I talked to Forbes yesterday to get his take on the tweet he made and later deleted after Tulane's latest loss, a tweet in which he said he was also labeled the bad guy and people needed to talk to him to get the real story. It was interpreted by some as taking shots at teammates or coaches. He put that idea to rest, saying he was referring to media talk that blames him for scuffles during the game. He definitely has a short fuse on the court, whch is a problematic for a team leader, and it happened again when he objected to being pushed by Johnell Davis of FAU and they ended up grabbing each other's jerseys and not letting go, both ending up with technical fouls. I don't think Forbes watched the broadcast after the fact, but Perry Clark, without naming him, definitely seemed to be blaming Forbes.
I talked to Forbes with one local TV sports reporter. He was upbeat from start to finish. Here is the entire interview:
On handling frustration of long losing streak:
"Just keep going. Of course things haven’t been going our way all year, but not one guy in the locker room is complaining about it. We’re going to come out and keep fighting. That’s all we can do. Eventually things will fall our way. It just hasn’t been going that way this year."
On knee issue that ended his four-year string of starts against FAU, preventing him from practicing all in between the North Texas and FAU games.
"I’m good. Regardless of how I feel right now, I’ve got a few last games before I’m done playing college basketball. I’m just going to make sure I’m as healthy as I can be before I go out there and play. If I thought that I couldn’t play, I’d sit out, but I’m good, I’m healthy, so I can go.”
On what they are learning through major adversity:
"We have a lot of guys that will fight. If you watch the games, you’ll see a lot of teams treat us like we’re little kids, but at the end of the day we are a team that will keep fighting. We have a lot of guys that will compete at the highest level for sure."
On how players can keep their heads up:
"We are doing what we love. Basketball’s not going to always be fun. Sometimes you’re getting whupped on and sometimes you’ll be doing the whupping. Right now we’re just getting whupped on if you just want me to be honest with you. We are just going to keep on fighting and see what happens at the end."
On his social media post:
"It’s just the media. People are always trying to make me seem like the bad guy like I’m always out there just starting a fight with somebody when that’s really not the case. If you watch the game, you saw when Collin just got run over. Teams try to run us over like over that, and me personally it’s just not in my blood to let that go. You can look at me as a Draymond Green in that sense. I just won’t go for it. A lot of teams try to make it seem like we’re soft, and we’re not soft by far. I’m not that type of player. I’m not that type of dude that will start a fight. I need people to know that, but if a dude tries to come at me with something that’s not basketball, I’m going to respond.
On taking the post down:
"Because a lot of people thought it was about my team and my coaches when that’s not the case at all. I would never go on social media and talk about my teammates or talk about my coaches. We’re all doing a great job if you ask me. A lot of teams would have folded if they had lost nine out of ten, but you see us come in each and every day still working. That’s what we do."
On 3 that went in and out when Tulane was making late run:
"That’s the story of my season for sure, let alone the story of the team’s seasons. It was over (7-foot-1 center Vladislav) Goldin when we was going on the run and it even felt good coming off my hand. I saw it go in and out the rim and I kind of dropped my head back, but that’s just how it goes. I’m not going to make every shot, which has been pretty obvious this year. Just keep fighting. Shots don’t determine what kind of team you are or what kind of player I am. Percentages may say that we’re not a good shooting team, but we are. Eventually the shots will start to fall."
On rowdy environment anticipated at USF, similar to the one at FAU:
"It’s fun going into environments like that. You’ve got fans yelling at you 24-7, so of course we just have to weather the storm. I’ve been saying that since the beginning, since we’ve been losing. As long as we weather the storm, we’ll be good for sure."
On what it will take to beat the regular-season champs:
"If we make shots and continue to guard the way we’re guarding. FAU had a 3-minute stretch where they hit three or four 3s in a row, and if you ask me, that’s where we lost the game. Just staying locked in for a full 40 and not 37, 36 because that four-minute stretch can be a big deal."
On fatherhood (his daughter was born Feb.5):
"It’s good. I was just with my daughter this morning. Put her to sleep right before I left, so it’s been good. I can’t complain at all. It seems like when we were out of town at FAU, she gave my girl a hard time, but as soon as I got home, she was calm. She’s definitely a daddy’s girl if you ask me."
And here was Ron Hunter:
HUNTER
On yet another frustrating loss with a lot of missed free throws:
"It’s been the last six or eight weeks. Missed opportunities and missing key free throws, but boy, that was a great effort in front of a hostile crowd. We’ve been going through this and the mental part continues to take over. Great free throw shooters that we see missing free throws, but I was proud of the effort."
On Forbes' knee injury:
"He hadn’t done anything since the game before. He has kind of an MCL sprain right now. Generally you sit those things out, but with a couple of games to go he’s going to try again and see what he can do."
On the tweet Forbes took down:
"Like everything, when things are going good and things aren’t going well there’s a certain way to handle it. He understands that, but the frustration for him not having the season he wanted, but he knows better han that and I think that’s why he took it down."
On Forbes shots going in and out:
"That’s the whole thing. I think we were 3 of 15 on 3s (actually 3 of 19). The wide open shots that would get us over the hump, we’re just not making. I am extremely frustrated, but I am not frustrated with the effort, and that’s the most important thing."
On facing USF:
"We’re going into a hostile environment with a great crowd. If we can find a way to fight through that valley, one time we have to do that and that’s the only way it’s going to get done. But if the effort’s there, as a coach that’s the only thing you can ask for."
On USF being 15-1 in league play but being considered on the outside looking in for an at-large bid to the NCAA tourney if it fails to win the AAC tourney:
"It’s crazy, and I’ve been there when we were 17-1 at Georgia State and we didn’t go ( in 2014 after losing by 1 point in OT at Lakefront Arena in the Sun Belt Conference championship game, which I covered for The Advocate). You go an entire league with that record, I think that’s absurd, but it shows you where we are in college basketball to be honest with you, but there’s no question that team should be an NCAA tournament team for what they’ve done. What he (first-year coach Amir Abdur-Rahim)'s done, I’ve done that before, and to not go is devastating for the program. We were in the NIT, but that (the NCAA tournament) is where we thought we should have been."
I talked to Forbes with one local TV sports reporter. He was upbeat from start to finish. Here is the entire interview:
On handling frustration of long losing streak:
"Just keep going. Of course things haven’t been going our way all year, but not one guy in the locker room is complaining about it. We’re going to come out and keep fighting. That’s all we can do. Eventually things will fall our way. It just hasn’t been going that way this year."
On knee issue that ended his four-year string of starts against FAU, preventing him from practicing all in between the North Texas and FAU games.
"I’m good. Regardless of how I feel right now, I’ve got a few last games before I’m done playing college basketball. I’m just going to make sure I’m as healthy as I can be before I go out there and play. If I thought that I couldn’t play, I’d sit out, but I’m good, I’m healthy, so I can go.”
On what they are learning through major adversity:
"We have a lot of guys that will fight. If you watch the games, you’ll see a lot of teams treat us like we’re little kids, but at the end of the day we are a team that will keep fighting. We have a lot of guys that will compete at the highest level for sure."
On how players can keep their heads up:
"We are doing what we love. Basketball’s not going to always be fun. Sometimes you’re getting whupped on and sometimes you’ll be doing the whupping. Right now we’re just getting whupped on if you just want me to be honest with you. We are just going to keep on fighting and see what happens at the end."
On his social media post:
"It’s just the media. People are always trying to make me seem like the bad guy like I’m always out there just starting a fight with somebody when that’s really not the case. If you watch the game, you saw when Collin just got run over. Teams try to run us over like over that, and me personally it’s just not in my blood to let that go. You can look at me as a Draymond Green in that sense. I just won’t go for it. A lot of teams try to make it seem like we’re soft, and we’re not soft by far. I’m not that type of player. I’m not that type of dude that will start a fight. I need people to know that, but if a dude tries to come at me with something that’s not basketball, I’m going to respond.
On taking the post down:
"Because a lot of people thought it was about my team and my coaches when that’s not the case at all. I would never go on social media and talk about my teammates or talk about my coaches. We’re all doing a great job if you ask me. A lot of teams would have folded if they had lost nine out of ten, but you see us come in each and every day still working. That’s what we do."
On 3 that went in and out when Tulane was making late run:
"That’s the story of my season for sure, let alone the story of the team’s seasons. It was over (7-foot-1 center Vladislav) Goldin when we was going on the run and it even felt good coming off my hand. I saw it go in and out the rim and I kind of dropped my head back, but that’s just how it goes. I’m not going to make every shot, which has been pretty obvious this year. Just keep fighting. Shots don’t determine what kind of team you are or what kind of player I am. Percentages may say that we’re not a good shooting team, but we are. Eventually the shots will start to fall."
On rowdy environment anticipated at USF, similar to the one at FAU:
"It’s fun going into environments like that. You’ve got fans yelling at you 24-7, so of course we just have to weather the storm. I’ve been saying that since the beginning, since we’ve been losing. As long as we weather the storm, we’ll be good for sure."
On what it will take to beat the regular-season champs:
"If we make shots and continue to guard the way we’re guarding. FAU had a 3-minute stretch where they hit three or four 3s in a row, and if you ask me, that’s where we lost the game. Just staying locked in for a full 40 and not 37, 36 because that four-minute stretch can be a big deal."
On fatherhood (his daughter was born Feb.5):
"It’s good. I was just with my daughter this morning. Put her to sleep right before I left, so it’s been good. I can’t complain at all. It seems like when we were out of town at FAU, she gave my girl a hard time, but as soon as I got home, she was calm. She’s definitely a daddy’s girl if you ask me."
And here was Ron Hunter:
HUNTER
On yet another frustrating loss with a lot of missed free throws:
"It’s been the last six or eight weeks. Missed opportunities and missing key free throws, but boy, that was a great effort in front of a hostile crowd. We’ve been going through this and the mental part continues to take over. Great free throw shooters that we see missing free throws, but I was proud of the effort."
On Forbes' knee injury:
"He hadn’t done anything since the game before. He has kind of an MCL sprain right now. Generally you sit those things out, but with a couple of games to go he’s going to try again and see what he can do."
On the tweet Forbes took down:
"Like everything, when things are going good and things aren’t going well there’s a certain way to handle it. He understands that, but the frustration for him not having the season he wanted, but he knows better han that and I think that’s why he took it down."
On Forbes shots going in and out:
"That’s the whole thing. I think we were 3 of 15 on 3s (actually 3 of 19). The wide open shots that would get us over the hump, we’re just not making. I am extremely frustrated, but I am not frustrated with the effort, and that’s the most important thing."
On facing USF:
"We’re going into a hostile environment with a great crowd. If we can find a way to fight through that valley, one time we have to do that and that’s the only way it’s going to get done. But if the effort’s there, as a coach that’s the only thing you can ask for."
On USF being 15-1 in league play but being considered on the outside looking in for an at-large bid to the NCAA tourney if it fails to win the AAC tourney:
"It’s crazy, and I’ve been there when we were 17-1 at Georgia State and we didn’t go ( in 2014 after losing by 1 point in OT at Lakefront Arena in the Sun Belt Conference championship game, which I covered for The Advocate). You go an entire league with that record, I think that’s absurd, but it shows you where we are in college basketball to be honest with you, but there’s no question that team should be an NCAA tournament team for what they’ve done. What he (first-year coach Amir Abdur-Rahim)'s done, I’ve done that before, and to not go is devastating for the program. We were in the NIT, but that (the NCAA tournament) is where we thought we should have been."