Some really good insights from Grant...
Opening Statement:
"Great atmosphere in the United Supermarkets today. Man, I thought for our team to have added Christian and Elijah, it really showed how aggressive we could be defensively. And the difference in the game, to me, was forcing turnovers. Our ball pressure ramped up, and those guys just did a tremendous job making it difficult, our help defense was good once again. Defensive rebounding kind of it was the sore spot of the of the night, but for the most part, defensively, I thought we were able to disrupt them. Then our offense, when we're not loose, we've got a lot of lot of guys that can score, and as long as we keep sharing the basketball and this team is so much fun to be around and fun to coach, and it was great to have these guys back."
Having Elijah & Christian back, what did you feel like they were able to bring on both ends of the floor?
"Yeah, I mean, nine assists in one turnover, and just, I mean, look at the turnovers. That's where. We tried to do a little more minutes restriction with Elijah and did feel like Christian had been able to practice a little bit more. So that opened the game up for him to play more minutes. We put them both about where we wanted them in regards to going into the game. One area these guys, you can just see it, man, when they get ball screens, they can just really operate. They they they both have strengths that are unique to them. And you can see that they've played a lot of basketball, and they have a lot of experience in making those decisions. And sure is nice to see Chance get going from the perimeter, too, because it kind of opens him up to really go score. We got a little foul trouble early in the game. But man, when you have depth, you can see how you can separate and not just do it for a stretch and then it drop off. I mean, I didn't think we had a lot of drop offs, other than defensive rebounding."
How did it seem that you guys we're able to get out of that lull and separate in the second half?
"So many new pieces, and if you don't take advantage of every possession you get out here against a different defense, a different lineup, playing people with different strengths, and we played against each other enough we don't have any problem doing that. It's can we get out there? And let's just take, for example, that possession in transition defense where we didn't know we were guarding, they just dribbled right down the floor and shot a layup, I mean, come on, those possessions cannot happen. So for me, it's just, how urgent can you be? Because we're about to play games that will be a one possession game. It's happening. And in the Big 12, how urgent can you keep your team where they understand every possession matters? It's a huge deal to me that our team recognizes that we don't get complacent."
To this point in the season, has JT Toppin exceeded your expectations, or is he right around where you projected him to be?
"Well, I mean, honestly, I'd like to play him more minutes, but I think he's right at the minutes number that keeps him effective defensively, and it's not hard to tell he's a load offensively. I mean, the guy can make threes. He can make jump hooks from 15 feet. He can score with both hands and get to the free throw line. And tonight, with 12 rebounds in 22 minutes, you can see he can really attack both ends of the floor on the glass. I think the area of improvement needs to be, how active can we continue to get him defensively where he's not just surviving a possession? Because he's going to play against great players in our league, but now he's been tremendous. I'll tell you what I love about JT, he really does want to know how to get better. I mean, he comes out of these timeouts and he's asking questions, and I love that about him, and he's got a heart to learn, and if he continues that, I mean, honestly, he's as good as anybody in the country, really is. I mean, there's not a lot of things he can't do."
How do you continue to improve on the defensive glass?
"Well, I mean, we've gone with different lineups, and the times that we struggled rebound, and I just watched the clips of it were where, when we kind of get in rotations, and we got we got forwards helping out, and then it's like, what do you do in that scenario? And we're just not as physical as needed. One guy who was really good is Chance, he has done a good job. He only had one rebound tonight, but that's where Devan Cambridge, I was thrilled for him to get his 1000th point in college...but he's one of those guys I think that can take a step for us in defensive rebounding, and he's still, he's still just a half step, trying to figure out that balance between boxing out and he's always been a just go get it guy. Well, when, when the bigs rotating over, and you got two guys, you got to figure out what you're doing, and I can tell he's still, getting better, and then we got to get our guards better at rebounding at the moment."
How about Federiko's night?
"Fede is the greatest. I walk into the Womble, first of all, in awe because it's a phenomenal place to work every day, but Fede is one of the first guys you see as big as smile as he has when he plays is him, he's like that every day. I think our team loves him. They look for him. His effort is contagious. He keeps getting better. His lob threat is going to be a huge help. And I'd like to play he and JT some together too, you know, and get that combination going just right now, we got so many guys that we're trying to look at different spots. It's taken a little bit of time to make sure that people know one position first. That way we can add other things as we get better. But man, he's a joy to be around, and he obviously impacts this game at a really high level. I mean, I think I don't know what the plus/minus numbers are for him, but it feels like he's always in the major plus for us just because of who he is, and he's a great team defender. He's really been solid for us on both ends."
Could you elaborate on the importance of defensive ball pressure with this team?
"I think anytime you're going to play smaller guards, like we have at times, I do think you have to ramp up the pressure. You just got to keep people from getting in those scoring zones, to get close to the paint, and that's how you can get leverage. So how well can we be on attack defensively with those guards? And that's why the hedge has really been important for us, because it keeps that ball handler away from the rim. And then I thought we had a couple of rotation possessions that were fantastic, especially in the first half, and then the way that made the possession work, Chance got a great box out and got a rebound and like, that's where you got to get good, is you can maybe apply some pressure and get going and rotations, but how well can we rebound it? That's kind of where my concern is. I don't have the concern about our ability to continue to get better guarding the ball."
"We specialize in high quality autographed sports memorabilia."
Opening Statement:
"Great atmosphere in the United Supermarkets today. Man, I thought for our team to have added Christian and Elijah, it really showed how aggressive we could be defensively. And the difference in the game, to me, was forcing turnovers. Our ball pressure ramped up, and those guys just did a tremendous job making it difficult, our help defense was good once again. Defensive rebounding kind of it was the sore spot of the of the night, but for the most part, defensively, I thought we were able to disrupt them. Then our offense, when we're not loose, we've got a lot of lot of guys that can score, and as long as we keep sharing the basketball and this team is so much fun to be around and fun to coach, and it was great to have these guys back."
Having Elijah & Christian back, what did you feel like they were able to bring on both ends of the floor?
"Yeah, I mean, nine assists in one turnover, and just, I mean, look at the turnovers. That's where. We tried to do a little more minutes restriction with Elijah and did feel like Christian had been able to practice a little bit more. So that opened the game up for him to play more minutes. We put them both about where we wanted them in regards to going into the game. One area these guys, you can just see it, man, when they get ball screens, they can just really operate. They they they both have strengths that are unique to them. And you can see that they've played a lot of basketball, and they have a lot of experience in making those decisions. And sure is nice to see Chance get going from the perimeter, too, because it kind of opens him up to really go score. We got a little foul trouble early in the game. But man, when you have depth, you can see how you can separate and not just do it for a stretch and then it drop off. I mean, I didn't think we had a lot of drop offs, other than defensive rebounding."
How did it seem that you guys we're able to get out of that lull and separate in the second half?
"So many new pieces, and if you don't take advantage of every possession you get out here against a different defense, a different lineup, playing people with different strengths, and we played against each other enough we don't have any problem doing that. It's can we get out there? And let's just take, for example, that possession in transition defense where we didn't know we were guarding, they just dribbled right down the floor and shot a layup, I mean, come on, those possessions cannot happen. So for me, it's just, how urgent can you be? Because we're about to play games that will be a one possession game. It's happening. And in the Big 12, how urgent can you keep your team where they understand every possession matters? It's a huge deal to me that our team recognizes that we don't get complacent."
To this point in the season, has JT Toppin exceeded your expectations, or is he right around where you projected him to be?
"Well, I mean, honestly, I'd like to play him more minutes, but I think he's right at the minutes number that keeps him effective defensively, and it's not hard to tell he's a load offensively. I mean, the guy can make threes. He can make jump hooks from 15 feet. He can score with both hands and get to the free throw line. And tonight, with 12 rebounds in 22 minutes, you can see he can really attack both ends of the floor on the glass. I think the area of improvement needs to be, how active can we continue to get him defensively where he's not just surviving a possession? Because he's going to play against great players in our league, but now he's been tremendous. I'll tell you what I love about JT, he really does want to know how to get better. I mean, he comes out of these timeouts and he's asking questions, and I love that about him, and he's got a heart to learn, and if he continues that, I mean, honestly, he's as good as anybody in the country, really is. I mean, there's not a lot of things he can't do."
How do you continue to improve on the defensive glass?
"Well, I mean, we've gone with different lineups, and the times that we struggled rebound, and I just watched the clips of it were where, when we kind of get in rotations, and we got we got forwards helping out, and then it's like, what do you do in that scenario? And we're just not as physical as needed. One guy who was really good is Chance, he has done a good job. He only had one rebound tonight, but that's where Devan Cambridge, I was thrilled for him to get his 1000th point in college...but he's one of those guys I think that can take a step for us in defensive rebounding, and he's still, he's still just a half step, trying to figure out that balance between boxing out and he's always been a just go get it guy. Well, when, when the bigs rotating over, and you got two guys, you got to figure out what you're doing, and I can tell he's still, getting better, and then we got to get our guards better at rebounding at the moment."
How about Federiko's night?
"Fede is the greatest. I walk into the Womble, first of all, in awe because it's a phenomenal place to work every day, but Fede is one of the first guys you see as big as smile as he has when he plays is him, he's like that every day. I think our team loves him. They look for him. His effort is contagious. He keeps getting better. His lob threat is going to be a huge help. And I'd like to play he and JT some together too, you know, and get that combination going just right now, we got so many guys that we're trying to look at different spots. It's taken a little bit of time to make sure that people know one position first. That way we can add other things as we get better. But man, he's a joy to be around, and he obviously impacts this game at a really high level. I mean, I think I don't know what the plus/minus numbers are for him, but it feels like he's always in the major plus for us just because of who he is, and he's a great team defender. He's really been solid for us on both ends."
Could you elaborate on the importance of defensive ball pressure with this team?
"I think anytime you're going to play smaller guards, like we have at times, I do think you have to ramp up the pressure. You just got to keep people from getting in those scoring zones, to get close to the paint, and that's how you can get leverage. So how well can we be on attack defensively with those guards? And that's why the hedge has really been important for us, because it keeps that ball handler away from the rim. And then I thought we had a couple of rotation possessions that were fantastic, especially in the first half, and then the way that made the possession work, Chance got a great box out and got a rebound and like, that's where you got to get good, is you can maybe apply some pressure and get going and rotations, but how well can we rebound it? That's kind of where my concern is. I don't have the concern about our ability to continue to get better guarding the ball."
"We specialize in high quality autographed sports memorabilia."
