December 09, 2002
Audio and selected quotes of Texas A&M head coach Melvin Watkins' media luncheon, held Monday at Cain Hall:
How different is your 5-1 start this year compared to your 5-1 start last year?
"I think we've got a better basketball team and I feel like I've challenged them a little greater this year. They've made some pretty decent grades on some of those challenges so I'm pleased with that. We know it's still early and we have to stay healthy, continue to improve, and keep moving forward."
You were at the same point this time last year and then had four straight losses. How do you prevent something like that happening?
"Why'd you have to bring that up? This is a different team and a different year. We're taking it one game at a time. I have some confidence in this team. We're beginning to understand what it takes. We're not there yet but we surely like the taste of winning and fear that taste of losing. That's something every team has to have. I've got confidence in this team that we'll keep moving forward. Time will tell. I like the fact that we've got a few days to get back in the practice gym and hopefully have some quality practices that will make us even better."
Last year you were concerned at this time about how guys would react to success. You've talked about from the summer forward that you thought this group was a much better group of guys as far as a team. Are there the same concerns this year as there were last?
"I think those concerns are always there. I do think this team has shown me to this point that they are more mature and understand this process better. With that in mind it gives me a little bit more confidence. We're just trying to make sure we focus in on all the little things that can jump up and bite you and we will continue to do that. That's why I am saying that I am excited to get back to having some practice days because there are some things that I know we need to focus on. With the games kind of back to back the last couple of weeks, we didn't have a lot of time to do that."
You said last week that you thought last year's team probably couldn?t have won a game like LSU. Will you talk about this year's team and what you feel about them?
"It's more of what I feel about this team and the potential of this team that we can evaluate games a little differently and understand situations a little bit better. With all of that in mind, it gives you some confidence to say that we're a better basketball team. Does that mean we're ready to win the Big 12? Well, we've got a lot of games before we get to the Big 12 that we need to focus on and that's what were gonna try to do."
If someone would have told you before the season that you were going to be 5-1 going into this week, you'd have taken that wouldn't you?
"No, I would have been disappointed. I'd want to be 6-0. When we put this team together this year, I knew we had some pieces that we were excited about, but until you get them on the practice floor and see how they interact with each other, you don?t know. As this team has evolved to this point, I surely can tell you that I am pleased with a lot of the things we have done. I know that we've got to get better in certain areas and continue to work. All teams at this juncture would say that they have to do those same things."
What kinds of areas are you talking about that you want to improve in?
"Just some of the fundamentals of the game. Defensively, I thought we got beat off of the dribble too much and even in situations where we were switching, at times we didn't use the proper technique. We just need to clean up those kinds of things and redefine what we need to do in the half court. Rebounding is an area that still concerns us. All those aspects of the game that we know will help you become a winning basketball team, we just need to make sure we go back and go over those areas."
Turnovers are obviously one of those areas...
"We definitely turn the ball over way way too much, so that's one of those areas we have to clean up. Those are lost scoring opportunities and I feel like if we shoot the basketball or take it to the basket, we've got a chance to score this year. We need to value the basketball a little bit better."
There were a couple of times this year that you've said you didn't play as well as you would have liked, but you still got the win. You could probably count those on one hand prior to this year. Is that progress?
"I don't know if you need that many hands. That's progress in my opinion. You know as a coach that during the course of a season you're going to have games where you don't play well, and you?re going to have games where team's present problems. But the good teams still find a way to get a win in those situations. I can tell you that if you look at any schedule, at the end of the season you're gonna say that they dodged a bullet there but got the win. Hopefully at the end of this year we can sit back and look at some of those games and say that may have been the same case for us. What you find when you're dealing with 18 and 19 year olds is that you'll take any win you can get. You know every night you want these kids to come out and play their very best, but that's just not always going to happen. There are too many factors, too many variables. So, once again, if you can get a win, no matter where it is or who it's against, you have to be pleased with that."
It looks like for the most part you've gone with more of a veteran group down the stretch of games, like with Bradley Jackson. With more practice time coming up, can you show the newcomers what he (Bradley Jackson) already knows?
"There's nothing like having experience. I think what you're talking about is that I am going with some of the guys who have been through some of the wars and who have experienced practice time as well as playing games. Sometimes you may not be in a game but you are still learning things. All this helps us in becoming a better basketball team. Who is in at the end of the game may change as the season progresses, but right now we're trying to focus on getting the win each and every time out. I'm going to have people in the game who I think can make that happen for us."
How is Antoine responding to the pressure when the game is on the line?
"He's responding like an upper-classmen. He's a unique player. Needless to say, he's played quite a bit of basketball. I surely think his summer experience with USA Basketball and some of the other different teams he's played on has made him an advanced freshman. I know he's relied on his experience in some of those situations, maybe more so than that of some other freshmen. That, with the fact that he's a pretty good player, I would say helps him play with the confidence that you need coming down the stretch and the knowledge that "hey, I can make a positive play."
Is there a target date when Andy Slocum could be available?
"We hope that at the end of the month he will start getting into practice. After that, I think we'll have a little better indication as to how far along he is and where he's at. He hasn't been released to have any contact, but he's doing some jogging. If you know anything about Andy Slocum, you know he's ready to play last week, but the doctors have not released him. The thing we don't want to do is rush him. We want to make sure when he comes back that he's 100 percent ready to get into the battles. So we're probably going to move a little slower than Andy wants to move."
How tough was the crowd at Prairie View?
"We know when we go on the road it's going to be a hostile environment and you've got to be more focused and pull together. It was great to see 1,000 of our fans travel to Prairie View. That was great. Our kids came out of the locker room and saw the maroon up in the stands and that was a good feeling. I want our kids to understand that if we go out and take care of our business, people will support us. But to go in there and not play our best basketball and get the win in a game we could have easily lost, I was pleased just to get on the bus and go home. To go in there and to have some of the things go against us as they did, and still to stay focused enough to get the win was a positive thing. I know we'll look back at those games where we let leads get away from us, we'll see that we learned some things. But we better be fast learners, because we know that the challenges are going to get greater and we can't afford to give away leads. We work hard to get those leads then we tend to want to give them back. We don't want fans to leave the games, we want to keep everybody in their seats. The problem is that I have to sit there too and watch."
Are you pleased with where your team is at right now?
"I think the season is full of tests, and we've passed some of those early tests. We know we're going to get tested some more. But I am pleased with that because we know all of those games could have been losses. We were tested and in different situations. We were down against Oakland but fought back. So we've seen a lot of different tests which I hope will make us a better basketball team. I don't think we've played to our full potential yet. We can and should become a better team."