Press conference transcript: Texas Tech preview
Jan. 25, 2013
Head Coach Rick Barnes On Sheldon McClellan during Monday’s game: He was tremendous. Forget about what he did on the court, its what he did off the court. He was talking to the guys and never stopped. From the start of the game he was engaged and encouraging of his teammates. That is the first step to becoming the player you want to be, when you forget about yourself and start focusing on your teammates. On recruiting Connor Lammert (whose brother Clark plays for Texas Tech): When we evaluate a player here at Texas, we evaluate him against the best players in the country. He really stuck out to me at AAU. The day I saw him play he really showed his skill. You didn’t have to watch him very long to realize that. The coaches already really liked him and they wanted me to see what I think. It took all of two minutes for me to realize what they saw in him. He is a great worker and has a great future ahead of him. On Jonathan Holmes injury: It is what he does everyday at practice. He is an everyday guy who works hard and sets a tone for us. When we watch tape, you don’t have to point him out because he takes care of the details. Someone will have to step up and cover those details. It won’t change the philosophy on the court. On making the NCAA tournament: Nothing drastic has to happen. We just have to win. There are enough games left to win. We aren’t thinking about the tournament, we are thinking about tomorrow and what we have to do to get better. We just saw the number-one team in the country get beat. You go through tough times, but we have a long way to go. Even in the past, we never thought about the tournament this early. It’s a day-to-day process.
On Big 12 tempo: When you get in to conference play, teams get better and it is tough. I think all coaches really want to play fast, but it is hard as the year goes on because everybody continues to improve. Freshman F Connor Lammert On playing his brother (Clark) on Saturday: My family and I have been looking forward to this game for a very long time. I will treat the game like any normal game and treat him like another player, though after the game he is my brother. There has always been a competition between us - we compete on anything, whether it is grades or playing golf. At this level of basketball, it will be a competition like no other. On Jonathan Holmes’ injury: It is terrible for him, we all feel for him. When it happened our hearts all sank. We have to step up as players - everyone has to step up not just the four big men. We have to pick up for where Jonathan was really strong in his game. We are going to have to rebound and play defensive all the way around. |
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