Bill Self covered several topics from the Texas win including players stepping up, a big conference win, latest on injuries and much more.
Opening comment:
Self: As good as they've been all year. We had nine guys that we could put in, counting Jank. He was the ninth. We played well. We played with great energy. I thought Juan was so good to start the game. We had the bad stretch to end the first half, and then the last minute of the first half and the first three minutes of the second half were bad. And after that, it became a game again and we were pretty good. So, I was really pleased. I thought everybody did well on a night where Jalen wasn't his best and still yet, we were able to hang 88 when our guy averaging 21 only gets two, so that's a positive thing.
Would you have thought that was possible with Jalen getting two…
Self: Probably not. Well, anything's possible, but I would say probably not. If you look at it this way, from a statistical standpoint, Jalen gets two and we make two threes, and we still get 88 points, so they pressured out and dared us to drive it and everything, which is probably a pretty good game plan. And we were able to take advantage of it pretty well. I thought the first half, I don't know what it was, like the first 12 minutes, I thought we got anything we wanted for the most part. And then they settled in and played better, and it became a basketball game after that.
What'd you learn about Gradey, Kevin getting shoulders past guys getting to the rim…
Self: Well, the way that they guard when you pressure out and deny, it opens up some straight-line drives from time to time. So, I thought that the first half, Kevin got there twice. I thought Joe maybe got there once. Juan got there to start the game. So, we did have some good finishes at the rim early in the game, but we also had some misses, too. But I really thought we executed offensively about as well as we could. I didn't think we took advantage of the middle ball screen running to the rim enough. But still yet, we probably scored six points on that, too.
And then with Joe was he a spark and what you have been looking for…
Self: Yeah, I think so. That reminded me of the NCAA tournament two years ago. I mean, he was so aggressive and so good and looked so athletic. I'm really happy for him because he's labored most of the year. But I think sometimes when you get your numbers down and you know you're going to stay in, regardless, I think it gives guys confidence, too.
How would you assess how your three freshman played tonight, given that short bench…
Self: I thought Gradey had a really good game, especially offensively. I thought he was terrific offensively. Ernest had obviously a terrific game, and MJ had a presence out there. I'm sure you guys could tell, too. He belongs. So, I thought they all did really well.
When you get a lot of points in the paint, you do well…
Self: Well, I think you can almost ask the question it is totally opposite. When we didn't play well, we didn't get points in the paint. We’ve got to be about paint touches, off the pass or off the bounce, one way or another. And tonight, we were successful. I bet our paint touches were worth a minimum of three times and maybe four times more than they were on Saturday. And then, what hurts you when you don't get paint touches, you become an execution team or jump shooting team, and then you don't get to the free throw line as much and all these things. We were better tonight, but it was encouraging to me that I thought everybody, with the exception of Jalen, who's our best at driving it downhill, I thought everybody drove it downhill and got paint touches. KJ did from the perimeter. Kevin for sure did. Joe for sure did, Dajuan obviously. And then Gradey's getting better and better at it all the time.
Defensively you switched everything again…
Self: We switched everything. We just thought that was the best way to guard them, even though it's not the perfect way to guard them because obviously it put them in positions on the post that could take advantage of us. And they did several times, but I thought it was the best way to guard them where we could have a better chance of keeping in front of them and their one-on-one guys, they go get their shots on their own. I thought it would be better to guard if we were set in front of them rather than chasing them.
Can you talk a little bit about Dejuan and Gradey and how important they are especially on a night where Jalen only scores two…
Self: Well, obviously what did they combine for 17 and 21. This way, you get 38, and the most impressive stat line maybe of all of them is the fact that Juan shot 16 shots. And I asked him in the locker room, "Have you ever shot 16 shots in a game before?" And he said, "Yeah, he did once in fifth grade." And I said, "Fifth grade doesn't count, dude." So, that to me is, we're better when he's aggressive. He's gone through several games where, and I think it's fatigue, but he's gone through several games this year where his energy level didn't look like it was an aggressive downhill. He was just kind of a possession player, and he needs to be in attack mode and be aggressive all the time. And of course, Gradey hadn't got a lot of looks lately, but he was able to free up enough to put 21 on the board.
What does it mean to beat the first-place team, was it a must-win…
Self: I don't think that I look at it like that. It was as close to a must-win as you can have this early in the season to win the league. If you go down three games, I mean, that's three games with, what would that be? Seven left? I mean, you'd have to win out, probably, and you'd have to get a lot of help from others. So, now, we still have as hard a schedule as anybody, but it'll at least we can kind of control our own destiny that if we play well, then we'll have a shot.
Texas is a half game up, so there's still so much ball left to be played, and the league's so good that even the officials all talk about it. At the start of the game, can you believe this league? I mean, they're all saying it. So, what do we have, six in the top 17 today, and here we are. We played really poor ball over the last two weeks, for three weeks for the most part. And you know, look up and we're tied for the poorest we've ever started a league, at 6-4, and the 20 years we've been here, and you're ranked ninth in the country. That just goes to show you how good the league is.
What do you know about Clemence and Bobby's injuries?
Self: I think Bobby may be out a while, and I don't think either one of them be available to us on Saturday, but I don't know that for a fact. Hopefully they will be, but I don't think Zuby or Zach, or Bobby will be available, but we'll wait and see.
You mentioned last week that throwing some of these guys into the fire with these injuries might be good for them…
Self: I've always thought that when you know that somebody is having to depend on you regardless, I think it sometimes gives you a confidence or an aggressiveness that you play a little bit better than if you're looking at the bench knowing if you screw up, you think you could come out. And I hate to say that, but that's how those three bigs have been all year long. Now, with a situation where Ernest knows he's going to stay in there, and this is the first time MJ knew he was going to stay in there, too, I think Joe as well, I think that players thrive if they know that we need them to win. And certainly, they all delivered tonight. It was fun to watch.
Opening comment:
Self: As good as they've been all year. We had nine guys that we could put in, counting Jank. He was the ninth. We played well. We played with great energy. I thought Juan was so good to start the game. We had the bad stretch to end the first half, and then the last minute of the first half and the first three minutes of the second half were bad. And after that, it became a game again and we were pretty good. So, I was really pleased. I thought everybody did well on a night where Jalen wasn't his best and still yet, we were able to hang 88 when our guy averaging 21 only gets two, so that's a positive thing.
Would you have thought that was possible with Jalen getting two…
Self: Probably not. Well, anything's possible, but I would say probably not. If you look at it this way, from a statistical standpoint, Jalen gets two and we make two threes, and we still get 88 points, so they pressured out and dared us to drive it and everything, which is probably a pretty good game plan. And we were able to take advantage of it pretty well. I thought the first half, I don't know what it was, like the first 12 minutes, I thought we got anything we wanted for the most part. And then they settled in and played better, and it became a basketball game after that.
What'd you learn about Gradey, Kevin getting shoulders past guys getting to the rim…
Self: Well, the way that they guard when you pressure out and deny, it opens up some straight-line drives from time to time. So, I thought that the first half, Kevin got there twice. I thought Joe maybe got there once. Juan got there to start the game. So, we did have some good finishes at the rim early in the game, but we also had some misses, too. But I really thought we executed offensively about as well as we could. I didn't think we took advantage of the middle ball screen running to the rim enough. But still yet, we probably scored six points on that, too.
And then with Joe was he a spark and what you have been looking for…
Self: Yeah, I think so. That reminded me of the NCAA tournament two years ago. I mean, he was so aggressive and so good and looked so athletic. I'm really happy for him because he's labored most of the year. But I think sometimes when you get your numbers down and you know you're going to stay in, regardless, I think it gives guys confidence, too.
How would you assess how your three freshman played tonight, given that short bench…
Self: I thought Gradey had a really good game, especially offensively. I thought he was terrific offensively. Ernest had obviously a terrific game, and MJ had a presence out there. I'm sure you guys could tell, too. He belongs. So, I thought they all did really well.
When you get a lot of points in the paint, you do well…
Self: Well, I think you can almost ask the question it is totally opposite. When we didn't play well, we didn't get points in the paint. We’ve got to be about paint touches, off the pass or off the bounce, one way or another. And tonight, we were successful. I bet our paint touches were worth a minimum of three times and maybe four times more than they were on Saturday. And then, what hurts you when you don't get paint touches, you become an execution team or jump shooting team, and then you don't get to the free throw line as much and all these things. We were better tonight, but it was encouraging to me that I thought everybody, with the exception of Jalen, who's our best at driving it downhill, I thought everybody drove it downhill and got paint touches. KJ did from the perimeter. Kevin for sure did. Joe for sure did, Dajuan obviously. And then Gradey's getting better and better at it all the time.
Defensively you switched everything again…
Self: We switched everything. We just thought that was the best way to guard them, even though it's not the perfect way to guard them because obviously it put them in positions on the post that could take advantage of us. And they did several times, but I thought it was the best way to guard them where we could have a better chance of keeping in front of them and their one-on-one guys, they go get their shots on their own. I thought it would be better to guard if we were set in front of them rather than chasing them.
Can you talk a little bit about Dejuan and Gradey and how important they are especially on a night where Jalen only scores two…
Self: Well, obviously what did they combine for 17 and 21. This way, you get 38, and the most impressive stat line maybe of all of them is the fact that Juan shot 16 shots. And I asked him in the locker room, "Have you ever shot 16 shots in a game before?" And he said, "Yeah, he did once in fifth grade." And I said, "Fifth grade doesn't count, dude." So, that to me is, we're better when he's aggressive. He's gone through several games where, and I think it's fatigue, but he's gone through several games this year where his energy level didn't look like it was an aggressive downhill. He was just kind of a possession player, and he needs to be in attack mode and be aggressive all the time. And of course, Gradey hadn't got a lot of looks lately, but he was able to free up enough to put 21 on the board.
What does it mean to beat the first-place team, was it a must-win…
Self: I don't think that I look at it like that. It was as close to a must-win as you can have this early in the season to win the league. If you go down three games, I mean, that's three games with, what would that be? Seven left? I mean, you'd have to win out, probably, and you'd have to get a lot of help from others. So, now, we still have as hard a schedule as anybody, but it'll at least we can kind of control our own destiny that if we play well, then we'll have a shot.
Texas is a half game up, so there's still so much ball left to be played, and the league's so good that even the officials all talk about it. At the start of the game, can you believe this league? I mean, they're all saying it. So, what do we have, six in the top 17 today, and here we are. We played really poor ball over the last two weeks, for three weeks for the most part. And you know, look up and we're tied for the poorest we've ever started a league, at 6-4, and the 20 years we've been here, and you're ranked ninth in the country. That just goes to show you how good the league is.
What do you know about Clemence and Bobby's injuries?
Self: I think Bobby may be out a while, and I don't think either one of them be available to us on Saturday, but I don't know that for a fact. Hopefully they will be, but I don't think Zuby or Zach, or Bobby will be available, but we'll wait and see.
You mentioned last week that throwing some of these guys into the fire with these injuries might be good for them…
Self: I've always thought that when you know that somebody is having to depend on you regardless, I think it sometimes gives you a confidence or an aggressiveness that you play a little bit better than if you're looking at the bench knowing if you screw up, you think you could come out. And I hate to say that, but that's how those three bigs have been all year long. Now, with a situation where Ernest knows he's going to stay in there, and this is the first time MJ knew he was going to stay in there, too, I think Joe as well, I think that players thrive if they know that we need them to win. And certainly, they all delivered tonight. It was fun to watch.
