Jan. 24, 2011
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College Station, Texas - Head coach Mark Turgeon and members of the 11th-ranked Texas A&M men's basketball team met with the media today to talk about the upcoming games against Nebraska and No. 7 Texas.
Audio from today's press conference is available to the right in MP3 format. Selected quotes are listed below.
HEAD COACH Mark Turgeon
On the success at the free throw line... “Well, it was kind of a roller coaster on Saturday because we missed three front ends of 1-and-1s. We were just good enough defensively to overcome it. But no, I think the right guys got fouled late. It was good to see B.J. (Holmes) step up and knock them down like he did, and of course Khris (Middleton) has done it most of the year. In the league we have about four guys shooting real well at the foul line and three to four that aren't. We've got to get those three or four that aren't at a little higher percentage as we go forward. It's kind of an individual thing, but I think we're at 72 or 73 (percent) both overall and in the league, and that's better than we have been in the past.”
On the practice plan this week with no Wednesday game... “Well, we'll work on defense, that's what we do. We don't win the game Saturday without good defense in the second half. I thought Dash (Harris) did a tremendous job. Our team defense was better and our rebounding was better. So we'll work on that. We've got to work on our execution. The good thing is we've got a lot of practice time this week. We've got two days this week where we'll just work on us, just get better and work on them individually. We'll start preparing for Nebraska Thursday and Friday. We'll always start on the defensive end and rebounding, and then we just have to get where we start executing better and screening better offensively. We'll tweak a few things to hopefully help that.”
On Saturday being last trip to the Devaney Center, and his memories of the place as a player at KU or coach at A&M... “Well, obviously our last game up there was a thriller, with Josh (Carter) hitting the shot to beat them. (It was) A game that quite frankly we weren't very good for about 30 minutes and then were great the last 10 minutes, and it was enough to overcome I think an 18-point deficit. We had great execution down the stretch and Josh hit a big three. You think about where our program's come since that game and what we've done in the league. That was a big game for us. I think we ended up winning three in a row in the league after that, and 11 last year, and of course where we are today. That was a big shot for us. The thing I always know about Nebraska is they have great fans, it'll be sold out I'm sure. They really like their Cornhuskers. I won't miss going there, but I'm looking forward to this last time.”
Do you expect to get their best shot defensively? It sounded like Coach Sadler was really disappointed in their effort against Texas Tech... “Yeah, he and I probably feel about the same about our teams defensively right now. Doc's team is going to guard. They always guard. They have a week to get ready, just like we do, so they'll fine-tune some things defensively. They're going to make you beat them from the outside. They're going to pack it in and we're going to have to make some jump shots to beat them. We understand that. Hopefully with having the weekday off we'll be fresh, our legs will be fresh, and we'll be able to knock down some shots on Saturday.”
On the challenge posed by Nebraska... “I think they have more quality depth than they've had, more experience than they've had. They had young depth last year and they're a little more experienced this year. They're a heck of a team, probably undefeated at home--I haven't looked, but I'm sure they are. Like any Big 12 road game it's going to be a tough one.”
On the bench being key in Saturday's win over K-State and if that gives him confidence going forward... “No question (it does). I was really pleased. Naji (Hibbert) has been giving us good minutes. He's played well in I think four of the five Big 12 Conference games, which shows he's getting more consistent, which is something I'm on him about. He shot it well. Kourtney (Roberson) had his best game in a while. Kourtney is a good player and he needs minutes. I thought Keith Davis, in his three minutes, was really good. (He was) 1-for-1 from the field, he screened well, he defended well. And then Ray (Turner) was playing well before he got hurt and got in foul trouble. Ray would have played a lot more minutes Saturday, but he just couldn't. His ankle was bothering him, and we needed him. To see the way our starters shot the ball and to still win the game, it's encouraging. We want to build depth, hopefully what gives us a chance to be near the top of the league is building depth. That makes you a better team when guys don't play well, because you have options. It's a good feeling to sit there on the bench and watch Kourtney play the way he's playing, instead of putting him in for two or three minutes and just trying to get through those two or three minutes and get the starters back in. That's no fun as a coach. You want to be able to sit over there when you sub guys in and feel comfortable with them. And I think we're getting to that point.”
On the basketball weekend ahead with Big Monday versus Texas and the No. 5 women Sunday versus No. 1 Baylor, both at Reed Arena... “Hopefully it's a great 36 hours. What (women's coach) Gary (Blair) and his staff have done with their program...to win at Iowa State the way they did, which wasn't an easy environment--I was able to watch part of that game--they deserve a huge crowd Sunday against the No. 1 team in the country. It should be an exciting time. Then of course with us playing Texas on big Monday, it should be great crowd and bring a lot of students out. Hopefully we'll get the students out for the women's game Sunday also. I think that's pretty important. I've watched a lot of teams, and obviously Texas is playing as well as anyone in the country right now. And Baylor on the women's side has proven how good they are. Hopefully it's a great 36 hours for A&M basketball.”
When you see what Texas did to Kansas, do you reevaluate what happened to you in Austin on Wednesday? “No. the one thing about down in Texas was I thought we kept trying hard, we just couldn't do anything about it. That was the discouraging part. I don't compare ourselves to anyone else, I just want to figure it out. But no, what a week for Texas...to beat us the way they did and play the way they did, and then come back and beat Kansas pretty handily, that's a pretty good week.”
On such a quick turnaround of playing Texas on Monday, less than two weeks from the first meeting... “I think it's good, because we'll remember the whipping we took. You don't ever want to get embarrassed. They whipped us pretty good. I think we cut it to 14 in the second half...we were trying, we just couldn't do anything about it. That'll help us. And then game-planning wise, having to go to Nebraska (Saturday) and then play on Big Monday, it'll help your planning. You just went through it all, hopefully you can make the right adjustments to be a little more successful.”