Buzz Williams states rebounding, free throws are 'literally the only recipe that we can follow'

Following a win over Oklahoma on Tuesday night, Texas A&M coach Buzz Williams was asked a pretty pointed question about two aspects of the game that his team has controlled at various points this season: rebounding and free throws.

Those two elements have been a big part of Texas A&M’s success.

Williams was asked how important those are, because they seem to be two of the most replicable elements on any given night. His answer left little doubt about the importance of both.

“I think that my answer, without being condescending, is that that’s literally the only recipe that we can follow,” Williams said.

The Texas A&M head coach pointed to the team’s recent loss on the road at Texas as evidence.

“In Austin we were 3-of-8 from the free-throw line. We’re a little better shooters from the free-throw line than 37% but we have to accumulate more than three free throws,” Buzz Williams said. “We did a really good job on the defensive glass in Austin. I think our offensive rebound rate was like 39, 40%. That’s pretty good. We’re still No. 1 in the country in that regard. Tonight’s number will help.”

But because the free-throw element of the equation was off, Texas A&M found itself in a dogfight with Texas. The Longhorns ultimately won 70-69, handing the Aggies their third conference loss.

Since then, Buzz Williams has tried to refocus his team on those two core elements of gameplay.

“We’ve tried to make a concerted effort in how we’re studying and how we’re talking and watching and how we’re preparing for the defensive rebound percentage,” Williams said. “But we have to bend the game mathematically on the things that you always hear me talk about. Not because we’re smarter than anybody else, it’s actually we’re just smart enough to know that that’s the only thing that we can do. And when we do those things it at least gives us a chance.”

In the win over Oklahoma, the Aggies outrebounded the Sooners by a 26-19 margin. But Oklahoma had just two offensive rebounds, a huge factor in the game. Texas A&M also shot 35 free throws.

“Just like you saw, even doing some of those things that are really important to us that, at a level that in many respects is hard to achieve, it’s still a one- and two-possession game for 38, 39 minutes,” Buzz Williams said. “So that only supports the evidence of we have to bend it that way and if for some reason there’s gaps of possessions where we don’t, then we’re probably not.

“And I actually think, without sounding sarcastic, I actually think that that’s why we’ve played 10 two-possession games.”

Buzz Williams, of course, would prefer to be in fewer close games. Take care of the rebounding and free throws a bit better and perhaps that can become a reality going forward.