seen it all, more than you realize, we will be ready to play and be tournament ready. Blazing and ready to go."
Filippini talked expectations:
"My expectations for this team are to make a run in the MEC Tournament. I think we have what it takes to win it."
Williams gave the final thought:
"The goal is to win. For me and everyone, we need to take it one game at a time."
Williams, Filippini, and the Notre Dame College Falcons head into the MEC Tournament as the eight seed and will take on ninth seeded Wheeling University in the opening round on Wednesday March 6th. Tip time from WesBanco Arena in Wheeling, West Virginia is set for 8:30 PM.
Williams (#25) takes the ball out. Filipini (#24),) Dames (#12,) Haid (#11) and Jones (#2) also pictured.
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