December 20, 2004
Selected quotes from coach Billy Gillispie's luncheon with local media members on Monday at Rudy's Barbeque:
Your team has struggled from the free throw line in recent games. How have you been addressing that?
We've been spending much more time practicing and talking about those kinds of things. Joseph (Jones) should be a very good free throw shooter and he started off this season well, but something is in his head right now. We're going to make a couple changes mechanically -- just minor changes about body postures and those kinds of things -- and I think that will help. I watched all those free throws last night about 50 times on tape. But he will get them. But you can't win games, close games, like that, so we're spending more time on it. The good part is that we got to the foul line a lot and that's the kind of teams that I like. I think our team is getting to the foul line more because we are attacking more and we always want to try to make more free throws than our opponents attempt. That's a real goal. It's not very realistic, but our team did it last year over the course of the season. We've just got to start making them."
You've got a game coming up Wednesday night starting a critical stretch with conference play right around the corner. Do you like to have a game like this right before Christmas?
"I like our break. If last night was our last game, even if we kept them here for two or three more days for practice, I don't think your practice is as productive as if you were working toward playing a game. So I think that if you can get a good break after the game and your off two or three days or whatever, then you come back and get ready for the most important games of our season. Basketball is a tough deal for players during the holidays because you don't get a Thanksgiving break and you don't get much at Christmas, not even close to what a normal student gets. But that's just the way season goes. But I do like the way it's broken down this year. I think that should be very, very good for us. A lot of guys don't even go home. Shelby (Metcalf) would play in four or five tournaments and they were always traveling somewhere, so they probably never got a chance to go home. I don't know that for a fact, but I would assume that they didn't. But I do like for them to get to go home and be with their families a little bit."
Do you do any team bonding stuff during this time, trying to do something a little bit different to try and get their minds away from basketball for one day or one activity?
"Like bowling or movies and all that kind of stuff? We don't do all that, or do as much of that stuff right now. We do stuff like that over the course of the year. We will have a Christmas party tomorrow night and that's a lot of fun and that gets your team to be closer."
Looking back over the last three or four years, there's been a lot of games that A&M has played down to the competition. You've really only had one situation like that this year. What have you done to really be able to put the hammer down on some of these teams and not play down to their level?
"Don't take this the wrong way, but I don't think just because we are in a particular conference and an opponent is in a different conference, who is to say were playing down to a team? Chicago State last night had three really good guards and a good big guy. I get kind of frustrated when you put down the competition. I was really studying our schedule last night and we have five different games from what they had last year. Six of the opponents are common, meaning we played them last year and we play them this year. If you switch those other five out, there's no difference. They went to Tennessee, we go to Penn State. We played North Carolina A&T, they played Arkansas-Pine Bluff. Guys, we've got a long way to go to build a program. How can you say that we're playing down to our competition when we've got three guys who have experience at this level, two freshman starting every single game and a walk-on who's starting? How can we be playing down to any competition? There are so many good players across the country. I think were confused here a little bit. We've got a long way to go. We're making great strides and our guys are playing extremely hard and extremely well together. Let's applaud what they are doing. We know that there are a lot of bumps in the road ahead of us, but just because we're in a particular conference and everybody else we've played so far is not from that conference doesn't mean your playing down to someone's level. Let's give the people we're playing a little bit more respect."
Is that how your players have been able to approach these games?
"I think so. I think they have done a really good job in that. I think they have respected every single opponent we've had. We didn't play very well against Alabama A&M, but it wasn't because of disrespect. It was because we didn't execute very well in the half-court zone offense. That's a fact. It wasn't because we were not ready, it wasn't because we were not prepared and it wasn't because we didn't respect our opponent. It was because we didn't execute very well when we had the ball in our hands. I'm very, very proud of the way our guys have responded with everybody saying things about our schedule, which is fine. I think our schedule worked out well for us. The reason people are saying that is because we are winning by large margins. If we had lost some of those games, nobody would be paying so much attention to it. I hate to say they have been losing those games, but over the past five years there have been games against the same competition we've played so far that have been lost by Texas A&M. I think we're making great strides. I think a good team wins the games you're supposed to win and I think that our guys have gone over and beyond what they should have been able to do so far by providing the margins of victory. I think it's a tribute to them for playing from start to finish. Will that be good enough when they get into conference? I don't know. But I know this: If you don't do that, you don't have a chance to win conference so you take baby steps and you see where you are at the end."
When the season started, did you have a number in mind as far as the number of wins you'd like to have going into conference play?
"No, I really don't do that. I believe you try to play as hard as you can every day in practice and you add them up at the end. We don't talk a lot about winning and losing. We talk about trying to be successful. If you have consistently good practices and you have guys willing to put in the work and effort, and have determination and unselfishness, then you'll be as good as your abilities will allow. We'll have some games this year where we'll play our best game and it won't be good enough because our roster is not where it needs to be. But we'll be successful in that game if we're able to do that. You play one game and you try to win one game every time out."
The crowds seem to be a bit larger this season. Does 8-0 have much to do with that?
"I would think so. But more so, if you come and watch this team play, you appreciate their effort and determination and team play. We start with a very imposing conference schedule. I've noticed the crowds lately and from what I've been told and from what I've studied, those are much better crowds. And they are active crowds and they've helped us. I appreciate that and our players do, too. The 8-0 might jump out in the paper, but I think the people who come see us play will come back win, lose or draw because I think we'll be fun to watch. Our guys are trying hard, from our first guy to the last."
Are you closer to settling on any kind of rotation or are you still experimenting?
We've still got growing pains as far as guys understanding the value of practice every day. They've done really well and have come a million miles, but they're not where they need to be yet. We need to get more out of several guys. Edjuan Green was really good last night and the reason is that he's put a bunch of good practices together. He's become much more competitive and that's the way he should be able to play. Joseph Jones keeps on improving and Antoine's really improving. Last night wasn't his best game, but Acie keeps improving. Dominique has been solid all year long. We've got to get more out of Marlon. Bobby Leach has done about as much as he possibly can. We need to get something out of Luis, Justin Loewe and some of those other guys. We're losing Gahan and he's been good for us. Last night, when things weren't going well he came in and made two free throws, then gets a three-pointer. He got an offensive rebound on a free throw. We're losing him, so someone has to play five or six minutes that he was playing. But our rotation is a work in progress. I'm still learning how to coach particular guys. We've been through a lot but we haven't had a game yet where we didn't wind up on the right end of the score. That's another learning situation that I really don't care to learn about, but it's realistic. You have to learn how guys will be when we get beat. The teams that end up having successful seasons practice from start to finish each day throughout the season. They play games from start to finish. And they play their schedule from start to finish. I would say there is not a real high percentage of teams across the country who stick with it all year long. Hopefully, we'll be a team that sticks with it. If we do, then we'll be as good as we can possibly be in the end."