Feb. 3, 2011
Audio from today's press conference is available to the right in mp3 format. Select quotes are available below.
HEAD COACH Mark Turgeon
How have the players responded this week? So far, so good. We've had good meetings and good practice. We're a little banged up. We're going to rest Ray until he's 100 percent, and B.J. is still hurt.
Is Ray not going to play? I told Ray when he's 100 percent (he can) come back. I'm tired of seeing him limping around. We'll see when Ray will play.
On B.J. Holmes' injury... B.J. will be back, it's just a tough bruise, he's a tough kid. He's pretty important, that was his best game in a long time, best game of the year probably. He was aggressive, he looked like the old B.J.
On Baylor's zone being not as good this year... I haven't faced it, so I don't know. It looks good to me on film, and I thought it was fantastic last year. I don't know what it is, they're still real long. They have big guards, a pretty big front line there. It'll be a challenge for us, we'll just have to get ready for it.
On A&M's team passing... We pass the ball well, we've just chosen not to pass the ball the last couple of games. We've just got selfish. This is one of the best passing teams I've ever had, but guys just have to make the decision to pass it.
On what kind of things got the team off... I just feel like all last week, we didn't get anything out of practice. Just one day, last Tuesday, we had a good practice. Then guys had colds, guys were limping around, and I let it affect the way I coach the team. If I only have five guys, I'm going to coach those five guys the same way, the right way.
On Baylor's play... I don't know, I think they're still pretty good. It's early and they have a lot of opportunities left this season. Baylor's 4-4 in the league, and to me that looks pretty good. They still have a chance to be an NCAA Tournament team. You look around and it's hard to win anywhere. Villanova is a good team, they lost three straight, Syracuse is really good, and they lost four straight. It's hard.
On how good Perry Jones is... I think he's really good, I think he's one of those guys that five years from now, you might see him on All-Star Sunday. He's that talented. He's got all of the tools, and he's really having a really nice freshman year for them.
On LaceDarius Dunn's play... I think LaceDarius Dunn is as good as anybody, and he's really putting up numbers. A guy like Lace can put a team on his back, you're always worried about that.
On Khris Middleton's play... He's practicing better, a lot was thrown on his plate earlier in his career than I anticipated. He's got to handle it better, and he didn't take on a challenge with Hamilton on Monday. When he's ready to take that challenge every night, he'll have the potential to be a really special player.
On A&M's identity as a tough defensive team... That's who we are, it's what we are. We guarded Nebraska really well. They had 57 points in their own gym. They got some free throws in the end there, but we held them to 24 in the first half. Texas we just can't guard, it's that simple. That being said, our defense needs to move forward, our rebounding has been disappointing.
On what unselfish defense looks like... Helping your teammates, being there, being in the right spot all the time. Great defense is five guys working together. We give Dash a lot of credit, he's always guarding the other team's best player, but he has a lot of help when he does that.
On Quincy Acy's play... He is a big part of them, he takes pressure off of Lace, and he's the one guy who can get them into their offense. Hopefully he has a bad game, hopefully he turns the ball over. He's a good player, he's a great defender. We have to do a good job on him, respect every player we guard.
Will B.J. play... I think B.J. will be healthy, if not, Naji will step up, Darko will be in there. If B.J. doesn't run into someone in practice, he'll be ready to play on Saturday. He's always been a quick healer, a tough kid.
On Loubeau drawing the double team... I still think David is getting double-teamed. Texas didn't have to, but they had two or three guys on him. I told him in front of the team, we need David to score. He's lost a little confidence, and he's down a little, but we also need David to pass the ball. Especially when he's got B.J. or Naji open on the outside, he's got to throw the ball.
SENIOR FORWARD Nathan Walkup
How has the team responded this week... We kind of hit a rough patch, we have to get back to doing the little things. We did a lot of fundamental things, getting back to fundamentals, the things that got us to 16-1, that's what we need to get back to doing.
Did you take what you've learned from previous senior classes when they'd hit rough patches and use that this week? I'm trying to. Each time it's always been that bye week that's really helped us out in years past. This wasn't a bye week, but we got two extra practices. We've been trying to lead them in practice. We've got to get back to the team we were before Christmas break.
On playing at home after losing... You want a confidence booster, but Baylor is not a confidence booster team, it's going to be a fight on Saturday. We want to play really well for a home crowd. We know they haven't given up on us. Hopefully we can get some excitement back in Aggie basketball.
On Baylor's team... They're a really talented team, they're really long, and of course Lace is putting the ball in the hole. It's going to come down to how well we defend.
On what playing selfish defense means... As a player, I know if I get beat off the dribble, I know someone is right there to get my back. When you're so focused on `I'm not going to let my man score,' you're not ready to help the guy next to you. That's selfish play.
On Quincy Acy... He's a really big athlete, he's a strong kid, he jumps really well. If I'm on him, that's what I was last year, so I assume I would guard him again. Off the glass, he does a lot of damage there, that's going to be a match where I have to play 15 pounds bigger to try to out-tough him.
Would having Ray healthy help in this game? This would be a really nice game to be real deep with all of our big men. They go real big, especially with Jones at the wing, that's a lot of length.
On Coach Turgeon calling out players by name... It should always be a challenge when somebody calls you out. It's nothing personal with coach, he's just trying to make us the best ball players and the best team we can be. Coach just tries to challenge us every day, and one thing we haven't done this last few days is take that challenge. Coach has been challenging us these last couple of weeks, and it's time for us to step up and accept one.