Talking with Billy

Coach Gillispie sits down before the season and gives his views on the team and the program

What is your general overview of this team?

"We're going to be short, and we'll have some challenges as far as ball handling, rebounding, and where the inside scoring is going to come from. I do think it will be an enthusiastic, hard-working group, and I can live with that. We will probably try to play relatively fast because of our lack of size. The biggest concern for me is the lack of experience. We only have one senior and the other guys don't have much experience at this level. It's hard to jump into a league like this with inexperienced players."

What are the team's strengths?

"I don't know yet what our strengths will be. It might even be some of the things that I described as weaknesses. Sometimes a lack of experience can be a strength because of their exuberance for playing. Those are the things that are yet to be determined because we have so many new guys coming in. It'll be our first time together and there will have to be an adjustment time. Everybody will know that they will have a chance to get a great amount of playing time because there aren't that many guys who have played a lot of minutes. That will be a good motivator for everyone."

Talk about your mix of returners and newcomers...

Billy Gillispie (center) and the Aggie coaching staff tip-off the 2004-05 season Friday night at Reed Arena.

"I am excited about the guys who were already here and the guys we signed. It's going to set a foundation from which we can work. They all have a chance to be outstanding players, but they are all more than basketball players. They are outstanding people and are determined to succeed in basketball and do well academically. I will be very surprised if this group doesn't perform well academically. I think they will be very recognizable and eager to be part of campus life and part of the community. They always have smiles on their faces. All of these characteristics have a lot to do with how the guys play. These are the types of attitudes I want to have in the basketball program. They'll relate well to the student body. I think that the student body will really embrace these guys and support them. In other words, it's a two-way street -- students will like the players, the players will like the students, and together they'll become one."

Talk specifically about your personnel...

"Acie Law could be a great player in the Big 12. Bobby Leach came in here highly-regarded last year and probably didn't play as well as he wanted and he will be our only senior. I am excited about Dominique Kirk and Kenneth White. Both of those guys are very competitive. Marcus McIntosh makes a ton of plays defensively and can play a number of positions. Justin Loewe will be coming back from injury. Antoine Wright had a great spring and summer and has a fire that is burning pretty brightly. He wants to improve on his performance from last season and wants this team to win. He has been a really good leader for these guys on and off the court. As far as the front court guys, Marlon Pompey and Luis Clemente need to improve. Marlon is a powerful athlete but he's still developing. Edjuan Green is a producer who knows how to play, and the sky is the limit for Joseph Jones. He has a chance to be an outstanding player before he's done here."

Who do you see taking on leadership roles?

"Antoine Wright was good in the offseason, taking care of responsibilities and those kind of things. At this point, you always look for guys like him. He'll have the most experience or as much experience as anyone on our team at this level, so you definitely want to look at him. I think Acie Law has leadership qualities. He needs to continue to progress and understand how to be a good leader 24 hours a day. Joseph Jones, as a freshman, has the qualities of a leader that I look for. He never has a bad day and is always upbeat. He'll have an impact on the team on and off the court."

What is your basic offense and defense?

"I like to have a man-to-man team, but we try to adjust to personnel. In a perfect world, I would rather play pressure man-to-man defense, picking up full court. You need to pressure the point guard and be aggressive by nature. Defensively, we want to trap and play some full-court pressure. Offensively, we want to push it as hard as we can every single time. Being with coach Self, we've always been a high-low team. It gives the guys great driving and passing angles, so I feel very comfortable with that. I run quite a few sets as well."

What are your goals for this season?

"To improve, play hard every game, practice hard, and learn to really like and care for each other. I don't really have any tangible goals. I just want to try to get better every day. I want the fans to get better every single day. One of the biggest things we can achieve this year is for our guys to play hard and together. If that happens, we'll like the results at the end of the year as far as wins and losses. I think our fans should take the same approach. It's going to take more than a couple of people trying to change the fortunes of the basketball program. It's going to take more than a coach and a team wearing a basketball uniform. It's going to take every person who proclaims him or herself an Aggie. It's going to take all of us together to do it. To take on that attitude is a major goal of mine. I can't do it by myself. Our staff can't do it by itself. The players can't do it by themselves. Everyone who claims to be an Aggie needs to help us fix this basketball program. We need to roll up our collective sleeves and get to work."

What about your offseason program?

"The offseason program went well. We worked intensely in the individual workouts from March 24 until the end of school. Those workouts were very well received and the players got better as time went on. We need to improve our weight lifting. We have to change a lot of bodies. Some of the younger ones lack strength and they worked really hard this summer and I was pleased with that. We had to change a lot of things. Every coach has a different philosophy about everything. We want to change our approach to life, to academics, to weight training, and to workouts. I want the players to embrace workouts instead of fear them. We want to be considered good basketball players and to create a good basketball program with work ethic, determination and all the intangibles. I think we have some guys who have bought into some of those intangibles."

What are your thoughts about the Big 12?

"On paper, you would have to say that Oklahoma State should be a legitimate Final Four contender, along with Kansas. Texas and Oklahoma are going to be really good. Nebraska is getting better. K-State is getting better. Texas Tech had a bunch of young guys who will definitely be as good or better than they were last year. Baylor is in the second year of that program and will be better. Colorado is hard to play and will be as good as they were last year. Missouri is a question mark right now. Iowa State should improve. They had two of the best guards in the league last year who were first-year players. In other words, it'll be just like other years. It'll be nearly impossible to win games and you just have to somehow figure out a way to win them. It is a hard league to get better in. Some leagues you can get one or two players and make a major move, but it is hard to change your position in this league."

What is your basic philosophy and style of play?

"Our basic philosophy on offense is try to get one or more shots per possession. That means you take care of the basketball, you get a good shot, you don't turn the ball over much, and you offensive rebound. On defense, we try to allow our opponents less than one shot per possession which means that they don't get any offensive rebounds. Guard them, pressure defense, don't give them second shots and get some steals. That's harder to do than it sounds and I like and try to do it as fast as we can. I think it's more fun for the players to play fast. I like to watch fast games and the fans do as well, but we won't play fast for the sake of playing fast. We are going to try to play as fast as we can, but also try to adjust and adapt. The thing about it is that coaches in this league don't let you do want you want to do, so if you want to do something you have to be really, really good at it or it's going to be taken away from you."