Q&A: Montana head men’s basketball coach Travis DeCuire

Editor’s note: The Montana men’s basketball team is off to a 6-0 start in Big Sky Conference play for just the fourth time since the origin of the league in 1963. On Saturday, Montana takes on rival Montana State in Bozeman looking to avenge last season’s 78-69 loss at MSU. That Bobcat victory snapped a 13-game UM winning streak in the rivalry. 

On Wednesday, UM head coach Travis DeCuire sat down with Kyle Sample of Skyline Sports to talk about Montana’s improvements in his fourth season at the helm for his alma mater. 

Kyle Sample – Skyline Sports: What is the biggest difference between this year and last year?

University of Montana head coach Travis DeCuire: Chemistry.

Kyle Sample: Why is it stronger now than it has been in the past? Or is it stronger now than it has been in the past?

Travis DeCuire: Roles fit better. Roles are accepted. But at the end of the day the majority is more concerned with winning than individual achievements. When that happens that’s when you tend to have your ultimate success.

Kyle Sample: Is that a product of you preaching that for three years and having guys who’ve heard that message and then pass it on to guys who are new here?

DeCuire: Some of it. Some of it that and some of it how guys are built. But you’re always going to have to change a guy or two’s mind frame. In any program that just has to happen – and probably in almost every sport.

I remember when I was applying for another head job about five years ago – five or six years ago. My agent introduced me to a former athletic director who had kind of been through the process a lot. He was a guy who was kind of helping me prepare a little bit and was asking some tough questions. One of them was how you identify success. I put about 24 hours of thought into how I would define that myself because it’s not always how many games you win. It’s not – success has got to be something you sustain as a program. Even in a year you don’t hang a banner there can be success. So I defined it by when a group of individuals set aside their individual goals for something greater for everyone. I think that’s where we’re at right now. The question is can you sustain it? Is that now our culture? It hasn’t been. We’ve been fighting to create that culture. It takes time to create a culture for a coach when you go through change. Part of it is recruiting. Part of it is constant communication. And the last thing is not settling.

Last year I just refused to settle on what our culture was going to be and it cost us some games.

Kyle Sample: Even in the face of it being challenged at times?

Travis DeCuire: Yeah. That’s difficult.

I read in a book, a former coach of the Atlanta Falcons talked about they got to a point where they were really good and changed expectations, but they couldn’t sustain their culture.

That’s been hard everywhere I’ve been. But at the places where it was sustained, maintained a constant success on and off the court that’s worth bragging about.

Kyle Sample: You have a lot of new guys on this team, but the core of it is guys who were here last year, so do you think for those guys it was a good thing for that challenge and you not waiver from it?

Travis DeCuire: Yeah, I think it is important for them to figure out how important it is to me and how serious I am about it and understand that it is not necessarily about how many games you win and which games you win, it’s how we go about our daily process and what we stand for and how we identify ourselves as a group.

Kyle Sample: How has that manifested itself on the court and in the locker room?

Travis DeCuire: Constant communication. You know I’ve been fighting for this brand. It’s changed a little bit. Communication wasn’t necessarily one of my key words, but it became that last year. I think we’ve over communicated for the last year. Whether that is sending film to guys late at night for a conversation; Whether that’s bringing them into the office and watching film with them; Whether that is calling them into the office just to talk about things; (Whether that is) constant conversations as a group about things that lead to strong culture, strong chemistry and making it important.

That started in Costa Rica – well, the lead up to Costa Rica.  At the end of it, when we lost, that was all we talked about. We didn’t talk about ball screen defense, shot selection, playing hard. We talked about playing for one another and with one another.

The other word that became evident to me was consideration. Not necessarily considerate in terms of politeness, I mean considerate in having a feel for strength and weakness of others, needs of others, how to work and play with others and guys who are good at that will play the most. I made the decision to play the guys that are good at that the most. I think that’s a part of what’s led to where we’re at and the buy in.

Kyle Sample: Was there a moment last year when you realized the communication wasn’t where you needed it to be?

Travis DeCuire: I always knew it was a weakness. It’s a weakness in sport in general – and it’s a weakness in our culture in general because of cell phones, because of computers, because of video games, because of cable TV…

Kyle Sample: … Instant gratification.

Travis DeCuire: Yeah, and not only instant gratification, but instant entertainment. There was a point in time I would say, ‘Dad, I’m bored,’ and he would say, ‘OK, go out and play or read a book.’ Or he would force me into conversation. It’s easy to sit in a room for an hour and not say a word. When kids aren’t forced to communicate as preteens, as teens, they’re not going to do it as adults. So I think that’s a weakness of most teams. And basketball depends on it. Decisions are made so quickly. Things adjust so quickly that if guys don’t talk, if guys don’t share information on the fly, you’re not going to be successful. That’s when I decided to force it upon these guys to talk.

We’ve done things off the court. We take phones for time to time. We do things off the court that force guys to spend some time together. You can go play laser tag and play as a team and you have to communicate. ‘Where is such and such? Who are we going after? Who’s got the base? Who’s this? Who’s that?’ It’s a little fun, but you’re actually strengthening your chemistry when you do that. So we’ve just tried to find creative ways to spend time with our team and force our team to spend time with each other. They eat more meals together than probably anyone in the country. All of that carries over, in my opinion.

Kyle Sample: Last year, and maybe in years passed, it seemed like there were small cliques in the team. Have you noticed that those have disappeared?

Travis DeCuire: They haven’t disappeared. You just going to have someone in your comfort zone whether it’s culture, or your roommate, your class. A class of kids come in together and they end up being the type. So Timmy (Falls) and Karl (Nicholas) are a clique, they’re roommates, right. But guys like Sayeed (Pridgett) and Ahmaad (Rorie) and Jamar (Akoh) are doing a better job than we’ve had done in the past of interacting with them on their own – going to the dorms, going to the Food Zoo and eating with them or inviting them to their place. So there is more constant interaction.

We change roommates. Very rarely does anyone room with a roommate on the road so guys are forced to spend time with guys they might not walk out of the gym with and walk in the gym with. I think all of that stuff carries over. Shooting before practice and creating partners that are different than who your partner would be in other moments.

Some of it is forced and some of it is natural. But I think you have to create those opportunities.

Kyle Sample: You guys hadn’t won at Sacramento State up until this year. Do you see that as evidence of these approaches working?

Travis DeCuire: I think the Sacramento State thing is a bit circumstantial. Twice we blew leads and last year they just kicked our ass. The first year we were both playing for first place. We had a lead. Martin Breunig picks up two quick fouls, one of them offensive fighting for a spot to post up. Jordan Gregory was already in foul trouble. We went about a seven-minute stretch without our two leading scorers on the floor. They make a run and then when I got Jordan back in the game we could just never get the momentum back.

The second year we had a 20-point lead – Brandon Gfeller hits two threes back to back to push it to 20 at about the 18-minute mark. The guys felt like the game was over a little bit…

Kyle Sample: …I did. I started writing my story.

Travis DeCuire: Yeah, and they fought. They don’t’ quit. They’re one of the more mentally tough teams in the conference, especially at home. We just, once again, a couple things happen. A couple guys end up sitting next to me with some fouls and some things. It snowballed; you miss some free throws, you miss some layups, they bank some threes. I mean they banked in two and they hit two more at then end of the shot clock when the buzzer when off. That’s 12 points and I think we lost by single digits.

I wouldn’t say winning at Sac State is evident of that. But I think being 4-0 on the road in general in conference is evident of that. I think coming out at half time down in both games and winning. I think the double technical – the 12-minute stalemate against Northern Colorado at home – and they steal momentum when we’re about to put them away and finding a way to hold them off and win, is evident of that. I think when you see us in adverse situations and watch these guys come together and watch a new hero arrive, is where you see signs of it because if you have chemistry that means there is trust. Ahmaad Rorie has to trust Mike Oguine to take over a game. Mike Oguine has to trust that Jamar Akoh is worthy of four or five touches in a row to win a game. Bobby Moorehead has to trust that when he gives up his body and dives on a loose ball that his teammates have his back and it’s worth doing.

All of that trust comes from chemistry.

Kyle Sample: And you’ve seen that from top down?

Travis DeCuire: I have. I have.

You know, coach Flo (Jay Flores), we watched film yesterday for about an hour. Coach Flo had four clips for the guys to watch and it was the bench. It was seeing how emotional teammates are when guys make plays. Mike makes a big three in the corner and Ahmaad is the first one to run out and chest bump him when he was in foul trouble. The big shot Bob hit – a three – at Sac State and the bench just roars. Just seeing how guys are supporting each other and is excited for someone else’s success. When you have that full circle you have a team, you have a family, which is what we preach all the time. Sometimes it just takes time to build that.

I don’t think that’s a knock on any of the guys who are no longer here. I think it just takes time. If those guys are still here we would still have what we have right now. And they helped us build it.

Kyle Sample: Are you seeing better on-court leadership this year, or is it still centralized among a few guys.

Travis DeCuire: It’s by committee.

Kyle Sample: Do you want it that way?

Travis DeCuire: I want it to be natural. I don’t want it to be alright these two guys are our captains, do what they say. That doesn’t work. The team has got to want to follow. I think what has happened is Fab is a senior, he’s the lone senior, he’s been around and knows what I want in all situations. When he speaks, guys hear what he says, they take it and they move with it. Jamar is the presence so when he speaks on things, and he doesn’t do it a lot, but when he does, he’s got their attention. I think Sayeed is an overlooked leader of the young guys. I watch him constantly grab the freshman and communicate with stuff and reiterate things that we are saying as coaches. I think they welcome that because he is one of them. He’s coming off the bench like them. He’s only been here for a year so he’s still young. He’s not the guy who is playing 35 minutes a game, he’s not the guy who is getting 15 shots a game. But he’s bought in. He’s all in and he’s saying the same thing I’m saying. He’s saying the same thing that coach (Chris) Cobb is saying. That’s healthy. When you have a leader of the bench and you have a leader of a young class and you have leaders on the floor that are communicating and physically doing things that they’re asked to do – the tough things they’re asked to do – that’s leadership. Sometimes it doesn’t have to be a guy telling people what to do, it’s just making things happen.

Kyle Sample: You mentioned the acceptance of roles, that’s something you’ve been trying to get players to do. Some of them haven’t always been natural in those roles. Do you see that guys fit more naturally in their roles, or is that something they’ve had to adapt to like in years past?

Travis DeCuire: I think the roles fit better. I think they fit personalities. I think they fit skill sets. I think they fit the classes.

Also, the roles have changed throughout the course of the year though and to see guys accept that has been huge. There was a point in time where Karl was playing more than Timmy. To see that change a little bit and them both handle that. To see Jamar’s role increase and Mike and Ahmaad take some of those minutes, some of those shots and willingly give them to him and Timmy is huge. There was no conversation. It wasn’t like, ‘Hey, I’m going to start playing Jamar more.’ Or, ‘Hey, I need you to start giving Jamar the ball more.’ Or, ‘Hey, Timmy is going to play more.’ It’s just happened for a period of time. There’s been no pouting, no conversations, no coming in to talk about it. Guys are just playing.

When you have more time for coaching and less time for counseling, then you’re heading in the right direction. Right now that’s where we’re at and hopefully we can sustain it. That’s the question for this program.

Kyle Sample: Is that a result of that trust factor you were talking about? And do you think the players have more trust in the coaching staff than years past?

Travis DeCuire: No question and it takes time to get that trust. There is a difference between doing something because someone told you or asked you to do it or because you believe it’s the right thing or it’s what should be happening.

It doesn’t mean you have to like it. There is no way everyone likes their role. There are guys who want more, but they’re making the most of it.

I feel like they’re enjoying the process and that’s the key. You have to enjoy the process. If you only want to enjoy what’s at the end – looking at the box scores, hanging a banner, playing in the NCAA tournament – if that’s your only motivation you may never reach those goals. You need to enjoy the process and if you enjoy the process and you don’t reach those goals you still have fun. It has to be an enjoyable experience.

Kyle Sample: How do you maintain that? Obvious you guys are 6-0 in conference and everything is always best when you’re winning. But how do you maintain that and fight against complacency and satisfaction?

Travis DeCuire: We continue to talk about the roots and not the fruits. How are we going to win this next game? What’s it going to take to win this next game? What do we need to get better at? Where have we slipped? Let’s watch some film. We scored 92 points, but we gave up 89. How do we avoid that? We’ve given up 80 in just about three games, why? What’s happened? Well here are some areas of slippage. Are we going to fix it or keep playing the way we play and hope that we can score 90 every night?

Yesterday (Wednesday Jan. 17) we had one of our toughest practices in two weeks. Today is going to be very similar. The willingness to grind regardless to where you are in the standings, or what your record is allows you to continue to improve. I don’t want this team to stop improving until we’ve played our last game. Even throughout that game we should improve. If we continue to look at it that way then things can happen.

For us to be 6-0, there’s no, ‘Alright, we’re in first place. Let’s hold onto it.’ We don’t talk about it. It’s, ‘Hey, remember what happened at Montana State last year?’ That’s what we did going into the Portland State game. Remember what happened at Portland State last year? Remember what happened with Sac last year? Northern Colorado. Well, there should be two banners up there, but they beat us here the last home game of the season and that took away a share of a conference championship.

Each game we’ve found a way to motivate these guys and motivate ourselves to go into each one of these games individually with reason to overachieve. I think that’s why we’ve won those games and we just need to continue to do that.

Kyle Sample: Is this the most pleased you’ve been with a team? Is this the most confident you’ve been in a team?

Travis DeCuire: I’ve been confident with all of our groups. Even with last year with the roller coaster ride we went through every game I felt we could win. There was no one in conference I didn’t think we could beat. I mean, we beat the champions, we beat North Dakota. We went to Weber and won. We were 2-0 against the top two teams. That wasn’t our issue. It was whether we were going to beat ourselves.

The year we won it was probably not a year of a lot of confidence. It was a grind.

This team, I trust that I can coach them. I trust that they want to do what’s right. There is a difference between making mistakes when you’re intent is in the right place, when your heart is in the right place as opposed to no, I’ve got another plan and my plan is better than yours. I’ve been that kid when (former Montana head coach) Blaine (Taylor) called a play and I’d go, ‘Nah, I got a better one.’ Then call it and if it worked we were good, but it if didn’t I got an earful. I just feel that right now, the place where we are in today as a group, there are five guys on the floor with the right intent.

The question still remains can we sustain it?

Kyle Sample :When you guys came here you obviously had a plan and you thought maybe this was the year when things would head in the trajectory you wanted it to. When you see where it is now, does that excite you that the vision you had appears to becoming reality?

Travis DeCuire: I definitely feel like we’re heading in the right direction in a lot of ways. We’re a lot closer to the style of play that I’m comfortable with. Our graduation rate couldn’t be any better. Life after college is good for just about everybody we’ve had, whether they’re playing or employed somewhere. Our future I feel is bright with the young talent that we have, with the feedback we’re getting from the groups of kids that we’re recruiting in this point in time – we’ve got an opportunity to be a little picky. Our community. Our support is incredible. So now I feel like I have a program as opposed to being the captain of a ship that is always sailing in the right direction.

Kyle Sample: Do you sense that when you’re out (recruiting)? Do you notice more awareness about the basketball program?

Travis DeCuire: I sense more awareness about my program, about our program, what we’re doing and what we’re trying to accomplish. Once again, wins and losses are great and at the end of the day that’s what you’re going to be evaluated by. But that’s not what I wake up and come to work for. That’s not what I’m ambitious about at five in the morning, six in the morning when I start my day. It’s the day to day, it’s what my guys are doing now while they’re with us, what they’re doing as they move on and how our community feels about our student athletes individually and collectively. To me, that’s what my program is about and how I set my goals individually.

So selfishly, I feel like I’m where I want to be. I also feel like my staff has had opportunities. The guys I work with everyday are all getting opportunities to move on, move up, or grow whether it is here or somewhere else. If everyone is getting something out of this, that’s what this is about and that’s what this coaching tree is supposed to be about. That’s what my experience has been at Cal and Old Dominion. The guys I worked for that’s how they got to where they got.

I feel like we’ve arrived in a lot of ways and there is more out there for us especially basketball wise. For me, the 6-0 isn’t what makes me feel that way.

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