January 23, 2006
Head men's basketball coach Billy Gillispie met with members of the press Monday at the weekly basketball media luncheon held on the Texas A&M campus.
Click the link to the right to listen to the press conference. A transcript is posted below.
Billy Gillispie Media Luncheon Quotes
These close games are getting to be old hat for you now, right?
"That's the Big 12 Conference. You hope that you're able to get in close games in this conference. If you are, then you're heading in the right direction. It could be a lot worse. All five of our games have come down to the wire and everybody else probably wants you to have margins or whatever, but I hope every one of them is just like that...because that means we have a chance to win them all. If you continue to get better, you'll eventually make enough plays to win some of them. I think it's a step in the right direction for us."
Does it help your confidence to win one like that (Iowa State on Saturday), and on the road?
"I don't know. I think too much has been made out of us having a 'fragile mindset'. I don't think enough consideration has been given to how tough our players are. We missed a couple shots at Kansas State, missed a couple shots at Oklahoma State, missed a play or two against Oklahoma...but we had great confidence, and people worried about our confidence. The real deal is how we put ourselves in that position. We made a ton of big plays to be in a position to take the last shot or make the last play, so I've never worried about our confidence with this group. I tend to harp on the positive things they did to put themselves in the position--after being 14 down (to Texas Tech and Kansas State), 10 down (at Iowa State), four or six down (to Oklahoma). We had to make a bunch of big plays to have a chance to win those games. That's the way I tend to look at it, more so than missing the last shot."
Do you see a diff look in Acie Law's eyes this year, where he just seems to have the ability to take control of a game? Is that improved from last year?
"No, I think he was capable of doing it (last year). He had probably more opportunities for help, other avenues that could have helped him, and he didn't have to do quite as much as he's probably had to do for this team. It's a step in the maturation process for him...instead of being 'one of the guys' he thinks he's 'the guy'. That's the way really good players mature. I think that'd probably be the difference for him right now."
Is he one of the best players in the league right now?
"I haven't seen all of them. I don't know. He's a good player. He's a real good player."
It seems like whenever we hear the other coaches and players, they talk about not being able to stop (Acie) Law. That seems to be pretty high accolades they are starting to throw out there...
"We'll see. I can't imagine many guys playing better than he's played for us in the first five games (of Big 12 play). I haven't seen all the teams play, and haven't seen all the games of all the teams, so I don't know yet."
In those close games, do you have to go through what you guys did in those three games to really "get" it?
"No. Acie will make those shots that he took. Marlon (Pompey) will make his free throws. We'll get defensive stops. You don't have to go through that, absolutely not. You go thru it every day in practice. Those guys are prepared. You didn't see any panic in any of the situations. You didn't see any panic on Saturday. Red (White) stepped in there. We haven't seen panic yet and I don't think we will. I think we're going to be put in those situations in practice. Games are a little bit different than practice, but it's not the first time they've been down that road. They just don't panic. And if you don't panic, sometimes the shot goes in and sometimes it doesn't."
Do you grow from those experiences at all?
"I don't think so. I don't think you grow from losing. I don't like getting beat and trying to grow. I like being tough enough to win and improve when you're winning. I think that's the sign of a good team and a really strong mental team. Some teams can't handle winning. I don't think you learn anything from losing that you can't learn from winning if you handle it properly."
What was going through your mind (Saturday) when, at end of regulation for whatever reason, they didn't step out and guard Red (White) on his 3-pointer? It happened right in front of you, what are you thinking when you see how open he was for that moment?
"If Red gets an open shot, he can make it. He has unlimited range. He just hasn't had a great deal of opportunity to play this year, but everybody in our group knew he's very, very capable of making it. He got his opportunity, they chose not to guard him and he made it. I was happy, because we were going to try to reverse the ball and try to get a little bit of a different look, but we didn't have to reverse it."
(Iowa State guard Curtis) Stinson said after the game he was going to cheat down a little bit and leave him (Red White) alone. Is that kind of a "chicken or the egg" thing, where you have the inside game that could make them cheat in and you get the three pointer? Or is it the other way around?
"I don't know. That's their thought process. You'd have to talk to them about that. It was at a time in the game where you could go for two. You didn't have to have a three. But it's a lot better to get a three in that situation, and get it tied up as quickly as possible. It wasn't totally 100 percent sure that you had to have a 3-point shot at that point."
Red was on the floor though, in that situation, because potentially you might have needed a three?
"He's a good shooter and they were playing zone. We took some other guys out that had been playing defense for us. It just worked out right."
Down the road, would an ideal situation be, if guys are healthy and are playing well, to have Acie (Law) not always have to play the point? Where basically he could be a two-guard and have someone else run the point at times...
"I don't know. I think Acie could play either one, but he's awfully comfortable out there and guys are comfortable out there with him. He had five turnovers on Saturday, but he doesn't normally turn the ball over very much. He is a very, very comfortable point guard for a coaching staff, knowing that you're going to get a shot at the basket most of the time. You don't want to ever give that up. As far as him scoring any more at the two-guard spot than he is at the point, I don't know how you could get any better than what he's done in conference."
How big was the play of Antanas Kavaliauskas and Eddie Smith (on Saturday)?
"(Eddie) changed the speed of the game for us. He was great. He's been sick. He didn't get to go to K-State, and didn't play but two minutes against Oklahoma. He had played very well in conference, especially defensively, for us. That hurt us a little bit. He came back and played great. Antanas had by far his best game. I thought it was Eddie's best game too because of the impact he had on the game. With Antanas...that's kind of what we expected him to do all year long, and hopefully we're going to continue to get that kind of production."
Before the game, were you thinking because you were playing against a zone that there might be openings for them?
"I thought there was going to be some space available. Eddie operates very well in space. Antanas needs space. If he has space, he operates very well. If he gets to a situation where he's got one defender between him and the basket, he's pretty good. Eddie's kind of the same way, in a more open-court situation that's probably where he excels."
Kansas has had so much turnover, but you said (before the season) you knew they'd get to this level. Are they about where you thought they'd be at this point in time?
"Oh, I don't know. I know they're really good, and that's what I expect them to be, but as far as a timetable or whatever I don't know. They had a great recruiting class last year. They had a great recruiting class this year. They've got a great tradition. They've got a great coach. They're really starting to play, not good, but great. They have a very deep roster. They made 11 threes on Saturday. They're getting more offensive rebounds in conference than anybody. They've got the best defensive shooting percentage in the conference. They're really playing well right now."
(Kansas guard Brandon) Rush had been a guy known across the country, goes and tries for the NBA Draft and then pulls out and comes back to school. You've seen him a lot. What kind of player is he?
"He's a pro. He's not only an NBA player, but a potential NBA all-star, in my opinion, with time and maturity. He's a great player. He's shown the capability to just totally dominate games at this level-offensively, defensively, rebounding-wise and everything. That's what great players do."
Do you look forward to going up against (Kansas) Coach (Bill) Self? Does it make it any more or less special?
"I don't know. It's not about me and Coach. It's about Kansas and Texas A&M. Hopefully we'll be able to compete with a great team. It'll be fun. All the games have been fun in conference. We haven't won as many as we wanted to, but they've all been fun. Hopefully this one will be fun too. As far as that deal goes, during the game I would say that you don't even know who's coaching over there. Before the game, you admire the way they prepare their team by watching them on tape. After the game it's tough, because either you lost or your friend lost. That makes it tough. But then you move on and go on and play the rest of your schedule."
What was last season's game like, going against him for the first time?
"Just kind of the same, (with) some anxious times before. It's not only Coach (Self)...it's his whole family. (They) mean so much to me. After the game, they're happy, and you like to see your friends happy unless it's at your expense (laughing)...and I'm talking about in a basketball sense 'at your expense'. That's on the schedule. We are in the same conference. I wouldn't be here in this conference if it wasn't for Coach. Just go after it, fight, and try to do best for your team and your university. That's where your obligation lies. We'll compete pretty hard on Wednesday hopefully."
You played them tight in Lawrence (last year), so you've got to feel good about getting them at home for the first time...
"It doesn't mean anything. That's last year. We caught them at a perfect time last year. It was after an emotional Georgia Tech win for them, and right before they played Kentucky. They'd had great success against Texas A&M. We caught them at a great time. We played about as well as we possibly could for the most part, and made a bunch of plays to have a chance to win. We had great chance to win. We didn't pull it off because they made plays when they had to. That has nothing to do with this year's game. You're always more comfortable playing at home, but that doesn't always ensure success."
Sixteen games in, are your newcomers acclimated now? Have they seen what the Big 12 is like and do you see in their eyes that they know what they'll see game in and game out?
"I think they are really enjoying playing. They enjoy the competition in the league. They understand how difficult it is to have success in this league. They really do like their teammates. It's as close a group that you could have. I think they are understanding more and more how one lay-up, one free throw, one defensive stop could mean the difference in everything. I don't think you can understand that, coming from a different situation, until you've lived it a little bit...no matter how much everybody tells you, 'Hey, we've got to get a stop. We've got to make a basket. We've got to rotate right every single time so you don't give up a basket.' I think they are understanding the sense of urgency you must play with. I think that's probably a lot of players in this league on lot of different teams because there are a lot of newcomers. You get to the point where you are saying, 'Man, a lot of these games are so close. If I would have made this play or that play, then the game might have had a different outcome.' I don't think you can prepare anybody until they have gone through some conference games."
You mentioned at the end of last year how (your) team was so tough, you couldn't imagine a team as tough or as together. Is this team approaching that?
"They're tough. In conditioning, and all that, you can get ahead, but eventually everybody catches up by the time conference starts. You can have a toughness advantage but when you get into conference it gets even, and it all comes down to talent. I would rather have an extremely tough team that's very talented, more than a really tough team that's not quite as talented. We weren't able to replace Antoine Wright. Antoine really started playing at about this time last year and was a dominant player. There will be some guys in our league, and hopefully some guys on this team, that will do the same thing this year. Now you've played five or six games in conference and teams are starting to say, 'Hey, this is what we have to do.' Guys really step up and play. It has always been about players. Now, it becomes more so about players."