December 08, 1998
You're 6-1 and you've won three straight. Evaluate your team's progress...
"As a coach I'm hard to please sometimes, but truly our young men are working hard. They're trying to carry out the game plan. I look at some of our stats and our field goal defense is number one in the conference. There are some good things going on out there. I like the fact that I see the team is jelling as a unit. For instance, when I get on some players, I see the team rallying around them and encouraging them and that's what you've got to have."
So far, you have seemed to have different players stepping up each game and providing a balanced attack...
"For us to be a good team, we surely will have to spread the wealth. Shanne (Jones) can surely carry a lion's share of that but if he's the only one doing that then that makes us not a very good team. You may see his stats go down point-wise, but we hope his play will continue to go up. Clifton Cook can do a lot of different things for us and so has Chris Clayton, so we're kind of spreading the wealth right now. That's a tandem that's working right now. Both are finding a comfort zone with each other and that's always important. More importantly, they understand their limitations and we try to stay away from those things that they can't do well."
Are you pleased with how the non- conference schedule has gone?
"We play these non-conference games to get us ready for the Big 12 and that's what we talk about although we don't look down the highway. We surely hope that the things we are doing now, whether it's good or bad, that we can continue to improve and get ready for the Big 12. That's where we have to make our mark without a doubt.
"The thing that we try to do, and I did this at UNC-Charlotte, is stay focused on the next game. I think if you start to go beyond that, you're setting yourself up for failure. Sometimes, the kids talk about wanting to get into the Big 12 and we're just trying to stay away from that. This team is one that cannot afford to look too far down the road. We've have to take care of things now."
What players have given your team a lift when you've been down?
"The other night against Lamar, Aaron Jack and one of our walk-ons, Jason Boeker, came in and gave us some spunk and spirit and helped us win the game. On different nights, it's been different guys."
What are the areas you think the Aggies need to focus on?
"If I were to single out one thing that we need to focus on it would be to just continue to execute. We have to be a team that dots our I's and crosses our T's. We need to learn how this team will respond when we do hit a bumpy road in the schedule and can we pick ourselves up and go. This team is showing some character that we can possibly do that. Just to go back to the Oral Roberts game, we lost the game there and maybe at times I could see a little quit in our faces, but we fought through that. We didn't win that game, but we surely put ourselves in position to win it. And then we came back for the next game and got a win."
What did you think about the A&M football team's win against Kansas State?
"If you could put the spirit that the Aggie Football Team displayed in a bottle and drink from it, we'd have all our problems solved. They put the press on and turned that thing around. So there is a spirit around here, we just need to lean on it and borrow some."