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00:00 >> You ended your radio show on Wednesday talking about,
00:05 the last piece that's missing for this team is to play basketball for
00:10 each other and not for themselves.
00:13 I'm just wondering,
00:14 in what ways do you still see this team struggling with that concept?
00:17 >> My statement about that is more about when a team cares more about the team.
00:26 When each individual on the team cares more about themselves,
00:31 more about the team, each player, than they care about themselves.
00:36 Does that make sense?
00:38 So it's the hardest piece of the puzzle.
00:40 When you believe so much in the program, so much in the system, so
00:45 much in the philosophy, so much in the guys, all the four guys that you're playing
00:49 with and for, the group that you're playing, the team that you're playing for,
00:53 that you put them first.
00:55 It's the last piece of the puzzle.
00:57 And once you have that, what you find is, in our world,
01:03 in the basketball world, you hear people talk about,
01:06 if you play to get other people involved, it comes back to you tenfold.
01:11 That's sort of the philosophy.
01:14 >> You guys have been playing pretty well on the road.
01:19 What's it made, I guess for lack of a better word,
01:21 been clicking in games kind of outside of home?
01:24 >> Well, for me, I talk about, and I talk to this team about,
01:29 what I consider good players and what I consider good teams.
01:34 To me, good teams play good on the road.
01:37 Good players play good on the road.
01:40 And they also play good against in marquee big time games.
01:46 I need players, I need teams, I need this team to play good on the road and good.
01:53 Look, in general, most players are gonna play good at home, in general.
01:59 I always go into it understanding that.
02:05 But the best teams go into hostile environments and play well.
02:10 The best players go into hostile environments and play well.
02:15 I want those kind of players, I want those kind of teams.
02:18 >> Kenny, I guess, what have you seen in moments?
02:20 Because the guys have had some big moments, had some leads, but
02:23 I guess let them slip away just like that, Virginia Tech.
02:26 What is that next step for this group and how do they get over the hump of
02:29 turning a five point lead to a ten, to a fifteen, and so on and so forth?
02:33 >> You just hit it.
02:34 Having the toughness to focus attention to detail to take a five to a ten.
02:40 Five point lead to a ten point lead.
02:44 The focus to get a good stop when you need it.
02:48 The attention to detail to execute what your job is at the critical time.
02:54 And not get frozen into just staring at the ball and you don't move to an open spot.
03:01 Or you forget to drive downhill and when they collapse,
03:05 you try to be the hero and you shoot the ball and you don't see the next pass.
03:09 To somebody breaks down defensively and they get a straight line back drive to
03:15 the basket and you're the guy that comes over and you make a play.
03:20 And it's a winning play.
03:22 Those plays are hard, right?
03:25 And there's no, how do you simulate that?
03:28 You gotta just feel it, do it, react to it, and
03:33 we try to simulate it every day in practice.
03:35 But in a game when the lights on, people in the stands,
03:39 refs are on the court, it's vital that we win.
03:44 That's another animal.
03:45 And we are trying to be disciplined enough to play through those times.
03:49 >> Is there any update on Dennis Adams?
03:53 >> Not yet, he hasn't been cleared yet, still working on his shoulder.
03:56 >> Kenny, these next three games are a chance to build some confidence and
04:03 momentum going into the Kentucky game.
04:04 Is that a true statement?
04:06 Do you look at it that way?
04:08 >> I wish I could, I don't.
04:11 I have to worry about DePaul.
04:12 My sole purpose from the last game till this game has been how do we beat DePaul?
04:20 The second we win that game, I'm going on to the next.
04:25 I can't look at it, and I can't allow these guys to look at it and
04:28 say two games away, three games away.
04:31 We're not good enough for that.
04:33 We have to be 1000% bought in the things we have to do to beat DePaul Blue Deans.
04:40 >> Kenny, DePaul has really struggled this year.
04:42 What do you wanna see from your team outside of the obvious victory on Saturday?
04:47 What is kind of a takeaway you wanna have after the end of that game?
04:51 >> So when you say they struggle, they are struggling to win games.
04:56 But when you look at their stats and you watch them play,
04:59 they are very competitive.
05:02 They are a very good offensive team.
05:04 So for me, the first thing that makes me nervous is we can't go into a game and
05:10 say this is an offensive game, you score, I score, then we're gonna be in trouble.
05:15 I need my team to buy into, we're gonna get stops.
05:18 We're gonna rebound, we're gonna attack them.
05:21 We're not just gonna settle for threes.
05:23 We're gonna attack that lane and we're gonna make good winning plays.
05:26 We're gonna play for each other and we're gonna rebound the ball, but
05:30 we're going to defend.
05:32 That's what I walk away wanting us to do.
05:34 [BLANK_AUDIO]
05:38 >> What was your focus?
05:39 You had a week between these games.
05:42 Kenny, what was your focus and practice most of the time at least?
05:46 >> I wanna be in a little better shape conditionally.
05:49 I want us to be a little tighter defensively.
05:54 I want us to shoot the ball better.
05:58 So I want us to understand that when we drive,
06:01 we don't have to make the heroes play.
06:04 We don't have to be the guy that I drove it, I got a score.
06:07 And the defense is collapsed and
06:09 there's two people standing on the perimeter wide open.
06:11 I want us to see the next play and I want us to build team chemistry.
06:16 So this week we worked on all those things where we covered all the mistakes
06:23 that we made in the games and we tried to address them and compete.
06:29 There are times when it looks like we're competing harder
06:34 against each other than it does in games against an opponent.
06:39 I want us to take that same competitive spirit because I got a group that's on
06:43 the second unit that's saying, I believe I'm better than some of the starters.
06:48 I need you to take that to a game.
06:51 >> Kenny, you've talked plenty before about Brandon's importance to this team.
06:55 But in particular, when Dennis can't play yet, so you're down another big,
06:59 how much more important is Brandon now to give you good minutes?
07:03 >> I think Brandon is vital with Dennis or without Dennis, vital.
07:07 I think Brandon has gotten better.
07:10 I think he's shown in spurts that he could be dominant.
07:15 I need it more consistent.
07:18 He needs to be more consistent.
07:21 This team needs it more consistent.
07:23 And what I mean by consistent is he'll have a three minute,
07:27 four minute span where he gets six points and four rebounds.
07:32 And then there'll be a four minute low.
07:35 I need him for every second.
07:37 One of the things I do with Brandon, we watch film and I'll say, okay,
07:41 you had nine rebounds.
07:43 Let's go through the game together and see what other rebounds could you have gotten.
07:47 The numbers sometimes are at 15, 16.
07:50 I need you to get those rebounds.
07:53 Even if it's your teammate, have the mentality that it's yours, it's yours.
07:58 I'm going to get it.
07:59 >> Anything else for coach?
08:04 >> When you talk about film study like that, is it usually you and
08:07 Brandon just the two of you together?
08:09 Or do you, like I'm obviously happy at big group sessions, I'm sure with the team.
08:13 But do you also have that time with each player or
08:15 is it something that other members of your staff will sometimes do?
08:19 >> We all do it.
08:20 Sometimes I feel like I have to bring guys in individually and
08:24 I do that quite a bit.
08:26 Also the other coaches do it and then we do a team video session after every game
08:31 and we go through what we did well and what we could have done better.
08:35 >> I saw a picture after the game against Billerman.
08:38 It seemed like a Karon Davis was at the game.
08:43 He was just up in the stands.
08:45 It was making the rounds on social media.
08:47 Did you let him go to that game?
08:49 There's something you all talked about?
08:51 >> I have nothing to say about Karon Davis.
08:54 Karon Davis is not in trouble.
08:55 I didn't know he was at the game.
08:59 But if he was, that's fine with me.
09:01 He's a part of this team right now.
09:03 All right?
09:06 >> All right, thank you.
09:07 >> Thank you.
09:07 [BLANK_AUDIO]