Texas Tech University Athletics
Red Raider Basketball Press Conference Transcript
October 19, 2011 | Men's Basketball
Billy Gillispie fielded questions from local media on Wednesday.
October 19, 2011
Here is a transcript of today's local Basketball Media Day press conference.
Head Coach Billy Gillispie
On getting ready to start the season
"I have been lucky. I am just a basketball coach getting his team ready to play."
On coaching again
"Well some days at practice it feels really good and some days it doesn't. No, it is always fun and there are always going to be ups and downs. We have already experienced some of those and you know those are coming, but the greatest feeling is just to be back working and those kind of things. We are really excited about these guys and Texas Tech, and we are really looking forward to the season."
On the leaders of the team
"From day one since I have been here I have kind of lined it out exactly how we are going to operate, and I have never seen anybody do a better job than Lewandowski. As far as it is probably not really in his comfort zone to be a vocal leader. From day one he has been fantastic, and he has obviously stepped forward and he is way outside of his comfort zone because I think he would rather just be one of the guys. You know, the guy that did what he was supposed to do but let other people tell him as far as vocal goes, but that is the true meaning of a leader in my opinion. When you see what is called for from your particular group and you stand up, and you take that responsibility. He has excelled in that in every single way. As far as going forward though, who knows? There will be some other leaders excel. They may be freshmen, they may be first time guys on campus, it could be Jaye (Crockett), who even though he has been here, this is his third year, he just turned 20 on Sunday so he is a young guy, he obviously started when he was 17. It is fun to watch those things happen. As far as what he has been able to do consistently on a day-to-day basis, I haven't seen a guy ever in my career step outside of his comfort zone as much as him (Lewandowski) to provide what we definitely, definitely need. Hopefully it will progress as we go forward."
On how close this is to a championship team
"I don't really know yet. We have 10 new players, and I am learning every single day about Texas Tech and their commitment and those kind of things. We haven't played a game yet and I think all those things are there. I definitely think those things are there. I will learn about the student body as we go through. That is going to be a huge part of our success, is their involvement and their buying into what these guys are going to be providing on the court and the community support and those kind of things. It has been fantastic. Everyone has been really, really good. I mean I expected it here, but I didn't know it would be to this level already. The student body has been fantastic. They have a great deal of responsibility though. The community has a great deal of responsibility. We have to do our job, and if we do our job I think they are going to do theirs. There are a lot more things than just having good players and a good team on the court as far as having a championship program. I don't want to have a good team, I want to have a great team. I don't want to have a good program, I want to have a great program but a great program is more than just having one great team. So, there are a lot of questions that I cant really answer right now. I assume that I know the answer. I think the commitment from Texas Tech has been fantastic. Again, I am obviously lucky to be here and grateful to be here. I am very, very grateful to be around these players because they have tried as hard as they possibly could since we started from day one. They couldn't have done anymore than they have now. But the whole deal is we have to win games and we have to enlist more soldiers and those soldiers are students and community members and that will be the determining factor of how many soldiers we can enlist as far as making this place the hardest place to play in the country. We have the capability of doing that. I think there is a yearning to help us do that from the community and student body, and that will tell us exactly how far away we are from being a top-notch program in my opinion."
On Texas Tech being a football school
"I never bought into that. I was at what some people would consider to be a predominantly basketball school, I have been at two of those places and I have never bought into that. I think any school at this level, especially in a conference such as the Big 12, they are totally committed to every single sport, not just football, not just basketball, not just whatever sport it is but they are committed to every single sport they have and Texas Tech is definitely on that boat and the other schools I have been at are on that boat as well, but in the public perception sometimes I think it gets viewed as that. I think this is a great, great, great community that loves college athletics. I know if we do our job they are going to come out and support like crazy and make this place a really hard place to come in and beat us in."
On what style of team they will be
"We will be defensive minded, and we will be tough minded and those kind of things. I know that for sure. What I do know is I doubt if anyone right now at this point has worked harder than our guys have. Those are some of the things we can control. I doubt if there is anybody in the country that has conditioned better than our guys have. I doubt if there is anybody in the country that has missed zero classes this semester, maybe there are, that is no disrespect to anyone else. The things that we can control, going to class, going to study hall, being great community members, being great student leaders on the campus and never missing or being late for a workout at 6 a.m. throughout the summer. Up to this point, not one guy has. We can control all those things, and I know that they are going to have all those intangibles present. As far as having 10 new players I don't know if the ball is going to go in the basket or not I know they will be tough minded. I know that they will be defensive oriented first. We will score a lot of points because we will be defensive oriented. I know that when we go out to practice every single day some days are better than others but I know they are going to be trying their hardest to please me, as a head coach, because they have confidence in me and I think they know I have confidence in them. So those are the things that are building blocks for a program. Those are not tangible things other than knowing when they are in class and all those kinds of things. They have done everything and more than you could ever expect up to this point. So I have built programs before and those are usually the building blocks that really escalate you very quickly and have the kind of program we want to have."
On who will start the first exhibition game
"You can ask them (the players), they may have more of a thought than I do but I promise they aren't right but you can ask them. I don't know. The thing here is whoever earns it gets it. Nobody is entitled here. I think that point has been made and I think it has been received very well. If you work hard enough and you play the right way, we are going to play hard, play smart, play together, if you do those kind of things then you are going to get the opportunity to play. If you don't, you're not. It doesn't matter what your status is or you're so called standing. I think that is they way to be fair to all your players and that has always been to be really good in recruiting, if you earn it you get. I think that sounds like what every coach says, I don't thing every coach really adheres to that but these guys know. Jaye (Crockett) was working with a different group than he wanted to be working with the other day, and he said, "Coach can I get my spot back?" That is a great question that I like to hear because I know that number one, he wants to and also I know that we will work hard enough to get it back. So I have no idea who will be the ones who trot out there when we first tip it up on that exhibition game."
Senior Robert Lewandowski
On how much weight he has lost
"I have gone from 260, when coach got here, to 230 and I have added on about seven or eight pounds of muscle. So I am around 235 to 240, fluctuating right there."
On how much of a difference his weight loss has made
"Yeah, definitely. Just the way I feel day in and day out and on the court too. It is really good. It feels good and I play better too, so I like it."
On how much he has conditioned in the off-season
"Honestly, it was one of those things that if you would have told me five or six months ago that I would have done the conditioning that we have done I would have been like, "You are crazy." It is amazing how much stuff you can get done when you prepare yourself physically and mentally too. It has been good but it has been tough and I think all the guys have done a good job stepping up but now it is to the point where we are there physically we just need to be there mentally and get the basketball stuff done now too. We are learning everyday how to get things going. Conditioning is just one part of the game so we have to get everything else quickly.
On it being difficult to get to know so many new players
"Not for as much time as we spend together. It is a really good bonding atmosphere. It has been great. We all live together and we all eat together everyday. It is a really good atmosphere to have. There are a lot of new guys but it has been a lot of fun meeting a lot of news guys and building a lot of good relationships."
On playing with so many new players
"It is a little different but that is just part of the game. It is part of the world we live in, there is going to be change. It will happen again to me, I am sure. It is going to happen to everybody someday. You are going to kind of look around and realize we are in a different part of our lives right now. At the same time it is such a great opportunity to meet new people, and I have 15 new brothers now so I really enjoy it."
On what motivated him to lose weight
"I was scared. I knew if I wanted to play I would have to lose some weight. No, that was part of it. I think coach is right, I am outside my comfort zone but the more you step outside of it the more it is comfortable. I feel pretty confident now just talking to the guys and being able to step up but I know there is a lot more that I can do and a lot more that each of us can do and know we can keep pushing ourselves outside of our comfort zone. Like I said there is a lot of stuff on the court too that we can do better in terms of getting outside of our comfort zone. But having more confidence and stuff like that, you have to build it. It starts somewhere. I had a few conversations with coach about what I needed to do and how I needed to go about it. I thought this summer was a very big learning experience and it was a great learning experience. I feel more comfortable now. It took a little time but I feel great."
Sophomore Jaye Crockett
On what the conditioning program consisted of
"It is really not too much, just running the spread so running miles and stuff like that. It is just going hard from start to finish during practice through every drill. That just gives us the endurance."
On begin a veteran of this team
"It is different. I am still young but I am put in a position where I need to step up as a leader. It's a little different but I am ready for it."
