Gillispie Media Luncheon Quotes and Audio
Jan 30, 2006 | Men's Basketball
January 30, 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
When you went back and looked at the film (of the Baylor game), was it anything defensively or do you just marvel at the way they shot the ball?
"They did a great job executing their offense and making open shots. They made some guarded shots, made some runners, and made some throw-ups or whatever. Give those guys credit. They did a really good job and are really starting to play well. I think we made a lot of mistakes, but on the 3-point shots we made four mistakes on the 16 threes. I think you could live with that. We got caught on a screen twice...we let our man catch it too easily once...and the other time we got lost. I'm pleased with the way we played."
You talked about Baylor being a team that's more perimeter-oriented. Anybody else in the Big 12 that's going to be that perimeter-oriented?
"Oh, I don't know. We haven't studied Colorado a whole lot. They make a lot of threes. We haven't seen Nebraska, and they shoot the ball very well. There's probably not anybody that's going to be quite as perimeter-oriented as Baylor, and they'll be more inside-oriented as the season goes along too. They'll continue to learn and gain experience and those things. We've seen some teams that have shot all perimeter shots before, so it wasn't like it was the first time we'd seen that."
How far has Josh (Carter) come this season in things other than 3-point shooting...things like rebounding and defense maybe?
"He's really improving on a daily basis. He's understanding how to play with his length. He's long. Defensively, he's really understanding how to use his length to his advantage. Offensively, he got two big offensive rebounds and got four big points for us on Saturday. He's 'sneaky athletic,' as far as he got that one rebound way above the rim and then went back up and got fouled. He's going to continue to get better. He can handle the ball. He can pass it. He can shoot it. He sees the game a lot differently than other people do. He sees the game like Joe (Jones) does, and not too many people have the ability to see the game a play or two ahead. That's what you have to like about what's going to happen for his future."
Ultimately do you hope he can be like Antoine (Wright) last year, where you can use him on smaller guards and that can be a real advantage for you defensively?
"Yeah. He's not quick like Antoine, but I think once he has a chance to continue lifting weights...he's already gained quite a bit of weight, and I think after the season is over and he's able to get in there four times a week in the summer because he's a driven player and really wants to do well. Once he adds a little more bulk to his body he's going to be able to use not only his length but his strength. I would assume he'll be a really good defender. I don't know that he'll be as good as Antoine, because of his athletic ability compared to Antoine's."
You mentioned versatility on the conference call earlier. Is (Josh) the kind of player that down the road, once he bulks up some and gets experience, can give you that versatility you maybe don't have on the team right now?
"I think he has the mental capacity to play point guard. I think if he gets bigger, he can be a perimeter 4-man. I really think he will give us a great deal of versatility in the future. Right now, he couldn't guard a 4-man, and he's not ready to initiate offense yet. But, I think in the future he's going to be a guy that can guard anybody and play almost any position."
There are some gurus out there claiming that the Big 12 might only get three teams in the NCAA Tournament. What's your stance on that?
"Ask the gurus, that's my stance."
You don't worry about it at all?
"Our (the Big 12's) percentage against top-25 teams is better than anybody in the country. The thing about the Big 12 is this...we don't have as many people lobbying our case on a daily basis on national media outlets, like a lot of other people do. We seem to be more, 'Hey, this is what we are. We're going to do it, we're not going to talk about it. If y'all want to play us, come on.' That's what it seems to me like. It all comes out in the wash. We have a lot of really good teams in here, a lot of outstanding teams in here. There'll be more than that."
Can you talk about the poise of this team? Having been in so many tight games, it seems to be a more poised team. Do you agree with that?
"They're getting better, yeah. Dominique (Kirk) made two big free throws the other day. He missed one earlier (in the year) at Oklahoma State, and you don't know how that's going to affect a guy for the future. He made two big ones. Josh (Carter) got two critical offensive rebounds. Joe (Jones) and Acie (Law) have been Joe and Acie. They've been fantastic. You like to have Chris (Walker) and Marlon (Pompey) out there. Those guys have done very well, and you have a great deal of confidence in them being able to get a defensive stop and a defensive rebound when you most have to have it. This team continues to amaze me because they always put themselves in a position for the most part. Even against Kansas, we gave up that 16-0 run and before you know it we're only four down. We had a bad stretch, but we end up getting back to four down and just a play or two away from having a chance to win it--after a stretch like that against a very good team. They don't panic very much. They usually just grind for 40 minutes. We don't always play perfectly or play well all the time, but we do grind for 40 minutes. I think that's really something that's good about our team."
Is Martellus (Bennett) a guy who continues to improve in practice?
"He's getting better. He just has to understand, like most freshmen, the value of possessions. You can't give the ball away. That's the same thing with Eddie Smith, Antanas (Kavaliauskas) and those new guys. When your margin of error is so small, like our team's is, then it makes it difficult to allow those guys to play as much as they need to play to improve. They need playing time. But it's hard when you're thinking, 'Well gosh, we can't afford to have a turnover here.' I think all of them are doing well defensively. That gives them a chance. As far as just valuing possession of the ball, that's something that is going to continue to get better. But, all three of them are improving at a rapid rate. We're just getting started. We've played seven games, and we said we're going to play 16, and that's what we're going to do. I wouldn't be surprised if all three of those guys, and some others, made a difference to win a game in the Big 12."
Martellus is probably a guy that you'd like to get playing time, but if the games are so tight it's kind of hard to do...
"Yeah, that's what I was saying about the margin of error. It's very small for us. When Joe (Jones) is playing like he is and staying out of foul trouble, you're definitely going to want to have him out there for a long time. That's just where we are right now. We have great hope though. I think he's an elite player. He just needs some playing time. I'm just pretty conservative without question."
When the Big 12 schedule came out, did you look at this week coming up and cringe?
"You look at every week and cringe. I do. It's difficult. But, that's why you want to play in this league. It's a challenge for our team and hopefully we'll be up to the challenge. You can't look at any week in this league and say, 'Well, we're going to be able to breathe there.' The only week you have a breather is when you only play one game, and that's a killer game at the end of that week. But everybody has a week in there where you only have one game, so you get a Saturday to Saturday off. That's fine, that's the way it is. You've just got to accept it and be up to the challenge."
Obviously, with the two teams you will see, rebounding will be a dogfight. Is it important for you to get someone else besides Joe (Jones) to get in there and get the rebounds?
"Yeah. It'll be critical because those two teams are as good as there are in the country. Not only do they have good big guys that rebound, but their guards are very athletic and they come back and clean up a lot of rebounds and don't give you too many second shots. That's what you have to do, is try to battle even on the boards, which is very difficult to do. To have a chance, you can't afford to get beat by 12 or 14 boards.
"We (also) look at it every possession. You better get the rebound the next possession. What's done is done. You can't be concerned about that. Every single possession is the most important one. You've got to think about the next play instead of the last and that's the way we go about it."
Are you having to work on a lot of zone offense this week?
"We've seen some zone, we did okay. I think our zone offense is good. Some people that really didn't pay attention would think that the zone offense got us on Saturday, but we scored on 68 percent of our possessions. The problem was when they played zone, we didn't stop them. I like our zone offense. I like our guys in zone offense. They understand how to score. We have to penetrate a little bit more from the perimeter. That was something that some people said you didn't do very well zone offense-wise...well, if we score 68 percent of the time, I'll take it against anybody. We've just got to get some stops. We had to get stops and we didn't. If we see zone, and we will see some--but we'll also see some man--we'll try to attack it the best we can."
Was against Iowa State the best zone offense you've played this year?
"I think against Kansas was the other night, because we got the shot we wanted every single time with the exception of one possession. (Against) Iowa State we scored 73 points in regulation. I don't know that that's the best zone offense or not, but we made more open shots and had more open shots."
