Aggie basketball delves into SEC play in weekly presser

Billy Kennedy

On keys to wins over Arkansas and Kentucky...

“I think it was just the urgency of conference play. I can’t sit here and tell you that these habits just changed all of a sudden. Our energy level has been better. I will say that Kourtney Robertson and Fabyon Harris have been better in practice. Elston has always been consistent and there has been some carry over from Kourtney and Fabyon’s efforts.”

On Elston Turner’s performance against Kentucky...

“Nobody could have seen that coming. It was just a special performance, especially when you score 40 points at Rupp. The only other players I know that have scored over 40 at Rupp are great NBA players. For him to have that, it was just a special feat. But he prepared himself. He’s been getting in more shooting practice at the gym. The performance was just incredible.”

On faster offensive tempo...

“One, we’ve been focusing on that for a while. Hopefully, it is kicking in some. Two, the teams we are playing are running up and down. They are not trying to slow the game down. They do not have a controlling tempo and we are getting rebounds. We weren’t getting those rebounds a lot of the time, and it’s hard to run when you are not rebounding the ball or you are not getting the ball out of the net on time. I think that’s been a difference.”

On the importance of the Kentucky win for team morale...

“That’s the biggest thing I am looking forward to, from the program’s standpoint. If we compete hard defensively and we play together we can do special things. You can only do that from success. Players have to win. Players have to feel success to buy in.

“We will continue to use that as motivation in practice and continue to go hard and get them to a point where they don’t think they are tired every day. Hopefully, they will gain some confidence from this.”

On Florida...

“They are a potential Final Four team. They are very good, experienced and really good defensively. They have a true center, Patrick Young. I’ve been really impressed with their defense. Everybody knows Florida can shoot the ball. I think they made 13 three-point shots against us last year and they have all those guys back.

“Eric Murphy is a tough matchup for us because he is a floor man who can step out and shoot threes at 43%. This is a team that is capable of getting to the Final Four. They were really good last year and they are an experienced veteran club.”

Elston Turner

On scoring 40 points at Kentucky...

“It didn’t feel as good as coming away with the win. It was a team win and fortunately I was able to contribute some shots. My teammates do a great job of looking for me. All in all, it was a great team win.”

On his dad's reaction...

“He didn’t say anything bad, surprisingly. I was thinking he was going to say something bad. Normally, if I do have a good game, he will still find something bad to say about it. He said there was something different about that game. I had a different attitude and different approach to the game.

“He told me that whatever I did in that game needed to happen again. He said I needed to take the same approach to every game that I took to that game.”

“I just need to have a quick mindset. We have a quick turnaround and play Florida on Thursday. The game against Kentucky is behind us. We have a practice today and another opportunity to get better as a team. Our team chemistry is great right now. We are playing solid defensively and when we play like that we have a great chance of beating any team.”
 

Jarod Jahns

On playing 30 minutes against Kentucky...

“I never would have thought that would happen. Ray got in foul trouble and you have to answer the call at that point. We don’t have a deep forward lineup, so Coach told me to go in and I knew that it was going to have to be for the rest of the game.

“I was just going to have to answer the call. It was fun, for sure. I went up against the biggest and the best and I didn’t even have offers to play in college so it was a dream that has come true."

On guarding Kentucky’s Nerlens Noel...

“He’s a monster. He’s 18 or 19 years old and I did the very best I possibly could. I tried not to let him catch the ball. He’s just really good and a very big guy. I’ve never played against a guy who is a true 6-11 and plays as big as he is. You prepare. You watch film. You know how good he is and what his tendencies are. You just force him off the block.

“Coach just said, 'Stay solid. Stay strong.' Coach Keller is my biggest critic and he said, 'If he blocks your shot, you’re coming back out.' My focus was just to get the ball reversed and get Elston the ball because he was on fire. That was our main focus and what Coach was feeding us.”

On takeaways from Kentucky...

“I think it is great experience for all of us. Florida is a heck of a team. They have great guard-play and great post-play. I think it will give us a little bit of momentum going into the game on Thursday. We need to stay strong, keep rebounding and keep having a team effort all around.

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Bob Starkey

On the team having a slight break...

"There's definitely some things we need to clean up. We'll give them today off. Tomorrow they'll come in and watch film and that's all we'll do and it'll give us an extended period of time to prepare for a tough Georgia team on the road. I think one of the reasons Kelsey (Bone) is playing so well is her practice habits. She's been an excellent practice player. Practice helps her.

"I do think it's a good time. Whether it comes early, middle or late, your attitude as a coach has to be that it is the right time (for a break) and you have to take advantage of it."

On how the team is adjusting to his defense from Vic Schaefer's...

"I think it's going well. I think the players have been conducive to learning some new things. It hasn't been a major overhaul. It's not like we came in and went from man to zone. We're still pressuring the basketball, we're still extending our defense, we've just made some adjustments maybe on our help side defense — not denying the guard-to-guard pass up top, trying to overload our defense on the side of the ball — changed up our post defense a bit and certainly give some different looks on ball screens.

"So I don't think it's been a major overhaul, which has been good to them. But I think they've done a great job of listening and taking some of the new concepts in."

On what he attributes Bone's explosion to...

"A lot of hard work. She had a great summer, she had an outstanding fall and she's been a great practice player. It's hard for me to compare what her habits were like before I came here.

"I've had the opportunity to know Kelsey for a really long time. We recruited her heavily at LSU, she came to our camps every summer, I knew her and her family very well, so I just think the maturity process, opening her eyes to understanding the amount of hard work that goes into being a great player ... I work with the post players and she's incredibly coachable.

"She's one of those kids who does all the things that you want. She's going to know her scouting report from front to back. She's going to watch all the film. Same thing with Kristi Bellock, who might me our most underrated player right now. But they've been really, really excellent on the practice floor and I always think that's going to carry over for you."

On Georgia...

"They're outstanding. It's a hall of fame coach and Georiga is always at the top of the SEC. You're going to see great athleticism, very balanced scoring — if you look at their starters, their leader is averaging 12 and their least-scoring starter is averaging eight, so they don't necessarily have a singular player we have to lock in and defend.

"They're going to bring pressure; they'll do it in a variety of ways. He likes to play man, but if man doesn't work he'll go to zone. But even in zone he's going to extend and press you. We really have to get better at taking care of the basketball. Even during this run, that's been the lone point that's been disappointing. ... Those are lost possessions, and now you're going to go on the road against an athletic team that pressures you."

Kelsey Bone

On having a week break right now...

"I think it sucks. We got into a groove, kind of got into a routine in our schedule, Thursday-Sunday, knowing what's expected for the week, and I don't think we realized until maybe this week that we didn't play on Thursday. We were like, 'Whaaat?' I think it'll be good for us, so to speak, because we'll have a bit more time to get the kinks out.

"We're going into a tough place to play against a quality team and those little details and small things that we've been troubled with when playing these types of opponents, we have a few more days to prepare."

On what the time will be used for...

"I do think we'll use the time to prepare for Georgia because they are such a quality opponent, #13 in the country. I do think we use all this time to prepare for them. There were those games in a row after Christmas where we were preparing for three opponents at the same time in practice, playing somebody tomorrow with one day in between the games.

"It forces us to focus on one thing and one task at hand. All our time and all our focus is going to be on the Georgia Bulldogs and I think that bodes well when you're dealing with such a young team."

On not having Sundays off in the SEC...

"The Sunday has now been moved to Monday. We still have to go to class, we still have to go to study hall, we just don't have to go to practice. Whereas on Sundays, we didn't have to do anything (last year). It's all about adjustment. Nothing we can do to change it, we just have to go with it and be OK with it because it's not going to change.

"Coach Starkey is right — we have to deal with it like pros, because it's a job and we go to work. There aren't many days we can call in sick."

Jordan Jones

On the open date from a freshman's perspective...

"We're just pretty excited. We're getting adjusted to the SEC, this being our first year. I think the coaches are doing a great job of preparing us for what to expect and how to prepare for a game, and the mental part of preparation and adjusting the physical part. In high school we didn't play this many games back to back. So this is good for us as freshmen.

"But as Kelsey said, the team was kind of into a groove. So we're disappointed that we don't play Thursday. But we have to go back into the gym and work on the little things we have to do to play Georgia."

On fixing the turnover problem...

"Just continuity. Once the first five gets taken out and he starts putting in his subs off the bench, I think we still need to play as a unit and play together and just show the first five that they don't have to worry about being subbed in right after they get subbed out, and that the second group is going to handle their business.

"The first five does a great job of executing plays and keeping down on the turnovers, but I think Coach Blair always says he has to have continuity through his subs. As of now, the second group, we're not really playing as a unit and it shows. That's when we stop executing and the little things start showing up. We have a lot we need to work on in practice. It starts in practice."