January 09, 2006
Head men's basketball coach Billy Gillispie met with members of the press Monday at the weekly basketball media luncheon held in College Station.
Click the link to the right to listen to the press conference. A transcript is posted below.
Billy Gillispie Media Luncheon Quotes
You talk all the time about defense setting the tone, and that was the case the other night. But how pleased have you been about the defensive intensity all season?
"The intensity's usually there. We've got a couple of guys that raise it up, but they usually play really hard defensively. The thing concerning me with this group is our offense sometimes dictates our defensive intensity. (Texas) Tech was running a fantastic offense in the first half and really doing a good job of guarding us. We missed some shots we probably should have made, but I didn't think we had the same kind of intensity in the first half. No disrespect to them at all. We have to be more mature when things aren't going well and hunker down even more so. We were able to hang in there but we've got to mature in that respect."
Defense is a lot more than being on your man, right?
"It's hard to do. You have to see your man and the ball at all times. It's easy if people are standing still. But people aren't standing still, especially as good as they (Texas Tech) run their offense. Everybody moves for the most part, so it's not easy to see your man and the ball. Every time the ball moves, all five guys should be moving in the direction of the ball. It's very difficult to understand how to play angles, move the ball, see the ball and the man, try to navigate around screens, and all those kinds of things. It's really, really, really difficult and not something that comes easy. You just have to continue to teach and learn. There are not too many natural players that can play defense."
Can you go back to your first day here, when you started teaching your defense, and compare that to now? The progress has been light years...
"Well, they're getting better at it. Some guys don't ever get it. We've got some guys that are really good at guarding the ball but not off the ball, and everybody does that because it's so difficult. There are just so many things. Your body positioning--if you open your body up to the ball, you're going to get back-cut. If you don't see your man and the ball, then your man is going to catch the ball too close to the 3-point line, which allows the post defender to have to change from one side of the post to the other, which gets you in foul trouble all the time. There are a million things that go on. Our guys are pretty well versed in knowing where to be for the most part, because they spend so much time on it. Even if you know where to be it's still very difficult to get there."
You always hear about natural shooters. Is defense natural or does it have to be taught?
"I don't think it's natural to play team defense. I think there are some guys that are so competitive that they are probably better defenders before they gain all the knowledge that they need to be successful at this level. It's the competitive nature of guys. Like Martellus (Bennett) for instance--he's a guy that's so competitive, he's a pretty good defender for a freshman who hasn't had the repetition that a lot of our guys have had. Eddie Smith's a natural competitor. Marlon (Pompey) is a very, very competitive guy. Definitely Chris Walker. So they could get by with making some mistakes. Other guys have quickness. Quickness makes up for all kinds of mistakes. But as far as being a natural team defender, I don't know if there are too many of them."
Against Texas Tech you started putting Marlon (Pompey) on the smaller players a lot in the second half. Will we see that more this year as the need arises?
"He did last year a little bit. He's mobile enough to do it. His long arms give people different looks. Some of that is dictated by foul trouble. Some of that is dictated by particular perimeter players not guarding the way they need to. You had to put him on different guys or whatever, but you just adjust as you go. Marlon does give you some flexibility. Martellus (Bennett) gives you some flexibility because he can guard a perimeter player. Chris Walker gives you some flexibility because he can guard a perimeter player or an inside guy. So it's nice to have those kinds of guys. My perfect team would be all 6' 6" guys that could guard anybody, interior and perimeter players. You could switch everything and be a fantastic defensive team, but that's not exactly where we are right now."
Both Marlon (Pompey) and Eddie (Smith) guarded (Texas Tech G Jarrius) Jackson on Saturday. Is there something to be said for changing up looks on defense, kind of like in baseball when you go from a power pitcher to knuckle-baller? Is that tough on an offensive player?
"They (Marlon and Eddie) did a good job on him (Jackson), but when Joe (Jones) was in the game, Marlon was guarding him; and when Joe was out of the game, Eddie was guarding him. We were able to cause some timeouts and get it like that because of foul trouble. But Jackson doesn't have too much of a problem with anybody, he's so good. Maybe different looks bother some people. Sometimes a tall defender really gets into the head of an offensive player. It didn't with him, but it can sometimes."
In that position you also had a guard down in the blocks trying to guard a big man. Do your players get enough of that in practice to where they can handle it in a game?
"Well, they know what to do. They don't always do it. They're supposed to get in front of the post player. Some post players will allow you to get in front of them and some guys won't. Our guards are so small anyways, and so limited physically, that they are going to get posted up and they know where they are supposed to be. Hopefully they'll get better at getting there."
Were you able to keep Tech from reversing the ball and getting it down there?
"No. We didn't keep them from doing anything. We kept fouling them. They normally shoot 72 shots, and they shot 39--16 in the 2nd half-because we fouled a lot. They didn't get as many opportunities and they missed some shots they normally make. We didn't keep them from doing anything. We were hustling trying to (keep them from doing things), and we contested some shots, but they still got plenty of good shots--good enough to win the game, but they just missed shots they normally make."
When you watch other games on TV, who plays the best defense? Who do you like to watch play defense?
"I don't know. I haven't watched a whole lot of teams play. Duke is superior physically, so they can really guard the ball and really pressure the ball. I don't know what their percentages look like. There are a lot of different teams that do a great job. Some teams like to pressure, some like to stay between you and the basket. I like pressure. Texas Tech plays as good a team defense as anybody. They stay between their man and the basket, and you have to make plays to beat them. They don't turn the ball over. Different teams do it differently. The most important thing is shooting percentage and defensive rebounding. You can pressure all you want to, but you're going to be susceptible to fouling. You're also going to give up some layups. You play a little bit softer, your 3-point percentage definitely might be a little bit higher against you, but you won't give up many layups and you probably wouldn't foul as much."
How much does having that first road game at Pacific help you going into Stillwater?
"Absolutely none. There's no way to help prepare your team to go to Stillwater. They've got a great tradition. The thing that people fail to realize when you go to Stillwater--they talk about how good the home-court advantage is. The most imposing thing is the team. They always have a great team. They are always ready to play, are totally well coached by a master coach. That's not being disrespectful to their crowd, as good as their crowd is, that's being totally respectful of their team. They've had great teams since they started playing and they'll continue to have great teams. Going to Pacific is not going to help us any. All that did was teach us that we lost. Our guys try to be ready to face the challenge. That's what we have to do. It's on our schedule. We have to play it. We'll go up there and try to compete the best we can."
How much better Josh Carter gotten this year?
"He just needs more playing time, that's all. He's a really smart player and is really figuring out how to guard guys--playing angles and those kinds of things, and using his length to his advantage. I think he's going to be a great player before he's done, but he'll be a good player for us this year."
Does he have chance to get back in the starting lineup?
"Whoever practices the best, starts. We don't hand-pick starters. If he practices the best, if he takes somebody's spot--he gets to start. If you earn it, you get it."
With the slow start you got against Tech, was it nice having him come off the bench--having a guy that can shoot it like he can?
"I'm not that smart. Maybe if he'd been in there and made some shots, we wouldn't have had to come back. When they get in there I want them to perform, whenever that is. Just about everyone who played the other day really did perform in one aspect or another. I don't know. I'm not smart enough to figure out about rotations or that kind of stuff. Whoever's practicing the best is going to get it."
Do you think Oklahoma State is more athletic than Auburn?
"Yeah. This is a really good team. They've had one team go in there, other than Northwestern State, that played them to 11 on their home court. Everyone else has been 16 or more. They're young, but they're emerging. They're really starting to guard and understand what Coach (Eddie Sutton) wants, and are taking great shots, making shots and shooting over 50 percent for the year. They're doing all the things a great basketball team does. They're emerging as a great team."
With Northwestern State going in there and winning, and you beating Northwestern State, does that come up at all?
"Not really. It did when we were talking about Northwestern State, but our guys know it's a different game now. They understand that. I don't care who you played in your preseason. It's a different game once conference starts. Our guys know a lot of their players. They respect their team, their players, their home crowd and their tradition, and they know what kind of task they face. Every single team in the country could be the national champion if it only went by scores, because so-and-so beat somebody and you beat them...that doesn't work."
There's no real carryover then?
"Absolutely not. No. If you're foolish enough to think because we beat Northwestern State and they beat Oklahoma State...you're not getting too many clues right. It ain't hitting home with somebody. I wish that were the case, but it's absolutely not."
Saturday, it was brought up to Acie (Law) that that was the first time A&M has been over .500 in the Big 12, and that put a smile on Acie's face. Do you look at little things like that for confidence?
"No, not really. It's good to win a particular game, no matter what your record is, but if you bring that up all it does is bring up 10 years of bad things. In the last year and a half, we've had too many of those things we've had to talk about--losing streaks on the road, attendance, just too many of those kinds of things. I guess it's good for Acie if he likes it, I'm happy for him. But nobody's talking about it before the game anyway. The whole thing is, it's great to win no matter when you win."
Do you think Acie having an offensive game like he did against Texas Tech could give him a spark?
"He needs to shoot more for us, and needs to make shots and have the confidence to be like Dominique Kirk--where you miss your first five shots and make your next three. I think that most of our guys are like that. They are not afraid to miss. We're to the point now where they know if you defend and rebound, you can take any shot you want to. I know the returnees do, and the new guys have learned that. There's no such thing as a bad shot if you defend and rebound. Acie needs to shoot more. He needs to continue to make more. He showed he could basically take over a game (Saturday), especially with the absence of Joe (Jones). I want him to shoot 20 times a game and sometimes maybe even more. He was getting pretty good looks against the ball screen the other day, and we had a timeout--and I said, 'What do y'all want to run?' He said, 'Coach, I'm not being selfish, but I think we can get 'em on the ball screen.' That's what he has to do, is assert himself more and assert his basketball intelligence more. He's really smart. He's a smart player, and he has to be more aggressive and more assertive and get more shots up."
How much does it help him when he pushes the ball up the floor? He seems to look much better...
"A thousand times better. If he doesn't have great pace in our transition or half-court offense...that was part of our problem in the first half, is we couldn't put any pressure on their defense. That's not taking anything away from them, because they were always in the right position, but we have to get transition baskets. Acie is an aggressive offensive player, and he has to remain aggressive for us to have best chance to score, whether he shoots it or not. He is a special player in the open court. He can finish plays. He can shoot it. He puts tremendous pressure on the defense when he's pushing it."
How big would a win be against Oklahoma State?
"It'd be big. Every win is big, but especially in conference. They (Oklahoma State) are saying the same thing. Every team is getting ready to play their next game, whether it's tonight, or Wednesday, or whenever. They are just trying to survive. Anytime you can get a win, no matter how it works out, it's fantastic in conference. This is a 16-game marathon, but the sense of urgency is always there every game."
All the home teams in the Big 12 went undefeated over the weekend...
"That's what they said, yeah."
What does that tell you?
"I was glad we were playing at home. It tells you what you have to do to develop a big time basketball program. You have to have a home crowd advantage. On Saturday, I think the crowd had as much to do with us winning as anything. Our guys gave tremendous effort. I thought we tried hard in both halves, but a tremendous effort in the second half. The crowd was fantastic. Their participation, their effort their intensity...all was a very close second to the players' effort in making us win."