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BIG 12 CONFERENCE MEN'S TOURNAMENTMarch 14, 2014Rick BarnesJonathan HolmesIsaiah TaylorKANSAS CITY, MISSOURI Baylor – 86 THE MODERATOR: We're joined now by the University of Texas, Coach Rick Barnes and student‑athletes Jonathan Holmes and Isaiah Taylor. COACH BARNES: Disappointed that we go from playing one of our best defensive games to tonight not doing. You've really got to give Baylor a lot of credit in the fact that they executed offensively. And then on our offensive end, we didn't really do the things we needed to do. But there were a lot of positive things I think that came out of the game tonight going forward with a couple of guys. Really pleased with Kendal and Martez and some other guys, Connor. Prince had some good things, too. But we've gotta get‑‑ we've got one more tournament. We've got to get to playing the best we can play. And Baylor's doing that right now. I thought we were heading that way, but we didn't get it done today. Q. Jonathan, what did you feel like the difference was tonight? Was the presence of Baylor's bigs just too much a factor for you all inside or what was the difference? JONATHAN HOLMES: I think they had a really good game offensively and defensively, but it's nothing that we haven't gone against every day in practice, give them credit. We didn't execute on offense and we didn't keep them off the boards on defense. So they were tougher than us tonight. Q. Isaiah, how difficult is it playing a Baylor team? You've beaten them twice and they're playing their best basketball of the year right now? ISAIAH TAYLOR: We knew they came in hot. We just wanted to come in and compete today, but unfortunately we didn't. We didn't do as much as we could. They were hitting shots early, and we gave up a lot of offensive rebounds and that's what really hurt us. Q. How much does this feel like it hurts your momentum going into the NCAA next week? COACH BARNES: You know, what I just told those guys is that you got one more time to feel this way. And the reason‑‑ and, again, I know they're disappointed. But we didn't give ourselves a chance. You gotta give Baylor credit in the fact we knew they were going to get into long possessions on offense. We knew they were going to pack it way back in. But they've done it twice to us. We talked about our guards taking their shots. They didn't. Isaiah, you know, they're going back up to 13feet, he's gotta shoot the ball. He doesn't give those post guys a chance to do anything. He started out early, getting the ball, doing what we need to do. And I think twice we fed the ball to Cam inside. And then they obviously would get the ball. They were going to put us in a long possession, and we just didn't play with the sense of urgency defensively. But I don't know if ‑‑ again, that's a good question you asked me. But I've been doing it so long, when you lose a game like this, the next week guys get at it. Sometimes you finish thinking you're feeling pretty good and it just doesn't work. But we need everybody‑‑ right now we need to be playing our best basketball. I thought we were heading that way last night. We came out, and again I don't have‑‑ again, you've gotta give Baylor all the credit. But early in the game, even when they were scoring, those were the kind of shots we wanted them to score with. But Brady hadn't hurt us in a long time. And just being late‑‑ and I think it has a direct result because we were letting our offense dictate how we were playing on the defensive end. I think it bothered‑‑ and I really believe that. You can't let that happen. But with that said, there's some good things that we know coming out of here that ‑‑ again, I was really proud of Kendal. And I was really proud of, again, Martez. I thought Connor really did some good things and Prince. But we need Cam and Jon and Isaiah and Javan Felix. Javan has got to shoot the ball. That's what he's supposed to do for us. And he stood out front tonight and held it. He's gotta shoot it. We've gotta be aggressive. And we just need everybody doing what they do well. And if we do that, I'm telling you, we can beat anybody we play. But if we don't, it can be like that. But, again, you've gotta give Baylor the credit. They executed, did what they did. They're playing their best basketball, may be the hottest team in the country. But we helped them along the way, too. Q. When you have won in March before, it's been with pretty good guard play. How much more do you need from Isaiah and Javan and are they up to that in the next week or so? COACH BARNES: They are up to it. Again, someone asked me about‑‑ and Jon answered the question. They didn't do anything we haven't seen. We've seen‑‑ believe me, there was nothing‑‑ we had some shots around the rim that we missed. We did that. But it goes back to defensively. I don't think ‑‑ I know we got three consecutive stops. And even with all that, you think about it, we came out, we got it down and gave up two offensive rebounds and it was actually Isaiah. That's why we took him out and let him sit, because he didn't finish the play. After the game, I actually said to him. I said I'm not sure I can say it anymore. We've gotta finish possessions. I asked him what happened. And he actually said, you know, I let my offense, what was going on on the offensive end dictate what was happening on the other end. That's how fine a line it really is, that you've got to play through it. And that's what‑‑ and we've got to. But we need our guards to play. But, again, Kendal‑‑ we've been talking the last week how we've been so impressed with him, the ups and downs, but he's never not been ready, and tonight's gotta be a big lift for him. So there were some good things. The guys that have played the minutes this year are the ones that have to‑‑ we need everybody. That's the bottom line. We need everybody to be at their best right now. Q. You're talking about Kendal and Martez. Would it be to the point this late in the season that you might give them more minutes if Javan and Isaiah aren't doing what you want? COACH BARNES: That's what I told the team. I told them, guys, what we do know is that we don't have to count on just one guy. We don't need one guy to play 36, 38 minutes a game because we've had too many guys that have done some things. But what would be nice if everybody could play, but we play with the energy. Like I'm going to play two minutes as hard as I can, because we've got guys that can come in. And you go back to the last time we played Baylor, we had a big lead. And when we went to our bench, the bench didn't respond. Tonight, the bench responded. The starters didn't respond the way they needed to. And that's where we've got to‑‑ again, I don't think we need to go to any game thinking somebody's gotta play 36 minutes. And so that's the one positive thing about it. I mean, there were some good things, there really were, but you're always disappointed, especially when you go from a great defensive effort to just being a shell of that team defensively. But, again, Baylor had a lot to do with that. THE MODERATOR: Thank you, Coach. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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