Mark Gottfried Weekly Press Conference Transcript
2/4/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Following is a transcript from University of Alabama basketball coach Mark Gottfried’s weekly press conference on Monday as well as a quote from Tide senior guard Mykal Riley for use in stories previewing Wednesday night’s Alabama vs. Mississippi State game in Starkville.
Senior Guard Mykal Riley:
On Mississippi State:
“Mississippi State is a good team. They’ve got Jamont Gordon and Charles Rhodes, two really good players. And you add (Jarvis) Varnado in there in their defense, and it makes for a really good team. Jamont Gordon is shooting the ball really well. We’re just going to have to go in there and play real hard.”
On the January game:
“Jamont Gordon hit a lot of contested shots, so we’re going to have to try to get after him and get after him quicker and make him put it on the floor.”
Alabama Head Coach Mark Gottfried
Weekly Press Conference Transcript
On Mississippi State:
“We talked about this the first time we played them, but I think when we’ve played Mississippi State, there have always been some great games, both ways. This one will be no different. I think they are a terrific team. They’ve played at a high level. They’ve been playing awfully well for a pretty good while right now, so they’ve had a great stretch going here. I think (Jamont) Gordon is so different because of his size and strengths and what he does in the game. And (Charles) Rhodes is playing very well for them. I think they’re getting good play from everywhere, so we’ll have to play well.”
Do you feel like Alabama has some momentum after the win Saturday against LSU and that it will be needed for the road stretch?
“Anytime you win it always makes you feel better about yourself. It makes you feel like what you are doing and what you are doing at practice, that there’s a reward for that. So you feel good about that. But I think typically when the ball goes in the air and the game begins, I’m not sure it really matters what you did in your last game, win or lose, to either team. I think leading up to the game it may have some heightened feel about yourselves, but I think once the game starts, the players play. The coaches coach. You go at each other pretty hard. So I don’t know that there are a lot of advantages or disadvantages either way.”
On Jamont Gordon:
“Jamont Gordon as a point guard is very, very good. He’s big and strong. He’s shooting the ball extremely well from the 3-point line. So you’ve got your hands full but we’re not the only team that has our hands full with that guy. Everybody does. He is a terrific player, so we’ll have to do a good job on him and just find some creative ways to slow him down.”
Regarding the development in the post is coming depth wise, if you can get (Justin) Knox or (Yamene) Coleman to step up and be a 15-20 minute player per game, how much does that boost things for you guys?
“I think that would help a lot. We’ve played a lot with four guards on the floor at times, too. We’ve kind of gone with the small lineup at times. It’s helped us. I think we can play bigger which we haven’t done a lot but I think there are going to be some times where we need that to happen. Again, those guys need to be ready to play.”
How key is this stretch with these games on the road?
“Every game is that way. Every game you play is very, very important to everybody. To your players, coaches, the other team. That’s just part of being in this league. There’s no easy games. We know that. They’re not out there anywhere for anybody, so you’ve just got to play every night.”
What makes Richard (Hendrix) the kind of rebounder he is?
“I think what makes him such a good rebounder is, number one, he’s got a great body and he has great hands. So he knows how to use his body and then I think he’s one of those players that, when he can get his fingers on it, he usually secures it. We used to always joke around there were some players that had bad hands. We used to always say, ??Touches everything, secures nothing.’ Richard is the opposite. What he touches, he secures. And then I think he’s got a high basketball IQ. I think he understands and reads where the ball is going to. If the ball is shot on one side of the floor he kind of has a good idea if it misses where it’s going to be. So he’s got all those things that you want. And then I think part of the improvement for him has been his re-defined body. I think that’s helped him a lot. It’s helped him play more minutes and I think it’s helped him be more productive while he’s been in there. So all those things together I think have helped him be such a dominant rebounder.”
Can you talk about any type of changes you might be making from the last game against Mississippi State?
“We’ll probably do some things different, but we’ll keep it a secret. We’ve just got to do a better job. They (MSU) came in here and beat us. We zoned them a lot. At times it was effective. At other times it wasn’t. But we just have to play a lot better than we did the first time.”
How much does Hendrix use his basketball IQ to work with the other players?
“I think he does do that. I think he’s a very good leader. He has a very good feel for the game, great understanding of the game of basketball and that’s one of the reasons why he’s such a good player. And obviously he’s got physical attributes and all that. But I think he does do a good job with his teammates. He’s always alert and trying to find different ways throughout a game to apply something or think through a situation. And I think as he’s been from a freshman to a sophomore and now a junior, he just keeps maturing. Not just physically maturing but just maturing as well where he feels more comfortable in a leadership role.”
Discounting the 2nd half against Tennessee, the defensive numbers have been a good bit better in the last 3 games. What has been the key for that?
“I think that we’ve worked pretty hard at it. We’ve tried to extend our defense a little more and we’ve tried to guard people more on the perimeter better. We’re not a team, I don’t think, that can take everything away from somebody. I don’t know that there are a lot of teams that can do that. But I think in trying to protect one area maybe trying to protect ourselves around the basket we weren’t very good guarding the perimeter where we still have to be better guarding guys on the perimeter from other teams. So I think we have improved there some we just need to keep working at it.”
Who will start at point guard and any other changes as far as matchups Wednesday?
“Brandon Hollinger will start. He’s been starting here recently. I don’t know that there’s any matchup in the game, one way or another. It’s not one on one, it’s five on five. They’ve got some great players and we’ve got some great players so it’ll be fun to watch them go at it.”
What kind of help does Senario Hillman give coming off the bench, particularly in Saturday’s game?
“Number one I think he gives us a great deal of energy. He’s been a good lift off the bench. He’s playing extremely hard. He’s getting his hands on a lot of balls and creating steals situations. I think he’s learning defensively how to be an effective player to go along with his athleticism. There’s an experience factor that he’s getting better because he’s getting more experience. I think in time here he’s going to be a good shooter. Right now his numbers aren’t great but you want players to shoot the ball with confidence. He stepped up there with a lot of confidence and did a good job for us. He’s been a big lift for our teams coming into the games.”
Has Hillman’s play helped with the turnaround defensively?
“I think it is. I think it’s been a big part of it. I think as he’s played more minutes we’ve added another good perimeter defender into the game.”
Do you consider him (Hillman) the best perimeter defender right now?
“I don’t know that he’s the best. I think that he’s got some tools with his athleticism and I think there’s an experience part of the game, too, that he’s going to get as he plays. But I think he can do a very good job guarding good perimeter players in this league.”
You’re going to go up against one of the best perimeter shooting teams in the league Wednesday. Do you think now you will be better able to defend Jamont Gordon?
“If he’s going to shoot them from where he shot them in our game, I don’t know if we have a lot of answers for that. He was shooting them deep. I don’t think there’s one thing that contains or controls Jamont Gordon. I think he beats teams in a lot of ways, whether it’s going to the basket, offensive rebounds, transition baskets. He’s shooting the ball extremely well so his jump shot now (is strong). He has played at such a high level, so I don’t think it’s just one thing. I do think we’re defending better lately but we’ll have our hands full with him and the rest of the guys they have.”
Can you talk just a little bit about Kentucky who’ll you’ll play on Saturday?
“I think Kentucky is playing really well, and, again, they are a team that has experienced a lot of injuries. A lot of people will go to the game or they’ll turn the game on TV and they see that one day. And what they don’t realize is how many practices that have been affected by the injuries, how few times they’ve had everybody together from the start of the season until today. So I don’t know that they’ve ever really had a time where they’ve had a chance to get in any kind of rhythm day in and day out, day in, day out where it’s the same guys. So I think you’re starting to see that a little bit more now in Kentucky. Again, I think they are playing very well.”
Can you talk a little bit about their (Kentucky’s) inside play and how it will involve Richard Hendrix and Patrick Patterson?
“I don’t know yet. We haven’t really studied Kentucky yet, and we will later in the week. But I know Patrick is a great player. He’s had a great start to his freshman season. So we’ll look at that a little closer later in the week.”
On Alabama’s offense and scoring improvement:
“One thing we’ve been able to do is we’ve run the ball a little bit better. You make some shots, too. If you score 80 points because you’re scoring the ball. We’ve gotten some in the break but we’ve also made some jumpers, too. From the 3-point line or whether it’s inside, I don’t know that there’s anything different per se that we’ve done. But obviously we feel a lot better about how we are playing offensively in the last few games.”
Mississippi State is traditionally a tough place for teams to play. What makes it that way?
“Number one they’ve got a great atmosphere there. We’ve had some great battles. I can go back in my mind and start thinking through different games with different players, whether it was Erwin (Dudley) and Terrance Meade and that crew or Kennedy Winston and Jean Felix hitting a big shot over there one year. I remember late in the game one year Chuck Davis, the great pass out to Ron Steele for a big basket there at the top of the key when we won over there. So we’ve had great games. I think it’s typical of the series with their team and our team.”
What have you been doing to help the team get confidence on the road?
“I think number one, we just have to have some poise. You can’t lose your poise in a game on the road. And you’ve got to be able to settle down and execute your offense at key times. You’ve got to be able to defend people well. And obviously if you get a chance and the game is close, hopefully you can be a good foul-shooting team towards the end. Those teams always help you on the road. They help you at home. But certainly on the road. We’ve just got to get our team prepared to be a good road basketball team from here out, the rest of the way. That’s what we’ve got to do.”
Does not having Jermareo Davidson inside anymore give Hendrix more rebounding opportunities or does it put more pressure on him?
“I think it does both. I think it puts a little more pressure on him. He knows he’s got to do a better job. But then obviously he’s not sharing that either with somebody. But he still has to go get them and he has. I think he’s done a pretty good job on both ends of the floor rebounding the basketball. It’s interesting, his numbers. He has played very, very well. I’m very proud of Richard. And I still think he can play better. I think he can do more. Seventeen rebounds (vs. LSU) is a lot but he’s just so capable of doing some great things and we’re just going to keep working with him. But he’s done a good job.”
Mississippi State has a good sophomore in Jarvis Varnado who leads the league in blocked shots. Will Richard be able to be as effective as he has been against that type of player?
“I think Varnado is leading the nation as well. So he’s definitely a big-time shot blocker. But I think Richard has seen guys like that and he’s played against them. Richard’s got a lot of experience. So again that will be interesting to watch.”
How do you think that experience has shown itself as his career has unfolded?
“I talked about this a little earlier but players, not only do they physically mature in college but then they emotionally mature, too. And I think Richard has just grown up. When he came in as a freshman, his body obviously is different now. He’s changed his body. But just the experience of going through the league one year and the going through the league another year, you begin to see, when you start to walk through a scouting report, there’s not much left to show an upperclassman that a team does. They’ve seen it. They’ve seen it before. Your young players, they’re seeing things the first time. And they get in the game with the lights on, it’s that first time to try to guard specific thing. I just think Richard has matured. He’s done a phenomenal job with his body and I think that’s made him very consistent and he’s been a very effective player because of that.”
