University of Tennessee Athletics
Donnie Tyndall Media Luncheon: Jan. 19
January 19, 2015 | Men's Basketball
"hsub">Donnie Tyndall
(Opening Statement)
"Let me just start by recapping the week a little bit. We had a nice bounce-back performance against Arkansas who, in my opinion, is one of the most talented teams and better teams in our league. I thought our guys responded (to our Alabama loss) with the right mentality and approach, which was to be aggressive. I thought Alabama had us on our heels the last 12 or 14 minutes of that game. We were the aggressors against Arkansas, which was a big reason why we won. We had a great homecourt advantage. Our fans were fantastic. Then we go on the road to Missouri at a very tough place to play. I think Kim (Anderson) is doing a great job. His team was scrapping and clawing, and that game went back and forth. We went down 46-43 and our guys just stayed the course and they showed that road-tough mentality that you have to have to win games like that. We didn't settle for jump shots, we made our free throws late, we had a couple of timely key steals in our press, which led to advantage basketball situations where we got to the rim. That was a great road win. We're getting ready for two good teams this week. I have a great deal of respect for Frank (Martin) and Billy (Kennedy). I've known Frank for 20 years. He's one of the toughest, most hard-nosed coaches in the game. I love that about him. Billy Kennedy and I had a lot of tough games when I was at Morehead State and he was at Murray State. I know he's a fantastic coach and does a great job as well. This is another tough, challenging week. Before we get started with questions, I'd like to congratulate Coach Joy and the dance team on winning the national championship. I thought that was big-time, and they deserve to be acknowledged. Congrats again to them."
(On getting the win at Missouri despite Josh Richardson's low scoring output)
"Certainly that's big, that's important. If you look at our league games, Josh was in foul trouble at Mississippi State. He struggled against Alabama, and he didn't play his best game against Missouri. Of the four league games, the only game he's really been Josh Richardson-like, at least in our conference, was the Arkansas game. Josh is obviously a great player and our best player, but it's nice that other guys have taken turns to step up and play well, and certainly that was the case at Missouri. I thought that (Kevin) Punter made some big plays. (Robert) Hubbs made some big plays. Derek Reese played arguably his best game since he's been at Tennessee. Different guys are stepping up when the opportunity is presented."
(On Derek Reese's improvement)
"His mentality is not settling for jump shots. I want Derek to shoot the ball. He's a good shooter and he's a very capable shooter. But his mentality before I got here was that he wanted to play 22-feet out and he didn't want to rebound the ball. He didn't want to put it on the deck and drive the ball. He wasn't going to play for me if he didn't do those things. He struggled over the summer, got better in the fall and he's continued to get better and better. Now that he's had some success doing those things, I think he has more confidence and he has a swagger about him. He just kind of avalanches in a good way when he's continuing to do those things. He had a couple huge dribble-drives the other night where he got the ball in the paint and was certainly a key in us winning that game."
(On his message to the team when Missouri tied the game in the second half)
"Just keep grinding. Sometimes in our huddle we just put our hands in and say `1-2-3 Family,' then other times we'll grab a hand and it's a little bit more, for lack of a better term, an emotional huddle. At that time I said, `We're going to win this four-minute game. Grab a hand.' We just talked about being aggressive in our press without fouling. We did that. We forced key turnovers on our traps, and our rotations were pretty good. We sped Missouri up and it was just a gut-check time. Three and a half minutes to play, we call it a four-minute game. We have 10 four-minute games every night. We had to win that last four-minute game and fortunately we did."
(On rebounding effectively against South Carolina)
"Rebounding for us is going to be one of our primary concerns, if not our main concern every night. We don't have that physical, big-bodied front line that can just kind of go chase balls and pull them in. Boxing out is imperative every night we play. Frank's team is always tough and physical and hard-nosed. We're going to have to do an even better job of blocking out and ending possessions. They have some size and some lineups they'll play that are a little undersized, like us. But those undersized guys are a lot like Armani in that they're tough, they're hard-nosed, and they're physical, and they're relentless in chasing the ball. Blocking out will probably be the biggest key in this game tomorrow."
(On South Carolina's defense)
"They really pressure you in the halfcourt. They what we call, sit on top of you as they try to limit ball reversal. They do a great job of fronting the post and trying to limit post catches. The game will be like Arkansas, but rather than it being in the full-court where you've got to handle the pressure and attack the paint, it'll be in the halfcourt setting where you have to handle the pressure and attack the paint. If you settle for bad contested shots against this team, they'll run you right out of the gym. You've got to be relentless in your approach to drive the ball, because as good as they are defensively, it's going to be hard to get it reversed sometimes. We're going to do some things within the confines of our offense and through our bigs, get some dribble handoffs into the game, some things that we hope will loosen up that perimeter pressure. We're going to have to be tough and strong with the ball or it'll be a long night for us."
(On the team's ability to finish strong late in games)
"I think it's a combination of our mental and physical toughness. We condition very, very hard in the fall. I don't know too many teams in the country that condition as hard as we do. I think every guy on our team quit about three times each. When you get through that, you feel like you can get through about anything. Our approach and the way we challenge guys in the film room and the way that we practice every day, I just think that all those factors combined help you to be a pretty tough team. Not that we're going to be the toughest team every night, but that's certainly our goal. If you look at our team, most nights we have been a little bit tougher than our opponent. I don't know if that'll be the case tomorrow, we'll see. But I think that all those factors help your team become physically and mentally tougher than a lot of opponents."
(On whether his teams have always had a great winning percentage when leading at halftime)
"To be honest, I don't know what that stat would be. I just think that it's important to get off to good starts, particularly early on the road. With that being said, I do think my teams have always been better in the second half because of our style of play and our press wearing on opponents. If that's the case, I darn sure hope we're up at halftime (Tuesday at South Carolina), I can promise you that."
(On Robert Hubbs III's improvement off the ball)
"He's certainly getting better. The biggest thing we've said from day one about Robert, and it hasn't changed, is that he is receptive to coaching, and I think that's why he is continuing to make strides. That kid has a lot of pressure put on him from where he was ranked and all those things that, to me, aren't important; but fans and different people think that's important. He's just got to be the best Robert Hubbs he can be. I think he has made great strides the last month. He has become more assertive. He has become more aggressive in driving the ball. He's had a season-high in rebounds and assists each in the last probably three games. So, he's doing a lot of different things to help our team win. Because he's doing those other things, all of the sudden it trickles down, and he's shooting the ball better from the perimeter as well. So, he's making nice progress. He has to continue to grow and develop, and I think he's doing that."
(On pushing Derek Reese)
"We've had to push him extremely hard. Derek is a great kid, but he's a laid back kid. He doesn't like to get out of his comfort zone. That is the case with a lot of young guys, and it is my job to push them outside of their comfort zone and, hopefully, get him to do things he has never done before. I think he is doing that now. It has not been easy with Derek, because he was in the mindset that he was a two-guard and wanted to play at 25 feet and be pretty and shoot jump shots for 40 minutes. He finally figured out, after about three months, he wasn't going to play. He would not check in to the game on our team with that mentality, so he had to change. Now to his credit, he has changed, and he is playing well. His numbers in league play--7.8 points and 7.5 rebounds--that is hard to do. He is doing a lot of good things, and I think the sky is the limit for Derek if his mentality and approach stay what it is now."
(On offseason conditioning)
"It is no different than what we have done at Morehead State or Southern Miss, the exact same formula. We have a great strength coach (Todd Moyer), who grinds them in the weight room, but as the head coach, I handle conditioning sessions, which a lot of head coaches don't do that. We go on Mondays and Fridays. We go Fridays, so they can't be out Thursday night, at 6 a.m. We go Mondays to start the week and make sure the week gets started off right. We start with what we call the ladder, but it starts with about 90 sprints on the first workout. By the time we are done about six or seven weeks later, we are running 150 to 160 sprints, all with a set time. If they don't make the time, they run it over. If anybody ever quits, gets sick, gets dizzy, falls out or all the things I've seen over nine years of being a head coach, they make it up the next morning. Guys don't quit when they get through 80 percent of the workout because they know it doesn't get any easier. I think that just builds mental and physical toughness."
(On team's `fight for respect' mentality)
"We have to keep that mentality. That's always the way I've coached. The places I have been, we've never really got the respect or had the respect on the front end. But, you want the respect and all the accolades and different things on the back end. The only way our team can continue to win and be competitive is to have the edge and the mentality that if we are not disciplined, detailed and on edge every day, our talent level is not good enough, and we are not well enough coached to just go beat people. We certainly need to keep that mentality. It makes it harder when you're having success because all you guys want to write about how good they are now and how great our team is. They read all this stuff, and it is not the truth. The reason we are at where we're at is because we're a gritty, grimy team that is coachable and tough and has found a way to have great chemistry and play together. If any of that changes, we'll start failing very, very quickly."
(On if his coaching background has made him used to playing with an undersized roster)
"The type of teams and lineups I've always had, both at Morehead State and Southern Miss, we ended up playing small at both programs just to get our best players on the floor. You didn't want a good wing player, combo guard sitting on the bench because you played a 6-10 stiff that couldn't play, but you had a `big guy' out there. We went small, and our style of play has always been conducive to protecting a smaller lineup on the defensive end. On the offensive end, you create mismatches. That's a lot of the reason, if you watch Armani have success like he's had as really being a wing player, and he is guarded by a 6-9, 6-10 guy, he is able to take them out on the floor and drive them and draw fouls and make an occasional three like he did the other night, get to the foul line. We have always had a guy at the four like that. At the defensive end in our precedent, the zone, that guy is not getting isolated around the rim by a 6-10, 250-pound guy because you are taking that away with the zone defense."
(On the mentality an undersized post player has to possess in order to have success)
"You have to have the mentality that you think you are better than you are. You have to be tough. You have to not let any adversity wear you down or affect the next play. At Morehead State, we won an NCAA Tournament game with a 6-2 four-man, Leon Buchanan. He was first-team All-League. He was a warrior, but he was 6-2. Then, you get to Conference USA and Southern Miss, and Mike Craig started for me for two years. He was about 6-foot-3 and a half. Just a tough, hard-nosed kid. Armani Moore is not feeling that way. He's probably an honest 6-4, 6-5, 210 pounds, and is a true wing player, but because he thinks he's better than he is, and he's tough and he's gritty, he's able to overcome those things. When I say he thinks he's better than he is, that's a compliment. When you think that way, you're usually going to play that way, and that's certainly been the case for him. I just think that for whatever reason that particular game (at Mississippi State), he was a little out of sync. He picked up a couple quick fouls. He tried to force a couple things early. I had to climb in his tail a little bit. It just didn't go his way. The good thing about him is that he responds the very next night or the next game. He doesn't hang his head. He comes to practice the next day and punches the clock, and then he gets back in his groove and he's been really good. He's going to have another bad game or two. It's going to happen. Hopefully someone picks it up for him like they did in the Mississippi State game. His approach and mentality and the way he brings it every day. He's going to continue to have a great junior year."
(On playing a zone defense)
"The biggest thing on our zone is the fact that we had Kenneth Faried (at Morehead State), who was the best player in our league. All people were doing is just splitting the ball-screen with his man, and he's out at 25 feet every time down the floor hedging ball screens. He wasn't around the rim to protect it and block shots. He was picking up cheap fouls, hedging ball screens. I had an assistant on my staff who'd been a graduate assistant for coach (Rick) Pitino, and he said `You know, we played a lot of zone at Louisville if you want me to put it in, I'll do it,' and I said `Alright, let's do it.' So we tried it, and we were actually playing Weber State in the tournament, they had the little point guard Damian Lillard, an NBA All-Star now. We were up 18 at the half in the zone, and then our point guard fouled out about three minutes in the second half, got his fourth foul and then a quick technical and they ended up winning the game by two or three. But the defense was pretty good. So from that point going on, we stuck with it and at first it was to keep Kenneth out of foul trouble, but we just sold out to it, we tweaked some things over the years, and there's really not an action anyone runs against us that we don't know how to guard it. That doesn't mean we guard it right every time, but we know how to guard it. It's been good. It keeps teams off-balance and out of rhythm. I've had people say, `Get out of the zone! Why don't you play some man-to-man?' We really play about 20 percent of the game man-to-man because when the ball goes to certain parts on the floor, we end up being in man-to-man the rest of the possession. It's kind of a combination defense, but it's been pretty good for us. Other than a big guy or undersized guy, it doesn't really protect a guy that's not a man-to-man defender, because the way we play with a lot of man-to-man principles and extending the zone in a lot of cases, we're playing quite a bit of man-to-man even within our zone. A big guy, you can protect him, and an undersized guy that wouldn't have to guard a post player at the other end, you can protect them. But our perimeter guys, they're basically playing like it's man-to-man for 40 minutes. I think our rotations and our zone has been better, but in regard to rebounding, it's really just the mentality to be more physical and block guys out. Early in the year, probably the only guy that I would say was really a tough, physical guy would be Armani, and then maybe a little bit Willie (Carmichael III), but Willie's so light still that even when he tries to be physical, it's not necessarily good enough. As the season has gone along, Josh has become a better block-out guy, Derek Reese has certainly improved, Tariq (Owens) is now hitting guys some. We're still not even close to where we need to be, but I just think it's more guys learning in the film session and understanding if they don't block out, their minutes will be limited."
(On Armani Moore being named SEC Player of the Week)
"That is unbelievable as a coach. That I could make him SEC player of the week, that's unreal (laughs). He's to be commended. He certainly deserves it. He busts his tail every single day. He's a great leader. The thing I like about Armani probably as much as anything he does on the floor, is the way he's not afraid to tell some of these guys what they don't want to hear. He'll grab Willie, he'll grab Detrick Mostella, he'll even tell Josh Richardson what he needs to hear and not necessarily what they want to hear. His leadership has been great. The way he sacrifices, I think this goes unnoticed most of the time too. A guy that's recruited at this level, let's be honest, they all have egos. Every single one of them has egos, their mom and dad have egos, their AAU coaches have egos, it's the nature of what we deal with. But for him to be a wing-player, a perimeter guy, and be okay with playing the position he's playing, and not fighting it or resisting it, has led to him having a great season so far. It's led to him being the SEC Player of the Week the week. If he wasn't coachable or he wasn't embracing the position he's playing, he would not have the same success he's had to this point. That probably doesn't get enough recognition right there in itself."
"hsub">Armani Moore
(On reaction to being named SEC Player of the Week)
"I just want to take out the time to thank my teammates, family, friends and coaches for helping me achieve this goal. I feel like I couldn't do it without them."
(On if his SEC Player of the Week achievement is a product of great coaching, like Tyndall joked)
"Yes, most importantly that is what I need in order to do some great things. I feel like they have been showing mad confidence in me this week."
(On why he has embraced his role on this team)
"For me, I'm not necessarily the type of guy that when I step out onto the court it is all about me. I feel like most importantly it is about my team and whatever I can do to go out, compete and help us win. I'm always willing to do (that)."
(On Armani Moore and Derek Reese being an undersized post player combo adapting to the roles)
"I feel like for me and Derek, we have something that is different than me and any other teammate because when we first came here we were actually roommates. So we have this special type of bond. I feel like I know what type of player he is and he knows what type of player I am. When we are in the game together I feel like we are just able to click a whole lot better maybe more than me and another one of my teammates."
(On how teammate Derek Reese has adapted to playing in the post)
"We have seen his talent, especially coming into the summer. Sometimes he might have struggled a little bit but he had an injury freshmen year, a torn ligament. Sometimes it is all about having that mentality that just because you have a setback that you can bounce back. I feel like he has been doing a great job this year just coming out and getting his level of confidence back."
(On the offseason conditioning program under coach Tyndall and his staff)
"Conditioning was very tough. I had never had a conditioning session that was just constant running, especially without breaks. For a lot of our guys, especially having such a young team, there were times like he said, some guys would quit and have to do makeup runs. I feel like through it all, we were able to gain a level of confidence that if we were able to get through that, then there was nothing we couldn't get through."
(On reasons why Tennessee has been able to win tight road games)
"I know coach Tyndall always stresses the point that we might be known as a pressing team, but sometimes in our press it is not always to steal the ball. Sometimes it is just to wear teams down. Hopefully like you saw at Missouri, sometimes they would end up just giving the ball to us and not necessarily us (forcing) them to turn the ball over. I feel like guys going through all the conditioning and stuff this summer, we have now been able to wear down teams a lot this year."
(On how the team is handling its success of early in SEC play)
"I say the most important thing for us right now as a team is to stay humble. We can't really get ahead of ourselves. It is still a long season to go. As a team, I feel like we have a long way to go as well, because we really haven't done much yet. Yes we are 3-1, but any day we can be 3-3, back at the bottom. As long as we can stay poised in our games and keep on coming to practice with the right mindset, that we know we can't take any days light, then I feel like we could be very successful this year."
(On what he learned from his rough SEC opener at Mississippi State Jan. 7)
"I feel like it is what coach Tyndall said, instead of letting the game come to me, I was trying to do too much at the wrong times. We had a couple of guys step up. Like I have said, I'm the type of guy that is always trying to do what is best for my team. If that calls for me being on the bench and cheering for my teammates, then that is what it is. Most importantly, I just had to bounce back from that game. I know I can't always go out and have the best game of my life, but I can always cheer my teammates on. That is what I tried to do that night."
(On Josh Richardson closing in on his 1,000th career point)
"I think it definitely shows that Josh Richardson is a talented player, as we all know. I'm very happy for him. As soon as he gets (his 1,000th point) in the game, I'm pretty sure the whole team will be cheering for him. I am very happy for him, and I think he deserves it."
(On his thoughts on coach Tyndall calling two plays for Moore to take 3-point shots at Missouri)
"That is part of being a basketball player. You can't always be your own motivator. Sometimes it calls for your coaches and teammates showing that they have confidence in you. It is always going out and trying to play outside the box. No, I haven't made a lot of 3-point shots this year, but if my teammates have the confidence in me and so do my coaches, then I feel like I can go out and knock the shot down."
(On why he is such an effective offensive rebounder)
"I think it is just a mentality, just going out there and try to do whatever I can do to help my team win. I might be undersized, but I feel like when I'm on the court, I don't want to let anyone else go harder than me. Having that mentality, I just try to go out there and compete."
