by Bill Seals
On how Babb benefited from his year off from playing competitively:
“Nick’s been around this program a long time. His brother Chris played here and had a ton of success. Last year’s team was unique. Those first six were so dominant and really good. He could get lost at times last season. If Nick can become consistent, with the way his skill set is, he’s what I envision. I would love to have three guys like him.
“He can bounce it, shoot it and late in the shot clock he can rise over you and get a paint touch. I’m big on paint touches – driving for paint touches, attacking ball screens to get paint touches. He can do that. He’s versatile enough to where he can guard the one, two, three, four. If you play four guards, you have to have one of your guards be tough enough and resilient enough to guard a post guy. When you talk about NBA potential, he may have the best NBA potential of anyone on our roster.”
On what he’d like to accomplish defensively this season:
“A couple things. At times we have to turn people over. I’ve had teams that have done it in the half-court. In the half-court when we get people set, we really want to be focused on containing the dribble. We didn’t do a good enough job of containing the dribble. When we’re in the half-court, we’re thinking pack it in, contain the dribble, contest and finish. We have to be better in these areas this year. I put it on the board – transition defense, contesting shots, containing the dribble and finishing plays. It sounds simple but it’s tough to do.
“No layups. We gave up 35 percent of our shots last year that were layups and that has to be 15-to-20 percent. Too many uncontested shots last year. Between contested and uncontested shots, there was a 20 percent difference in Big 12 games. Our mentality has to change on the defensive end. We can be a good defensive team.
“I’ve never put in three-quarter court pressure this early and have never always worked on it. We’ll work on it daily this year, to where I think it can be very good for this team. Changing defenses – we’re versatile enough to where they can all play defensive positions in the press. When we get matched up, we can guard different positions and switch back.”
On if different approach to defense this season is because of the size limitations and personnel:
“A lot of things you do defensively is out of necessity, versatility or what’s best for this team to win games. If we just ran back and played half-court defense, that wouldn’t be the best thing for this team. This team needs to change defenses, can switch ball screens and can switch dribble hand-offs. That’s the great thing about a Burton and Bowie backs him up – those guys we can switch with our one-through-four. We can pick up three-quarter court pressure. We can take time off the shot clock. We have to be a lot more focused in our approach defensively.”
On Morris getting to play more two this year with the arrival of Jackson:
“Monte likes it because he’s shooting the ball so much better right now and he’s getting out and running the floor. I wouldn’t necessarily say it’s two point guards; I just want guys at those positions that can make plays off the bounce, to where we can really spread people out and put pressure on the defense. I want them to get to the Big 12 logo for a jump shot or right there you’ve got to make your decision on shot, pass, or all the way to the rim. It gives you a lot of versatility and makes you tough to guard. You get guys out running and can really kick it ahead. You can play off of multiple ball screens. When one, two and three all have the ability to make plays off the dribble, it’s hard to guard that.”
On how the front-court rotation looks early on in preseason practice:
“If you look at our team, one-through-four you know what you’re probably going to get every single day. I think we have great guard depth. Burton is solidified at that (forward) spot. The thing we have to do from October 12th to November 11th to December 30th is continue to invest daily with these front-court guys. None of them have been here before. Everyone is coming with a different story. Merrill and Darrell are fifth-year guys, Solomon (Young) is a high school kid, Simeon (Carter) didn’t really play last year.
“It’s brand new for so many of these guys. We have to get them in the gym before practice, stay after, get them in the film room and catch them up to speed as best as possible. Whoever can play at that position… if they can defend and rebound, rim run, sprint to ball screens and do those core things, that’s who is going to play for us.
“Everyone has had a day. Merrill has had some great days where his energy is really good. He can do what we need him to do, but we need him to do it on a daily basis. Darrell is the same thing. I thought his energy was a lot better yesterday. Solomon is a guy that as he gets better and understands ball-screen coverage, how to sprint to screens, post defense and angles, he’ll have a chance. His body is ready. He’s got a college body.”
On what he’s looking for from Thomas this season:
“He needs to stay within what he does well and what he’s been doing well. That’s running the floor, making shots, being solid on defense and playing within himself. He should always be playing with great confidence. All these guards – shoot it, if you miss it, shoot it again. Matt is too good of a shooter. He may go 0-for-3 and then go 4-for-7 in that same game and hit four in a row. Last year, Matt more than doubled his stats last season and his percentages went up. He needs to continue to do the same thing. His work ethic – he’s as good of a worker as I’ve ever seen.”
How much of a worry is the team’s rebounding going into this season:
“It’s a concern. If you ask the guys, we’ve probably done more rebound drills this year than we did all of last year. We’ve got to do it and get better in that area. Our first-shot defense last year was very good at times. Our first half field-goal percentage defense was good at times. But we didn’t finish play at times. This team is not going to be a ‘shoot and go get it’ team. We’re going to be small at times, so we’ve got to be a position rebound team. Box your man out and go get it.
“There’s also a focus on offensive rebounding. Threes, fours and fives are going and that’s a little different. In the past, because so many guys were on the perimeter, everybody got back and that wasn’t one of our M.O.’s. We’re training our three, four and five to go to the glass and hopefully get more possessions that way.”
On how many rebounds he’d like to see Burton get each game:
“He should get 10. He should average a double-double for the team to max out.”
On what he’s looking for out of true freshman guard Jakolby Long:
“Just growth. Compete, learn, get better, understand what it takes to play and the commitment to play at this level. He needs to get as much knowledge as he can from Matt, Naz, Nick and those perimeter guys. He needs to get battle tested.”
On who will replace Niang as the go-to guy for big buckets late in games:
“When you look at Niang, we probably should have even thrown it to him some more. You look at the Little Rock game and he got it nine times in a row. I’ve thought about it often. When you needed a bucket most of the times, it was just getting it to him. You could run a million plays, but at the end of the day he was catching the ball in that mid-post block.
“We could put Burton that situation at times. We could do it by committee. If I had to tell you right now, we’d probably put Monte in flat ball screens, pick-and-roll and play in space and create for others. You have a lot of guys that can all make game-winning plays. Naz has made big shots in this program for many years. This team will score differently. We’ll score from three, dribble penetration and we have to get to the free-throw line more than last year’s team.”
On how the health of the team is:
“I think everybody is healthy. Donovan got hit a little bit last night, but I think all 12 are healthy and good. I try to keep practice at two hours to keep everybody fresh because it is a long year. Everybody is healthy.”
On how Babb benefited from his year off from playing competitively:
“Nick’s been around this program a long time. His brother Chris played here and had a ton of success. Last year’s team was unique. Those first six were so dominant and really good. He could get lost at times last season. If Nick can become consistent, with the way his skill set is, he’s what I envision. I would love to have three guys like him.
“He can bounce it, shoot it and late in the shot clock he can rise over you and get a paint touch. I’m big on paint touches – driving for paint touches, attacking ball screens to get paint touches. He can do that. He’s versatile enough to where he can guard the one, two, three, four. If you play four guards, you have to have one of your guards be tough enough and resilient enough to guard a post guy. When you talk about NBA potential, he may have the best NBA potential of anyone on our roster.”
On what he’d like to accomplish defensively this season:
“A couple things. At times we have to turn people over. I’ve had teams that have done it in the half-court. In the half-court when we get people set, we really want to be focused on containing the dribble. We didn’t do a good enough job of containing the dribble. When we’re in the half-court, we’re thinking pack it in, contain the dribble, contest and finish. We have to be better in these areas this year. I put it on the board – transition defense, contesting shots, containing the dribble and finishing plays. It sounds simple but it’s tough to do.
“No layups. We gave up 35 percent of our shots last year that were layups and that has to be 15-to-20 percent. Too many uncontested shots last year. Between contested and uncontested shots, there was a 20 percent difference in Big 12 games. Our mentality has to change on the defensive end. We can be a good defensive team.
“I’ve never put in three-quarter court pressure this early and have never always worked on it. We’ll work on it daily this year, to where I think it can be very good for this team. Changing defenses – we’re versatile enough to where they can all play defensive positions in the press. When we get matched up, we can guard different positions and switch back.”
On if different approach to defense this season is because of the size limitations and personnel:
“A lot of things you do defensively is out of necessity, versatility or what’s best for this team to win games. If we just ran back and played half-court defense, that wouldn’t be the best thing for this team. This team needs to change defenses, can switch ball screens and can switch dribble hand-offs. That’s the great thing about a Burton and Bowie backs him up – those guys we can switch with our one-through-four. We can pick up three-quarter court pressure. We can take time off the shot clock. We have to be a lot more focused in our approach defensively.”
On Morris getting to play more two this year with the arrival of Jackson:
“Monte likes it because he’s shooting the ball so much better right now and he’s getting out and running the floor. I wouldn’t necessarily say it’s two point guards; I just want guys at those positions that can make plays off the bounce, to where we can really spread people out and put pressure on the defense. I want them to get to the Big 12 logo for a jump shot or right there you’ve got to make your decision on shot, pass, or all the way to the rim. It gives you a lot of versatility and makes you tough to guard. You get guys out running and can really kick it ahead. You can play off of multiple ball screens. When one, two and three all have the ability to make plays off the dribble, it’s hard to guard that.”
On how the front-court rotation looks early on in preseason practice:
“If you look at our team, one-through-four you know what you’re probably going to get every single day. I think we have great guard depth. Burton is solidified at that (forward) spot. The thing we have to do from October 12th to November 11th to December 30th is continue to invest daily with these front-court guys. None of them have been here before. Everyone is coming with a different story. Merrill and Darrell are fifth-year guys, Solomon (Young) is a high school kid, Simeon (Carter) didn’t really play last year.
“It’s brand new for so many of these guys. We have to get them in the gym before practice, stay after, get them in the film room and catch them up to speed as best as possible. Whoever can play at that position… if they can defend and rebound, rim run, sprint to ball screens and do those core things, that’s who is going to play for us.
“Everyone has had a day. Merrill has had some great days where his energy is really good. He can do what we need him to do, but we need him to do it on a daily basis. Darrell is the same thing. I thought his energy was a lot better yesterday. Solomon is a guy that as he gets better and understands ball-screen coverage, how to sprint to screens, post defense and angles, he’ll have a chance. His body is ready. He’s got a college body.”
On what he’s looking for from Thomas this season:
“He needs to stay within what he does well and what he’s been doing well. That’s running the floor, making shots, being solid on defense and playing within himself. He should always be playing with great confidence. All these guards – shoot it, if you miss it, shoot it again. Matt is too good of a shooter. He may go 0-for-3 and then go 4-for-7 in that same game and hit four in a row. Last year, Matt more than doubled his stats last season and his percentages went up. He needs to continue to do the same thing. His work ethic – he’s as good of a worker as I’ve ever seen.”
How much of a worry is the team’s rebounding going into this season:
“It’s a concern. If you ask the guys, we’ve probably done more rebound drills this year than we did all of last year. We’ve got to do it and get better in that area. Our first-shot defense last year was very good at times. Our first half field-goal percentage defense was good at times. But we didn’t finish play at times. This team is not going to be a ‘shoot and go get it’ team. We’re going to be small at times, so we’ve got to be a position rebound team. Box your man out and go get it.
“There’s also a focus on offensive rebounding. Threes, fours and fives are going and that’s a little different. In the past, because so many guys were on the perimeter, everybody got back and that wasn’t one of our M.O.’s. We’re training our three, four and five to go to the glass and hopefully get more possessions that way.”
On how many rebounds he’d like to see Burton get each game:
“He should get 10. He should average a double-double for the team to max out.”
On what he’s looking for out of true freshman guard Jakolby Long:
“Just growth. Compete, learn, get better, understand what it takes to play and the commitment to play at this level. He needs to get as much knowledge as he can from Matt, Naz, Nick and those perimeter guys. He needs to get battle tested.”
On who will replace Niang as the go-to guy for big buckets late in games:
“When you look at Niang, we probably should have even thrown it to him some more. You look at the Little Rock game and he got it nine times in a row. I’ve thought about it often. When you needed a bucket most of the times, it was just getting it to him. You could run a million plays, but at the end of the day he was catching the ball in that mid-post block.
“We could put Burton that situation at times. We could do it by committee. If I had to tell you right now, we’d probably put Monte in flat ball screens, pick-and-roll and play in space and create for others. You have a lot of guys that can all make game-winning plays. Naz has made big shots in this program for many years. This team will score differently. We’ll score from three, dribble penetration and we have to get to the free-throw line more than last year’s team.”
On how the health of the team is:
“I think everybody is healthy. Donovan got hit a little bit last night, but I think all 12 are healthy and good. I try to keep practice at two hours to keep everybody fresh because it is a long year. Everybody is healthy.”
