Here is a full transcript of Tony Battie's interview with @C. Level and @A. Dickens on Double T 97.3, earlier today:
AUDIO
Tony, I’ll ask you the same question I basically asked everyone around here the last a couple of days, has it really sunk in for you yet that Tech’s now heading to the Final Four?
“It has but it hasn’t. It’s been an amazing run. It’s been fun to watch. I mean, I’m so proud of the guys and the program what Chris Beard is doing is unbelievable.”
And Tony, you were around the guys in Boston last year, I remember you being with us, you and Lance Hughes were there and you kind of took in those games. You were around the team in Miami this year. I remember you sitting up there next to our radio broadcast area but did you think this kind of run was possible with this group?
“You just never know. That’s what’s so special about the tournament each and every year. The funny thing about it, I’ve got a special feeling about this team when we laid an egg in Kansas City believe it or not. I said, ‘you know what, we’re going to get some breaths and we’re going to do something really fun and serious when we enter the tournament and so far, man it has really come to fruition.”
You’ve seen him work and have been behind the scenes with Chris, watched him coach and motivate his guys and all that, can you kind of convey from a player’s standpoint what kind of coach he is like from your view of it?
“I think he’s a hands-on coach. He has his own style. His recruiting and his development of players has been special and when you add that to his body of work, he’s putting together an amazing body of work but not only that but besides the court, I think he’s done a great job of pulling together all facets of Tech basketball, all eras from the Myers era to the Dickey era to, of course, Coach Knight and the few in between Gillispie and Tubby and all of those guys. I think he’s done a good job of pulling the whole alumni guys together. It’s a gift to have them on board and the way he’s leading the ball club right now. Lubbock and Texas Tech should be proud and happy to have him.”
Speaking of players, Jarrett Culver, Big 12 Player of the Year, consensus All-American, you’ve been around, you were one yourself, you’ve also been around a lot of great players, college and professional, how does he compare and what makes him so good?
“He is special, man. Not only being the homegrown kid, staying close to him in Lubbock, I just like his game. He’s crafty with the basketball, he has this shifty, smooth, change of pace, you don’t know if he’s coming off to shoot that jumper of his or if he’s going to turn the corner and stay aggressive and take it all the way to the rack, so he has a great, great upside, of course, the pros are hawking him already, so I’m looking forward to him surpassing me and maybe being Texas Tech’s highest draft pick ever and maybe he and Zhaire down the road can become an all-star from my alumni club as well.”
The importance of it, of making guys like you still feel like you’re a part of this thing, when Chris kind of makes sure it’s ‘you guys’ program, it’s not mine’, how important is that in running this thing and how special does that make you feel when he has an alumni game last year at the Coliseum and just all of those things he does, how important is that to bring it all together as you said?
“He’s been around, so he knows it’s important. I played professionally for 15 years so I’ve played with different teammates from North Carolina to Duke to Louisville and Kentucky and all of those places. Those programs have games every year, all of the guys go back, the fellowship, they stay together, they reminiscence on old times, they build a strong foundation. Not only that, they come out year after year and remain competitive, so you can see Coach has definitely got us going in that direction. He’s following the line with some of the greats and this has been a great, great ride and a big thrill to see everything come together.”
Tony, you’ve obviously been around professional basketball for a long time, and of course, pretty good idea that Culver will be playing professionally next year or the year after that, sometimes, what about a guy like Davide Moretti? How does he translate to the NBA, if at all?
“Shooter. The game is a wide-open game now. You look at guys like Clay Thompson who can dominate the game without dribbling the basketball at all, he’s a spot up shooter, he can stretch the floor. Of course, it helps when you have teammates like Kevin Durant with the defense sucking in a little bit but he’s shooting the ball exceptionally well. I think besides our seniors being the anchor, and using their experience to lead us, I think those two sophomores; Moretti and Culver, I think those guys hitting timely shots, timely baskets, can get us over the hump and I think it all comes together, man. I’m looking forward to it, can’t wait.”
What are your thoughts about Tariq? Obviously, as we were doing the radio broadcast, he got close to your record with the blocked shots, I don’t think people understand how much Tariq has done this year to pass up a guy like Tony from a blocked shots record and then I want your thoughts on that blocked shot where he saves it versus Gonzaga the other day which was just an unbelievably athletic play.
“He does a great job of staying in his lane even when you’re just watching, the way he runs on his tiptoes a little bit. He runs like a deer, he’s always ready to jump with that athleticism of his and he can change the game on the defensive end. He does a great job of rebounding the basketball but not only blocking shots, but altering shots, and I can remember from my Celtic days, Bill Russell, the great Bill Russell, he’d come into practice and he’d stick his head in the huddle sometimes and give us some words of encouragement here and there. I think I had a game where I blocked a shot and it went into the second row and I’m yelling hard and he said, ‘well, how about keeping it in play? I would do that and I would throw it out – and let it out of the koozie and get on to breaking, turn that blocked shot into a bucket on the other end’ and that type of play was against Gonzaga. What he did, keeping the ball in play, not only blocking the shot but keeping it in play, those are the types of extra efforts that we’re going to need from guys like him and the seniors and all of the guys. I just can’t wait to get to Minneapolis and watch our guys shine on this huge stage. It’s been a long time coming.”
AUDIO
Tony, I’ll ask you the same question I basically asked everyone around here the last a couple of days, has it really sunk in for you yet that Tech’s now heading to the Final Four?
“It has but it hasn’t. It’s been an amazing run. It’s been fun to watch. I mean, I’m so proud of the guys and the program what Chris Beard is doing is unbelievable.”
And Tony, you were around the guys in Boston last year, I remember you being with us, you and Lance Hughes were there and you kind of took in those games. You were around the team in Miami this year. I remember you sitting up there next to our radio broadcast area but did you think this kind of run was possible with this group?
“You just never know. That’s what’s so special about the tournament each and every year. The funny thing about it, I’ve got a special feeling about this team when we laid an egg in Kansas City believe it or not. I said, ‘you know what, we’re going to get some breaths and we’re going to do something really fun and serious when we enter the tournament and so far, man it has really come to fruition.”
You’ve seen him work and have been behind the scenes with Chris, watched him coach and motivate his guys and all that, can you kind of convey from a player’s standpoint what kind of coach he is like from your view of it?
“I think he’s a hands-on coach. He has his own style. His recruiting and his development of players has been special and when you add that to his body of work, he’s putting together an amazing body of work but not only that but besides the court, I think he’s done a great job of pulling together all facets of Tech basketball, all eras from the Myers era to the Dickey era to, of course, Coach Knight and the few in between Gillispie and Tubby and all of those guys. I think he’s done a good job of pulling the whole alumni guys together. It’s a gift to have them on board and the way he’s leading the ball club right now. Lubbock and Texas Tech should be proud and happy to have him.”
Speaking of players, Jarrett Culver, Big 12 Player of the Year, consensus All-American, you’ve been around, you were one yourself, you’ve also been around a lot of great players, college and professional, how does he compare and what makes him so good?
“He is special, man. Not only being the homegrown kid, staying close to him in Lubbock, I just like his game. He’s crafty with the basketball, he has this shifty, smooth, change of pace, you don’t know if he’s coming off to shoot that jumper of his or if he’s going to turn the corner and stay aggressive and take it all the way to the rack, so he has a great, great upside, of course, the pros are hawking him already, so I’m looking forward to him surpassing me and maybe being Texas Tech’s highest draft pick ever and maybe he and Zhaire down the road can become an all-star from my alumni club as well.”
The importance of it, of making guys like you still feel like you’re a part of this thing, when Chris kind of makes sure it’s ‘you guys’ program, it’s not mine’, how important is that in running this thing and how special does that make you feel when he has an alumni game last year at the Coliseum and just all of those things he does, how important is that to bring it all together as you said?
“He’s been around, so he knows it’s important. I played professionally for 15 years so I’ve played with different teammates from North Carolina to Duke to Louisville and Kentucky and all of those places. Those programs have games every year, all of the guys go back, the fellowship, they stay together, they reminiscence on old times, they build a strong foundation. Not only that, they come out year after year and remain competitive, so you can see Coach has definitely got us going in that direction. He’s following the line with some of the greats and this has been a great, great ride and a big thrill to see everything come together.”
Tony, you’ve obviously been around professional basketball for a long time, and of course, pretty good idea that Culver will be playing professionally next year or the year after that, sometimes, what about a guy like Davide Moretti? How does he translate to the NBA, if at all?
“Shooter. The game is a wide-open game now. You look at guys like Clay Thompson who can dominate the game without dribbling the basketball at all, he’s a spot up shooter, he can stretch the floor. Of course, it helps when you have teammates like Kevin Durant with the defense sucking in a little bit but he’s shooting the ball exceptionally well. I think besides our seniors being the anchor, and using their experience to lead us, I think those two sophomores; Moretti and Culver, I think those guys hitting timely shots, timely baskets, can get us over the hump and I think it all comes together, man. I’m looking forward to it, can’t wait.”
What are your thoughts about Tariq? Obviously, as we were doing the radio broadcast, he got close to your record with the blocked shots, I don’t think people understand how much Tariq has done this year to pass up a guy like Tony from a blocked shots record and then I want your thoughts on that blocked shot where he saves it versus Gonzaga the other day which was just an unbelievably athletic play.
“He does a great job of staying in his lane even when you’re just watching, the way he runs on his tiptoes a little bit. He runs like a deer, he’s always ready to jump with that athleticism of his and he can change the game on the defensive end. He does a great job of rebounding the basketball but not only blocking shots, but altering shots, and I can remember from my Celtic days, Bill Russell, the great Bill Russell, he’d come into practice and he’d stick his head in the huddle sometimes and give us some words of encouragement here and there. I think I had a game where I blocked a shot and it went into the second row and I’m yelling hard and he said, ‘well, how about keeping it in play? I would do that and I would throw it out – and let it out of the koozie and get on to breaking, turn that blocked shot into a bucket on the other end’ and that type of play was against Gonzaga. What he did, keeping the ball in play, not only blocking the shot but keeping it in play, those are the types of extra efforts that we’re going to need from guys like him and the seniors and all of the guys. I just can’t wait to get to Minneapolis and watch our guys shine on this huge stage. It’s been a long time coming.”
