January 13, 2003
Audio and selected quotes of Texas A&M head coach Melvin Watkins' media luncheon, held Monday at Cain Hall:
What are your thoughts going into the Nebraska game on Wednesday?
"Nebraska is 6-1 at home, so they obviously play very well at home. I think you can throw that game out at Kansas and not get much from that. We know we have to go back and right some of the things that we did wrong in our last game to go up there and win that ball game. We know it will be a tough game. Any time you are on the road in the Big 12, it is going to be tough. They execute very well and they are a balanced-type team. There isn't one player who is necessarily going to score 20 points on you -- they have three or four different players who could have a big night. I think they rebound the ball well and they do a good job defensively. They can make it very tough, especially if you play their tempo. They want to kind of slow it down and keep the scores in the low sixties."
You have consistent scorers in Bernard King and Antoine Wright, but really need a couple more guys to do that, don't you?
"Kevin Turner has done that in our last few games and we surely will need that as we move forward in Big 12 play. We have often said that if you have three to four guys who can score for you consistently, then you have a chance to be a pretty good basketball team. I think we have three who have shown they can score. We are still searching a little bit for that fourth one. You need those guys to put the ball in the basket. In the Oklahoma State game, we had spells where we made the right play but we just didn't finish. When you play good teams you have to make those plays. So we will talk about that today in practice."
What areas are you most concerned with?
"Let me start with the defense first. We had some breakdowns where we got beat off the dribble a little bit. I think we got a little confused in the sense that we had been trapping and rotating defensively and hadn't worked as much on solid man. That is something we have to go back to and make sure we are solid on our weak-side help, which at times was not there. Some of that was because we had been in the mode of rotating as we trapped and we didn't want to do that against Oklahoma State. That is something that we can clean up, being able to contain the basketball a little bit better. We had some situations where we got beat off the dribble a little too easy and so we will go back and clean that up. Offensively, I was not necessarily disappointed with our execution. The bottom line is that we had some plays where we were right there at the bucket and had some open shots. I would take those same shots again."
How disappointing was losing the conference opener?
"There was a lot made about getting off to a good start and the reason for that was that we finally had an opening conference game at home. Unfortunately, we were playing one of the better teams in the conference. Oklahoma State was actually playing very well. From that standpoint, we will look at that and we will learn from it. By no means is this one of those situations where we give up on this season. We have a lot of basketball to play and a lot of things will happen in this conference. Sitting in the locker room after the game, there was a different feeling with these kids. They felt like they let that one get away as opposed to not being able to play with those guys. And that is important to understand."
How much did Oklahoma State's defense hurt your offensive execution?
"Their quickness surely affected us and when you have that type of quickness, you can really put some pressure on the basketball. That is something that we have not been able to simulate in practice. That was the first time we saw that and it caused us some problems. Even with that, I thought we managed it fairly well and didn't get totally rattled. It caused us to rush our shots a little bit. So in that way it gets in your head. We will bounce back from that."
Have you seen teams changing their defenses to defend Kevin Turner?
"We weren't sure, going in to the Oklahoma State game, how Kevin would handle their perimeter defense. We felt like they would really pressure him and be very physical with him because of his makeup. I thought he handled it very well, especially being in his first Big 12 game. Now as we look at Nebraska, I would say that is going to be the book on Kevin. You have to get up on him and make sure that you don't give him good looks. If he continues to get his mid-range game going, he can still be very effective. We all can learn from that. You don't have to settle for that contested three when you can show the basketball and get the ball within fifteen feet and still knock it down. That is something we are working with Antoine on. To get his mid-range game going a little bit better. Those are some positive things that we will take away from that tape."
Andy Slocum didn't play well against Oklahoma State. How's his progress in coming back from the injury?
"I think he is moving along pretty good with the rehab. Oklahoma State was one of those games that I thought might be a difficult game for Andy in terms of their quickness. Sometimes it is a little hard for to match-up with those 6'7". It may have been a little bit more me that anything in that I think those quicker guys tend to make Andy rush a little bit. I was concerned with that. We have to get him coming along because defensively he can help us, rebounding he can help us and if he gets it low enough, he can score in there some, too. It was one of those match-up situations where I didn't feel comfortable. I think he matches up very well with Nebraska."
Have you been changing up your defenses more?
"We are always changing up some things. We were changing up defensively against Oklahoma State and caused them some problems for a while. Having that guy down low (in the 1-3-1 zone) depends on what we are trying to accomplish. We played that 1-3-1 and it was effective at times. They hit a couple of shots and we switched to something else. The intent is to keep teams off balance."
How much did the physical nature of Oklahoma State's play affect your team?
"If a team is going to be a little bit more physical, you have to be smarter. We won't be able to adjust in terms of our physical strength this month or next month, but we can be a little smarter in terms of how we handle teams that are a little stronger or a little more physical than us. When we saw that, we didn't handle it as well as we can and should have. Now it comes back to using the gray matter between the ears and knowing how to play and what to do against kids that are maybe a little stronger. If someone jumps higher than you, if you box them out that can negate their ability to jump. You don't go in there knowing that you are going to try and out jump that kid. You can't do that. Physically he is going to out jump you. You then use your intelligence and box him out. Those are some of the things that we are going to address in terms of what will make us a smarter team against some of those stronger teams in our conference."
Talk about Antoine Wright's impact...
"It has been very positive. His name is out there among coaches and kids we are recruiting. That is a name they have heard and they can associate with that. When they hear that name they hear Texas A&M and that is a good relationship. We know that you have to have top-notch players at this level, particularly in this conference. We will continue to bring in players who can come in and have an immediate impact. What we hope is that players like that are not only good, but they can make guys around them better. We think Antoine has those types of skills and capabilities. All good players want to play with good players. That is why it is so important for us to get a kid like Antoine Wright. When we talk to other kids now, they want to meet him and know more about him. That is why Duke is getting the McDonald's All-Americans. Those kids want to go play with each other and they see each other during the summertime. That is what we are trying to create with Antoine Wright. He has already helped us in more ways than you may know. We know what he is doing on the court but off the court, in terms of recruiting, he is helping us that way as well. Right before the game Coach Sutton came up to me and said, 'Man, you have some other soldiers now.' He meant that we are getting some players like all the other good teams in this conference have. That is what he was making reference to. We talk about X's and O's but you have to have players of this caliber to go out and do the things we need to get done and Antoine represents that. Surely we are going to continue to try and recruit that way. The other players that we have are going to make contributions but that kind of player can really carry you a long, long way. The good thing about Antoine is the way he approaches the game, the attitude he brings to the practice floor. Those are all intangibles that might not show up on a stat sheet or a box score, but he represents all those things."