Interesting convo this afternoon with Grant McCasland...
Opening Statement:
"You know this time of year, I think the real end of the season where you're starting to move toward postseason play and everybody is getting fatigued and you have competed against great teams and, you really have to stay together. And you have to compete for each other. And against UCF. I just for the first time, felt like we had a little bit of resistance and fatigue to do what it takes to win. And I think our guys are playing hard. And we're excited about where we're going. Missing Chance (McMillian) and Warren playing limited minutes, and not being able to really go I know it took some time for us to find a rhythm in the game and fatigue set in by the time we got to the end. UCF really took it to us in some crucial moments, but I'm excited about tomorrow night really thrilled to be back in the USA and man our students are camping out what a great time to be in Lubbock and at Texas Tech."
Will everyone be back tomorrow?:
"At this point, it's hard to tell honestly. And I'm really not trying to trick anybody. I'm just telling you the truth. I mean, Warren and Chance have been around practices. Warren had practiced twice going into the UCF game. We felt like he was going to be able to go, he got out there it was more difficult than he thought. Chance we thought at shootaround that he was going to play in the game, and then we got to warm ups at the game and he didn't feel like he could go. Both of em we're out there on the court today. But we'll we'll have to see tomorrow when we get there and see how they look but everybody else I anticipate being able to play."
Did Warren reaggravate anything against UCF?:
"When Warren got in the game, he was moving and it was measured. In practice here, you can measure a little bit more in the game because of who you're playing against. He had a few sudden movements that I could tell he just stopped playing. It was a sharp enough pain where I looked at him and I was like 'this ain't working like we hoped.' I don't think it was really reaggravated as much as it was just different movements that caught him off guard. We've got him trying to figure out, can I do this? And I do think there's a level of pain that we're gonna have to play through moving forward, but trying to figure out where we're at with that and at what point do we go all in, is still to be determined."
Is Warren's injury more severe than originally thought?:
"No, I think like anything you don't ever know until you get through rehab, and you start improving, and you see where it is. I just honestly, it's even hard for me to say like, he's at a point where he's gonna give, give it a try and keep improving and we'll just keep evaluating it day in and day out and see if we can get it better."
On this team's energy heading into late in the season:
"Yeah, no doubt. You could feel it with our team and we're gonna get to that point where we're competing, but we're not at our best. That ramp up toward postseason play and be at your best every night. I mean, you know, we're gonna play in the Big 12 tournament, we know that it's coming. That's a guarantee you get a game in the tournament, whether you win or not, and whether you advanced is largely dependent on how the amount of belief and fight you have when you get to that game. Everybody's gonna muster up something for that game. But I do sense that our team is, you know, trying to play through some pretty difficult times physically, and the shoulder of the season with the limited amount of guys we're playing. You can kind of feel the toll on them. And so I think the fight that it takes to win is really important to me, really important, and I think that's the edge that we got to get back to where everybody feels connected to winning. Everybody up and down the roster. Every person can impact winning, and that's really important moving forward."
On Disu's resurgence for UT:
"I mean, what a tremendous player, he's competitive. He can score. He's a mismatch problem when they put him on the perimeter. You know, he makes threes and then they put him in around the basket and he makes difficult contested shots. He's a great offensive player. He's got a good feel for the game. And you know, the more he's involved in the offense, the more difficult it is to defend them."
On success against UT's bigs in January:
"I think like anything there's different areas that we have strengths and our strength is our togetherness and our ability to share the ball. Well, we're at our best, everybody's touching the basketball and everybody's making the right play. Obviously, it's not a one, man. You go look up and down our roster and our best moments are there's a different guy that steps up and plays well. And the more we share it, the more we can involve everybody, the better we play, and and then you kind of find that rhythm of a guy that may be playing great and then you can go to it and at this point in the season, you know, we just got to continue to get better at sharing the basketball and making the right play."
On Isaacs confidence & cold streak:
"Anytime you're not playing as well as you want to. There's no tricks to this. It's competitiveness and your competitiveness to get better and how you stay diligent in your work. Nobody works harder than these guys and that's how you that's how you build confidence is work on your game and make the right play and share the ball. I mean, I think when you try to wiggle it in or you try to create it yourself, it makes it difficult and the more difficult shots you take, the more difficult they are to make. And so I think the more you rely on each other and the more you create opportunities for each other and the more you shoot the right shots, the better, the better chance you have of making them."
Founded by a Red Raider, All Hands Craft Cocktails is proud to announce their partnership with RedRaiderSports.com. Try these bar strength, ready-to-drink vodka cocktails at Jones AT&T Stadium this football season or find them at a retailer near you. Cheers.
Opening Statement:
"You know this time of year, I think the real end of the season where you're starting to move toward postseason play and everybody is getting fatigued and you have competed against great teams and, you really have to stay together. And you have to compete for each other. And against UCF. I just for the first time, felt like we had a little bit of resistance and fatigue to do what it takes to win. And I think our guys are playing hard. And we're excited about where we're going. Missing Chance (McMillian) and Warren playing limited minutes, and not being able to really go I know it took some time for us to find a rhythm in the game and fatigue set in by the time we got to the end. UCF really took it to us in some crucial moments, but I'm excited about tomorrow night really thrilled to be back in the USA and man our students are camping out what a great time to be in Lubbock and at Texas Tech."
Will everyone be back tomorrow?:
"At this point, it's hard to tell honestly. And I'm really not trying to trick anybody. I'm just telling you the truth. I mean, Warren and Chance have been around practices. Warren had practiced twice going into the UCF game. We felt like he was going to be able to go, he got out there it was more difficult than he thought. Chance we thought at shootaround that he was going to play in the game, and then we got to warm ups at the game and he didn't feel like he could go. Both of em we're out there on the court today. But we'll we'll have to see tomorrow when we get there and see how they look but everybody else I anticipate being able to play."
Did Warren reaggravate anything against UCF?:
"When Warren got in the game, he was moving and it was measured. In practice here, you can measure a little bit more in the game because of who you're playing against. He had a few sudden movements that I could tell he just stopped playing. It was a sharp enough pain where I looked at him and I was like 'this ain't working like we hoped.' I don't think it was really reaggravated as much as it was just different movements that caught him off guard. We've got him trying to figure out, can I do this? And I do think there's a level of pain that we're gonna have to play through moving forward, but trying to figure out where we're at with that and at what point do we go all in, is still to be determined."
Is Warren's injury more severe than originally thought?:
"No, I think like anything you don't ever know until you get through rehab, and you start improving, and you see where it is. I just honestly, it's even hard for me to say like, he's at a point where he's gonna give, give it a try and keep improving and we'll just keep evaluating it day in and day out and see if we can get it better."
On this team's energy heading into late in the season:
"Yeah, no doubt. You could feel it with our team and we're gonna get to that point where we're competing, but we're not at our best. That ramp up toward postseason play and be at your best every night. I mean, you know, we're gonna play in the Big 12 tournament, we know that it's coming. That's a guarantee you get a game in the tournament, whether you win or not, and whether you advanced is largely dependent on how the amount of belief and fight you have when you get to that game. Everybody's gonna muster up something for that game. But I do sense that our team is, you know, trying to play through some pretty difficult times physically, and the shoulder of the season with the limited amount of guys we're playing. You can kind of feel the toll on them. And so I think the fight that it takes to win is really important to me, really important, and I think that's the edge that we got to get back to where everybody feels connected to winning. Everybody up and down the roster. Every person can impact winning, and that's really important moving forward."
On Disu's resurgence for UT:
"I mean, what a tremendous player, he's competitive. He can score. He's a mismatch problem when they put him on the perimeter. You know, he makes threes and then they put him in around the basket and he makes difficult contested shots. He's a great offensive player. He's got a good feel for the game. And you know, the more he's involved in the offense, the more difficult it is to defend them."
On success against UT's bigs in January:
"I think like anything there's different areas that we have strengths and our strength is our togetherness and our ability to share the ball. Well, we're at our best, everybody's touching the basketball and everybody's making the right play. Obviously, it's not a one, man. You go look up and down our roster and our best moments are there's a different guy that steps up and plays well. And the more we share it, the more we can involve everybody, the better we play, and and then you kind of find that rhythm of a guy that may be playing great and then you can go to it and at this point in the season, you know, we just got to continue to get better at sharing the basketball and making the right play."
On Isaacs confidence & cold streak:
"Anytime you're not playing as well as you want to. There's no tricks to this. It's competitiveness and your competitiveness to get better and how you stay diligent in your work. Nobody works harder than these guys and that's how you that's how you build confidence is work on your game and make the right play and share the ball. I mean, I think when you try to wiggle it in or you try to create it yourself, it makes it difficult and the more difficult shots you take, the more difficult they are to make. And so I think the more you rely on each other and the more you create opportunities for each other and the more you shoot the right shots, the better, the better chance you have of making them."
Founded by a Red Raider, All Hands Craft Cocktails is proud to announce their partnership with RedRaiderSports.com. Try these bar strength, ready-to-drink vodka cocktails at Jones AT&T Stadium this football season or find them at a retailer near you. Cheers.
