Texas Tech University Athletics
McCasland previews UCF matchup
February 09, 2024 | Men's Basketball
LUBBOCK, Texas – Unprompted, to start his weekly press conference, Grant McCasland acknowledged the three-game losing streak that his No. 23-ranked Red Raiders are on – a streak that has followed the team winning 11 of 12 games. The winning streak took the team from unranked through 10 weeks of the college basketball season all the way up to No. 15 last week. The losing streak has people worried. Now, at 5-4 in Big 12 play after a six-point loss at No. 13 Baylor on Tuesday, McCasland and his team aim to use a two-game home stand to respond – starting against UCF at 3 p.m. on Saturday before hosting No. 4 Kansas at 8 p.m. on Monday at United Supermarkets Arena.
"Obviously, we're on a slide," he said. "Handling adversity in the Big 12 is what you get to do. If you handle it the right way, then I really do believe that our best days are ahead of us. This basketball team has always improved. We are excited to play again on Saturday in the United Supermarkets Arena. It's a great opportunity against a really good team. They are one of the best defensive teams in our league and a great shot-blocking team. I think they keep getting better too. UCF is a great test for us."
When asked how he was feeling after a news story came out that he had been sick last week:
"Thanks for asking, but I was fine. I had a friend call and ask me if he needed to start planning my funeral. It wasn't anything. Everybody gets sick. This isn't anything new. It became a story somehow, even though it shouldn't have been."
On illness within the team:
"We did have guys playing who were not well. You can say a lot of different things about our players, maybe some deficiencies, but soft is not one of them. We have tough guys. Our guys compete and show up. I see this as behind us and us moving forward significantly better than we've been."
On playing against a UCF team that is third in the Big 12 by limiting opponents to only 65.0 points per game and leads the conference with 5.52 blocks per game:
"This time of year, there really isn't a lot of dramatic changes you can make. The more you try to, the more it hampers your team's ability to play hard. Where you have to have to have recognition against a team like this with such great length is that you better attack the basket. You better not go in there thinking that you could get your shot blocked. You better attack the basket to go score. That allows the rotation to be what it needs to be. You can't jump off one foot and shoot a shot going away from the rim. That does not work. For us to be successful in this one, there has to be an attack mentality. We have to have movement to create opportunities to make the right play. I think you do that on repeat. Our actions will be very similar to initiate offense, with an emphasis on attacking the basket."
On playing without Warren Washington who missed the game at Baylor due to illness on Tuesday:
"You didn't have to watch that game to know how important Warren is to our team. Look at the stats and look at the rim presence he provides for us. His ability to be a focal part of our offense for facilitating and the flow of how we play. You could tell we were pressing with some bad turnovers in that game because guys were trying to do too much."
More on the type of game that he expects when playing against UCF:
"When you watch them play, they'll put the ball in the guy's hands that they feel like will give them the best chance. I don't think it's just about one guy for them. They will put pressure on you and make difficult shots. We have to hold our ground better than we have. Can we have an initial ball screen coverage, ball screen defense, that doesn't allow people to get so close to the rim. Our team has had success when we're sharing the basketball and we've struggled when we've over-dribbled it. You can't do that against this team. You have to be in attack mode and also share the ball."
When asked to evaluate where the team is at:
"What you do as a head coach is take the temperature of your team and try to put them in the best chance to win the next game. We need to be around these guys every day. And we need to attack every day in such a way that gives us a chance to get better. We weren't able to do that very well in the last week without everyone in the gym at the same time at practice. I leave evaluating until after the season is over with. The only evaluating I'm doing is how are we going to get better for this next game. You can't evaluate where you are until the end of the season. I'm just evaluating what gives us the best chance to win this next game. I think we've found and identified things that will help us get better. I want to know where we are going to go and that's where I'm spending the majority of my time right now. I'm really excited about this group. The own what doesn't go well. They don't make excuses."
"Obviously, we're on a slide," he said. "Handling adversity in the Big 12 is what you get to do. If you handle it the right way, then I really do believe that our best days are ahead of us. This basketball team has always improved. We are excited to play again on Saturday in the United Supermarkets Arena. It's a great opportunity against a really good team. They are one of the best defensive teams in our league and a great shot-blocking team. I think they keep getting better too. UCF is a great test for us."
When asked how he was feeling after a news story came out that he had been sick last week:
"Thanks for asking, but I was fine. I had a friend call and ask me if he needed to start planning my funeral. It wasn't anything. Everybody gets sick. This isn't anything new. It became a story somehow, even though it shouldn't have been."
On illness within the team:
"We did have guys playing who were not well. You can say a lot of different things about our players, maybe some deficiencies, but soft is not one of them. We have tough guys. Our guys compete and show up. I see this as behind us and us moving forward significantly better than we've been."
On playing against a UCF team that is third in the Big 12 by limiting opponents to only 65.0 points per game and leads the conference with 5.52 blocks per game:
"This time of year, there really isn't a lot of dramatic changes you can make. The more you try to, the more it hampers your team's ability to play hard. Where you have to have to have recognition against a team like this with such great length is that you better attack the basket. You better not go in there thinking that you could get your shot blocked. You better attack the basket to go score. That allows the rotation to be what it needs to be. You can't jump off one foot and shoot a shot going away from the rim. That does not work. For us to be successful in this one, there has to be an attack mentality. We have to have movement to create opportunities to make the right play. I think you do that on repeat. Our actions will be very similar to initiate offense, with an emphasis on attacking the basket."
On playing without Warren Washington who missed the game at Baylor due to illness on Tuesday:
"You didn't have to watch that game to know how important Warren is to our team. Look at the stats and look at the rim presence he provides for us. His ability to be a focal part of our offense for facilitating and the flow of how we play. You could tell we were pressing with some bad turnovers in that game because guys were trying to do too much."
More on the type of game that he expects when playing against UCF:
"When you watch them play, they'll put the ball in the guy's hands that they feel like will give them the best chance. I don't think it's just about one guy for them. They will put pressure on you and make difficult shots. We have to hold our ground better than we have. Can we have an initial ball screen coverage, ball screen defense, that doesn't allow people to get so close to the rim. Our team has had success when we're sharing the basketball and we've struggled when we've over-dribbled it. You can't do that against this team. You have to be in attack mode and also share the ball."
When asked to evaluate where the team is at:
"What you do as a head coach is take the temperature of your team and try to put them in the best chance to win the next game. We need to be around these guys every day. And we need to attack every day in such a way that gives us a chance to get better. We weren't able to do that very well in the last week without everyone in the gym at the same time at practice. I leave evaluating until after the season is over with. The only evaluating I'm doing is how are we going to get better for this next game. You can't evaluate where you are until the end of the season. I'm just evaluating what gives us the best chance to win this next game. I think we've found and identified things that will help us get better. I want to know where we are going to go and that's where I'm spending the majority of my time right now. I'm really excited about this group. The own what doesn't go well. They don't make excuses."
Players Mentioned
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