'Fearless' Four: Williams highlights Taylor IV, A&M's late game execution

Texas A&M added another resume-building win thanks to Wade Taylor IV's clutch 3-pointer to silence the crowd at Missouri. Head coach Buzz Williams joined TexAgs Live to speak on A&M's resiliency down the stretch and preview Tuesday night's clash vs. Georgia.

Key notes from Buzz Williams interview

• That was our 11th game that was decided in a one or two possession game. That's among the nation's best, particularly at the Power Four level. Specific to the SEC, it speaks to how thin the margin is regardless of the record entering the arena. I think our non-conference schedule, obviously, it's easy to see from an analytical standpoint, how helpful that was in giving us non-conference reps on what history says has been the best league ever in college basketball. 
   
• Is it Wade Taylor IV? Is it Manny Obaseki? Is it Henry Coleman III having his best college game? Is it Pharrel Payne? Is it a guy who is out, so we have to change the lineup and play a little differently? It's the competitive maturity of our group. I also think it is our character and their acceptance and not resisting that this is tough, and every possession is monumental. The endurance required emotionally and mentally to put yourself in a position to have success requires everybody's best, and our guys have been tremendous. I'm thankful for all of the lessons I'm learning from having the chance to be around them.
   
• Talking about Wade, he's fearless. He's been fearless long before he made the shot at Missouri. That's how his parents raised him. He has a winning gene about him. He doesn't always look the part. His measurables at the combine date wouldn't be the best, but he has an intangible gene that speaks to winning. Whether he makes the shot or not, you can speak to the shot he took before the game-winner that was from 33 feet, and he pulled up there and shot it like it was a layup. That's just the fearlessness that he plays with. I have never seen a group that's like, "Hey, we love you. We admire you, and we trust you," at the rate that our guys do.
   
• A few weeks ago in Oxford, the possession before Zhuric Phelps' game-winning assist, he made an incredible drive and finished at the rim of a double-drag ball screen. His willingness to share the ball with Manny, who at that time, Manny was playing the game of his life. As talented as Wade is, who are you going to throw the ball to to get the ball back to Wade? That's an underappreciated skill. Andersson Garcia is the best passer on our team. Yes, Wade has to make the shot, but it speaks to a lot of players involved in getting to that shot, whether it was in Columbia, Oxford or elsewhere.
   
• We call it Van Alstyne. That's a little community that I'm from. Van Alstyne is based on time, momentum and score. It's also based on if we're in the bonus or the double bonus. We were in the double bonus at that time. We were in Van Alstyne, and I just didn't like it. We were in Van Alstyne when Zhuric Phelps threw the ball to Manny, and Manny shot the ball. We were in Van Alstyne in the last possession in Austin, and we shouldn't have been in Van Alstyne in hindsight.
   
• It's always a double-edged sword. Call the time out? Don't call the time out. They're in a broken floor. Does this team, are they 100 percent man-to-man? If we call a timeout and we're drawing up a man play, are they going to be in zone? It's kind of like the meetings a lot of football programs go through the day of the game. If this, what are we doing? Not to compare us to those smart coaches, but we do a lot of that. How do we manage foul trouble? How are we going to do it? There's evidence and analytics that speaks to can Wade play in foul trouble? Can Zhuric play in foul trouble? Do you want to foul when you're up three? When, and where, and how? There are some pre-decisions that you have to make, and your team doesn't need to know all of them, but you do have to give time to it in the film room, and you have to be consistent in giving time to it in practice. At this time in the year, it's hard to find the time. Some of it is because of what they're living through. When we get to specials, they're locked in because they're like every game we play is a special.
   
• It's for sure both that we have older guys who understand it, and also every game we've played seems to be like this. I understand we're among the nation’s most. Another head coach reached out to me this morning. He was texting about this conversation, the one possession, two possession, and how do you teach it? Where do you spend time? That's such a hard decision because you still have to have the big buckets. Those big buckets have to be solved, but you also have to figure out which ones work. You have to have a mature group to do it. We have to figure out how to function at this altitude, and at this altitude, this is what it's going to be. The only top-15 matchup in the country, they have the longest home winning streak, it's the most incredible environment you've seen, and it's going to be a one-possession game. Thursday, we have to spend some time on it. It's just become part of our rhythm.
   
• Pharrel Payne is the tallest, biggest, most pure guy I've ever coached. He's a fifth-grader in regards to how pure he is. He has no pollution in his words. He has no pollution in his heart. He shakes my hand with both hands. Every game, he says, "Coach Buzz, I'm so excited." He has figuratively and literally ran to the intensity to the physicality, to the pace at which we work, to the language we teach from. He's been a joy to be around. His talent continues to unfold, and I think because his teammates feel the same way that our staff feels in regard to, "Hey, what a good kid."
   
• We have to change our off-day schedule on Sundays because Payne hasn't missed church since he's lived in College Station. He's just pure, and he's playing with a high level of confidence because he's never been in an environment where he's been embraced and been able to grow and develop at the rate that he has. He's a very talented prospect. He's 19 years old. I think he gets a little better each day at practice. When you're watching him in the games you're like, "Hey man, I think you're getting fouled every possession." You become so dominant that it's like that one wasn't hard enough, so they won't call it. They're going to wait until they try to decapitate him, and then they'll call it. He's playing with great ferociousness.
   
• We're about to start preparation. There is always one subject matter that will be tweaked.  Devin Johnson is the defensive coordinator. He's going to make some other adjustments that he's going to address, but there's always going to be one tweak. Yesterday, we did the one tweak for tomorrow's game.
   
• In the month of January, Missouri's offense was No. 1 in the country. For the season, entering Saturday's game, their offense was No. 11 in the country. Coach Dennis Gates has had really good teams and really good players with multiple weapons and a lot of depth. They're going to play 10 guys.
   
• Our tweak specific to guard Caleb Grill and Jacob Crews was important. Credit to our guys, throughout the game, there was a conscious effort by our program. Combined, they went 6-of-12. It was a key component of the game.
   
• Georgia is incredibly physical. You could argue they may have the best forward combination in the SEC. They are doing a lot of things to accentuate the size, the skill and the toughness that those guys play with. It will be a completely different game. Missouri is going to play five out, and everything that is going to happen in Reed Arena tomorrow, specific to Georgia, is going to be at the rim.
   
• Georgia is tremendous on the glass. They have elite shot blockers. They get fouled at a very high rate. They utilize their forwards in a way that we haven't seen. South Carolina does some of it, but Georgia has four of them. We've got our hands full. Our guys did a good job yesterday in learning about them, but we have a full day today, and we have to make some strides because this will be unlike any of the games we've played thus far in February.