February 27, 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. Quotes are posted below.
Billy Gillispie Media Luncheon Quotes
To be on this five-game streak and see your team getting better, that has to be a satisfying feeling doesn't it?
"We needed to get better. Yeah, I don't think we've played our best game yet, and we definitely have to play our best game if we want to try to do what we want to do, and that's get a chance to play in postseason. I do think we're peaking at the right time."
Antanas' (Kavaliauskas) development...can you kind of take us through it?
"I knew he had toughness, I just didn't think he was showing it. I never have doubted his toughness or anything like that. I think it takes all of them a long time. With this team, there are several guys on this team-Eddie Smith needed playing time. Martellus Bennett needed playing time. Antanas Kavaliauskas needed playing time. Josh Carter needed playing time-because of my conservative nature and with our particular team, I wasn't able to give them playing time to let them play through some mistakes. You gain confidence even if you make mistakes out there. Because of us having a very small margin for error, they haven't had enough playing time. But I kept saying those guys are getting better and better and better and better, and I believe it because I saw it in practice every single day. Now they are getting a chance to play more and play through a few mistakes, not making quite as many, so you probably are able to see more production out of those guys."
In practice what differences have you seen in Antanas now versus a couple of months ago?
"It's just about playing time. No matter how good someone is you have to play. He's always been a good prospect. He's getting more of an opportunity to play now and the reason he's getting more of an opportunity is because Dominique Kirk and Chris Walker and Marlon Pompey and those guys are playing better. Every position is very critical for us, but now it's not killer critical. That's the reason those guys are able to play a little bit more. You can see him taking care of the ball better, moving to rebound instead of hoping the ball came to him, jumping for rebounds instead of not, finishing plays much more strongly as compared to just kind of goosing the ball up to the basket. Those are things you just have to watch and observe on a daily basis to see them improve."
It seems like this margin of error you've talked about all year is maybe getting a little bit bigger near the end of the season...
"We're scoring. We've struggled to score so badly, and we just had to have so much from Acie (Law) and Joe (Jones) every time...when you struggle to score, then every defensive possession becomes so important. So you want to have the guys out there that you have the most confidence in defensively. That's kind of where we've been all year long."
It seems like the last several games, Acie's scoring has been down a little bit but his assists have been up. Has he made more of a conscious decision, with people focusing on him more, to maybe take what teams are giving him?
"Acie's a very unselfish player. As far as his scoring, it's not down much but it is down a little bit because we weren't getting anything out of two or three guys as far as any offensive production. Since Josh (Carter) started to score a little bit on a consistent basis, since Chris (Walker) has been consistent scoring, Marlon's (Pompey) doing what he always does for us, Antanas is coming along, and Dominique's been really good...those kinds of things. I don't think Acie puts as much pressure on himself to score, but he'll do whatever it takes to give us the best chance to win. When we had all those close games, he was just taking it upon himself and saying, 'Hey, no matter how they guard Joe (Jones), I'll just score.' And you want him to continue to do that but I think he's helped those other guys develop very well as well."
Where would you be without Acie?
"I don't have any idea. We wouldn't be talking about having a chance to play in the postseason. If you're talking about not having him this year or last year or whatever, you talk about putting your development (of your program)...I don't know if it would be behind, but it would not be where people think it is right now. He's meant everything to us. It's one of the best deals I've ever seen, as far as just watching him mature the way he has. He's really a happy guy. He's a happy player. He's really turning into a very, very good defender. He's not a great defender yet but he's a really good defender who has a chance to be great. He's turned into a great leader. He's turned into a great teammate. He could always score, but it's really been fun to watch him develop. I have no idea where we'd be without him and I'm glad we haven't had to play without him. He's started every game I guess in two years. He hasn't been injured, we've been lucky there. He's been hurt, but he's played through hurts and pains. He's a tough guy. He's a great guy to coach. It's been fun to really watch him. The sky's the limit. He's really got some room for improvement, and I think now he's really getting some of the attention he deserves as one of the better players in this league. It's fun to see those kinds of things coming his way too."
How has he grown since you got him a couple of years ago? How is he different?
"I think first of all, going from freshman to sophomore you see a lot of improvement because the guy's used to playing in college, used to the lifestyle of college and those kinds of things. He's a year older and he probably saw after his freshman year that 'Hey, I can play with these guys. I can do well with these guys.' It gives you a great deal of confidence. He's worked extremely hard. His work ethic is as good as I've seen. He's a very, very driven player. He really wants to get good. He wants to be great, and I would think he would continue on that path. What you've asked him to do, he's done it. He's not a real talkative guy, but we ask him to talk all the time, and he's done it-because he wants to be good and he wants his team to do well. That's what makes it really nice as a coach, when you ask a guy to do a certain thing, and it might not be totally natural for him, but they do it because they know it's good for the team and also it's going to benefit himself."
What was the transition like for him, coming in from a previous coaching staff to this one?
"I don't know. I think a lot's been written about all that kind of stuff, so it's already been said. It was probably tough for him and was tough for all those guys, because we like to do things a certain way. There's a million ways to do it, and ours is not the only way to do it right. Out of total respect for everyone, I've seen it done a million ways. The thing that's very difficult to do is take over an 0-16 program, and if you think you're going to be soft and all those kinds of things after you take over a program that's in a pretty deep hole, it ain't going to happen. For us to be able to get going in a real big hurry last year and continue on that path this year, that's not easy to do. You have to have guys that believe in what you're doing and you have to believe in what you're doing yourself, and that gives you a chance."
You mentioned the 0-16 hole, and now you're about to play one of the biggest games in A&M history, or in the past 20 years or so. How does that make you feel that it's come to this point so quickly?
"I don't know. I think they've played a lot bigger games than that. They've played a lot bigger games for bigger stakes, because they've been in the NCAA Tournament and those kinds of things. It's very gratifying to be leading a group that has a chance...we're just hitting the ground right now and we're on the surface of what I think we're going to be able to accomplish here. You have a great place, great support. Our players are very hungry. Our fans are very hungry. Our supporters are very hungry. I think that the sky's the limit on what we're going to be able to do. We're not caught up in anything we've done. We were 8-8 last year in conference. That was really good, but that's not what we came here to do. That's not what Joseph Jones came here to do. We're 8-6. We've done okay, but we have grander thoughts about where we're going to be in the future."
How neat is it that it's happening at this time, that we're talking about this for you and (women's coach) Gary (Blair)...that it's happening at the same time for both programs?
"Well, they've done a great job. I haven't studied their team a whole lot but I've seen them play and they've got a really good roster it looks like to me. They're doing a great job of developing a program, and you do it by starting out with recruiting. They've done so many things well, and we're just trying to follow in what they're doing. They're a Texas-based group, they're a hard-working group. They've got a really good roster that's going to continue to get better. No one ever thought that it wouldn't, because of what Gary's been able to lead his other programs to. It's great. They've had another year on us and they're ahead of us in their development, but I think both groups are developing at a pretty nice rate."
Where are you guys right now? Are you on track with where you thought you'd be at this point?
"I think we're ahead of where we probably thought we'd be. It doesn't mean that's where we want to be. I think if you use a common-sense approach, we're probably ahead. When you use my mindset, we're always behind because we haven't won all our games. I want to be perfect. I want to have the best recruiting class in the country, not a top-five or top-10. That's the expectation, and that's why you come to Texas A&M. people said you can't do it there. It's yet to be seen whether we can do it because we have a lot of work to be done. I think that you can and I think that we're on the right track."
A couple of times we've talked about the type of kid you can get at this point...making a push and getting to the NCAA Tournament, what kind of doors does that open?
"I don't know. I think there's been a great excitement created in the last couple of years about Texas A&M basketball. I think once you get into the postseason, you need to continue in the postseason. I think everybody thinks we're on the upswing and they know the people here are excited. We got no games on TV last year, and all of our games are on TV this year. You have national broadcasts instead of local. It's not only the people that are in this community and in this school that are realizing that things are on the upswing here. We're just going to continue. We've been able to get into some really good players' homes, no matter what level of player we're going to be able to get here. I think you can get the absolute best, but it's always going to be a development situation. We're going to get guys and help those guys get better. That's what having teams is all about, making those guys better and working really hard and developing yourself and your team and your program. It's always going to be a development thing."
Last week at this time you realized that the Missouri game would be more meaningful to them, because of the coach situation...because this is Texas and because of the implications, is this a bigger game for your guys than just any other games?
"It's the biggest game on our schedule because it's next. I'm not going to change my thought process. I don't think there's big games and little games. It's a big game because it's the next game. It's all about how you handle wins and losses over a 16-game period. I think that we really took an emotional hit after the Oklahoma game and it affected us against Kansas State. After that I think we learned a great lesson about how to go about handling wins and losses. I really think that's important. There are some teams that win at the start of conference but they don't learn how to improve when they're winning. It takes getting beat sometimes for teams to improve, and that's not a good deal because you want to win games. There's no big games and little games. All of them are big and your next one is the most important. Then you put it behind you and move on."
Was the Nebraska game one of the best finishes you've put together this year?
"It was one of the best starts we had. The first 10 minutes they only scored one field goal. I think the 10:03 mark was their first field goal. But when you only go in up six points at halftime you have to be concerned when they shot only 17 percent. As far as a finish, I don't think we finished that game as well as we can. We had two turnovers, Joe and Acie turned it over. Antanas missed the front end of a 1-and-1. I don't think it was one of the better finishes. We were able to keep them from scoring though, so defensively it was a good finish for us. Offensively we've got to do better."
Where were you in 1987 and how much did you keep up with A&M basketball?
"1987? I have no idea. I was probably in the third or fourth grade at that time (laughter)."
Wednesday night's a special deal. Before the game, when they're doing starting lineups, do you say "Hey, this is pretty cool?" Or are you too wrapped up in what you have to do?
"I talk to (trainer Matt) Doles sometimes. But yeah...for one second and then you get back to being a hard ass. But it is nice...our guy that does the introductions, best guy in the world. I have no idea what it takes for his voice to do that. It's nice."
You meant that about the crowd the other day, huh?
"Yeah, it was great. It was fantastic and was a nice indication about the thought process here. I would have been disappointed if it'd been 6,800 like it was against Colorado. I wasn't disappointed at the Colorado time because we were 3-6. I think it was a very strong indicator that people are coming to watch our team play now regardless of who the opponent is. I think that's a major step in the right direction. For a 7-6 team, I'm telling you there couldn't have been a better atmosphere I don't think."
You talked some about last year's Big 12 Tournament game against Kansas State and the St. Joe's game (NIT) that those were the only two games since you've been here that there was something different about the team. What do you remember about those two games and what's kind of your theory on why it was that way?
"We put too much pressure on ourselves. It was not anything anyone talked about or whatever, but you knew it was an elimination type of situation, and we played only to win instead of approaching it like, 'Hey, we really need to continue to play well.' I think those things get you mixed up. We didn't play as well as we could have. We played really good defense in both games but not very good offensively and that's probably where it affects you the most. You have to be able to miss your first eight shots and be able to continue shooting. I thought that we got a little bit scared to lose in those games instead of playing loose and free and whatever. We weren't playing not to lose, I thought we were playing just a little bit afraid of losing. That was about the only two games. This team here is not afraid of losing. We miss so much as far as shooting, missing does not affect them at all. We had some guys go 0-for, and then make some big shots. Dominique Kirk is great at that. Chris Walker is great at that. I don't mean he's great at going 0-for, but those guys are not affected by their last shot and that's really nice to have. You have to have a great deal of inner confidence to be able to do that. You never know how it's going to end up, but I don't think our guys will be like that anymore. I could understand it happening last year. You were a Cinderella out of nowhere, and all of a sudden the stakes had changed, and your thought process probably changed because of outside people telling you this and that. They probably listened a little too much."
You guys were probably playing like you had nothing to lose last year, but you probably did have nothing to lose for much of the season...
"No. I think if you get all your teams to play like you have nothing to lose but play with a major hunger, then you've got a chance to be as good as you can. There's going to be some teams that will play too tight. There always are especially at this time of year and that affects you."
If this place will make up 10,000 NIT shirts or whatever it was, what's it going to be like if your program makes the NCAAs?
"I don't know. Hopefully we'll get a chance to experience that. I would assume it would probably be really nice. They won't have any NCAA Tournament games here though. But we're worried about Texas and will try to play as well as we can. We have to play as well as we can to have a chance. What they did on Saturday night was...wow. Against a really good team. Major challenge."
Is that good or bad for Wednesday night?
"I don't know if it's good or bad. It's all about mindset, how they handle the win and how we handle the challenge."
Have you talked to (KU) Coach (Bill) Self about the game?
"Yeah we talked."
Was he pretty shell-shocked?
"Nah, he was pretty impressed. I don't know who could have beat Texas on Saturday. LaMarcus Aldridge plays like that...he made every shot imaginable, like you know they can...wow, what a performance."
Was there something about the way they were defensing Joe (Jones) in that game (at Texas)?
"He did a lot of it against zone. They got into a little foul trouble and he did a lot of it against zone, and Joe made some shots. They play great defense. They give up 39 percent field goal percentage defense. They don't have any weakness. They're long, tall, athletic, they're developing some guys off the bench that are really playing well now. Inside, outside, they make 3s, they finish plays in the lane, they are one of the better free-throw shooting teams. One of the best free-throw shooting teams in the country. Great defensive team, and it's a Final Four team. It wasn't anything, they were just probably protecting the perimeter a little bit because we were behind and shooting 3s, so we were able to make some shots inside, Joe was."
When you're preparing for them or when you're talking to your players about them, do you look more at the first half or second half of that game?
"Both. We spent some time saying, 'Hey, this is what we did well and what we didn't do well.' But it'll be a different game. That's five or six games ago for both of us. Fouls dictated a lot of it. Turnovers. We played defensively, we trapped a lot and that's not what we normally do. We had to because we were behind. It'll be a totally different game this time."
Does last year here come up?
"I don't know. I think it probably would give us some confidence, but it doesn't mean anything. You have to have confidence develop through practice in my opinion, not confidence based on a result you might have had. I guess the question you could ask, if you're going to use that as a question, is that the last two times they've played us they beat the dog out of us. So is your confidence shattered because of that? They got an 18-point lead in the first half against us last time we played them, so are you afraid because of that? Guys play the game, they try their hardest and then they want to get their pizza after the game. And they'll get ready to go again next time you get a chance to play them. We have great respect for them. They've got great players, a great coach, a great program. They've done what we're going to try to do but it's going to take a lot of time to do what they've done."