Texas A&M Basketball
* I didn't think our players, in that particular game, earned their scholarships. We've talked to them about it being a job, a responsibility they have, and playing at their best. We were cheating on the job, relaxing on the job. That was my disappointment. It was more of a team thing. Just thought we scored 76 points against them here and did some things better — 17 assists here — and only five there. We've struggled scoring all year, but I didn't think we moved the ball as well as we have in the past. And defensively, we didn't execute the game plan.
* On chemistry — Dash hadn't played with us in a while, Elston had to move back to the two, and then Khris comes in and the ball has to get shared a bit more and Elston doesn't get as many opportunities as he had been getting. Our bench guys don't know if they're going to play, etc. It makes it hard to adapt this time of year. We're getting things in place, but we're running out of time and we have to play with a sense of urgency.
* David (Loubeau) talked earlier in the year about how he was struggling with scoring and he missed Nathan Walkup. Having to adjust to a new system and new personnel has been a challenge for him. He's been in foul trouble an awful lot. He's had to guard some post guys this year that he didn't have to last year because Walkup was that guy.
* Dash has done the best job of anybody of getting these guys on the same page, and then suddenly he was out of commission for three or four weeks. He's trying to get back in the swing of things. Defensively he's the kind of point guard that I want. He's athletic and he competes. I've enjoyed coaching him this year.
* We talked about playing with a sense of urgency against Oklahoma State and then we didn't. Now it's our last home game and we're playing a team that's on the bubble and needs some momentum to get into the NCAA Tournament. It's a big game for us. We need to win and break through if we want to finish strong. That's our goal — to finish strong. This game is a big game more than just being Senior Night. We want some momentum going into the Big 12 Tournament if we want a chance to win it.
* The season in a sentence: Like riding a roller-coaster. It's been up-and-down, practices, not having this guy or that guy, trying to get our culture in and do things differently than they've been done in the past has been a challenge. Me missing the first couple weeks ... so many things have been thrown into it. We're still alive, so there are good things happening, but it's not going to flesh out until the end. I don't think you're going to see these changes until the coming years. The first year of rebuilding a program was tougher than I thought it would be.
* The injuries played a big part, but I do think the expectations were greater than this team could actually do. When you look at it after going through the season — how good Iowa State ended up being, Missouri, this was supposed to be a down year in the Big 12 and then you ended up with four consistent top-25 teams. The competition has been more than anyone anticipated.
* We can play better, obviously. We can get on a roll. But it's going to take the nine or 10 guys that we have playing at their highest level. We didn't have that happen the last game. We're capable of playing a lot better. And we need to play better. But if you get going at the end of the year, you have a chance to build momentum. I hope we're able to do that.
* We've been kind of hanging on by a thread, so to speak. Our practice habits aren't great. Roles changing, guys were playing a lot of minutes, going from starting to not playing. Our morale in practice hasn't been what it needed to be. If teams are fighting to be in NCAA Tournament play, you need to be at your best. We weren't at our best. We did play well against Missouri. Everything starts in practice though, and you reap what you sow. We haven't always been the hardest-working team, and we have to change that in our program.
Andrew Kilzer, TexAgs
Kennedy described the wild ride the Aggies took while mixing and matching parts but continued to emphasize 'finishing strong.'
{"Module":"photo","Alignment":"left","Size":"large","Caption":"Kennedy described the wild ride the Aggies took while mixing and matching parts but continued to emphasize \u0027finishing strong.\u0027","MediaItemID":15652}
* I thought we were playing better offensively without Khris and Dash, not to knock them. We had a bit more energy and bounce. Our guys rallied. And then for whatever reason, that got old. When we added them back I thought we had a chance, but there are two ways that can go at the end of the year: It can go well, or it can take a while and get muddied up some. We got muddied up.
When I look back on it, Dash, Loubeau and Khris have always played together but a lot of those other guys haven't. To take two of those first three guys out of the mix for a while has been a big adjustment. It's all about players. You have to have really good players and they have to buy into the system to do special things.
There are some things I can do better, trying to understand these players. But we're trying to get them to understand what we're trying to do.
* Dash will be a big help in this game defensively and offensively, trying to break pressure. And having Khris able to make some plays off the dribble will help.
* I'm not a guy that runs a lot of set plays. We've had to run more than we have in the past to accommodate some of our guys. We're still doing that. We should've ran more sets against Oklahoma State, but sometimes we have guys on the floor that teams don't guard. When teams are doubling Khris or hounding Dave, it's tough to score. My biggest concern going in here was scoring, because I knew they struggled to last year. It's definitely been an ugly offensive game. A lot of teams are struggling to score this year.
* Kourtney was the most experienced guy coming back of the post guys we had. Not having him has been an adjustment. We're struggling rebounding around the basket. We block out but we don't have a guy who can go get a board, athletically. A lot of games we have three or four guys around it and can't get to it. Can't ... or won't. I choose to believe it's can't. Teams would've had to pay more attention to Kourtney.
* Frank and I go way back. I offered him a job when he was between jobs, when I was the head coach at Southeastern Louisiana. I knew what kind of coach he was and what kind of recruiter he was. It didn't work out but we've maintained a relationship from then on. He does a great job. He's the winningest coach at K-State in his first ... however many years he's been there. That says a lot. And Frank is a big teddy bear. A lot of people don't realize that. His players love playing for him, even though he's intense. And he loves those kids more than people really know.
He's got a soft heart. He cares about people and he cares about his players in a big way. I know that because I know people who've played for him and who grew up with him. His relationships with his friends are pretty good.
Quotes & video from weekly basketball press conference
Billy Kennedy
* Hope everybody's good. Obviously I was disappointed in the last game. I thought we got frustrated at times and our body language wasn't appropriate. I don't want to let losing define who we are. I felt some of the guys' lack of effort and frustration came on against Oklahoma State. Hopefully we've rectified that and it won't happen again.* I didn't think our players, in that particular game, earned their scholarships. We've talked to them about it being a job, a responsibility they have, and playing at their best. We were cheating on the job, relaxing on the job. That was my disappointment. It was more of a team thing. Just thought we scored 76 points against them here and did some things better — 17 assists here — and only five there. We've struggled scoring all year, but I didn't think we moved the ball as well as we have in the past. And defensively, we didn't execute the game plan.
* On chemistry — Dash hadn't played with us in a while, Elston had to move back to the two, and then Khris comes in and the ball has to get shared a bit more and Elston doesn't get as many opportunities as he had been getting. Our bench guys don't know if they're going to play, etc. It makes it hard to adapt this time of year. We're getting things in place, but we're running out of time and we have to play with a sense of urgency.
* David (Loubeau) talked earlier in the year about how he was struggling with scoring and he missed Nathan Walkup. Having to adjust to a new system and new personnel has been a challenge for him. He's been in foul trouble an awful lot. He's had to guard some post guys this year that he didn't have to last year because Walkup was that guy.
Offensively I felt like Dash
Harris thought he had more freedom than he's ever had in the past. He
was thinking more positive things ... and I really believe he was having
a solid year.
{"Module":"quote","Alignment":"right","Quote":"Offensively
I felt like Dash Harris thought he had more freedom than he\u0027s ever
had in the past. He was thinking more positive things ... and I really
believe he was having a solid year. ","Author":"Billy Kennedy"}
Dash has been really good for us most of the year and the injury put him back a little bit. He missed a number of games and was frustrated about that and wanted to come back, didn't know if he could, just frustrated dealing with the ups and downs of an injury. Before the injury he was playing more minutes than he's ever played. Offensively I felt like he thought he had more freedom than he's ever had in the past. He was thinking more positive things ... and I really believe he was having a solid year. * Dash has done the best job of anybody of getting these guys on the same page, and then suddenly he was out of commission for three or four weeks. He's trying to get back in the swing of things. Defensively he's the kind of point guard that I want. He's athletic and he competes. I've enjoyed coaching him this year.
* We talked about playing with a sense of urgency against Oklahoma State and then we didn't. Now it's our last home game and we're playing a team that's on the bubble and needs some momentum to get into the NCAA Tournament. It's a big game for us. We need to win and break through if we want to finish strong. That's our goal — to finish strong. This game is a big game more than just being Senior Night. We want some momentum going into the Big 12 Tournament if we want a chance to win it.
* The season in a sentence: Like riding a roller-coaster. It's been up-and-down, practices, not having this guy or that guy, trying to get our culture in and do things differently than they've been done in the past has been a challenge. Me missing the first couple weeks ... so many things have been thrown into it. We're still alive, so there are good things happening, but it's not going to flesh out until the end. I don't think you're going to see these changes until the coming years. The first year of rebuilding a program was tougher than I thought it would be.
* The injuries played a big part, but I do think the expectations were greater than this team could actually do. When you look at it after going through the season — how good Iowa State ended up being, Missouri, this was supposed to be a down year in the Big 12 and then you ended up with four consistent top-25 teams. The competition has been more than anyone anticipated.
* We can play better, obviously. We can get on a roll. But it's going to take the nine or 10 guys that we have playing at their highest level. We didn't have that happen the last game. We're capable of playing a lot better. And we need to play better. But if you get going at the end of the year, you have a chance to build momentum. I hope we're able to do that.
* We've been kind of hanging on by a thread, so to speak. Our practice habits aren't great. Roles changing, guys were playing a lot of minutes, going from starting to not playing. Our morale in practice hasn't been what it needed to be. If teams are fighting to be in NCAA Tournament play, you need to be at your best. We weren't at our best. We did play well against Missouri. Everything starts in practice though, and you reap what you sow. We haven't always been the hardest-working team, and we have to change that in our program.
Andrew Kilzer, TexAgs
Kennedy described the wild ride the Aggies took while mixing and matching parts but continued to emphasize 'finishing strong.'
{"Module":"photo","Alignment":"left","Size":"large","Caption":"Kennedy described the wild ride the Aggies took while mixing and matching parts but continued to emphasize \u0027finishing strong.\u0027","MediaItemID":15652}
When I look back on it, Dash, Loubeau and Khris have always played together but a lot of those other guys haven't. To take two of those first three guys out of the mix for a while has been a big adjustment. It's all about players. You have to have really good players and they have to buy into the system to do special things.
There are some things I can do better, trying to understand these players. But we're trying to get them to understand what we're trying to do.
* Dash will be a big help in this game defensively and offensively, trying to break pressure. And having Khris able to make some plays off the dribble will help.
* I'm not a guy that runs a lot of set plays. We've had to run more than we have in the past to accommodate some of our guys. We're still doing that. We should've ran more sets against Oklahoma State, but sometimes we have guys on the floor that teams don't guard. When teams are doubling Khris or hounding Dave, it's tough to score. My biggest concern going in here was scoring, because I knew they struggled to last year. It's definitely been an ugly offensive game. A lot of teams are struggling to score this year.
* Kourtney was the most experienced guy coming back of the post guys we had. Not having him has been an adjustment. We're struggling rebounding around the basket. We block out but we don't have a guy who can go get a board, athletically. A lot of games we have three or four guys around it and can't get to it. Can't ... or won't. I choose to believe it's can't. Teams would've had to pay more attention to Kourtney.
* Frank and I go way back. I offered him a job when he was between jobs, when I was the head coach at Southeastern Louisiana. I knew what kind of coach he was and what kind of recruiter he was. It didn't work out but we've maintained a relationship from then on. He does a great job. He's the winningest coach at K-State in his first ... however many years he's been there. That says a lot. And Frank is a big teddy bear. A lot of people don't realize that. His players love playing for him, even though he's intense. And he loves those kids more than people really know.
He's got a soft heart. He cares about people and he cares about his players in a big way. I know that because I know people who've played for him and who grew up with him. His relationships with his friends are pretty good.
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