Q & A With Head Coach Mark Turgeon - TEXAS A&M OFFICIAL ATHLETIC SITE

Q & A With Head Coach Mark Turgeon

	Mark Turgeon

Oct. 13, 2008

COLLEGE STATION - Texas A&M Head Coach Mark Turgeon, entering his second year, talks about the state of the men's basketball team as it starts fall practice later this week:

Looking back, what are your thoughts on last season and do you expect the momentum to carry over to this year?

"I thought we had a good season. Obviously, we lost a couple of home games that we weren't planning on losing but getting 25 wins with a new coaching staff after losing a lottery pick in Acie Law was a heck of a year. We finished strong down the stretch and really figured out how we had to play to be successful. We hope a lot of things that we started to execute well at the end of last season will carry over to this season. Obviously, we'll have a different team. We lost four of our top eight guys so we have a lot of holes to fill. You always want more as a coach, always, but I was pretty pleased with last year."

How will this year's team benefit from what it went through a year ago?

"The longer that you are around each other as coaches and players the better things can get. I think I will understand my team a lot better and they will understand me. We were happy with the way we played at the end. We took two Final Four teams, including the national champions, to the last possession in our last two losses. We were disappointed we lost those games but it had to give us some confidence that we can play at the elite level. Both games were basically road games with Kansas in Kansas City and UCLA in Anaheim. It was a good experience for us. I think we've had a great spring and summer leading into this fall, which should help us as practice gets started."

You lost some tremendous leaders in Joseph Jones and Dominique Kirk, as well as Beau Muhlbach. Where do you look for leadership this season?

" Those guys were such a big part of our program for four years. The program turned around when Joe and Dominique came in so it's going to be hard. Joe is a great leader and Dominique led by example. They brought it every day in practice. So our young guys have to grow up. I think Josh Carter will be more a leader this season, Bryson Graham will give us great leadership and our junior class will need to grow up and be a part of that, whether that's Bryan Davis or Donald Sloan. Derrick Roland leads in his own way, so as far as leadership goes, I think that group will do it. And the sophomore and freshman classes will need to step up and give us some depth."

What are your thoughts on your highly-regarded freshman class?

"It will be an easier transition for Dash Harris -- it usually is for guards. Where Dash is going to help us a lot this year is defensively. He is very good on the ball. He has a great understanding and likes to play defense, so he is going to allow us to pressure the ball a little bit better, especially with him and Roland on the court. That should really help us. I think that Dash is really good in offensive transition and he's a pass-first point guard. He's going to help us in a lot of ways. He's an opportunistic scorer and as the season goes on he'll get better and better. He also provides leadership just because he was born that way. He's always played the point guard position so he always leading. David Loubeau is a guy that is really long and can really score the basketball. He has a knack for scoring the ball whether it is from 15-17 feet, as a face-up player, or when he has his back to the basket. Not to compare him, but he's like a Bill Walker or Darrell Arthur, guys who have been in our league. He has that kind of skill package. He can't consistently shoot the three yet the way we hope he can in the future, but he's a tremendous rebounder so he'll help us be a good rebounding team. And like most freshman, he's got a long way to go defensively. That will be the biggest thing for him. Not a lot of people think about James Blasczyk because we got him late, but he's had a great fall for us. He's another body to throw in there. He's got some toughness to him and some skill. He's a guy that could help us at times this year, too."

Will your offense or defense be much different from last year?

"Offensively, we'll try again to play a little bit faster. At the end of last year, we were walking it up more. We have the same philosophy that if we get stops, we'll try to run. If not, we'll try to execute. We'll change our approach on offense a little bit to help the players. We'll keep some of the things that we were successful with last year. We'll add some tweaks and things that will help this team and we'll continue to do that throughout the year. Defensively, we may have to play a little more zone. We're not as deep inside. Last year, we just kept throwing bodies in there, especially with the way Chinemelu Elonu finished the year for us. So, a little more zone might be only other change you might see. Hopefully we'll get good enough that we can play without fouling and not have to zone much."

What are your thoughts on the three-point line moving back to 20-feet, 9-inches?

" I don't think its going to affect the good shooters. I don't know how it's going to affect the game. They wanted to have better spacing to open things up so players would drive the ball more and we'll see if that happens. It will give the post players more room inside, so it may help there. Obviously, that's 12 more inches to cover when you help down on the post. Its not going to affect Josh Carter or any of the guys who can really shoot the ball, like B.J. Holmes and Nathan Walkup. It's going to be more of a strain on the average shooters. It's definitely going to make a difference in the games this year."

What do you see as this team's strengths and weaknesses as you start fall practice?

"The strengths are that we have four or five guys who have played a lot of minutes in big games and been a part of a lot of wins. Our weakness would be that we also have a lot of guys who haven't played who we're counting on to keep this program where we've grown accustomed to being. Do we have enough depth inside? Do we have enough perimeter guys who will be willing to step up? Those would be our concerns. I do think we're a little bit more skilled than last year's team, but we're not nearly as big. We're a little bit faster than last year's team. If B.J. Holmes and Nate Walkup become a part of our rotation, then we have a chance to shoot the ball a lot better than we did last year. Our defense should also be a strength again this year."

What are your thoughts on your new practice facility?

"It's big time. I've been through it a lot of times since it started going up and every time I walk through it, I get excited. It's a very impressive building and we're looking forward to getting in it. They've done a tremendous job of trying to get us in our locker room before practice starts, which is what I've been told is going to happen. It's really special. Hopefully, in the next 3-4 weeks we'll be in our practice gym and then around Christmas be in our offices. I think it has already helped our recruiting and hopefully it will continue to help our program grow. We hope this building and our success in the last few years will give us a chance to help this program grow."

What are your early thoughts on the Big 12 race?

"I think it's wide open. We don't have the Kansas team or Texas team from last year, but we still have some teams that can make runs to the Elite Eight or Final Four. I think the bottom half is where the league has gotten better. I thought it continued to get better as last year went on. Nebraska made a late charge and they did a fantastic job with their team. Across the board, the South's really good. We're going to beat each other up and that's going to make it difficult for us down here. It's going to be a wide open and fun race. Whoever gets hot and stays healthy is probably going to be the league champion."

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