TEXAS A&M BASKETBALL WEEKLY PRESS CONFERENCE
Monday, February 20, 2012 - Reed Arena - College Station, Texas
Team Snapshot
Record: 13-13, 4-10 Big 12
Streak: Lost 1
Ranking: NR
Last Week: def. Texas Tech (A), 47-38 (Tue.); lost to #3 Missouri (H), 71-62 (Sat.)
This Week: Wednesday vs #4 Kansas (H), 8 p.m. (ESPN2); Saturday at Oklahoma State (A), 1 p.m. (ESPN2)
You can watch/listen to the press conference later today on aggieathletics.com.
HEAD COACH BILLY KENNEDY
"Unfortunately against Missouri we did not make enough shots to beat them. They're a very good offensive team. You've got to make open shots. You've got to get to the free-throw line. You've got to finish layups. Missouri makes you pay-when they get open shots, they make them. I know defensively we would have liked to play better, but against this team they're so explosive offensively that you've got to be good offensively also."
How is Dash and do you expect him Wednesday?
"I said earlier that I really have no clue. All the answers I've given have been wrong...he did practice with us Friday some. We'll have a better feel today. But he wasn't able to go through a whole practice yet."
Has your biggest challenge this year of all of them been having to find a point guard?
"Yeah. We've established what we want to do without him, but it hurts us in close games. It hurts us defensively at times. But now we're kind of used to it. With him coming back that will be another adjustment. We'll have to see how that works."
Do you think Elston is getting worn out a little mentally and physically from having to play so many minutes at the point?
"No, I don't think that was the case on Saturday. He just didn't shoot the ball well. We do have to be a little more conservative with his minutes in practice I think, at this time of year. But he loves to play. He doesn't want to come out of the game. He never takes himself out. I think he's doing well."
David Loubeau hit the first shot of the game and then it was a long time before he saw the ball again...is that his fault or is that what the defense was giving you?
"He played 23 minutes. He got in foul trouble. He got his second foul in the first half and we didn't get him the ball enough. At the end of the half he picked up another foul on an offensive rebound. He had some blocking calls on hedges. But we are trying to get him the ball and we needed to do a better job of getting him the ball in that particular game, but for the most part we've been able to get him the ball. He can score, and because we've had more shooters on the perimeter they haven't been helping as much and he's been more effective."
Nothing like playing the No. 3 team in the nation (Missouri) and then getting the No. 4 team (Kansas)...
"Yeah, and they're totally different. Like I'm going to tell our guys today, it's an exciting time. You've got to love playing. You're playing two great teams back to back. We competed well at Kansas. They've been great on the road, that's why they've been conference champions for the last several years. We'll have to play really well to give ourselves a chance, but we've been playing well at home and we're looking forward to playing."
There are a lot of lasts with the move to the SEC, but does it make this game more special to have a program with the history of Kansas coming in here for the last scheduled time?
"I think so. I've got great respect for Kansas, and the tradition of their program, and with what Bill Self has done there. Obviously I hired a guy from their program in Kyle Keller. It's a great opportunity for us to have a special moment and get a win. Now, we'll have to play great basketball and they'll have to play not so well-which I thought Missouri played really well. We've got to get some breaks at some point."
Do you think you match up better with Kansas than Missouri, because you get to play your bigs more?
"We get to play our bigger guys. Kansas' guards don't get enough respect. They get in the lane. Tyshawn Taylor is a really difficult matchup for us, with Dash and without him, and then there's Jeff Withey...we matchup better (with Kansas) but they're still pretty dominant in the post. Withey is having a great year and that's one of the reasons why they're having a special season."
Do you like what you're getting out of Naji in kind of taking Dash's place?
"He's done some good things for us. I thought Zach Kinsley did some really good things for us too last game. We're looking for somebody to play on both ends of the floor, defensively and offensively. We're not getting that consistently from any of those guys."
Is that what Jordan Green is doing well?
"I think Jordan the last couple of games has played both ends as well as anybody on our team. Khris is moving better and making more of an effort on the defensive end than he was able to earlier with his legs. He's continually getting better and that's good to see."
How did he feel after Saturday?
"I think he's doing good. We had yesterday off and played an afternoon game (Saturday). We'll go hard today for a little bit but he's doing a lot better."
Where would you say the team is as far as building the culture you want say, compared to where it was in November?
"Oh we're much further ahead than we were earlier in the year. Our effort's been good, our attitude's been good-at home and on the road, for the most part. We've just got to be consistent one through nine, now that we have Khris back. We can't be four or five guys (deep), because those other guys are playing valuable minutes and they've got to be ready to play and help us."
Can you talk about Oklahoma State?
"They're playing well. If Keiton Page gets 40, you're not going to win at Oklahoma State. I really believe they're one of the more talented teams in this league. They have young talent, but they've proven at home that they're a force. They're playing better right now and you'd expect that from a young team, especially when Keiton goes off like he did the other day."
What did you do to stop him from doing that here last month?
"Well, we had a bunch of guys buy in to defending him. You guard him with your team, because they set so many screens that you have to have guys help out. You have to have guys chase him around and we did it with a couple of different guys. You can't let him get going early-if he makes his first couple of shots early he's going to make them throughout the game. He's such a great shooter and he's a senior now, that I think Travis feels comfortable with him shooting the ball at any time. I would approve of that also because he shoots such a high percentage from three, and he's a great free throw shooter, and he's a senior."