by Bill Seals
On the areas he challenged the team with as it prepares for conference competition:
“Everybody has to produce at a higher level now that we’re going into Big 12 play for us to be as successful as possible. We’ve got to rebound better up front and be more physical. If we can get the ball inside, not necessarily to score but to run offense through there at times, go inside-out…that’s a bonus just to flatten out the defense a little bit.
“We’ve got to get Merrill (Holden) back playing with a sense of urgency. Solomon (Young) has done some good things. Darrell (Bowie) and Deonte (Burton) have been pretty productive. We’ve got to continue to challenge Deonte. We’ve played four guards some as well these last couple games, but we need these front-court guys to produce especially as we go into Big 12 play, the play is a lot more physical and we’re going against a lot more size.”
On if he’s trying to move to a four-guard lineup more often:
“We’re working on it and feeling more comfortable with it. The thing about playing four guards is you’ve got to be junkyard dogs out there and be nasty and tough. That’s what we’ve been trying to stress and work on. I think our four-guard lineup has been productive when you look at plus-minus statistically.”
On if Nick Weiler-Babb is back to healthy:
“Yeah, he’s good to go. I don’t think he’s 100 percent, but he’s practiced the last two or three practices that we’ve had. You can still see that there’s some tenderness there. It’s one of those nagging injuries. We need him to get healthy.”
On what a four-guard lineup would need to do to win eight to 10 games in the Big 12:
“You’ve got to be nasty. You’ve got to be tough. You’ve got to be the toughest team on the floor. The guards have to rebound collectively. Offensively, you’ve got to share the ball, play at a good pace, make good decisions and make shots. When you watch good teams that play with four guards, the one thing that they have is great toughness. If we do play that lineup for extended stretches, we’ve got to have great toughness.”
On if he’s getting everything he needs out of Monte Morris:
“I think everybody, from me to the last guy, we all have to be better. We’re 8-3 but you make a shot here or there and you’re 10-1. That’s just the reality of it. Against Gonzaga and Cincinnati here, we had the game won. Everybody has to take the next step now. That’s my challenge for those guys, from Monte to me to everybody.”
On what he’s seen from the Big 12 through the non-conference season:
“I think top to bottom, it’s probably a lot more balanced than it was last year. I think last year you had a couple teams at the bottom that you thought you could get them and probably had a real good chance to get them at their place too. One through 10 now, you have your elite teams at the top, the teams that are playing really well right now like Kansas, Baylor, West Virginia and Oklahoma State with those guards back are very good. Texas Tech had a great year last year and I think they’re better this year. Kansas State has a lot of guys back. TCU had guys sitting out that are eligible now and they signed some good guys as well. That bottom tier is really improved so it makes your league even better.”
On if he thinks Texas Tech is better than it was last season:
“I do. I know they lost one or two guys, but they’re playing with great confidence. They’re defending and sharing the ball. Chris (Beard) does a really good job and did a good job at Little Rock and he’s doing a great job there implementing his culture and style. I’m sure Tubby (Smith) laid a great foundation there as well for him to build on. Chris is doing great and they’ve had a great non-conference schedule. They’re 11-1 and coming in here with a lot of confidence.”
On coming into every Big 12 game knowing his team’s in for a fight:
“That’s what every game is now. I don’t know the league. From afar I do but not internally I don’t except for last year and this year. It makes every game so important and your home games that much more important. I think every team in this league can get the other guy on any given night – home, neutral, road. You’ve got to be ready to play, whether it’s Tech, Baylor, whoever it may be.”
On if he sees Young’s minutes increasing during the conference slate:
“They could. At some point, we’ve got to decide. It’s hard to play four front-court guys a lot of minutes and everybody be happy. As we get going, it’s who is producing and you can keep those guys out on the floor. He’s done some really good things for us and he’s had some freshman growing pains as well, but he brings some physicality and toughness up front that we need.”
On how the team can become a better rebounding group:
“You just do it through practice habits, and I think the last two days our energy has been really good. We’ve gone back to some old three-on-three box-out drills and disadvantage drills – things I feel comfortable with rather than straight five-on-five stuff. We’ve got to get that back. We were really good and our defensive field-goal percentage is first in our league. In Florida, we were nasty, tough and competed at a high level. Miami was bigger and we rebounded them even. It was the same way against Gonzaga and had a chance to win that game. The last couple weeks we lost that edge a little bit and need to get that back. I think we’re making strides to do that.”
On what the team spent the past two weeks focusing on:
“The last couple weeks we were focused on offensive execution, spacing and pushing the pace. What we’re focusing on right now is the grittiness, nastiness and toughness of rebounding, getting back in transition, guarding the ball and closing out right way.”
On where free-throw shooting ranks in terms of areas team needs to improve:
“They’re priorities, but I mean, we shoot them after every break. After every water break, we go to line and shoot for two minutes. These guys shoot them on their own. We need to get to the free-throw line more. I don’t think we did it last year either, but we scored at such a high clip. We’ve got to make them better. We can’t be a 60-percent free-throw shooting team. You spend more time with it and that’s all you can do, then you have to step up there and make them.”
On if Cameron Lard is in the air and headed for Iowa State yet:
“I don’t know if he has a plane ticket yet, but he’s in the process of getting all his transcripts in order. It is what it is from a standpoint of the eligibility center in the holidays and getting all that stuff to them. He’ll be here. His grades came back to where they needed to be. Now it’s just a mere formality of getting stuff to the eligibility center and getting him up here. We’re not in a rush to get him up here from a standpoint of getting him in there to play, but we need to get him here and make sure the Is are dotted and Ts are crossed so he’s here and in good standing.”
On if he’s 100 percent sure that Lard will redshirt and sit out the rest of the season:
“Yeah, I would most likely lean that way. Maybe the second half of Big 12 play you could look at it, but that’s far off from what I’m envisioning.”
On if Lard could play if he thinks the newcomer could make a difference in some close games:
“Possibly, but I really have to see him around here for a couple weeks. If he’s in practice two to three weeks and he brings a definite edge, then you have to really evaluate it. I think he has the chance to be a really good player, but until I see that… he’s going from really not doing anything to coming in here. Unless I really saw a chance for him to make a difference, then I wouldn’t (redshirt) him.”
On what his personal preference is for Lard:
“If he could help this team and really make a difference, then I’ve got to really look at it. What’s probably the best thing for him is to get here, practice, get with a strength and conditioning coach, get a spring, get a summer, so you’re ready to go next summer.”
On the areas he challenged the team with as it prepares for conference competition:
“Everybody has to produce at a higher level now that we’re going into Big 12 play for us to be as successful as possible. We’ve got to rebound better up front and be more physical. If we can get the ball inside, not necessarily to score but to run offense through there at times, go inside-out…that’s a bonus just to flatten out the defense a little bit.
“We’ve got to get Merrill (Holden) back playing with a sense of urgency. Solomon (Young) has done some good things. Darrell (Bowie) and Deonte (Burton) have been pretty productive. We’ve got to continue to challenge Deonte. We’ve played four guards some as well these last couple games, but we need these front-court guys to produce especially as we go into Big 12 play, the play is a lot more physical and we’re going against a lot more size.”
On if he’s trying to move to a four-guard lineup more often:
“We’re working on it and feeling more comfortable with it. The thing about playing four guards is you’ve got to be junkyard dogs out there and be nasty and tough. That’s what we’ve been trying to stress and work on. I think our four-guard lineup has been productive when you look at plus-minus statistically.”
On if Nick Weiler-Babb is back to healthy:
“Yeah, he’s good to go. I don’t think he’s 100 percent, but he’s practiced the last two or three practices that we’ve had. You can still see that there’s some tenderness there. It’s one of those nagging injuries. We need him to get healthy.”
On what a four-guard lineup would need to do to win eight to 10 games in the Big 12:
“You’ve got to be nasty. You’ve got to be tough. You’ve got to be the toughest team on the floor. The guards have to rebound collectively. Offensively, you’ve got to share the ball, play at a good pace, make good decisions and make shots. When you watch good teams that play with four guards, the one thing that they have is great toughness. If we do play that lineup for extended stretches, we’ve got to have great toughness.”
On if he’s getting everything he needs out of Monte Morris:
“I think everybody, from me to the last guy, we all have to be better. We’re 8-3 but you make a shot here or there and you’re 10-1. That’s just the reality of it. Against Gonzaga and Cincinnati here, we had the game won. Everybody has to take the next step now. That’s my challenge for those guys, from Monte to me to everybody.”
On what he’s seen from the Big 12 through the non-conference season:
“I think top to bottom, it’s probably a lot more balanced than it was last year. I think last year you had a couple teams at the bottom that you thought you could get them and probably had a real good chance to get them at their place too. One through 10 now, you have your elite teams at the top, the teams that are playing really well right now like Kansas, Baylor, West Virginia and Oklahoma State with those guards back are very good. Texas Tech had a great year last year and I think they’re better this year. Kansas State has a lot of guys back. TCU had guys sitting out that are eligible now and they signed some good guys as well. That bottom tier is really improved so it makes your league even better.”
On if he thinks Texas Tech is better than it was last season:
“I do. I know they lost one or two guys, but they’re playing with great confidence. They’re defending and sharing the ball. Chris (Beard) does a really good job and did a good job at Little Rock and he’s doing a great job there implementing his culture and style. I’m sure Tubby (Smith) laid a great foundation there as well for him to build on. Chris is doing great and they’ve had a great non-conference schedule. They’re 11-1 and coming in here with a lot of confidence.”
On coming into every Big 12 game knowing his team’s in for a fight:
“That’s what every game is now. I don’t know the league. From afar I do but not internally I don’t except for last year and this year. It makes every game so important and your home games that much more important. I think every team in this league can get the other guy on any given night – home, neutral, road. You’ve got to be ready to play, whether it’s Tech, Baylor, whoever it may be.”
On if he sees Young’s minutes increasing during the conference slate:
“They could. At some point, we’ve got to decide. It’s hard to play four front-court guys a lot of minutes and everybody be happy. As we get going, it’s who is producing and you can keep those guys out on the floor. He’s done some really good things for us and he’s had some freshman growing pains as well, but he brings some physicality and toughness up front that we need.”
On how the team can become a better rebounding group:
“You just do it through practice habits, and I think the last two days our energy has been really good. We’ve gone back to some old three-on-three box-out drills and disadvantage drills – things I feel comfortable with rather than straight five-on-five stuff. We’ve got to get that back. We were really good and our defensive field-goal percentage is first in our league. In Florida, we were nasty, tough and competed at a high level. Miami was bigger and we rebounded them even. It was the same way against Gonzaga and had a chance to win that game. The last couple weeks we lost that edge a little bit and need to get that back. I think we’re making strides to do that.”
On what the team spent the past two weeks focusing on:
“The last couple weeks we were focused on offensive execution, spacing and pushing the pace. What we’re focusing on right now is the grittiness, nastiness and toughness of rebounding, getting back in transition, guarding the ball and closing out right way.”
On where free-throw shooting ranks in terms of areas team needs to improve:
“They’re priorities, but I mean, we shoot them after every break. After every water break, we go to line and shoot for two minutes. These guys shoot them on their own. We need to get to the free-throw line more. I don’t think we did it last year either, but we scored at such a high clip. We’ve got to make them better. We can’t be a 60-percent free-throw shooting team. You spend more time with it and that’s all you can do, then you have to step up there and make them.”
On if Cameron Lard is in the air and headed for Iowa State yet:
“I don’t know if he has a plane ticket yet, but he’s in the process of getting all his transcripts in order. It is what it is from a standpoint of the eligibility center in the holidays and getting all that stuff to them. He’ll be here. His grades came back to where they needed to be. Now it’s just a mere formality of getting stuff to the eligibility center and getting him up here. We’re not in a rush to get him up here from a standpoint of getting him in there to play, but we need to get him here and make sure the Is are dotted and Ts are crossed so he’s here and in good standing.”
On if he’s 100 percent sure that Lard will redshirt and sit out the rest of the season:
“Yeah, I would most likely lean that way. Maybe the second half of Big 12 play you could look at it, but that’s far off from what I’m envisioning.”
On if Lard could play if he thinks the newcomer could make a difference in some close games:
“Possibly, but I really have to see him around here for a couple weeks. If he’s in practice two to three weeks and he brings a definite edge, then you have to really evaluate it. I think he has the chance to be a really good player, but until I see that… he’s going from really not doing anything to coming in here. Unless I really saw a chance for him to make a difference, then I wouldn’t (redshirt) him.”
On what his personal preference is for Lard:
“If he could help this team and really make a difference, then I’ve got to really look at it. What’s probably the best thing for him is to get here, practice, get with a strength and conditioning coach, get a spring, get a summer, so you’re ready to go next summer.”
