	products recent interviews FastScripts archive about ASAP Sports

Our Clients:

Browse by Sport

Find us on

Subscribe to RSS

Click to go to
Asaptext.com

View our
e-Brochure

BIG 12 CONFERENCE MEN'S TOURNAMENT

March 10, 2010

Mike Singletary

KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI

Texas Tech Â– 82
Colorado - 67

CHARLIE FISS: We're joined now by the Red Raiders, Coach Pat Knight and his two student-athletes John Roberson and Mike Singletary. Coach, we'll come to your student-athletes in just a minute. Right now let's call on you first for your thoughts on today's victory.
COACH KNIGHT: Well, it's a game we needed. You know, last year we were playing for pride, you know, during this time of the year.
And this year we're playing to get into the NIT. And even though we've had a rough three weeks, you know, my guys haven't given up. We're still playing for something.
And we needed to -- these kids, they haven't given up. A lot of teams, I think, they go through something like that for three weeks, give up. But I haven't had a problem with these guys. They've been competitive in practice, and they just kept on wanting to win one more.
And I think it showed today, that this was a very good win for us. Because like I said, we're still playing for something.
CHARLIE FISS: Questions for our student-athletes. We'll come back to Coach at the end.

Q. Pat, can you talk about what you changed match-up wise from Saturday to today?
COACH KNIGHT: We didn't really change anything. They just actually followed the game plan, you know, to be honest. You can ask them. I don't like burying my guys after losses.
And so, you know, as a coach you just take the hit, because it's not right calling out kids. But now that we won, I can call them out.
You can ask them, we didn't change the game plan at all. We just decided to follow it. I mean, that's all it was. I mean, it's just a defensive situation. We win every time we give up 70 or less, and we get beat almost every time we give up 80 or more. So it's right there for you in writing.
Honestly, we didn't change anything up.

Q. Can you talk about the starting line?
COACH KNIGHT: Just from a defensive standpoint, we have to start small anyway, and we just decided to change that up a little bit. But that wasn't a major deal. We just wanted to shake the tree a little bit.

Q. For both John and Mike, talk about the difference in this team today and the team that has played most of the time for the last three weeks.
JOHN ROBERSON: I think we played together as a team. We were down by 10 early in the game and it wasn't a sense of panic at all. We were just talking amongst each other and trying to get things right, instead of, you know, bickering at each other.
So I think we played more today more like a family and we just stuck together.
MIKE SINGLETARY: Yeah, I think we just defense-wise we just buckled down and we just guarded people, and that's what we had been doing the past three weeks, and that's why we gave up 101 points to Colorado last time. It was just all about defense and just all about getting the right thing to do out there and just locking up.

Q. John and Mike, the fact that you guys have just played them as far as defensively, did you all know a little bit more what they were doing? It seemed like a lot of times you guys were jumping passing lanes that sort of thing.
JOHN ROBERSON: The first time we played them we kind of got mixed up because they run so many cuts and all that stuff. They have a pretty hard offense to guard. But this time around we were locked in defensively. We knew exactly what they were going to do. Like Coach said, we followed the game plan. And we just -- a lot of communication was going on on the defensive end.
MIKE SINGLETARY: We knew whenever they were going to back cut and we knew most of their sets. So we got -- we had a little bit of time -- a little more time to go over their sets and kind of figure out what they were going to do on each play. So I think that really helped us out that time we had to prepare for them a little bit more.
So I think that really helped it out with the game today.

Q. Can you talk about the last time you played with this kind of energy.
JOHN ROBERSON: It's been a long time. I think the last time we actually, you know, played 100 percent but didn't get it done was I think A&M, and maybe Texas. We came out with a lot of energy there.
But, man, everybody was on the same page today, and it was just fun to watch.

Q. Mike, I think last time against KU, I don't think you scored any points, if I remember right. Is that kind of a match-up you want back again?
MIKE SINGLETARY: It's always fun to play Kansas. It's always fun to play the so-called best team in the country. So I'm going to take that as a challenge. I think we're all just going to take it as a challenge and just go out there and play with the same energy we played with today, and just, hopefully, you know, we'll come out with a win.

Q. For both of you guys, for Mike and John, last year you guys -- Baylor was in the same spot as you guys and knocked off Kansas. Does that give you guys some hope for this year playing against them.
JOHN ROBERSON: Yeah, we know anything can happen. When we're playing -- when we're on our A game we're playing good. We're playing on the offensive end and the defensive end, I think we can beat anybody in the country. So we're just going to see what happens, just try to play with the same energy we played with today.
MIKE SINGLETARY: Well, I think Kansas is a good team. And it's just a matter of just going out there and just being in the right spots and listening to the scouting report that we're going to have today. And it's all about just containing their guards and trying to limit their big men to offensive rebounds and stuff like that.
So it's going to be a big challenge for us, but I think we're ready for it.
CHARLIE FISS: Thanks, guys. We'll go to questions for Coach.

Q. Pat, they talked about doing the things that you guys had talked about since the last game. You kind of had to remind them there, though, that first time out, didn't you?
COACH KNIGHT: Also the second time out. You know, everyone as a parent knows what I'm talking about. When you're dealing with 18- to 21-year-olds, you've got to remind them constantly.
And defense isn't something that's imbred in kids, everybody wants to be the offensive guy. It's been a problem for us. All the games we've won, we've held teams teams pretty much 70 points or below. And all the games we've lost it's been 80 or more. So we've just been harping and harping on the defensive end. I think anytime we can hold anybody to 70 or below, we have a chance to win.

Q. How do you feel about your NIT chances now?
COACH KNIGHT: I think we should be in. You know, we're the only other team with a winning record. I know it's been a tough three weeks, but we're also in the best league in the country. Five out of those teams we played were ranked.
We've played good basketball this year. And, you know, for them to overlook us and overlook a team in the best conference league would be a shame. But there's always human error when it's not a computer doing it. So when you've got a group of guys there deciding people's fate, you just don't know what's going to happen.
But I honestly believe that we deserve it.

Q. Pat, just talk about the challenge you've now got in front of you with the quick turnaround and then facing Kansas.
COACH KNIGHT: Yeah, it's going to be tough. It's like comparing my win/loss record to my old man's. It's going to be tough. But you have to look at it as a situation from a college coach and player. You get a chance to play the No. 1 team in the country, and anything can happen on any given day. We just have to go out there and play hard and just compete and see what happens. Because a lot of funny things happen in these conference tournaments.
You know, we have to be careful. We have to go back to playing in the passing lanes, getting into the ball, because we had to back off all that because the Princeton offensive that Colorado runs. So that's really all we can do. Then we got to talk to them about helping down the post. We've just got to go out there and play hard. That's all you can ask.

Q. You mentioned those two timeouts you took. Colorado had a break away and they turned it over. And Mike was really angry at somebody on the floor. Then you guys, you had to call a back-to-back timeouts because you couldn't get the ball inbounds. Was that the pointed that you think maybe it finally clicked?
COACH KNIGHT: Yeah, they finally realized from a defensive standpoint you just can't have three guys realizing it or four, you've got to have all five. One guy breaks down and then we're in trouble.
So I think finally after the second time out, all five guys -- and my guys are good they make everybody accountable, but you know how losing affects teams. Bickering and back stabbing starts going on. And we haven't had that from the standpoint in the locker room or practice situation, but just in tight situations lately, guys just don't want to take the blame themselves.
And finally guys have stood up tonight and, really, okay I'm not playing well, let's get it going. Then I had to be careful, too, I couldn't get too negative on them even though I wanted to after some of the plays. So I had to watch myself also just to keep them in a positive mind frame just because of what's transpired the last three weeks.

Q. Can you talk about just how John played and is this what you want to see out of him?
COACH KNIGHT: Yeah, he defended. That's the main thing. It always helps when your best player defends. And plus he has to be a key defender for us because he's always on the guy that has the ball, makes the other team go.
And then, you know, he passed the ball well, hit key shots. But he was talking again. He's out there trying to calm guys down. He was talking in the timeout. You know, he's back to being the leader and trying to run this team.
CHARLIE FISS: Thank you, Coach.

End of FastScripts

ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297

BIG 12 CONFERENCE MEN'S TOURNAMENT

March 10, 2010

Bob Knight

John Roberson

Mike Singletary