December 16, 2002
Audio and selected quotes of Texas A&M head coach Melvin Watkins' media luncheon, held Monday at Cain Hall:
After watching the tape of the UTSA game, what would have changed the outcome of the game besides the missed free throws?
"We were very critical of what we were doing both offensively and defensively. We just did not play a very good game of basketball. However, we still felt we could have won the ball game. We've got to get back to practice and start cleaning up some things and get better in our execution on both offense and defense."
When Bernard got injured, you had UTSA in the double bonus. He's a slasher and without him, it looked like you settled for a bunch of jump shots...
"We have to learn that not only from this game but previous game. We've got to do a better job of taking the ball to the basket. We are settling for too many jump shots and we've got to change that. That's going to be one of our points of emphasis. We've got to get our mid-range game going. We know we can shoot the three but the three is not going to go all the time. That's something we've got to get better at. Not only Bernard but also all the rest of the guys on the perimeter have got to be more aggressive in taking the ball toward the basket."
Is this loss tougher to recover from because it was a team from a smaller school?
"No, it was a tough loss because it was at home, we had some momentum going and we wanted to keep that momentum going. But they came in and, I give them credit, they came in and really crashed the boards and made plays when they had to make them. We didn't and so we didn't get the job done. But this group is a little bit different than in the past. We will bounce back."
Why are you feeling so confident this group will bounce back so strong?
"We have the type of kids who, when we are in practice and in meeting and even watching the tape, the questions they ask and just the atmosphere in our meetings and in our practices is so much better than it's been in the past. Though the course of any season you are going to have some bumps in the road. This is a bump in the road for us and we've got to bounce back. I just think this group will do that."
Your next opponent, Louisiana-Monroe, kind of kicked you when you were down last year. Did your players have this one circled before the season?
"We didn't, but what I think we've got to understand is they beat us last year and they after we lost to UTSA they surely feel like they can come in here and get a win. They just went on the road and beat TCU by 10 or 11 points, so I know they will come in here with lots of confidence. It's up to us to make sure that when they leave here that confidence is not there anymore."
You have another long layoff (7 days) before playing again, as you did prior to the UTSA game (8 days). Is that a concern?
"I think we can use the practice time. We've got to work around final exams and that stuff, then you have to worry about the mental aspects, but you know you've got to step it up. If we want to have a good season, a winning season, we've got to bounce back and get things right that we didn't do in our last game."
Are you getting closer to working Andy Slocum back in?
"We got pretty good news Sunday night that he wants to sit down and do some individual workouts. Monday was his first day to do that. We will evaluate him and a get a better feel for where he might be, but Andy is ready to go. If he had been in the UTSA game, he would have gotten some rebounds. We know we need him back. We have gotten though seven games 5-2 without him but we need him in there. He's a projected starter for us."
On that note, will you do little more work on rebounding this week?
"We will work on rebounding. We were doing it early and got away from it, but we will go back to that now. We have a few drills that will bump them up a little bit and we will bring it back in."