AUSTIN, Texas — University of Texas Men's Basketball Coach Shaka Smart took questions from the media on Monday, one day before the Longhorns' first team practice of the 2019 season.
Texas enters the 2019 season off of a 21-16 record last season and an early first round exit in the Big 12 Championship tournament. The Longhorns did not go dancing in the NCAA National Championship tournament in 2018, but rather qualified for the NIT tournament, which the team won after defeating Lipscomb 81-66 in the NIT Championship.
Here is some of what UT's head coach Shaka Smart said in the press conference:
Shaka Smart opening statement: "Excited about this time of year. We start practice tomorrow. The NCAA allows you to start six weeks before your first game. First game is Nov. 5 ... back it up six weeks and that's tomorrow, so we'll be on the court tomorrow morning continuing our process that we've been working hard on all summer and early fall. I'm excited that we have a lot of momentum right now within our program. Our guys did a great job at the end of the year winning their last five games. We've made some additions to our program that we're really excited about. Two of our cultural principles are competing forever and getting passed hard. Anything that you do in life worth something is going to be hard."
Smart on the shooting ability of this year's team: "This will be the best shooting team that we've had. The guys we have coming back from last year, we have some of those guys that could make some shots. Believe it or not, we made more threes than anyone in the Big 12. We have Jase Febres coming back who we think is as good a shooter as anyone in the league. Courtney Ramey is a guy that made a lot of shots as a freshman. Matt [Coleman III] is a guy who has improved his shooting from outside."
RELATED:
Smart on entering his first season without Kerwin Roach II on the team: "Last year, [Kerwin] obviously had some ups and downs. The North Carolina game he played was as good a performance from a guy that I've coached in a long, long time. But he had some challenging times, as well. I think the bigger key whenever you lose guys and bring new guys in, is shaping your identity – a shared identity."
Smart on winning NIT and using that for the upcoming season: “We spent a lot of time in the spring talking about that stretch of our season. Instead of me lecturing to the guys, it was really trying to get them to pull out 'what were the common themes during that time that allowed us to win the NIT Championship?' That was the most player-driven portion of our season. It was a lesson for me as a coach. So, we are trying to gain consistency in that way. The biggest thing is they felt a sense of comradery and purpose to play for each other.”
Smart on the program producing three first-round picks in a row and who may be the next Longhorns big man in line to be drafted:
"That's a great question. I wouldn't have said Jaxson [Hayes] at this time last year although we knew his potential was phenomenal. I don't know if there is necessarily one guy, but we definitely have some young guys with some major potential. Will Baker and Kai Jones are both young bigs that have shown real signs of growth and improvement."
Smart on the pressure of entering the fifth season as UT head coach having not won an NCAA tournament game: "That's a great question. The biggest key for me is to completely immerse myself in the task at hand as opposed to the past and the future. I think there is something powerful about 'the moment' that allows you to anchor yourself into whatever it is you're trying to do. The reality is, it's pretty clear to me and our guys what we have to do next."
Smart on 'what the team needs to do next': "Some of it we've already talked about. If I had to sum it up in one word: consistency. What goes hand-in-hand with that is a willingness to put winning above everything else."
Smart on Matt Coleman III potentially becoming a dependable veteran guard in the Big 12: "Well, it's nice to know going into the season that we have a junior point guard that's started 71 out of 71 games with great experience. We have a sophomore point guard who was a starter the last part of the season and played in certain games as well as anyone on our team. It's nice to have the ball in those guys hands. But those guys still have to get better. They have to lead. They have to be as good a two-headed monster as they can be. But for Matt, we don't want him to be particularity comfortable. He needs to be a little bit uncomfortable. That's how he's going to go from a guy that's pretty good to a guy that can be excellent."
PEOPLE ARE ALSO READING: