The Texas A&M Aggies unveiled new coach Billy Kennedy to the College Station press today, and he minced no words in separating himself from Maryland coach Mark Turgeon.
“I believe in this place,” Kennedy said. “This is a destination job for me. There’s no Maryland, Kansas or Carolina. I plan on retiring here.”
Hope those tire treads on your back don’t hurt too much Turgeon. Although really they aren’t too dissimilar from the ones on your players, so I wouldn’t be complaining if I were you. Kennedy has ties to the A&M program as an assistant coach in the early 90’s.
What exactly will Kennedy do different on the floor? There may be a few tactical changes.
Kennedy said his basketball philosophy starts with defense, playing pressure man-to-man. Offensively, he’d like his team to score within the first seven seconds of the shot clock, either going inside or taking an open 3-pointer from the wing or corner.
“We’re going to build this thing on defense,” Kennedy said. “You’ve got to be able to guard people.”
A&M played a very slow pace (326th fastest out of 345 teams) last season, and had it not been for their rebounding, probably would’ve had a below average offense. Interestingly, Kennedy’s Murray State squad finished 294th, so he wasn’t exactly letting the horses run. Building the team on defense, given the current roster, seems to be a no-brainer.