Anthony Grant Press Conference Transcript - Feb. 22
2/22/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 22, 2010
Opening comments on this week's game against Mississippi State:
"We open up this week on Wednesday at Mississippi State. Obviously Mississippi State leads the league right now with Arkansas for first place in the West, so it will be an opportunity for us to play a very good opponent. We were fortunate to win the game the last time we played them here at home and certainly look forward to having a chance to compete again and get back on the court here Wednesday."
On defending against Mississippi State's inside game:
"Well I think Mississippi State has a very good balance when you look at Dee Bost and some of the perimeter players that they have that require so much attention. I know the first time we played them one of the big points of emphasis for us was defending the three-point line. Not having done a whole lot of prep on them since we played them last I know the numbers are not what they were going into our game last time, but that certainly does require a lot of attention which opens things up for (Jarvis) Varnado inside. It makes it difficult, but what we tried to do last game and what we'll have to do this game is try to really limit his opportunities on the interior, try to provide as much help as we can for our front court and at the same time be able to extend our defense and defend the three-point line."
On the balance between putting the last game behind you and learning from your mistakes:
"I think we spoke about the result of our last game, the Georgia loss, and my comment has been it's a recurring theme in terms of our inability to finish games. For me it comes a point where as a player you have to reach a point where you say, 'OK, enough is enough,' and you become hardened, so to speak, to the point where you do what have to do to make sure those situations do occur again.
"As a coach right now I want to see that happen for our team and it's disappointing that we haven't gotten to that point at this point in the year where we are willing to go out and do the things that we're capable of doing and that you have to do to win the close games that we're in.
"It's almost like we become two different teams from the first 30 minutes of the game to the last 10 minutes of the game. If we have any type of a lead there is a mentality of playing not to lose as opposed to playing to win, like we have something to protect and we're just going to hold on to it and hope the clock runs out.
"I think some of that just has to come with experience and then some of that is just the innate ability to go out and fight and compete. We haven't shown the ability to get there yet. As a coach I've got to look at what we're doing and we'll have to evaluate everything to see where we're at and how we go about changing that. I don't know if it's something that can be a quick fix. We'll just have to look at it and keep trying to work on that."
On if he looks to recruit or can identify players with those innate instincts:
"I think you do look for it but you never know what's going to happen until you put a kid in those situations. You really never know. I think the one thing you try to do is - I always talk about from a recruiting standpoint, it's not just talent, it's the character and the makeup of kids that you want to see. I've been around the game a long time and I know a lot of the best players that we had weren't necessarily the most talented guys, they were the guys that understood how to compete, how to fight and the toughness that goes into being a part of something bigger than yourself.
"I think those are things that you certainly try to look for from a recruiting standpoint, that you try to address and hopefully that you try to build within the team. For us, Chris Hines is a guy that really competes and leaves it all on the floor. I think what he does becomes contagious to other guys on the floor and I think it builds up the confidence or character in others. When he fouled out the other day it really hurt our team, because I think he was a guy that was providing that energy and that 'let's go' type attitude. When he left the court I thought it affected our team."
