Shaka Smart met with the media today for his weekly session to cover a number of topics as Texas looks to put the Kansas beatdown behind it and move on in a search to find its Oklahoma performance on a consistent basis. Speaking of the Kansas game, Smart put himself through the pain or watching it twice, and nothing changed.
"I’ve watched it twice so far. It was one of those game where it looked exactly the same the first time I watched it as it did on person," he said.
The Texas head coach saw some similarities between last night and Texas' poor performance at home against Baylor.
"I think those games were similar in that we got off to poor starts and we didn’t respond particularly well. I think when you get in those situations… and again, it’s always interaction of two teams. Baylor and Kansas those guys came in with a high level of aggressiveness, they really played like they had nothing to lose. Really good teams to begin with. I told somebody that was the No. 1 team in the country playing like the No. 1 team in the country. Then on our end, just not handling it very well in terms of when things didn’t go our way we missed some makeable shots early and we didn’t handle it very well. You add in the dynamic of Senior Night, and as I said last night I’ve seen it go both ways with Senior Night. I’ve see a team be unbeatable on Senior Night because they kind of galvanize around what they have to do to send their seniors out the right way. Then I’m seen the emotions and psychology of it go the other way and I think that affected us to some extent last night. But I don’t know that it would have even mattered with the way Kansas played.
To not only win over a very good Oklahoma team but to win the way Texas did seemed to have played an integral role in a sort of hangover effect for Texas just a couple days later. Smart was asked about his guys standing up and not being "punked," and went on to discuss the recent days.
"I think our guys have stood up at times. I think you have to give them some credit for that. The question is how do you get them to do it consistently? Let’s be honest: Look at the last three, four days. We beat Oklahoma on Saturday in a game that, because Oklahoma had won I think the last five in the series, for our players, it was a feeling of, 'We did it. We finally did it.We got them.' We’re not talking about Michael Jordan’s Bulls, but we’re talking about a really, really good Oklahoma team that quite frankly had our number over the past few years. Isaiah Taylor had never won a game against those guys.
"I was really concerned on Sunday with the way… I didn’t know that we would be able to handle that level of success. I addressed it with the team. We really tried to get them it the right place. But I was unsuccessful in stemming that tide in terms of… it’s important to respond to adversity. And we have to get better at that as evidenced by the start of the Baylor game, the start of the Kanas game last night. But we also have to get better to responding when we do have success, and that’s a whole different dynamic and I think there’s some things from the past that affect that as well."
What did Smart to do in order to get Texas to handle that success well? Well, it sounds like Texas didn't quite expect him to approach Sunday the way he did.
"I went in there on Sunday and we watched some film. I kind of went after them a little bit in terms of where I thought they were and they looked at me like I had three eyeballs. You learn from the great coaches… most of the great coaches they go against the grain. Whatever you guys are writing they say the opposite. I think there are times to do that and there are times not to. I think if you do that all the time, then kids are smart; they kind of understand and may turn it off.
"This was an important day to do that, Sunday. I let those guys know I didn’t think we were handling it very well, but with the quick turnaround with a lot of people’s families being in town… we just didn’t get where we needed to be as a team. Plus like I said, I don’t even know that it would have mattered with where Kansas was at last night because those guys were at a very high level."
***
Smart has mentioned that the players have a decision to make about what they want their team to be, and how accountable they want to be in regards to their personal process and the team's process.
"It’s a daily choice. It’s just like any of the rest of us. It’s you waking up deciding what you’re going to be about as a writer, as a husband or whatever it is.… it’s a choice that we have to make. I think one of the challenges when you go from being 17, 18-year-old high school kid with very little to no accountability, or you’re so talented that it doesn’t really matter. You go from that to being a college kid either in your freshman year or all the way through your senior year one of the challenges is how willing are you to take ownership over your own process for success?
He continued, and again mentioned where the blame was placed when he arrived and did a lot of listening.
"In a team sport, there’s an effect we all have on each other, members of a team, particularly the members of the team that are out there on the court playing. It’s just how much you want to take accountability of that. That’s been maybe the central theme or one of two or three central themes this year because, as I’ve told you guys, when I got here, everything, I listened a lot, everything was blamed on coach Barnes. From the players, the media, the fans; it was all, 'Okay there is a coaching change so now everything…' No, it’s the same group of guys. We have to as a group take ownership over what goes into winning. I don’t think it’s as simple as saying we have or haven’t done that. I think at times we have and at times we haven’t. We have to get more consistent with it and now as the season moves towards the time when it’s win or go home that’s the most important time."
***
A candid Smart didn't hesitate to throw out one of the areas he was most disappointed about last night, and how moving forward Texas, as a program, has to start wanting more instead of just being content with some success.
"The simple answer is you just try to get the guys to focus on each other and the plan, and take some of the focus off of, 'Well I have to do this, I have to make this shot.' You can play with avoidance and it’s hard to be loose that way. The reality is, these games are meaningful. You have to be okay with that. I think that’s part of being a competitor.
"One of the things that I was a little bit disappointed in in terms of us coming out of the Oklahoma game and going into last night was you have to want more. Yeah, we had a great win against Oklahoma. Terrific. Congratulations, but you have to want more. And that’s something that as a program we’re going to need to make progress in. Some of it is a little bit of a makeup personality wise that you either have or don’t have. But in terms of playing loose, I thought Kansas was a great example of that last night. You could look at them and say man they have a lot to lose. But they played with nothing to lose. They played to have fun, and extremely aggressive."
Shaka added more to the discussion about the makeup and personality required, and how his program was able to handle success once it quickly had about as much success as a program can have in his first couple seasons.
"Well one thing that we had at VCU and we always had this, and they had this pre-dating me, is we had nasty, competitive guys. Those guys were killers. Not everyone, but we had a critical mass of guys on our team like that. And so – it’s easy to look back and speak glowingly about the past, but those guys wanted more. They were competitors. Now, they had their faults and challenges as well, but like the team we had that went to the Final Four, we went through a lot of adversity earlier in the year. But you always knew those guys wanted to go after it. There wasn’t like, 'Okay we’re satisfied because of this or that.' It’s something we’ll talk about today and moving forward. I do think a little bit in the back of some of our guys’ minds there’s a little bit of yeah, we’ve done pretty good.
Someone mentioned the word complacency, which Smart didn't echo but didn't shoot down either. He followed it with another example of what a player might be thinking.
"We’ve done pretty good, you know? The media thought we were going to the NIT when we lost Cam, this and that.' So we have to battle that. We have to want more."
Smart was then asked if his roster has the "killers" he reference VCU had a high amount of. He made it sound like he has some part-time "killers."
"Do we have killers? Uhhh, I mean we’ve shown that in certain times but we’ve not shown that in other times. Certainly didn’t last night. Again, it’s a makeup thing. It’s something that you have inside of you and I do think that competitiveness is, it’s a central trait among all the best teams and the best players. But you know it’s one of those things that the best guys don’t’ really turn it on and off. They just have it. We have to keep developing that."
*** The Texas head coach then spoke about creating the situation that brings out the best in his players, which we've seen many times this season, but not all the time.
"I think that as a coach you try to create the dynamic that allows the guys to bring out the best things in them. Obviously, we have a lot of guys on our team that have a lot of good things they’ve brought out at different times. You just try to create that dynamic so they can be their best.
"Let’s be honest: If we play whoever it is we play and a majority of our guys are at their best, we have a really good chance to win. Last night, the opposite of that… to me it comes down to this with our team or a majority of teams – there has to be a humility level that we have to do the things that go into winning that we control. And understanding if we don’t do those things, we are drastically reducing our chances of winning. That’s a humility level that you have to have. If you have that with the combination of confidence, because you have to have confidence too. If you don’t have confidence, then that’s a problem. That combination to me – that’s what’s perfect for allowing these guys to be their best and that’s what you try to create. We beat Oklahoma and because of human nature, there was a lack of humility that impacted us and that’s something that I have to do a better job of creating."
***
INJURY UPDATES
Smart updated the status of senior big man Cameron Ridley, who, not surprisingly, had the personal target date of Senior Night for his return.
"Not much of an update. He has not seen a doctor since last time we talked. He will soon. He’s doing more and more. But he’s still not running or jumping. He’s doing pretty much everything other than that. Last night was like his target when he got hurt. He wanted to come back for Senior Night. In his mind he really wanted to play, you know, reasonable thinking for a senior.… we’re still hopeful. We’re hopeful that we may get him back in the next week or two, but we don’t know for sure. Hopefully we’ll have a follow up with the doctor real soon.
Last night, Ridley was in dress shoes without a boot. However, he's not technically cleared from wearing that boot, but can walk around in shoes.
"Not technically, but he can walk. He can put weight on it. Our trainer is doing a really good job of kind of taking it up to the line of what the doctor has made acceptable but not crossing that line. He can walk around in his shoes."
A player can't truly simulate playing basketball and a basketball workout, so there is always going to be that getting used to for Ridley if he does end up being cleared to return. That being said, he's worked very hard to remain in good shape as much as he can.
"He’s actually in great condition, aerobic condition. But there is a difference between that and basketball condition. He’s done a terrific job with our strength coach in terms of buying in to what he’s asked him to do. But yeah he hasn’t played basketball since the Stanford game. If and when he does get cleared, I don’t think you’re going to see him go out and play 30 minutes."
Also, click here for our update on Isaiah Taylor's Plantar Fasciitis
"I’ve watched it twice so far. It was one of those game where it looked exactly the same the first time I watched it as it did on person," he said.
The Texas head coach saw some similarities between last night and Texas' poor performance at home against Baylor.
"I think those games were similar in that we got off to poor starts and we didn’t respond particularly well. I think when you get in those situations… and again, it’s always interaction of two teams. Baylor and Kansas those guys came in with a high level of aggressiveness, they really played like they had nothing to lose. Really good teams to begin with. I told somebody that was the No. 1 team in the country playing like the No. 1 team in the country. Then on our end, just not handling it very well in terms of when things didn’t go our way we missed some makeable shots early and we didn’t handle it very well. You add in the dynamic of Senior Night, and as I said last night I’ve seen it go both ways with Senior Night. I’ve see a team be unbeatable on Senior Night because they kind of galvanize around what they have to do to send their seniors out the right way. Then I’m seen the emotions and psychology of it go the other way and I think that affected us to some extent last night. But I don’t know that it would have even mattered with the way Kansas played.
To not only win over a very good Oklahoma team but to win the way Texas did seemed to have played an integral role in a sort of hangover effect for Texas just a couple days later. Smart was asked about his guys standing up and not being "punked," and went on to discuss the recent days.
"I think our guys have stood up at times. I think you have to give them some credit for that. The question is how do you get them to do it consistently? Let’s be honest: Look at the last three, four days. We beat Oklahoma on Saturday in a game that, because Oklahoma had won I think the last five in the series, for our players, it was a feeling of, 'We did it. We finally did it.We got them.' We’re not talking about Michael Jordan’s Bulls, but we’re talking about a really, really good Oklahoma team that quite frankly had our number over the past few years. Isaiah Taylor had never won a game against those guys.
"I was really concerned on Sunday with the way… I didn’t know that we would be able to handle that level of success. I addressed it with the team. We really tried to get them it the right place. But I was unsuccessful in stemming that tide in terms of… it’s important to respond to adversity. And we have to get better at that as evidenced by the start of the Baylor game, the start of the Kanas game last night. But we also have to get better to responding when we do have success, and that’s a whole different dynamic and I think there’s some things from the past that affect that as well."
What did Smart to do in order to get Texas to handle that success well? Well, it sounds like Texas didn't quite expect him to approach Sunday the way he did.
"I went in there on Sunday and we watched some film. I kind of went after them a little bit in terms of where I thought they were and they looked at me like I had three eyeballs. You learn from the great coaches… most of the great coaches they go against the grain. Whatever you guys are writing they say the opposite. I think there are times to do that and there are times not to. I think if you do that all the time, then kids are smart; they kind of understand and may turn it off.
"This was an important day to do that, Sunday. I let those guys know I didn’t think we were handling it very well, but with the quick turnaround with a lot of people’s families being in town… we just didn’t get where we needed to be as a team. Plus like I said, I don’t even know that it would have mattered with where Kansas was at last night because those guys were at a very high level."
***
Smart has mentioned that the players have a decision to make about what they want their team to be, and how accountable they want to be in regards to their personal process and the team's process.
"It’s a daily choice. It’s just like any of the rest of us. It’s you waking up deciding what you’re going to be about as a writer, as a husband or whatever it is.… it’s a choice that we have to make. I think one of the challenges when you go from being 17, 18-year-old high school kid with very little to no accountability, or you’re so talented that it doesn’t really matter. You go from that to being a college kid either in your freshman year or all the way through your senior year one of the challenges is how willing are you to take ownership over your own process for success?
He continued, and again mentioned where the blame was placed when he arrived and did a lot of listening.
"In a team sport, there’s an effect we all have on each other, members of a team, particularly the members of the team that are out there on the court playing. It’s just how much you want to take accountability of that. That’s been maybe the central theme or one of two or three central themes this year because, as I’ve told you guys, when I got here, everything, I listened a lot, everything was blamed on coach Barnes. From the players, the media, the fans; it was all, 'Okay there is a coaching change so now everything…' No, it’s the same group of guys. We have to as a group take ownership over what goes into winning. I don’t think it’s as simple as saying we have or haven’t done that. I think at times we have and at times we haven’t. We have to get more consistent with it and now as the season moves towards the time when it’s win or go home that’s the most important time."
***
A candid Smart didn't hesitate to throw out one of the areas he was most disappointed about last night, and how moving forward Texas, as a program, has to start wanting more instead of just being content with some success.
"The simple answer is you just try to get the guys to focus on each other and the plan, and take some of the focus off of, 'Well I have to do this, I have to make this shot.' You can play with avoidance and it’s hard to be loose that way. The reality is, these games are meaningful. You have to be okay with that. I think that’s part of being a competitor.
"One of the things that I was a little bit disappointed in in terms of us coming out of the Oklahoma game and going into last night was you have to want more. Yeah, we had a great win against Oklahoma. Terrific. Congratulations, but you have to want more. And that’s something that as a program we’re going to need to make progress in. Some of it is a little bit of a makeup personality wise that you either have or don’t have. But in terms of playing loose, I thought Kansas was a great example of that last night. You could look at them and say man they have a lot to lose. But they played with nothing to lose. They played to have fun, and extremely aggressive."
Shaka added more to the discussion about the makeup and personality required, and how his program was able to handle success once it quickly had about as much success as a program can have in his first couple seasons.
"Well one thing that we had at VCU and we always had this, and they had this pre-dating me, is we had nasty, competitive guys. Those guys were killers. Not everyone, but we had a critical mass of guys on our team like that. And so – it’s easy to look back and speak glowingly about the past, but those guys wanted more. They were competitors. Now, they had their faults and challenges as well, but like the team we had that went to the Final Four, we went through a lot of adversity earlier in the year. But you always knew those guys wanted to go after it. There wasn’t like, 'Okay we’re satisfied because of this or that.' It’s something we’ll talk about today and moving forward. I do think a little bit in the back of some of our guys’ minds there’s a little bit of yeah, we’ve done pretty good.
Someone mentioned the word complacency, which Smart didn't echo but didn't shoot down either. He followed it with another example of what a player might be thinking.
"We’ve done pretty good, you know? The media thought we were going to the NIT when we lost Cam, this and that.' So we have to battle that. We have to want more."
Smart was then asked if his roster has the "killers" he reference VCU had a high amount of. He made it sound like he has some part-time "killers."
"Do we have killers? Uhhh, I mean we’ve shown that in certain times but we’ve not shown that in other times. Certainly didn’t last night. Again, it’s a makeup thing. It’s something that you have inside of you and I do think that competitiveness is, it’s a central trait among all the best teams and the best players. But you know it’s one of those things that the best guys don’t’ really turn it on and off. They just have it. We have to keep developing that."
*** The Texas head coach then spoke about creating the situation that brings out the best in his players, which we've seen many times this season, but not all the time.
"I think that as a coach you try to create the dynamic that allows the guys to bring out the best things in them. Obviously, we have a lot of guys on our team that have a lot of good things they’ve brought out at different times. You just try to create that dynamic so they can be their best.
"Let’s be honest: If we play whoever it is we play and a majority of our guys are at their best, we have a really good chance to win. Last night, the opposite of that… to me it comes down to this with our team or a majority of teams – there has to be a humility level that we have to do the things that go into winning that we control. And understanding if we don’t do those things, we are drastically reducing our chances of winning. That’s a humility level that you have to have. If you have that with the combination of confidence, because you have to have confidence too. If you don’t have confidence, then that’s a problem. That combination to me – that’s what’s perfect for allowing these guys to be their best and that’s what you try to create. We beat Oklahoma and because of human nature, there was a lack of humility that impacted us and that’s something that I have to do a better job of creating."
***
INJURY UPDATES
Smart updated the status of senior big man Cameron Ridley, who, not surprisingly, had the personal target date of Senior Night for his return.
"Not much of an update. He has not seen a doctor since last time we talked. He will soon. He’s doing more and more. But he’s still not running or jumping. He’s doing pretty much everything other than that. Last night was like his target when he got hurt. He wanted to come back for Senior Night. In his mind he really wanted to play, you know, reasonable thinking for a senior.… we’re still hopeful. We’re hopeful that we may get him back in the next week or two, but we don’t know for sure. Hopefully we’ll have a follow up with the doctor real soon.
Last night, Ridley was in dress shoes without a boot. However, he's not technically cleared from wearing that boot, but can walk around in shoes.
"Not technically, but he can walk. He can put weight on it. Our trainer is doing a really good job of kind of taking it up to the line of what the doctor has made acceptable but not crossing that line. He can walk around in his shoes."
A player can't truly simulate playing basketball and a basketball workout, so there is always going to be that getting used to for Ridley if he does end up being cleared to return. That being said, he's worked very hard to remain in good shape as much as he can.
"He’s actually in great condition, aerobic condition. But there is a difference between that and basketball condition. He’s done a terrific job with our strength coach in terms of buying in to what he’s asked him to do. But yeah he hasn’t played basketball since the Stanford game. If and when he does get cleared, I don’t think you’re going to see him go out and play 30 minutes."
Also, click here for our update on Isaiah Taylor's Plantar Fasciitis
