Coach Gottfried Press Conference Transcript
12/16/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 16, 2008
Opening Statement:
"We are getting ready for Tennessee State and looking at them on film they are a very athletic team. They have a great player in Gerald Robinson. He is a terrific scorer, electric, exciting type of player to watch. They are a very good team that I think will do very well in the Ohio Valley Conference. We have had a couple days of very good preparation since Texas A&M so we are just trying to go on from there."
On what can be taken from the Texas A&M game:
"There were a lot of positive signs. Obviously we were disappointed but I think the encouraging thing is that we put ourselves in a position to win and all of us feel like we should have won. With a five point lead with 27 seconds to go, we just didn't play the final 27 seconds that well. The good news is Texas A&M is a terrific team, I think they are the best team we have played and we played one of our better games. The disappointing thing is we didn't come out of there with the reward of a win. We are going to build on the positives. We have talked about the things that we thought we should have done better and we are going to build on the fact that I think we are a pretty good basketball team and we proved it against Texas A&M."
On JaMychal Green getting into foul trouble:
"He is a very aggressive player. I want him to be aggressive but he just has to make that adjustment to college basketball and what he can and cannot do. I think he will get better with that. We obviously need him and want him on the court, especially when he is playing well. He had one of his best games against Texas A&M before his fourth and fifth fouls - those were big ones."
On the final 27 seconds against Texas A&M:
"There were about five things that really jump at you. We had two defensive possession where we didn't defend them very well. The first one was the three-pointer from the top of the key. Our execution of bringing the ball up and from out of bounds could have been better. The last shot that Holmes made was a tough shot. Senario Hillman defended him well and got after him, he just made a tough one. We needed two stops, needed some free throws, needed some things to go our way but we didn't create any opportunities at the end. That is disappointing but at the same time you have to remember that it is just 27 seconds. We had a lot of positive things prior to that and that is what we are trying to build on."
On the play of the Southeastern Conference teams:
"I think there have been some losses in the league by a lot of teams but I still believe this is going to be a great year for our league. I think there are a lot of young players playing for a lot of teams but that doesn't excuse all of it but it is a factor. When January gets here and we get into our league there is still going to be unbelievable race, unbelievable games, great competition and in the end we will all look back and see what the non-conference had on the decisions as far as the tournament. Once we get to January you are going to see that the SEC is a great basketball league."
On having JaMychal Green on the floor:
"I think he makes a lot of difference. I think obviously if he is in the game and playing well we are a better team. We need him on the floor more than 19 minutes. That has happened a couple times this year. You have to be careful to not take all his aggressiveness away and have him not play passive but he has to learn the contact of the college game."
