Billy Kennedy
Gary Blair
Standish & Collins
Texas A&M Basketball
Opening comments…
“We’re still feeling some of the pains of last night’s loss. We’re doing a lot of good things, but championship teams get big stops when they need to. The last two games at home we had opportunities to win with the lead, and we tend to focus on the last shot of the game instead of the last defensive possession of the game. If we get one stop, it’s a lot easier to draw up a play to get the ball inbounds to your best free throw shooter than it is to draw up something with guys playing out of position in front of your bench. We’ve got to get to where we can come up with the defensive stops when it matters. We did it against Oklahoma, that’s why we were able to put the game into overtime.”
When did y’all realize that Dash’s injury was more serious?
“I asked our training staff going in (to the second half at Kansas) if he could damage it any worse, and they said no. And he didn’t damage it any worse. We thought he’d be back much quicker, and unfortunately he hasn’t been back.”
He’s the kind of guy who can play with pain, right?
“Yeah, the pain is bothering him but he’s walking fine a few days then all of a sudden it was bothering him enough where he wanted to have crutches. Hopefully we’ll get him back soon. We definitely could use him, especially at the end of games on the defensive end of the floor.”
How can you utilize the extra time you have to get ready for Iowa State?
“Really just get some rest and go recruiting. That’s what we’re going to do. If you look at our defensive field goal percentage the first half of the last three games, and it’s really pretty good. And in the second half we’re struggling guarding people, and I just think the best thing to do is to rest in those areas. Then when we come back we’ll have Wednesday, Thursday and Friday to get better at protecting the paint and preparing for a good Iowa State team. We’ve had 10 straight days of pretty difficult work and tough games and travel, so now we’ve got a couple of days where we’ll take off.”
Is that just a matter of depth when you talk about the second half stuff?
“It has to do with depth, athleticism and just having some toughness for one guy to make a stop. Watching the tape, J’Covan Brown drove basically by three guys that just didn’t rotate and make a defensive play. We’ve got to have a sense of urgency there in late-game situations on the defensive end, where we make that play.”
Can you talk about Elston Turner’s defense?
“He’s really working hard on the defensive end. To guard J’Covan Brown is not an easy task, and you saw the threes that J’Covan made—it wasn’t like Elston was three feet off of him. He made some tough shots and he’s a special player. Elston’s gotten better defensively through the last couple of weeks and I think that will help our team next year and in the games to come.”
Is it all the more frustrating when you look at the stats from last night and you shoot 50 percent in each half?
“Yeah and we shot more free throws than our opponent, and shot decent from the free-throw line—good for us. We only had 12 turnovers, and had even rebounding. It just came down to what team could make the defensive stop. They were able to stop David in the lane. And I thought we had some other possessions where we just made some poor decisions on offensively.”
How do you emphasize making that one last defensive stop in practice?
“A lot of that is built in to your practices at the beginning of the season, developing that mentality and that culture. We’ll address it on Wednesday and Thursday on how defensively we have to help each other out and do a better job rotating. But the toughness and the culture will continue to get better. These guys are doing everything we ask, so we just need to do a better job of emphasizing those things and drilling them during the week.”
Talk about the play of Naji and Daniel…
“Both of them are doing a really good job on the offensive end. We’ve got to get them better defensively if we want to beat some of these teams. Both of them are offensive players, but you can’t play one side of the ball. You’ve got to get to where you can play both sides of the ball. But I’m really glad to see that offensively their confidence level has gotten better and they’ve been able to help us on the offensive end.”
How have you seen Keith Davis progress?
“As far as foul trouble, he’s got to learn to play without fouling. But in retrospect, I wish I would have had him in the game on the last possession on the defensive side of the floor, because he’s willing to try and go make the play on the defensive end. (Offensively) he’s doing what he’s capable of doing. He shot one shot that we didn’t want him to shoot but for the most part he’s giving us good energy. He has a great understanding of what we’re trying to do offensively and defensively, more so than any of our post guys.”
With the balanced scoring that Iowa State has, what’s the combination that you have to come up with to win the game on Saturday?
“Well, what I just mentioned. Those guys who are starting for us have to guard. Naji, David Loubeau, Daniel have to be good defenders. I think Keith and Elston have been solid defenders. They’re so hard to guard, you can’t just take one guy away. Royce White could be recognized as maybe being player of the year in the league, as well as Thomas Robinson. He’s a special player. They’ve got that enthusiasm back in that program. To me that’s one of the toughest places to play in the country. We’re going to have to regroup and be ready to perform on Saturday.”
What do you draw from the first time around with those guys?
“You know, we tried to really stay connected to their shooters and really change how we like to play defensively, and we won’t do that this time. We’ll play normal rules and play inside out and try and protect the paint. So that’s one thing that we learned from it. We also have to be able to turn the ball over on offense, meaning we have to be able to run some clock and stay off the defensive end and be able to control the tempo of the game. I thought we did a good job of that against Texas for the most part. We need to a better job on the road against Iowa State.”
Have you played at Hilton Coliseum previously?
“Not previously, but I’ve played there in the past as an assistant coach when they were really good, and I’ve played against Iowa State in the NCAA Tournament. That has been one of the toughest places I’ve ever been, when I was coaching at Creighton. Then if it’s real cold that makes it worse (laughing).”
Even with the team’s struggles, do you think guys being forced to play other positions is going to help you down the road and in to next year?
“You know, I believe that for sure. Their effort has been good and their attitude has been good. If we can get Ray Turner playing consistently like he played last night, be a consistent double-figure guy, it’s going to help our team. Keith Davis getting experience…freshman. Daniel Alexander…freshman. I call Keith a freshman because he didn’t really play last year. So these guys are getting some valuable experience and getting some positive experience, because we’re in positions to win games. Even Kansas State, we were up four with opportunities. They’re able to learn in those situations. When they get beat real bad, they usually tend to blame coach (laughing). When it’s close enough to where we can teach out of it, it’s a positive. We’re gaining some positive things, but it still doesn’t make you feel any better.”
What are the goals of this team from here on out in terms of the postseason?
“You know, I don’t even think that far ahead. We’ve just got to get better, a little bit better every day, one day at a time. Our team has changed so much. I think this has been the most difficult two weeks I’ve had to coach a team in my career. We’ve had to coach guys out of position. Daniel Alexander for three months has been a 4 man. Now he’s starting at the 3. Elston Turner for three months has been the 2, now he’s playing 35, 40 minutes at the 1. So everything we’ve put in our system has had to adapt, change on the fly. We’re just trying to get right, now we’ve got to factor Khris and Dash back in the mix, and how’s that going to affect team chemistry? It’s been kind of a rollercoaster. There’s not been a lot of consistency in what we’re doing offensively more than anything. Obviously we want to have a winning season, obviously we still think we can get to postseason play. But that’s only going to happen if we can get better every day and we can incorporate these new guys—they’re new now because they’ve been gone—into what we’re doing. Hopefully they can help us get better. Sometimes that change takes two or three games before it settles in, and we don’t have that kind of time.”
Are you expecting Khris and Dash back Saturday?
“I’m expecting them back Saturday. They’ve been gone long enough. Khris is doing probably 90 percent better. He probably could have played last night some off the bench in a pinch, but we told him we wanted to make sure he could practice two or three days solid before he could go. And Dash, with the injury he had he shouldn’t be out another week.”
Any update on Kourtney’s medical redshirt?
“That’s something that can’t be determined until after the season with the NCAA process. They make you finish your season before you can apply for it, so we wouldn’t know until the end of the season.”
But he’s not going to play the rest of the year?
“He’s not cleared to play, so technically he’s not going to play. But a lot of it is NCAA rules and there’s certain things we have to go by. But he hasn’t been cleared for contact play yet. We plan on doing it at the end of the year.”
Quotes & video from weekly basketball press conference
Head Coach Billy Kennedy
* Note: Kennedy transcripts provided by A&M SID Matt Simon.Opening comments…
“We’re still feeling some of the pains of last night’s loss. We’re doing a lot of good things, but championship teams get big stops when they need to. The last two games at home we had opportunities to win with the lead, and we tend to focus on the last shot of the game instead of the last defensive possession of the game. If we get one stop, it’s a lot easier to draw up a play to get the ball inbounds to your best free throw shooter than it is to draw up something with guys playing out of position in front of your bench. We’ve got to get to where we can come up with the defensive stops when it matters. We did it against Oklahoma, that’s why we were able to put the game into overtime.”
When did y’all realize that Dash’s injury was more serious?
“I asked our training staff going in (to the second half at Kansas) if he could damage it any worse, and they said no. And he didn’t damage it any worse. We thought he’d be back much quicker, and unfortunately he hasn’t been back.”
He’s the kind of guy who can play with pain, right?
“Yeah, the pain is bothering him but he’s walking fine a few days then all of a sudden it was bothering him enough where he wanted to have crutches. Hopefully we’ll get him back soon. We definitely could use him, especially at the end of games on the defensive end of the floor.”
How can you utilize the extra time you have to get ready for Iowa State?
“Really just get some rest and go recruiting. That’s what we’re going to do. If you look at our defensive field goal percentage the first half of the last three games, and it’s really pretty good. And in the second half we’re struggling guarding people, and I just think the best thing to do is to rest in those areas. Then when we come back we’ll have Wednesday, Thursday and Friday to get better at protecting the paint and preparing for a good Iowa State team. We’ve had 10 straight days of pretty difficult work and tough games and travel, so now we’ve got a couple of days where we’ll take off.”
Is that just a matter of depth when you talk about the second half stuff?
“It has to do with depth, athleticism and just having some toughness for one guy to make a stop. Watching the tape, J’Covan Brown drove basically by three guys that just didn’t rotate and make a defensive play. We’ve got to have a sense of urgency there in late-game situations on the defensive end, where we make that play.”
Can you talk about Elston Turner’s defense?
“He’s really working hard on the defensive end. To guard J’Covan Brown is not an easy task, and you saw the threes that J’Covan made—it wasn’t like Elston was three feet off of him. He made some tough shots and he’s a special player. Elston’s gotten better defensively through the last couple of weeks and I think that will help our team next year and in the games to come.”
Is it all the more frustrating when you look at the stats from last night and you shoot 50 percent in each half?
“Yeah and we shot more free throws than our opponent, and shot decent from the free-throw line—good for us. We only had 12 turnovers, and had even rebounding. It just came down to what team could make the defensive stop. They were able to stop David in the lane. And I thought we had some other possessions where we just made some poor decisions on offensively.”
How do you emphasize making that one last defensive stop in practice?
“A lot of that is built in to your practices at the beginning of the season, developing that mentality and that culture. We’ll address it on Wednesday and Thursday on how defensively we have to help each other out and do a better job rotating. But the toughness and the culture will continue to get better. These guys are doing everything we ask, so we just need to do a better job of emphasizing those things and drilling them during the week.”
Talk about the play of Naji and Daniel…
“Both of them are doing a really good job on the offensive end. We’ve got to get them better defensively if we want to beat some of these teams. Both of them are offensive players, but you can’t play one side of the ball. You’ve got to get to where you can play both sides of the ball. But I’m really glad to see that offensively their confidence level has gotten better and they’ve been able to help us on the offensive end.”
How have you seen Keith Davis progress?
“As far as foul trouble, he’s got to learn to play without fouling. But in retrospect, I wish I would have had him in the game on the last possession on the defensive side of the floor, because he’s willing to try and go make the play on the defensive end. (Offensively) he’s doing what he’s capable of doing. He shot one shot that we didn’t want him to shoot but for the most part he’s giving us good energy. He has a great understanding of what we’re trying to do offensively and defensively, more so than any of our post guys.”
With the balanced scoring that Iowa State has, what’s the combination that you have to come up with to win the game on Saturday?
“Well, what I just mentioned. Those guys who are starting for us have to guard. Naji, David Loubeau, Daniel have to be good defenders. I think Keith and Elston have been solid defenders. They’re so hard to guard, you can’t just take one guy away. Royce White could be recognized as maybe being player of the year in the league, as well as Thomas Robinson. He’s a special player. They’ve got that enthusiasm back in that program. To me that’s one of the toughest places to play in the country. We’re going to have to regroup and be ready to perform on Saturday.”
What do you draw from the first time around with those guys?
“You know, we tried to really stay connected to their shooters and really change how we like to play defensively, and we won’t do that this time. We’ll play normal rules and play inside out and try and protect the paint. So that’s one thing that we learned from it. We also have to be able to turn the ball over on offense, meaning we have to be able to run some clock and stay off the defensive end and be able to control the tempo of the game. I thought we did a good job of that against Texas for the most part. We need to a better job on the road against Iowa State.”
Have you played at Hilton Coliseum previously?
“Not previously, but I’ve played there in the past as an assistant coach when they were really good, and I’ve played against Iowa State in the NCAA Tournament. That has been one of the toughest places I’ve ever been, when I was coaching at Creighton. Then if it’s real cold that makes it worse (laughing).”
Even with the team’s struggles, do you think guys being forced to play other positions is going to help you down the road and in to next year?
“You know, I believe that for sure. Their effort has been good and their attitude has been good. If we can get Ray Turner playing consistently like he played last night, be a consistent double-figure guy, it’s going to help our team. Keith Davis getting experience…freshman. Daniel Alexander…freshman. I call Keith a freshman because he didn’t really play last year. So these guys are getting some valuable experience and getting some positive experience, because we’re in positions to win games. Even Kansas State, we were up four with opportunities. They’re able to learn in those situations. When they get beat real bad, they usually tend to blame coach (laughing). When it’s close enough to where we can teach out of it, it’s a positive. We’re gaining some positive things, but it still doesn’t make you feel any better.”
What are the goals of this team from here on out in terms of the postseason?
“You know, I don’t even think that far ahead. We’ve just got to get better, a little bit better every day, one day at a time. Our team has changed so much. I think this has been the most difficult two weeks I’ve had to coach a team in my career. We’ve had to coach guys out of position. Daniel Alexander for three months has been a 4 man. Now he’s starting at the 3. Elston Turner for three months has been the 2, now he’s playing 35, 40 minutes at the 1. So everything we’ve put in our system has had to adapt, change on the fly. We’re just trying to get right, now we’ve got to factor Khris and Dash back in the mix, and how’s that going to affect team chemistry? It’s been kind of a rollercoaster. There’s not been a lot of consistency in what we’re doing offensively more than anything. Obviously we want to have a winning season, obviously we still think we can get to postseason play. But that’s only going to happen if we can get better every day and we can incorporate these new guys—they’re new now because they’ve been gone—into what we’re doing. Hopefully they can help us get better. Sometimes that change takes two or three games before it settles in, and we don’t have that kind of time.”
Are you expecting Khris and Dash back Saturday?
“I’m expecting them back Saturday. They’ve been gone long enough. Khris is doing probably 90 percent better. He probably could have played last night some off the bench in a pinch, but we told him we wanted to make sure he could practice two or three days solid before he could go. And Dash, with the injury he had he shouldn’t be out another week.”
Any update on Kourtney’s medical redshirt?
“That’s something that can’t be determined until after the season with the NCAA process. They make you finish your season before you can apply for it, so we wouldn’t know until the end of the season.”
But he’s not going to play the rest of the year?
“He’s not cleared to play, so technically he’s not going to play. But a lot of it is NCAA rules and there’s certain things we have to go by. But he hasn’t been cleared for contact play yet. We plan on doing it at the end of the year.”
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