Porter Moser Pre-Texas (1-22-24)
Porter Moser Pre-Texas (1-22-24)
Transcript
00:00 - Hey everyone, if you want to use the raise hand,
00:02 if you've got a question for coach,
00:03 we're going to go ahead and go start with Bob and Jesse.
00:06 - Yeah, Porter Saturday,
00:09 another great outing from the bench.
00:12 I want to talk more about Waldo, Latre,
00:15 how different is this bench when they don't just rely
00:18 on shooting threes?
00:20 - Huge. They both made, you know,
00:22 Latre got himself going with a dry body up finish,
00:27 nice to the basket.
00:29 You know, they both,
00:30 think about the free throws those two made, you know,
00:33 and I don't know if you could tell on TV,
00:35 but it was 13,000.
00:37 You couldn't hear anything on those free throws.
00:40 And they both went up there and knocked down the free
00:42 throws. So, you know, that was one of those things where,
00:45 you know,
00:46 do you give them an opportunity to make a three when you're
00:48 tied?
00:49 We filed a little early and that's the tricky part about it.
00:52 It was 15 seconds left.
00:54 And we talked about the huddle.
00:55 It's a little early to foul,
00:58 but we said, if it gets to six off the dribble,
01:01 foul him. Don't wait until he's in a shooting motion.
01:04 And we got him at 10, a little early.
01:07 And with that though,
01:08 they never had a chance for a three to tie it.
01:11 With that, we made both free throws.
01:13 I think Waldo made the first two.
01:15 They ran a nice little play.
01:17 They scored again.
01:18 We got it in and then Latre made the two three throws.
01:20 So that's that analytics thing.
01:23 Do you foul and not give them a chance?
01:25 So, but with that said,
01:27 you got to make your free throws and those two made really
01:30 clutch free throws.
01:31 - Appreciate it Porter.
01:33 - Go ahead, Jesse.
01:37 - Porter, just wanted to ask, I mean,
01:40 last week it seemed like both games were games you guys kind
01:43 of fell down early and had to battle and win those games.
01:47 Maybe just,
01:48 what did you learn about the resiliency of this team,
01:51 you know,
01:52 to kind of overcome a slow start and how big is that moving
01:56 forward as you go through conference play?
01:58 - Yeah. You know,
01:59 you understand it's a 40 minute game.
02:01 You'd like to have great starts,
02:02 but like we got punched in our mouth at Kansas and then
02:04 battle back, Sam got us going with an offensive rebound.
02:07 It's just gotta be gritty, man.
02:08 It's the game's not won or lost in the first five minutes,
02:11 but you gotta,
02:12 you want to be able to handle the storm because, you know,
02:15 some of these road venues just to start the game,
02:18 but we got to take care of the ball to start the game
02:20 better. I think that's something that we're focusing in on
02:23 is really taking the ball better.
02:24 Be strong with the ball.
02:25 What I loved about our group was the last 18 minutes,
02:31 we had one turnover.
02:32 We out rebounded them in that venue.
02:35 We knocked on our shots,
02:36 but we had one turnover the last 18 minutes.
02:38 It's a big reason we won the game.
02:40 - Well, and just to, just to follow that up.
02:43 I mean, you guys won the rebounding battle and Cincinnati
02:45 had been really big rebounding all year.
02:47 I think Jalen Moore had 10, just how,
02:50 how big was that and how,
02:51 how important has Jalen become in terms of the overall
02:54 rebounding effort for the team?
02:56 - Man, he can go get those in traffic rebounds.
02:59 Those ones that maybe a smaller guard is trying to tip or
03:01 gets over the back, he's rising above and grabbing them.
03:04 So he, he gives you those, him and Waldo,
03:07 both him and Waldo have been doing a great job.
03:09 And that game before Tega gave us 10,
03:11 the game before Tega gave us 10.
03:13 So just getting our wings and everybody, guards, everybody,
03:16 it's all hands on deck with defensive rebounding.
03:19 You can't just rely. Everybody's got a box out.
03:21 This league sends so many guys to the glass.
03:23 This league has so many good offensive rebounders.
03:26 You got to box out at the end,
03:28 but then you got to release and you need guards
03:29 rebounding down.
03:30 - Appreciate it Porter.
03:33 We'll go Gearing then Joe.
03:35 - Porter, not to take you too far from Norman,
03:41 but really could use some insight here on,
03:43 on a state of the game question.
03:45 It's about court storming.
03:47 And in light of what happened yesterday with Caitlin Clark
03:50 and the Iowa women's game at Ohio State,
03:52 I think there was a men's issue as well.
03:54 Tulane in Memphis ended with a fan, I think,
03:57 putting his hand on one of the Memphis players
04:00 that could have turned really poorly
04:02 had the Memphis player reacted.
04:04 Your thoughts on what is, I know,
04:06 a tradition, right, for college sports,
04:08 but has always seems to come up
04:10 where you weigh tradition with safety.
04:14 And I'm wondering if you'd care to comment on that.
04:17 - So there's a couple of things with my comment on that.
04:19 One is I do think people got to be prepared.
04:22 I'll tell you this, we get to Cincinnati.
04:24 Cincinnati had a court storming against TCU.
04:27 Literally an hour and a half before the game,
04:29 security pulled me aside and said,
04:31 "If Cincinnati wins and they run the court,
04:33 this is what's going to happen."
04:35 We were coming out of the one exit.
04:37 He goes, "You're going to shake their hands
04:38 and we got a whole tunnel.
04:39 We're going to go right to a door behind their back."
04:41 So they were completely prepared.
04:43 They had security there and there.
04:45 So I think the preparation is part of it.
04:47 Two, there's got to be some kind of penalty
04:49 if there's contact with a student athlete or if that.
04:52 It's like, I mean, whether it's an arrest,
04:54 it's hard because we court stormed, we played Alabama.
04:57 It was great, but you don't want,
04:59 there's got to be sanctions if there's a crossing the line
05:02 of touching a student athlete
05:04 or something thrown at a student athlete.
05:05 They got to feel safe down there,
05:07 but it's preparation.
05:11 And then it's got to be an education about,
05:12 to your fans, about don't cross the line, man.
05:15 Don't cross the line.
05:16 If you're going to storm the court,
05:17 run to, if it's in the middle, the middle,
05:20 but you got to, your first responsibility
05:23 is to get the other team off safely.
05:25 And I think we've got to continue to work on that.
05:27 - So you'd like to see it preserved if done correctly.
05:31 You don't want this to equal an automatic,
05:33 let's not do this anymore.
05:35 - I'll be honest with you.
05:35 I've been on such a, I followed,
05:37 I saw what happened to Kaitlin.
05:38 Oh man, it was terrible.
05:40 I saw it, I've seen what's happened.
05:42 I saw Purdue at Nebraska.
05:44 I was listening to Paint talk about it.
05:46 So I'll be honest with you.
05:47 I've been so entrenched with Texas.
05:49 I haven't thought about it.
05:50 So I really don't even know.
05:52 I just know, just happened with me.
05:54 They were completely prepared.
05:56 They were like, here you go, you're going through here.
05:58 And they were on completely on top of it,
06:01 of where we were going to go.
06:04 You just, I mean, it's a fine line
06:08 because it's been something in basketball for a long time.
06:10 I just, I'm going to think about that,
06:14 whether I just think they should totally eliminate it or not.
06:16 I got to think about that.
06:17 - I got you.
06:18 I appreciate it, Porter.
06:19 Thanks.
06:20 - Joe.
06:23 - Yeah. Hey Porter.
06:24 I was reading some old quotes that when you were
06:28 an assistant at A&M in the late nineties,
06:31 Rodney Terry was at Baylor,
06:32 that you guys crossed paths on the recruiting trail
06:36 and got to know each other a little bit back then.
06:38 I was wondering if you could share
06:40 sort of any of those stories
06:41 or what you knew of Rodney back then.
06:44 - You know, one thing I love about Rodney
06:46 is Rodney is the same guy.
06:47 He's the same guy 30 years later.
06:49 He's the same guy as he was at UTEP.
06:51 He's the same guy as he was an assistant
06:54 at North Carolina Wilmington,
06:55 as he is the head coach of Texas.
06:57 You know, we've known each other probably,
06:59 shoot, since mid nineties, 30 years.
07:04 And, you know, I've always thought,
07:07 we both were assistants hustling,
07:09 trying to recruit some of the same players.
07:11 Then I know he was at Williamington with coach Wainwright.
07:15 Just been someone who I really respect his energy,
07:19 who he is as a man, his personality.
07:22 He's always been an extremely hard worker.
07:25 And I love guys that get shots and takes, you know,
07:28 he surpassed everybody's expectations
07:31 of a hard situation last year.
07:33 And he got the chance well-deserved.
07:34 So, for a guy that I've known 30 years, he hasn't changed.
07:38 He's always been a hardworking, hustling, you know,
07:40 recruiter, hustling coach with great personality.
07:44 It's always been the same.
07:45 - Do you happen to remember any of those players
07:48 you were going after against each other back then?
07:50 - Oh man, I'd love to tell the stories of the ones
07:54 that I got and he didn't, but I don't know.
07:57 I'd have to think about that.
07:59 I mean, there was a lot of players we went back then.
08:01 I'm just trying to think.
08:01 I know some of the guys he got and I got, I mean.
08:05 Then he was at Wilmington.
08:06 And you know what the other thing we do
08:07 is we'd always respect each other's evaluation.
08:09 If he was a guy, we'd call and be like,
08:10 "Hey, did you see this kid?
08:11 What'd you think of this kid?"
08:12 And you know, just compare evaluations
08:15 'cause he's someone that I always respected
08:16 with his evaluation.
08:18 - Thanks.
08:19 - We'll go James, then Eli.
08:24 - Hey Porter, I'm curious, you know,
08:27 I love JV on patience in the game against Cincinnati
08:32 'cause they were jumping out and double teaming him
08:34 and he was finding things
08:36 and he ended up having a really good game.
08:38 Your thoughts on how he and Milo's are kind of handling
08:41 some of those things as teams play games
08:43 with you trying to get the ball out of your guards' hands?
08:47 - Well, I think they've both, you know,
08:48 they understand that having each other is a positive.
08:52 You know, that's, I mean,
08:53 it's not all the pressure on one guy handling it.
08:55 Both them guys are really good passers-on of ball screens.
08:58 Both those guys can handle it and go downhill and create.
09:00 So to have multiple guys that can do that,
09:03 that's a huge, huge form.
09:05 And I thought JV on every game in the Big 12,
09:08 he's getting more and more acclimated to the physicality.
09:11 What I loved is we, Dade, we've talked so much about,
09:14 he had back-to-back games at 19 and JV on was,
09:17 that was one of the first things he looked at
09:18 that we held him to eight.
09:20 And I know that was big for our guys
09:23 'cause he was really doing well, Dade,
09:24 two back-to-back 19.
09:26 I think JV on, we were excited that we had one turnover
09:28 the last 18 minutes, you know, in a hostile environment
09:31 with arguably some of the best guard defensive pressure
09:35 in the league.
09:36 And that he puts extreme pressure on the ball
09:39 and to have one turnover last 18 minutes.
09:41 And hopefully we can continue to build that.
09:43 Obviously we all need to take care of the ball better.
09:45 And, but they saw how that directly related
09:49 to getting a win is one turnover last 18 minutes
09:52 on the road, extreme pressure.
09:54 So the biggest thing is, man, they got each other.
09:58 They got two guys that can really handle it.
10:00 You watched them against the press down the stretch.
10:02 They both made big plays.
10:04 They have two guys that were able to make great passes
10:06 and get out of the press
10:07 'cause they tried to press four times
10:08 or five times down the stretch and we had zero turnovers.
10:11 So it's really helpful when you get two guys like that.
10:15 - Go ahead, Eli.
10:19 - Porter, I take it between the two wins last week,
10:22 Texas getting their win, everything is broken right
10:25 for it to be pretty packed tomorrow night at LNC.
10:27 What are you expecting in terms of that crowd?
10:30 - You know what?
10:32 The students have been great.
10:33 We've, you know, they, man,
10:35 did they come out against West Virginia
10:36 their first time back.
10:38 We keep setting student crowds.
10:39 They told me that the top 10 student crowds
10:43 of all time here, eight of them in the last two years.
10:46 So one, I hope that I think the students
10:48 are gonna come out and just hoping more people, you know,
10:50 we know what we gotta face every night out
10:52 in this league on the road.
10:54 The people that come in this building have been great.
10:56 And I just, the more the better, man, strength in numbers.
10:59 So I hope this thing is packed to the roof.
11:03 - And so my follow to that,
11:04 you mentioned kind of what you see out on the road
11:06 and the next time you guys play Texas and Norman,
11:08 it'll be an SEC game.
11:10 You'll be playing in the SEC.
11:12 How much does the context matter of a new landscape
11:15 of there will be different teams that pack their places
11:19 as you're trying to build what you're trying to build?
11:21 I know attendance is important to you.
11:23 Is it about running your own race?
11:25 Or is it about the league that you're in
11:27 where you're seeing what's around every night?
11:29 - Yeah, Eli, to be completely honest with you,
11:32 my feet are right here.
11:33 I haven't even thought about the context
11:35 of playing Texas in the future.
11:38 I haven't even, let's just completely honest.
11:41 We said it all year long, our feet is here in the Big 12.
11:43 And this year, right now,
11:45 we're in the best league in the country.
11:47 I mean, it's just crazy.
11:48 And our thoughts about Texas this year,
11:51 this game tomorrow, what their team is, 'cause shoot,
11:54 I mean, even from last year to this year's Texas,
11:55 both of our teams look different.
11:57 I mean, both of our teams look a lot different.
11:59 So it is year to year.
12:01 And what you do is just got to be great
12:03 where your feet are.
12:04 Our feet are right now,
12:05 we're in the middle of an unbelievable Big 12 race
12:07 where everybody can beat everybody every night.
12:09 And we got the Longhorns coming to town tomorrow night.
12:12 A tremendous amount of respect.
12:14 They had a huge win.
12:14 They looked phenomenal against Baylor.
12:17 So that's what we got coming up tomorrow night.
12:20 - Appreciate it, Porter.
12:21 - You got it, Eli.
12:22 - We'll go Clifton, Chris.
12:23 - Yeah, Cote.
12:26 Okay, can you hear me?
12:30 - Barely.
12:31 - Okay, you got me?
12:33 - I got you.
12:34 - All right.
12:35 Coach, everybody's getting people out of the transfer portal
12:38 but very few of these teams are having the kind of success
12:41 you're having.
12:42 Aside from talent, this is kind of a general question,
12:45 but what would you say is the primary reason
12:47 you're being successful aside from talent
12:50 that's making this work this season so quickly?
12:53 - Cliff, I'll tell you,
12:53 I think the Big 12 has done as good a job in the portal
12:57 as anybody in the country.
12:58 Look at the success Texas Tech's had in the portal.
13:00 Look at the success Iowa State's had in the portal.
13:03 Kansas State, tremendous help in the portal.
13:06 Look at Texas.
13:08 Max Ambrose is arguably one of the best players
13:10 in this country.
13:11 I think this league, look, Kansas, Hunter Dickinson.
13:14 Baylor, I'm gonna keep going down to every single team
13:18 and I'm gonna name you three or four guys.
13:20 I think this whole league has done a great job
13:23 of evaluating and getting pieces that fit who they are,
13:27 fit what they're doing.
13:29 And I don't know if a league top to bottom,
13:30 you can get tremendous success in this league
13:33 with portal guys.
13:34 Older, physical, fits what their program is doing.
13:38 And that's Cliff, what I'd say about us.
13:39 Our guys fit.
13:41 I mean, JV on, we really needed speed shooting
13:43 at that guard spot.
13:45 We needed some older big wings that could defend physically
13:48 against higher level athletes.
13:50 Rivaldo Soras, Latre' Darthard.
13:52 John gives us a big physical presence.
13:54 So we did well in the portal of getting needs we had.
13:57 And I don't think you can go look farther
13:58 than the big 12 to find a league that has done the same.
14:01 Tremendous success from every program
14:03 on getting portal pieces that fit.
14:05 - Really quick one to follow.
14:09 I don't know if you saw Caitlin Clark in the court storming.
14:12 I know you guys had a court storming last year
14:14 against Alabama.
14:16 Do you ever worry about safety in those situations?
14:20 - Absolutely.
14:21 Absolutely.
14:22 Your administration, you're hoping
14:25 that they're completely on it.
14:26 Whether you're on the road,
14:28 I said earlier that Cincinnati, we watched on tape,
14:32 they had a court storm against TCU.
14:34 So we knew what they did.
14:35 You know, we knew what course,
14:36 but right when we got there,
14:37 it was a hour and a half before the game,
14:39 boom, security came to me and they told me exactly
14:42 the game plan that was gonna happen.
14:43 This is where you're going.
14:44 If Cincinnati wins, you're going out this door right here.
14:47 You're gonna have all these security right here
14:49 if they win and like blocking them
14:51 from the student court storming.
14:53 So 100%, you need everybody, everybody.
14:56 Safety's first, safety's first.
14:58 And you know, it's unfortunate
15:00 that Kaitlin could be running off
15:02 and someone could T-boner right there.
15:05 And no, safety's first and absolutely you worry about it.
15:09 - Coach, how do you feel like your team
15:14 has responded this season to the challenges
15:16 you give them based on game plans?
15:18 Like rebounding against Cincinnati.
15:20 And then what would that focus be for this Texas team?
15:23 - Thought they really responded.
15:24 I mean, we came back from a week
15:25 where we lost two tough ones on the road, TCU, Kansas,
15:28 got punched in the mouth.
15:29 And then we knew we had to get a very physical
15:31 West Virginia team and out-rebound them.
15:33 And then we had to go on the road to Cincinnati.
15:35 So rebounding from those two games, we lost two,
15:38 we've come back.
15:39 So I love how our guys have fought back
15:41 and not get too down off two tough losses.
15:44 'Cause you're gonna have them in this league.
15:45 I mean, you're gonna have them.
15:47 And so, you know, how that relates to this game,
15:51 we've got, you know, I wanted them,
15:53 I said this on the radio this morning,
15:56 you know, it's a fine line.
15:57 You know, we're playing Saturday.
15:59 We got to come back from Cincinnati,
16:00 turn around and game plan Sunday, Monday to play tomorrow.
16:03 So what I don't want to happen is sometimes it happens
16:05 with adults coaching.
16:07 And sometimes it happens with kids
16:08 with the pressure with social media.
16:10 'Cause don't think they don't know how many people
16:12 are hitting them on social media, positive or negative.
16:15 And what I don't want to happen is,
16:17 is it to become relief rather than joy for them.
16:21 Because that happens with coaches.
16:22 Any coach will tell you,
16:23 sometimes it's just relief rather than joy.
16:25 And I love the guys were excited
16:27 in the locker room after the game.
16:28 I wanted them to feel that joy.
16:29 I told them after the game, the grind, the prep, all that,
16:33 that's, the fun is right here, investing in that.
16:36 And I want them to have that joy.
16:38 And we had to turn right around and not get too high.
16:40 Yesterday had to be all about Texas.
16:42 We got a tremendous respect.
16:44 They got unbelievable backcourt in Max and Tyrese.
16:48 You know, Tyrese, I mean, what a game he had against Baylor.
16:51 And then I think they got one of the more difficult centers
16:54 in the country to guard.
16:56 He's the three level scorer.
16:57 He can score on the block.
16:59 He can score from three.
17:00 And then he's got a nice shot fake
17:01 and he can put it on the deck and get to the rim.
17:03 I think they got a phenomenal first round draft pick
17:07 type athlete in Dylan Mitchell,
17:08 who's finding a way to get double figures
17:11 through cutting, rebounding, transition.
17:13 Brock Cunningham's one of the best glue guys.
17:15 So you've, you know, you've got to be on top of,
17:18 put that in the bank and be on top of your next prep.
17:20 Cause they're every game, you better be ready.
17:23 - We'll go to Ryan and Gracie to close it out.
17:29 - Hey, Porter, you talked about Max a couple of times.
17:31 What about his skillset has made kind of his transition
17:35 from Oreo up to Texas life in the big 12 night to night.
17:38 So it looks pretty seamless as far as just dropping him in
17:42 and continue to be an explosive scorer.
17:45 - Seamless.
17:46 I mean, you don't get that many points.
17:48 I don't care what level you,
17:49 if you don't know how to put that ball in the hole
17:51 and see it go in the hole.
17:52 Tremendous confidence.
17:53 Watch him at the end of games.
17:54 You know, you can go back to Louisville,
17:57 to even West Virginia, they lost that,
17:58 but he had like 12 and like two and a half minutes.
18:01 Obviously at Cincinnati, we just saw that one that he did.
18:06 And then Tyrese had the one at last thing.
18:07 So they got a lot of threats,
18:09 but Max has just got so much confidence,
18:11 plays with a great pace.
18:12 He can get his shots off at any level.
18:15 He's done it and seamless.
18:19 You know, moving to the big 12
18:21 is one of our premier guards in our league.
18:23 - Grace, you've got the final question.
18:28 - Hey Porter.
18:29 So I'm sure that you've seen like coach Terry's response
18:32 to the horns down after their loss against UCF.
18:36 Unlike the court storming,
18:37 this really doesn't have like a safety issue.
18:40 Do you feel like that's just part of the college atmosphere
18:43 or have you said anything to your players
18:46 about that kind of thing heading into the game?
18:49 - Yeah, Gracie, I knew I was gonna get asked
18:51 this sometime today.
18:52 It's my last question through four interviews.
18:54 So it is, I was surprised it didn't happen earlier.
18:57 So, you know, I really gonna stay out of it.
19:01 I heard some comments, I heard coach Samson talk about,
19:04 it's in the Texas fight song that, "Oh, you sucks."
19:06 I heard that in coach Samson's comments.
19:09 So it's definitely a part of it.
19:11 And we felt it there last year when we played, holy cow.
19:14 Did we ever feel it there?
19:16 I know that lyric is only in, I did a little research.
19:19 It's only in when we play Texas,
19:20 they alter that lyric when you play the OU Texas game.
19:25 So, you know, I don't really wanna get dragged into it.
19:30 I know for us, we're excited about this game tomorrow,
19:34 but I know it's a part of it on both fan bases.
19:36 Let's just not say what it is.
19:38 I mean, they get it here, we get it there.
19:41 I've been at the Red River rivalry where it's half and half
19:44 and walking around the fairgrounds.
19:45 I mean, it's both sides are giving it to each other.
19:48 So you just hopefully, what you just hope for
19:50 is it stays safe, that it stays, you know,
19:54 that a great rivalry, you know,
19:56 and no one crosses the line in that great rivalry.
19:59 That's what you hope for.
20:00 You know, you don't wanna put, you know,
20:01 everybody sit there and like this in the rivalry.
20:03 It's awesome.
20:04 I'm at Red River last couple of years, man, it's awesome.
20:07 I've been there and their new arena last year.
20:09 Awesome, all right.
20:10 So both fan base, passionate.
20:11 We're gonna give it to each other.
20:12 Just not crossing each other's lines.