Williams & Co. venture to Big Blue Nation for important Tuesday clash

Texas A&M men's basketball hits the road this week as the Aggies travel to Rupp Arena to take on Mark Pope and the Kentucky Wildcats. On Monday morning, Buzz Williams spoke to TexAgs Live as the Maroon & White have already started prepping for their trek into Big Blue Nation.

Key notes from Buzz Williams interview

• I say it to our team, for sure, once a week: I am incredibly grateful. This team being together for this many years will never happen in college athletics. The combination of coaches and players is the highest number of years of experience at Texas A&M that we have had. It is the highest number of years of continuity on the staff. We are hallowed ground, and we realize it will never ever happen again. We are appreciative of that.
   
• The offense Kentucky runs is very unique and dissimilar to the offense we just guarded in Alabama. Kentucky is in the same group numerically. They are the third-best offense. They play fast and shoot a lot of 3-pointers but get to it differently than Alabama. We have been working nonstop since the Alabama game ended.
   
• Playing last week without Wade Taylor IV is part of the SEC. You will play games without your best players. There are adjustments that come with that.
   
• When you flip from a Wednesday-Saturday schedule to Tuesday-Saturday, the prep time is compressed. You have to be succinct in what your guys understand. We have work to do before tipoff at 7 p.m. CT tomorrow.
   
• There are no similarities whatsoever with Kentucky under Mark Pope compared to John Calipari. There is nothing Arkansas is doing that Kentucky is currently doing. The offense Kentucky plays is pretty. You just want to watch. It's really pretty and free-flowing. Everyone can pass, dribble and shoot. It spreads your defense out, and then you add the talent and skill to the scheme, it's very pretty to watch.
   
• You don't play in Norman, down 18 with 17 minutes to play and say, "Hey, let's just hang around and see if something happens." Same against Alabama. It comes from years of parents saying, "We will be on time. You are going to mow the grass, and if not, you don't get ice cream." Our staff has been near perfect in establishing those relationships. The language used in this building is similar to what they had at home.
   
• The relationships and things that are built from 10, 20 and 30 years from now, this is as raw and real as you can get.
   
• Pharrel Payne is coming around. He is a good player, and from a prospect standpoint, he is 19. Since he has been here, it has been night and day different from what he had done before coming here. He has embraced it. His growth curve has been a a really good trajectory. The four blocks, he can always block shots, but in relation to where he is supposed to be before the shot... He is coming around. He is getting a little better. He has never been late to the weight room and takes notes in the film room. He was really good on Saturday and was good in Norman.
   
• Payne makes Henry Coleman III better. Andersson Garica was in foul trouble, and Solomon Washington fouled out. For us to have another threat for the next couple of months, I hope it elevates him and us.