Nov. 17, 2010
College Station, Texas - Head Coach Mark Turgeon and members of the Texas A&M men's basketball team met with the media today at Reed Arena to talk about the upcoming game against Texas A&M International.
Audio from today's press conference is available to the right in MP3 format, quotes are available below.
HEAD COACH Mark Turgeon
On the win over A&M-Corpus Christi... “I was pleased Monday. I don't think a lot of people got to see the game on television. I was a nervous wreck going into that road game because I knew they were talented. I didn't expect it to be as easy as it was.”
On the free-throw shooting... “It was a matter of time, we have good shooters. The right guys getting fouled, that had a lot to do with it. Guys making them early in the game, it becomes contagious, guys missing them early in the game, that's contagious too. Both games in the second half we didn't shoot them well. I expect to shoot well from the free throw line.”
On B.J. Holmes' play... “We had a lot of guys in foul trouble, Dash (Harris), Khris (Middleton), Naji (Hibbert) all had foul trouble. I was pleased with B.J. He knew he had to play and play well, and he did. He didn't do well in the first game, so he knew he had to do well. I wanted to see how guys could play with two fouls. A couple of guys played well, a couple of guys did not. You have to play aggressive but still not foul. I thought Khris did a nice job. I thought when he went in, he played aggressive both ends.”
On the tight officiating so far across the country... “I think a couple things will happen. One is teams will adjust and officials will adjust. They're definitely trying to let offense flow. The one they're calling a lot is the hand check, even if it's just for a second. I think there will be some common sense and efficiency as we go forward. We keep talking about adjusting, a lot of ours are a little bit of laziness and sloppiness, it'll work out in time.”
On the fouls impeding the flow of the game... “You might have to look back in a while, but that's four straight halves with ten team fouls. It has hurt the flow, but fortunately for us, we're a deep team.”
On Kourtney Roberson being productive... “I knew he was good, but I didn't think he would be this productive (this early). He's just going and getting it. We learned a lot from the first film. A lot of guys wait for it to come to them. He just went and got it. Kind of just created his own deal. He's given us great minutes. I just wish I could get him more minutes. I thought him and Ray (Turner) deserved more minutes. We're waiting for David (Loubeau) to start playing better and get him into a flow. Eventually, you have to stop waiting and get those other guys out there.”
On Ray Turner's play... “It was good to see Ray back, he's been great in practice. It was good to see him doing the things he does well.”
On “bigs” sharing minutes... “We've been talking with our post guys, with how deep we are and how we'll have to rotate on minutes. Each night, one big guy, maybe two are going to be unhappy with playing time. I've been pleased with our bigs. They have to practice better, and that's been a problem, and they're starting to practice better, and that'll show in the games.”
On Naji Hibbert's play... “He's got all the talent in the world, quick feet, long arms, great hands, great anticipation. We're waiting for him to accept that role as a defender. Anyone who's played, you have to accept that. Hopefully, he will and take a lot of pressure off of Dash. It's early, and he's come so far from last year and we encourage him to continue to defend.”
On practicing... “Our thought for the day is practice hard. I just fight these guys every day in practice. I have to get them to practice harder. It's a fine line with winning and losing. Right now, our competition hasn't been heavy, but it's coming soon.”
On Texas A&M International... “I'll watch them tonight, I'm really focusing on us. This time of year, I put a lot more into us than our opponent. But we're really just trying to get our fundamentals down. We know they're really disciplined; they play hard. They'll run a lot of sets, which is good for us. They'll run a soft press, which we haven't seen yet.”
SOPHOMORE FORWARD Naji Hibbert
On his start to the year... “Better than last year, last year I lost my confidence. But the coaches still believe in me so my confidence keeps up. My dad always says there are ups and downs in life, there are ups and downs in my life. Last year was a long year. This year, I'm becoming a better man, on and off the court.”
On defensive play... “Well, every day Coach is telling me to be ready on the defensive end. I don't really take it as a challenge, I take it a duty. I love defense.”
On his advice to the freshmen... “I would say first year, just don't think too much. Don't put too much pressure on yourself, keep a clear head.”
On how important he is for the team... “Coach says I'm very important. I just try to stay healthy, take care of my body. Especially in the Big 12, your body deteriorates.”
On what he's looking to improve... “Most definitely confidence. Any day you can lose it, but you want to take the good and the bad from these types of games. I just try to do the right thing, be coachable and do what I can to help the team win.”
On how much he has improved... “I'm a modest type of person, I took the good and the bad last year, I went home this summer and got to work, worked hard. It was good to have my family, good friends to help me stay focused. After having a bad year, a lot of guys would've got down and they would've got back on top.”
FRESHMAN FORWARD KOURTNEY ROBERSON
On his first dunk... “It felt great, I was kind of nervous. I took one dribble, didn't see anyone there, I just went up and dunked it. Didn't want to miss my first dunk, it would've been embarrassing.”
On talking to his brother, Bernard King (A&M's all-time leading scorer)... “I talk to him every day, actually I talked to him before coming in here (the press conference). He said go in there and talk and don't be nervous. (During a game) He said the crowd would be big out there (on the floor), don't be nervous.”
On what has been surprising this season... “Minutes. There have been a lot of minutes. Coach has a lot of trust in me, going out there doing the right thing, playing defense, guarding the ball all that kind of stuff.”
On playing for a prep school for a year helping a lot... “When I left Arcadia and went to the prep, it helped me a lot. Running lifting weights, guarding the ball. On the road, it's tough, and I just went out and played.”
On whether he expected to do so well so early... “No, I just go out and play. Whenever coach tells me to be ready, I'm ready. When I get on the floor, I have to attack, keep rebounding and scoring when I'm open.”
TEAM NOTES
- Texas A&M leads the Big 12 in steals (11.0/game) ... ranks 2nd in scoring offense (87.0 PPG), trailing only Kansas (96.0) ... and is 4th in field goal percentage (.483), free throw percentage (.739) and rebounding (42.0).
- With Monday's 86-65 win at A&M-Corpus Christi, Texas A&M has now won 5 of its last 6 true road games dating back to last year's big win at Missouri ... included in that span are victories at Texas Tech, Iowa State and Oklahoma, with the lone loss coming by four points at Baylor ... the Aggies were 9-9 last year in all games away from Reed Arena.
- A&M has now won 4 of its last 5 true non-conference road games ... the Aggies won at Alabama (in overtime) and at Rice in the winter of 2008, and defeated SMU in Dallas last fall ... A&M's lone loss in that span was a nine-point setback at Washington last December.
- Monday's crowd of 6,071 at the American Bank Center was the second largest crowd in A&M-Corpus Christi's history ... it was the first time Texas A&M has played a basketball game in the city since 1945 and a war-time matchup with Corpus Christi Naval Air Station.
- Texas A&M's 16 steals in the win over the Islanders were the most by an Aggie team in nearly four years, when A&M swiped the ball 20 times against Grambling State on Dec. 28, 2006.
- The Aggies' regular-season, non-conference home win streak stands at 65 games entering Friday's contest with Texas A&M International.
PLAYER NOTES
- Sophomore F Khris Middleton has hit 20 consecutive free throws dating back to last season.
- After posting just one double-figure scoring game as a freshman, sophomore G Naji Hibbert has reached the mark in both of A&M's games this year ... Hibbert's 12-point effort Monday against the Islanders was a career high.
- Senior G B.J. Holmes set a career high with 7 steals Monday at A&M-Corpus Christi ... it was the most steals by an Aggie since Acie Law IV swiped 7 against Oklahoma State (1/11/06) ... Holmes also set a career high with 7 assists on the night and ranks 5th in the Big 12 in that category (5.5/game).
- Freshman F Kourtney Roberson leads the team and the Big 12 in field-goal percentage (11-of-14, .786) ... Roberson has also led the team in rebounds in both games.
- Senior G B.J. Holmes (5.5) and junior G Dash Harris (4.5) rank second and third, respectively, in the Big 12 in assist-to-turnover ratio.