University of Tennessee Athletics
Donnie Tyndall Media Luncheon: Feb. 23
February 23, 2015 | Men's Basketball
(Opening Statement)
"I'll start by recapping last week. We just got done playing at Ole Miss. I thought, first of all, in the Kentucky game, we responded from the LSU game which in my opinion was the first time all year we didn't play Tennessee basketball, which has been tough, gritty and hard-nosed. So we responded and played against the best team in America the right way for about 32 minutes. Then I think their size and depth wore us down a little bit the last eight minutes of that game. I was happy with our effort. Then against Ole Miss, again, I think our guys responded after a tough loss to Kentucky the right way. It was a back-and-forth game with many lead changes. They had a sold-out gym, so it was a tough environment. Andy (Kennedy) has done a great job with that team. They are an explosive offensive team. If you would have said before the game that we would hold them to 59 (points) and out-rebound them by eight or nine then I would have said we have a great chance to win. Again, we just struggled to score the basketball, but we had our chances. I thought our effort was fantastic. Then this week upcoming, obviously the rematch with Vanderbilt. Again the respect I have for coach (Kevin) Stallings and their program is as high as it could possibly be. We were fortunate to win that game at their place (earlier this month). We certainly know they will bounce back, and we will get their best shot. We hope to have a great home crowd. We only have two (home)games remaining. This obviously is a rivalry game. Then going to Florida, we have a quick turnaround to play Saturday. Again, another quality team that is probably a lot like us. They have had chances to win three, four, five different games. It has come down to a final possession or two and it hasn't gone their way. We all know Florida's tradition and how good of a coach Billy (Donovan) is. So it is a big week."
(On if there is a common theme in some of UT's recent, close losses)
"I always try to evaluat,e and I tell our players I am very critical and tough on them. I'm trying to make them the best they can be. I have self-analyzed and evaluated things I have done and our staff has done. There is a thing here or there that maybe you tweak or change, but we have been competitive. There has only been one half of one game that I wasn't proud of our effort. So to say could you do something different or is there a common theme... that is a tough question. I just think it's really, in my mind, a situation where it comes down to we don't get any easy baskets. In these one- or two-possession games, if you could throw it to the post and get two or three cheap buckets a game, or if you had more playmakers... We only really have one playmaker from the perimeter, Josh Richardson. It would make the game easier for everybody (if we had more), but that is just an area we struggle in. We are grinding. We were fortunate to win the Vanderbilt game, but we have lost some heartbreakers. I can't fault our effort. So a long way of saying, I don't know if there is a common theme other than we are learning on the fly with a very youthful team."
(On the team's goals moving forward)
"I'm a big dreamer, if you will. My goal is to still find a way to go to the NCAA Tournament, which at this point and time, it looks like we would have to win the SEC Tournament. We all understand how hard it would be just to win one game. That is still our goal. If you want to look and say you can't do that, then we certainly hope to play in some type of postseason. The next goal would be in the NIT, because I just think any chance our team gets to play additional games as we move forward into next year, these practices and games will help a ton. We still hope and plan to play in the postseason with the goal being the NCAA Tournament, but I'm a realist in regards to how hard that is going to be to achieve."
(On which postseason tournaments Tennessee would participate in)
"I'm all for playing extra games. That would be a decision that (athletic administrators) Dave Hart, Jon Gilbert and I would have to discuss and talk about. I know after this season, (playing in a third-tier postseason tournament) would not be something I would ever want to consider. I think any postseason with this particular team, as youthful and inexperienced as we are, would be an accomplishment. As we move this thing forward, we have one goal and one goal only--to play in the NCAA Tournament."
(On if he will switch anything up leading into the Vanderbilt game to try to improve the team's play at home)
"We've tried a couple of things. Sometimes the arena is just not available; when it is, we do practice here. We stayed in a hotel a time or two at home. It's something that we would consider again. I don't know that we want to make a habit of doing that every game, but we just have to relax and play. I thought (Saturday) night (at Ole Miss) we just relaxed and played basketball. We didn't play perfectly, but we relaxed and played. I think, again, the only thing I can kind of figure out is that with this young of a team at home, they get a little bit tighter or try a little bit too hard instead of just relaxing and playing basketball."
(On Josh Richardson's performance this season at point guard)
"It is a balance. Obviously Josh is our best player. He's our best scorer and he leads our team in assists. So he's done a little bit of both. I think that anytime the ball is in a guy's hands late and the shot isn't made or the foul isn't drawn, fans or media or coaches - whoever - become a little bit critical. But, I think Josh has had an outstanding year trying to absorb a position he's never played in his life. There's certainly times when I think he's had open teammates and not made the pass, and I don't think it's one speck of selfishness in regard to Josh. I think it's just he doesn't have that natural feel to just make that easy effortless play that maybe a quote unquote prototypical point guard would have. With that being said, again, he leads our team in assists. I don't think any of our guys have necessarily not been assertive. They maybe haven't been as productive at times or [as] consistently productive as we need them to be, but I think our team offensively plays with an aggressiveness one through five. You look at Armani [Moore], he's aggressive. Derek [Reese] comes in the game, he's aggressive. [Kevin] Punter has been aggressive. Detrick Mostella probably leads America in shots per second played, and [Devon] Baulkman has had his chances. So I don't think anyone's not assertive, we just need to be a little bit more productive."
(On what may be holding freshman guard Detrick Mostella back from a production standpoint)
"That's a great question, because Detrick's a coachable guy, he's a good kid. I just think, like anything, early in the year, teams aren't aware of all your weaknesses or deficiencies. And then through scouting five, six, seven , eight games, watching every tape like we all do, they are going to make you play to your weaknesses. If you look at Detrick's stat line, I think about three-fourths of his shots, if I'm not mistaken, are coming from behind the (3-point) line, so other coaches are saying, 'Look, get to this guy. Make him bounce it. Make him try to make plays off the dribble,' because his assist-to-turnover ratio is 1-to-3 in league play. So, they are making him play to his weaknesses and taking away his strengths. A lot of the shots he takes end up pretty challenged, although he's missed some good looks the last few games. He has to get better with the basketball. He has to get stronger when he drives it, so that he can absorb contact and turn the corner, So this offseason will be huge for him."
(On the recent progress of freshman forward Willie Carmichael III)
"I think Willie has gotten better the last three weeks, not necessarily in regard to foul trouble, but the gamenis slowing down a little bit. He's finished a couple more balls. He still had the lapse where he tried to do too much and spun and ended up turning it over, but it seems to me probably the last five or six games, the game is slowing down a little bit for him and he's getting a little bit more comfortable."
(On the team understanding that each play in the ball game can impact whether you win or lose)
"You certainly hope so. And I think I've said that from literally our first team meeting the night before school started. One play can be the difference between going to a Final Four. One play can be the difference between getting to the NCAA Tournament. One play can be the difference in winning a game. And you know, I think when you make it that important to your players, at first they're probably `Yeah okay, whatever,' and now as it's unfolded the way it has-and there's been time when we've been in the film room and I'll point out this one play was the reason we won the game, or this one play was the reason we got the win. And so, you know when you point that out and they're sitting in film saying `Gosh, you know, coach was right. That's exactly right.' They absorb it and you hope they learn from it. And even if it's not paying off with wins right now, I think maybe as the season goes on, three weeks left, it'll pay off. Or, even if it's heading into next year with this young group, that they're learning through these experiences and don't make the same mistakes next season."
(On whether or not learning experiences from close games this season will benefit next year's team)
"Yeah, I think so. You know early in the year a couple guys, you take them out of the game. Their body language wasn't right because they just simply didn't understand why that one play was such a big deal that they're coming out of the game. And now, having seen the importance of that one play, when you do take them out, they're more receptive to sit down and listen to the assistant (coach) and absorb what it is they did wrong or the mistake that they made. And then when they go back in, their mind is right, as opposed to earlier in the year. We had a couple guys, you take them out, they go back in and their minds weren't right, so I think that's part of maturity or maturing, yes."
(On Vanderbilt's hot start from 3-point range in the season's first meeting)
"No we really didn't (do anything different defensively). We always tweak (the way we defend) at halftime, a couple actions that teams run, and how we maybe want to tweak how were going to guard it. The first half--I watched the tape twice--they went some 2-1-2 and played with the high post. They kicked it out and made a couple threes out of that action, and our rule in the 2-1-2 is X5, meaning the center, holds and protects the rim and then he eventually takes the guy at the high post and then guards have to match up to the guards that tilt the floor to the wings. Once or twice Kevin (punter) and Josh (Richardson) got sucked in to the ball at the high post, kick it out, bang three. In the second half, I thought we did a better job of staying home on the shooters. When you do that, you give up some high-post jump shots, but our rule or law in that instance is that shot won't beat you over 40 minutes, layups and threes will. So, you have to surrender some high-post shots. They may make one or two, but for the most part, I thought the second half we did a good job vs. that action."
(On the ideal number of field-goal attempts to limit Damian Jones to)
"Well he's so good, obviously anything 10 or less is probably a good job defensively but of his nine, four of them were where we didn't get the post fronted. Tariq (Owens) twice and Willie twice, then Willie once Derek (Reese) once, so we have to do a better job fronting him and limiting his touches. But, obviously when you do that you give up some jump shots from the perimeter, but he's so good that you have to do that. A couple instances when he caught on the post, we were late to what we call our `red,' which is the trap, and he was still able to score the ball before the trap got there. So, we've got to be quicker to the red, and have to do a better job fronting. But nine attempts from him, you can live with that."
(On the late-game possession reversal following an officials review Saturday at Ole Miss)
"You know, I've never been a guy to blame officials or make excuses. We should have rebounded the ball at the other end. That's the bottom line. But I do think the call in and of itself was, what's the word they use, indisputable? Yeah, I don't think there was enough evidence to overrule the call on the floor. But that's not why we lost the game. We should have rebounded the ball in the first place and then it's not an issue."
(On Vanderbilt sophomore big man Damian Jones)
"He is a talented, talented guy. I said before we played him the first game that, in my opinion, he will be an NBA player. When that will be, I don't know, but he has great size, great hands. He can step out and shoot it. He blocks and challenges shots. I think he is a guy that will make one of the All-SEC teams, probably be second or third team if you looked right now. He is a talented guy. He is a lot like [Jordan Mickey] at LSU--maybe not quite the shot blocker, but a similar player."
(On limiting Damian Jones' attempts in first meeting in Nashville)
"Well, we were fortunate to win that game. They missed a couple free throws late; that usually is not the case with the guys that missed. I think the biggest thing--tough environment, great crowd, huge rivalry game as we all understand--but our guys played with a nice poise. There were five, six, seven possessions where we made a shot at the end of the shot clock or we drove the ball and kicked it out for a good look with five seconds or less on the shot clock. That's hard to do on the road. I thought we played with a lot of poise right up until the final play of regulation where Robert Hubbs III drove the ball rather than settling for a jump shot. I'd like to think on our home floor we'll play with that same poise and be even better."
(On progress being shown by junior wing Devon Baulkman)
"It's a tough call right now between who I want to play more minutes--him or Detrick Mostella. A lot of it is just kind of how they start the game when they get their first crack. Devon, in the last couple games, has played pretty well in his first rotation in the first half when he gets in there. The biggest thing with Devon is he has to stay aggressive at times. He settles for jump shots. He has to continue to absorb the scouting report and not make mistakes in regards to our assignments in our press and in our zone because one play can be the difference between winning and losing. He is the one guy who has struggled this late into the year with some of our concepts and details in how we play."
