Houston Cougars' Coach James Dickey preps team for long haul of conference play

POSTED: December 31, 2011 -- 12:59 p.m. CDT

HOUSTON, TX -- The Houston Cougars (8-5) experience ups and downs during the non-conference portion of the 2011-2012 season. The Cougars have played well in games such as a road win over Arkansas as well as poorly in close losses at home to Oakland, TCU, and LSU.

The Cougars will begin conference play Wednesday, January 4, with a C-USA home game versus the Tulsa Golden Hurricane

Houston head coach James Dickey has laid out his plans to prepare his squad for the 'long haul' of conference play; and, keeping his players healthy, fresh and energetic will be key during this second part of the college basketball season.

"I thought our guys' legs were alive (in Friday's game versus Texas State)," Coach Dickey said.

"We've got to make sure we're alive every night and bring this energy to the game.

"So, what we'll do - we're going to try to have a good plan. We'll have a light workout (Saturday). Get loosened up; and, make sure if anybody has any bumps and bruises, we'll get them well.

"We'll have a good meal. We'll counsel them on being safe Saturday night. Always watching out for the other person and keep everything in balance. We'll talk to them about that.

"We'll come back and have a good workout on Sunday. We try not to workout twice on Sundays; so, guys can have the opportunity to go the church. We'll work Sunday afternoon.

"We'll probably have two practices on Monday; a short practice on Tuesday; and get ready to go through our game routine on Wednesday.

"We're going to be cognizant of the fact (conference play) is going to be a long haul.

"We need to be fresh. Two things about practice: one, it won't be as long; but, we've got to have great intensity. We've got to work while we're there.

"I've told the guys 'For us to be where we want to be, we've got to go back to the same commitment that we had early. We've got to listen and we've got to work hard. We won't be going back to the three-hour practices we had in October; but, they've got to be sharp.' We've got to get a lot out of what we do in the time that we're there; so, they've got be productive."

2012 Conference USA home opener: Houston vs. Tulsa, January 4. Tip at 7:05 p.m.

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