December 21, 1997
Post-Game Quotes: Texas A&M vs. Maryland-Eastern Shore
Maryland-Eastern Shore Head Coach Lonnie Williams:
"Texas A&M has a lot of talent. It will be interesting to watch Sports Ticker to see how they fare in the Big 12. They are a quality opponent and did a great job of executing. We are a better basketball team than we showed today. We shot the ball very poorly this afternoon, and you do not have a chance when you shoot like we did. We are going through some growing pains but we will get back to the drawing board and try to make some improvements. The last few years Texas A&M has been struggling, but they have the talent to turn things around. In 15 years of coaching, this is my worst loss. I wish them (Texas A&M) well."
Texas A&M Head Coach Tony Barone (On starting Brian Barone and Michael Schmidt):
"We wanted to shake things up a little bit. We actually didn't decide to start Brian until we put the starting lineup in the book. We were going to start Michael. It won't be permanent. I think it's important that you don't get too comfortable with your situation and that you understand that the starting positions are important positions but there are other roles on the team to play. Coming off the bench sometimes is a good thing. I thought we got great energy from Michael and Brian to start the game. "
(On what he did after being ejected from game late in first half):
"I went to my office. I had some Christmas cards to write so I got that done. I want to apologize to the team. I'm embarrassed. As a coach, there are two games that scare me. One is the game coming off of final exams. We went to Arizona State and played a great basketball game on Friday. I couldn't have been prouder of our team. The second game I'm always concerned about is the game before you go home for Christmas. Those games came back-to-back. I told the players today that one of the things you want to do as a young man, and they don't really understand it yet, is you have a 40 minute game and you only have so many of those games. You never want to do anything to not give your all for 40 minutes. I told them that before the game today because I was very concerned about this game. We played our hearts out at Arizona State, traveled all day yesterday, had no preparation time all, so I was concerned about it. I told them, hey, you have to give 40 minutes. Then I get tossed. That is an embarrassment. I apologized to them in the locker room."
"After the Colorado State game (Dec. 10) we had the opportunity to put some things in that we needed to put in. I thought that was important. This was not a good idea to travel all day them come back and play a game. We made a decision to let the guys go home for Christmas this year. The last three years we haven't really done that. They'll have four complete days at home and I think that's healthy for them. They need it and I'm happy they are going to get that. But from a business standpoint, this was not a good scheduling setup."
(On officiating):
"I have no comment on the officiating. I'm going to send my report into the conference office just like they'll send their report. Then whatever takes place will take place. I can tell you that I did not swear at the official. I was very concerned about positioning on calls. I might have deserved the first one but I didn't deserve the second one, in my opinion. There is still no excuse for getting thrown out of the game."
"I don't ever want to sit in the stands and be a fan, nor do I want to go to events and watch them as a sports fan. I can't do that. I can't listen to it on the radio. I'd be a basket case. I didn't take my own advice and that's not good. My own advice was that you give your 40 minutes when you are on the court. I didn't take that advice and I need to take the hit for that with our kids. They didn't need me anyway. (Assistant coach Porter) Moser must have done a good job. I've got a lot of respect and total confidence in my assistants. Those guys -- Porter, Eddie (Molitor) and Desmond (Oliver) -- know what to do. In fact, I stayed in a halftime and said a couple of things and left. Porter has enough sense to coach the basketball team and I'm sure he'll be a great head coach when his time comes. But he's not going to get another chance this year, though."
A&M Guard Chris Clayton (On making a career-high seven three-point field goals):
"After I hit my first shot, I was feeling pretty good. My teammates kept giving me the ball and I just kept shooting it."
(On Coach Barone's ejection):
"I was shocked because I didn't know what he did. We just came together from that point and played harder."
(On the game being close to the Christmas break):
"We knew when we saw the schedule at the beginning of the season that this game would be close to when we would be going home. We were up for it because we lost a heart-breaker in Arizona and to Colorado State. We had to come out and prove to ourselves that if we play together and play hard for 40 minutes, we are a great team."
A&M Forward Calvin Davis (On the inside game):
"We had an advantage over them because we had bigger guys than they had. They were physical but because of our quickness and our size, I think we were a little bit too much for them. Once the inside game got established, the outside game opened up."
(On the one-day break between the Arizona State game and Sunday's game):
"I don't think it was that big of a deal. We got back yesterday and had one day to prepare for Maryland- Eastern Shore. We were well-coached, we looked at film and we scouted them well. We knew that we had to come out and keep our focus after losing a close game in Arizona."
A&M Guard Brian Barone (On Coach Barone's ejection):
"You had to laugh at it because I didn't think he deserved it. We hear worse than that. Our first reaction was to come together as a team. The other coaches are always coaching us in practice, too, so that didn't really effect us. I think it got us a little more excited.
(On Coach Barone apologizing to team for getting ejected):
"His reason for apologizing to us was that he wanted to be with us the whole game. He told us that we are a team and we need to be together the whole game. I don't think he necessarily needed to apologize. It got us excited when he did (get ejected), not that we want him to do it every game. I don't think it (getting ejected) was that big of a deal at all."