Bedlam Part III, 8:30 (approximately) Wednesday.
I'll have a full preview story Wednesday. But here are some of the goodies from Moser and Hill from Monday afternoon.
Porter Moser
Mindset?
“Momentum. Keep building on it, visualizing when we’re at our best. We talked about it before the game, visualize when we’re at our best. When we’re at our best, we’ve competed against the best in the country. That’s all we wanted to visualize on. These last three games, we’ve beat two ranked teams and you’ve just got to build on it. Like I said, belief, confidence, everything going in.”
Umm, OSU is still big?
“I want to build off Tanner’s really good game that he played last game. His aggression, staying out of foul trouble. Their length and athleticism between Boone and Cisse, Newton, Tyreek, they’ve got some length and athleticism in there. They’ve played very well. Those guys have had great years. Cisse, when he’s been in there, has been really good. Boone, an all-league player. Tyreek and Newton give them great length. Their length and athleticism has been a big part of them. I really think that’s a big strength of theirs. We’ve got to combat it."
No Avery Anderson?
"Avery is a great player. He's a great player. There's no doubt about that. Speed. Experience. Playmaking. But I think Bryce (Thompson) has taken his game to a new level. That's what you hope to do. You hope your other players when you have an injury, step up their game and I've really seen Bryce step his game up. You know, John-Michael Wright, Asberry. Those three have really amped their game up. I mean, that trio of guards is outstanding. They all three can shoot it. All three can play make and they've all three done what you'd want to happen. You lose a player like Avery, you want your other guys to step up and those three guys, watching them and watching that Texas Tech game, they really have stepped their game up."
I ask about Jalen Hill All-Defense snub?
"Very disappointed that he didn't make the all defensive team. I mean, if you watch him in and out of every game, he takes out team's best players. How he works. I'm just befuddled. He guards 1-4. He guards five's. He's done everything the way he does. He covers up mistakes. I've been doing this a long time. I've had the number one defensive team in the country before. I've had defensive players of the year before. I put Jalen up there with any defensive player I've ever coached. I know sometimes people look at blocked shots and steals. That's part of defense. But, you know if you get three or four steals or three or four blocks, but there could be 60-70 defensive plays in a game. How he plays team defense, how he plays on the ball defense, I think Jalen Hill is an elite, elite defensive player. For him, he knows how we feel. And I feel for him because I think it's something... But that wasn't the end all for him. But he knows what he means to us defensively."
I ask about the $9.5 million LNC renovation?
What I will say is wherever it goes, I think everyone knows the commitment needs to be towards having a new venue. A new venue for men’s basketball. You look at some of the teams’ venues and atmospheres in this league, and it becomes very hard to play in. Everything I’ve heard is that everything is about moving in that direction. I love that. I love that the focus is on the venue. I’m not ready to say where, which or anything like that. Let’s just move in that direction. Again, all I’ve been thinking about is this tournament and competing and getting ready. Believing, that’s where my focus has been.
Concept of building a team vs. a program, a year later? (buckle up for this 2-min answer)
Absolutely more difficult with the transfer portal. But unequivocally, I’m not changing directions. What I mean by that is just because it’s more difficult to build a program, doesn’t mean I’ve stopped believing in what I believe in and looking for the quick fix. Why is it more difficult? Because for instance, if you build a program, it’s about retaining guys who believe in your culture and are good enough to win. And then the next year the newcomers come in and there is a group of guys that are like this is how it’s done. We inherited three players and two of them went last-minute into the transfer portal. You Invest a lot of minutes in those guys and now they’re not here. Now you have a set of new guys. I’m still just completely focused on that, pouring into guys. You look at Milos and Otega, look at a bunch of guys. Jalen is everything I’m about with the program. You look at his improvement. Last year’s improvement over the year before and then this year’s improvement. It’s about developing guys, keeping them in. But it’s hard because everybody wants the quick fix. If you’re not playing right away, the grass is greener somewhere else. Man, it’s so much about development, the development.
There was a stat on Twitter. They wrote an article. Of the top 100 ranked high school players (last year), only 17 freshmen are averaging double figures. So that means 83 of the top 100 are not even averaging double figures. That doesn’t mean we’re going to have 83 transfers or 83 people are unhappy. It just takes some time.
I think building a program, it’s about development. It’s about instilling your culture. Then it’s about retaining them, so when the new guys come in, we’re like, this is how it’s done. You look at some of the top teams. For instance, just look at Baylor and Kansas. They’ve been here for awhile and their stuff. They’ve retained that, some of their culture.
Then you’ve got to combine that with upgrading your talent. You gotta get your roster right. You gotta have your culture, but gotta upgrade your talent every year. Bring in guys that can upgrade that roster. I think that’s part of it as well.
Jalen Hill
I ask about Senior Day?
It was fun. My mom came. My sister came. My mom, she's 2-0 this year. So I think she needs to come to more games.
I ask about COVID year option?
Well, it's obviously there. So that's all I have to really say about it. I really want to focus on these next couple of games coming up.
I'll have a full preview story Wednesday. But here are some of the goodies from Moser and Hill from Monday afternoon.
Porter Moser
Mindset?
“Momentum. Keep building on it, visualizing when we’re at our best. We talked about it before the game, visualize when we’re at our best. When we’re at our best, we’ve competed against the best in the country. That’s all we wanted to visualize on. These last three games, we’ve beat two ranked teams and you’ve just got to build on it. Like I said, belief, confidence, everything going in.”
Umm, OSU is still big?
“I want to build off Tanner’s really good game that he played last game. His aggression, staying out of foul trouble. Their length and athleticism between Boone and Cisse, Newton, Tyreek, they’ve got some length and athleticism in there. They’ve played very well. Those guys have had great years. Cisse, when he’s been in there, has been really good. Boone, an all-league player. Tyreek and Newton give them great length. Their length and athleticism has been a big part of them. I really think that’s a big strength of theirs. We’ve got to combat it."
No Avery Anderson?
"Avery is a great player. He's a great player. There's no doubt about that. Speed. Experience. Playmaking. But I think Bryce (Thompson) has taken his game to a new level. That's what you hope to do. You hope your other players when you have an injury, step up their game and I've really seen Bryce step his game up. You know, John-Michael Wright, Asberry. Those three have really amped their game up. I mean, that trio of guards is outstanding. They all three can shoot it. All three can play make and they've all three done what you'd want to happen. You lose a player like Avery, you want your other guys to step up and those three guys, watching them and watching that Texas Tech game, they really have stepped their game up."
I ask about Jalen Hill All-Defense snub?
"Very disappointed that he didn't make the all defensive team. I mean, if you watch him in and out of every game, he takes out team's best players. How he works. I'm just befuddled. He guards 1-4. He guards five's. He's done everything the way he does. He covers up mistakes. I've been doing this a long time. I've had the number one defensive team in the country before. I've had defensive players of the year before. I put Jalen up there with any defensive player I've ever coached. I know sometimes people look at blocked shots and steals. That's part of defense. But, you know if you get three or four steals or three or four blocks, but there could be 60-70 defensive plays in a game. How he plays team defense, how he plays on the ball defense, I think Jalen Hill is an elite, elite defensive player. For him, he knows how we feel. And I feel for him because I think it's something... But that wasn't the end all for him. But he knows what he means to us defensively."
I ask about the $9.5 million LNC renovation?
What I will say is wherever it goes, I think everyone knows the commitment needs to be towards having a new venue. A new venue for men’s basketball. You look at some of the teams’ venues and atmospheres in this league, and it becomes very hard to play in. Everything I’ve heard is that everything is about moving in that direction. I love that. I love that the focus is on the venue. I’m not ready to say where, which or anything like that. Let’s just move in that direction. Again, all I’ve been thinking about is this tournament and competing and getting ready. Believing, that’s where my focus has been.
Concept of building a team vs. a program, a year later? (buckle up for this 2-min answer)
Absolutely more difficult with the transfer portal. But unequivocally, I’m not changing directions. What I mean by that is just because it’s more difficult to build a program, doesn’t mean I’ve stopped believing in what I believe in and looking for the quick fix. Why is it more difficult? Because for instance, if you build a program, it’s about retaining guys who believe in your culture and are good enough to win. And then the next year the newcomers come in and there is a group of guys that are like this is how it’s done. We inherited three players and two of them went last-minute into the transfer portal. You Invest a lot of minutes in those guys and now they’re not here. Now you have a set of new guys. I’m still just completely focused on that, pouring into guys. You look at Milos and Otega, look at a bunch of guys. Jalen is everything I’m about with the program. You look at his improvement. Last year’s improvement over the year before and then this year’s improvement. It’s about developing guys, keeping them in. But it’s hard because everybody wants the quick fix. If you’re not playing right away, the grass is greener somewhere else. Man, it’s so much about development, the development.
There was a stat on Twitter. They wrote an article. Of the top 100 ranked high school players (last year), only 17 freshmen are averaging double figures. So that means 83 of the top 100 are not even averaging double figures. That doesn’t mean we’re going to have 83 transfers or 83 people are unhappy. It just takes some time.
I think building a program, it’s about development. It’s about instilling your culture. Then it’s about retaining them, so when the new guys come in, we’re like, this is how it’s done. You look at some of the top teams. For instance, just look at Baylor and Kansas. They’ve been here for awhile and their stuff. They’ve retained that, some of their culture.
Then you’ve got to combine that with upgrading your talent. You gotta get your roster right. You gotta have your culture, but gotta upgrade your talent every year. Bring in guys that can upgrade that roster. I think that’s part of it as well.
Jalen Hill
I ask about Senior Day?
It was fun. My mom came. My sister came. My mom, she's 2-0 this year. So I think she needs to come to more games.
I ask about COVID year option?
Well, it's obviously there. So that's all I have to really say about it. I really want to focus on these next couple of games coming up.
