February 06, 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
Last week you said it's only a tough week until the next week, and this week you have Colorado...
"We'll be playing a really good team (Colorado) that's probably in a desperate situation right now. They'll come in here, and they've played really well all year long. It's a very difficult team because of their depth, their size and their ability to shoot the ball. They play with great confidence. It'll be a really exciting game I would think. They really can score and do a good job of hustling after the ball. They rebound at a very high rate. (It will be) A very, very difficult matchup for us."
It seemed like last year in that game some of those guys seemed to have unlimited range...
"Yeah. They can really shoot it. Most teams have one or two guys, they have about five or six guys that can really shoot it. When you have the ability to stretch the defense out like that, then it gives you more open looks for driving and those kinds of things to the basket. So, a really good offensive team, a really fast offensive team from one end to the other. Their length can pose problems for you offensively and defensively as well."
Have they grown up defensively of late, now that they have a bunch of seniors on the roster?
"I have no idea. You'd have to ask their coach about that. They've definitely matured from last year to this year, and that's the two years I've seen them play. They've got an NBA player in (Richard) Roby. They've played really well together and they really look for each other. And when you have nine or 10 seniors, they definitely should be playing great basketball because of the experience, especially in our league (that's) probably the most inexperienced it's ever been. Just a really good team. I have a great deal of respect for the way they go about playing. They're very difficult to guard because of their ability to make 3s."
Will you put (Dominique) Kirk on Roby?
"I don't know who we'll put on him. He may start on him. There will definitely be some other guys that will try to guard him. He may not start on him, I don't know yet for sure. Roby's not the only story for them. He's a really, really, really good player, and an NBA talent without question that's playing really well, but if you focus all your attention on Roby those other guys will put up about 90 points on you. You definitely have to guard all five of them."
Is he the guy though that's more likely to take it to the basket?
"He can really shoot the three and really shoot mid-range. He can get it to the basket and finish because of his athletic ability and size. They'll all take it to the basket. They do a really good job of like I was saying spreading the floor, so when you have to guard all five guys on the perimeter, if that's where they are stationed in a particular situation, then it gives you a lot more space to attack the basket off the dribble. They're very well-coached in knowing when to shoot it, when to take it to the basket, and when to force help...getting transition baskets and those kinds of things. It's a team that's a lot of fun to watch play because they can pass, shoot and dribble. Not too many teams have five guys that you have to guard all the time."
What's Chris Walker's status for Wednesday?
"I'm not sure. He told me he'll be fine for practice today, so I wouldn't put it past Chris. I would expect that he'll be okay."
You have to be impressed with this team's toughness each week...
"Oh, I'm really impressed with their toughness and their togetherness and those things. I think we have the playing hard down, and I think we have the playing together down. We're just working on the playing smart. We're talking about blocking your man out when you're seven down after you've cut it down, and those kinds of things. Those are mental toughness things and we have to be smarter. I'm not talking about knowing how to run a play or those kinds of things. I'm talking about knowing and understanding the importance of a particular possession and how important it is to get a defensive stop or defensive rebound, or not stopping on the screen. You can't stop on a screen in a particular situation, you've got to get a defensive rebound on a free throw...those are toughness things as well. You have to be more tough-minded to make sure that no matter what happens you're getting a stop here. No matter what happens, you're not going to foul in a situation. No matter what happens, we're going to get a defensive rebound. They're definitely awfully tough and they have no quit in them. That's why I'm really excited about our season. Our season isn't over, it's just now starting. There's a lot of teams across America that are done. I really believe we're just starting. We'll get a breath of fresh air and we'll get a second breath and I really believe that we're going to take off flying. We haven't played our basketball yet, without question. The things that have hurt us are definitely things that are correctable and are just a little bit different each time. But we're just starting, we're not ending."
When you look at the last home game, the Baylor game...how essential is it for this community to realize that this is a big basketball game?
"It's totally essential. We're trying to build a program here. I was really excited about the crowd against Baylor. I think they made a difference for us even though we didn't get any stops...and give those guys credit for making shots in every possible way. But I really believe that this is a huge week for us. Hopefully the people understand that this is a beginning not the ending. We're one game different than we were last year, I keep saying that. There's no panic on our part. We just have to continue to get better. All we need to do is get better five percent. If each person gets better five or seven or eight or 10 percent or whatever, it's not like we have to do drastic things to change things. We need that from our fans as well. I think good things can definitely happen for this team. It could be definitely similar to the situation last year. It's not how you start, it's how you end. We've had a very difficult stretch through the first nine games. We've been in every single one of them. We had a chance, if you get a couple plays or a couple of breaks and those kinds of things, and I wouldn't doubt if that turned for us at some point. When you continue to play as hard as we have with the right kind of attitude, like our guys have, you'll definitely been rewarded. Sometimes it just takes longer than other times to be rewarded, but they'll definitely be rewarded for their attitude and their kind of play. We need all the help we can get, especially this week. It's a fun team to watch in Colorado."
So much attention was paid to the charge when Joe (Jones) fouled out (Saturday against Texas). The next possession they went down and scored. Does that frustrate you more that you didn't get the stop?
"I think we have really good officials in this league. And I think this is league-wide, not only for us, I would assume because there have been so many close games, you could look at one play or one call whether it went for you or against you that could determine the outcome of a lot of games. The problem is that needed to be Joe's fourth foul instead of his fifth. What Joe has to understand is if he plays with his hands up a little better, and that play doesn't happen, then that's his fourth foul instead of his fifth. Everyone looks at the last foul or whatever, but the ones that happen in the guts of the game are the ones you have to be most concerned with I think. We can't continue to put ourselves in a position where one play or one incident is going to be the story of the game. We need to do better for the 35 minutes or whatever and not let the last five minutes or one minute or 10 seconds determine things. I would assume that's how everybody is. But you're right, we were eight down, they go down and (LaMarcus) Aldridge hadn't scored a basket the entire game, and that's his first basket on an offensive rebound after we'd made them miss. We were eight down another time, and we had a great trap, and we let them step through the trap. That's the five percent that you're looking for. Don't let them step through the trap in that situation. Get a defensive rebound in that situation. Make the front end of one-and-ones in the first half. Make your two-shot fouls. That's the five percent more that you need. Make the layup that Acie (Law) missed or that Josh (Carter) missed, and Josh got one blocked at a critical time. Those are very easily corrected things. Sometimes those things go your way and sometimes they don't."
What was your evaluation of Martellus Bennett's performance?
"He did okay but he's got to produce more. But he's a freshman. Everybody wants to put more on Martellus than he's probably capable of. He's played very limited minutes. I think he's progressed very nicely but I think everybody expects him to do too much. He's a freshman. He played by far his best game of the year on Saturday, he just needs some time. We've just been limited on what we've been able to provide for him because of our situation with our roster."
It seemed like as he got more minutes, he did the things to help you and sort of keep himself on the floor...
"It doesn't always have to be helping you, it has to be things that don't hurt you. I think that a lot of freshman don't quite understand the value of possessions and those things. But I don't know on Saturday that he had a turnover or not, but those are the things that you rush too much. And you rush too much when you don't have great experience. It's tough, because you need experience to play but you need to be able to play through some mistakes. We really don't have the opportunity to play guys that are going to be making some mistakes right now. So it's tough on those guys. I was really pleased with what he did on Saturday and I think he'll be better this week because of it."
During that one stretch in the second half, Joe just looked extremely aggressive. Is that exactly how you want to see him be?
"I think Joe's been great all year long. The reason he looked so good is because we got the ball to the high post, we got the ball reversed and we were able to get the ball high-low against the zone for the most part. If we do that we're going to be successful and Joe's going to maybe look better to everybody. I think he's been fantastic all year long. He's been aggressive. The problems that we've had, when Joe doesn't look quite as good as some people think he should, is because we don't do a good job of getting the ball to him in a timely fashion to where he can be the most successful. We got the ball to him in a timely fashion the other day. That's the way it's supposed to work. Joe has been fantastic."
How rewarding is it, in these games when you're down in the second half, you look in these guys and there isn't any quit in them? In the past there have probably been some guys that haven't stepped up...it seems like each and every time this year your guys have stepped up...
"I don't know how to answer that question. I've never really been around a bunch of those guys, because we usually eliminate those guys. They usually don't last, and they're definitely not playing. Or they eliminate themselves. I never really have been around guys that wouldn't play. We don't have time for them. I don't know. Not to disagree with you but I haven't been around too many guys that wouldn't compete to the end, regardless of what the score was."
After an early shooting slump, it seems like Dominique (Kirk) has been shooting the ball better...
"He's a streaky shooter. He's been really shooting the ball well, and I think that Joe and Acie told him he needed to be shooting the ball more, catching it and quit thinking about it. And he believes Joe and Acie. They've done a good job of helping him get some shots. They're very comfortable playing together. Dominique has been a great energy guy for us for two years and does a lot of stuff for us. It's good to see him making some shots. He's streaky, but he's on a hot streak now and hopefully he'll continue on that streak."
Bryan Davis (A&M signee) has been playing really well lately. What are some of the things he'll be able to bring next year?
"He's one of the toughest guys I've ever seen for a high school interior player. Most of those guys gain toughness after some experience, but he's one of the toughest guys I've seen. I think he has an ability to play two positions. He has the knowledge and ability to really pass the ball from the high post. Most high school players that are his size and play his position don't. He has a great ability to understand the game. I think Joe's one of the smartest players I've been around, and I think he could be like that. He brings a toughness. He brings a defensive presence. When the shot goes up, he goes after the ball. You can't just stand around and get 29 rebounds in a game. We're really excited about the way he's playing. We thought that he would play like that but not those numbers."
Do you bring up Iowa State's streak last year to your team? They won seven in a row I think last year to close out the season and made the tournament...
"Our guys don't need a bunch of gimmicks. They are tough guys and they know that we've been right there. They know what we need to do to not only be right there but make that five percent more. We'll talk about Pittsburgh (Steelers) a bit, being 7-5 and winning the championship. The thing they talk about which is important is everybody doing just a little bit more. That's exactly where we are. The whole thing is play 16 games. Play 16 games and that's what we said at the start, what we'll say in the middle and what we'll say at the end. The season is just beginning. You would like to be 6-3 instead of 3-6, you'd love to be 9-0, but that's not where we are. The season just now starts. That's the way we have approached it. You play 16 games, you add them up at the end of the season and you see where you are. If you're 5-0 it doesn't mean anything. If you're 0-5 it doesn't mean anything. You have to play 16 games in this league and that's what we're determined to do. We'll continue to be determined to do that, and not everybody will do that."