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00:00 - We have questions for Curtis and Mike.
00:02 - You guys eager to get back to playing games now
00:05 after two weeks of practice?
00:07 - Yeah, for sure.
00:08 Definitely, definitely looking forward to the games.
00:12 - Mike, how much though, a little bit of a break,
00:17 how good was that for you guys mentally
00:19 or even just for yourself mentally
00:21 to get a couple days to where you don't
00:23 really have anything to worry about
00:25 and then come back and kind of refocus?
00:27 - For me, it was a good reset.
00:29 I got to be with my family,
00:30 kind of get my mind away from basketball.
00:33 And then, yeah, just like enjoy my time away,
00:37 enjoy my family.
00:38 And then coming back, it was just like a,
00:40 kind of like a fresh start.
00:42 And it's just good to be back around the guys
00:44 and the coaching staff.
00:45 - Curtis, when you guys came back,
00:48 what was it like, you know, returning to the complex
00:51 when, after the team was gone for so long?
00:53 What was that reunion like for you guys?
00:55 - I can say when we came back,
00:56 a lot of the guys were happy to see each other.
00:58 Like just coming back, seeing each other on the elevator,
01:00 seeing each other, like just walking out to get food.
01:02 Like it was just like a, you know,
01:04 happy to see each other, happy to be back together.
01:06 But when we got back on the court, it was just time to work.
01:09 - Mike, you went through this last year
01:12 as well as this year,
01:14 where you guys played good for a lot of the game
01:16 and then just have this devastating stretch
01:18 that happened in the last,
01:19 in the first half of the Kentucky game.
01:21 When those things happen,
01:22 can you sense they're about to happen?
01:24 Is there anything you can do to stop it
01:26 before it gets out of hand?
01:28 - I don't think I can sense it before it happens,
01:32 but like I can definitely like feel it when it's happening.
01:35 So I can see like when things are going bad,
01:39 dudes are getting, going on runs and stuff.
01:44 Obviously, coach can see it too.
01:47 Like it takes a couple of timeouts and stuff,
01:49 but just gotta work to help counter those things.
01:55 - Do you think it's more because of offensive mistakes,
01:58 turnovers and like, or defensive lapses at the end of it?
02:01 - I think it comes from us kind of taking forced shots
02:06 for real, so when we come down, take a bad shot,
02:09 they get out on a break, get a layup or two,
02:12 and that's kind of like start us in the run,
02:14 and then we keep taking not very good shots,
02:19 and they keep coming down and scoring.
02:21 And so our defense can help counter that.
02:24 We get a couple of stops in those type of runs and stuff.
02:27 But I think if we just keep sharing the ball,
02:32 and hoping God take a good shot,
02:34 those runs won't happen, we will be scoring.
02:37 - Curtis, you think the team made progress
02:39 during the two weeks, and if so, where?
02:41 - I can say we made progress in the defense again,
02:45 because we really focused on that.
02:46 Just coming back, we had like a lot of,
02:49 a lot of loopholes that we had to fix,
02:51 and he been really keying that down
02:54 the last couple of days, so I feel like we're ready
02:55 for some upcoming game.
02:57 - Mike, you've played against Virginia
02:59 probably more than anybody on the team.
03:00 What is the one thing you have to do
03:02 to be successful to beat a Virginia team?
03:05 - Gotta move the ball, gotta share the ball.
03:07 They play like a pack line defense,
03:09 so they're gonna be in gaps,
03:10 and they're gonna stay there.
03:12 Gotta knock down shots, and then on the defensive end,
03:16 you gotta stay locked in for a whole 30 seconds
03:18 of possession, 'cause they're gonna take their time,
03:21 they're not gonna take any bad shots,
03:22 and they're really disciplined, good coached team,
03:25 so staying locked in on the defensive end
03:27 for a whole possession throughout the whole game,
03:30 and then just sharing the ball,
03:32 taking good shots, making shots.
03:35 - Mike, for you, a guy that's been around here
03:37 since Coach Payne has been in charge,
03:39 have you had to win a road game?
03:40 I guess, what do you see as like,
03:42 I guess, what do you think it's gonna take
03:43 to get over that hump and win on the road,
03:45 and has it been a recurring theme you've seen
03:47 where guys haven't been able to capitalize,
03:49 and I guess, how can they get it done this week?
03:51 - I think we've been close, we've been close a lot of times,
03:54 but just like Paul said, those runs that dude's going,
03:59 we gotta counter those runs, or yeah, counter those runs.
04:05 So they're gonna be hyped to play,
04:08 they're gonna be ready to play,
04:09 came off with two losses, they're a very good team,
04:12 well disciplined team, they're gonna be ready
04:14 to bounce back from the games that they just played,
04:16 so crowd's gonna be into it, they're gonna be looking
04:18 to get out and jump on us, just gotta counter that,
04:22 stay locked in, stay together,
04:24 and then play a whole game together, play a good game.
04:28 - How much are you guys affected by negativity
04:32 surrounding the team, whether it's social media
04:35 or stuff you hear from fans, or you try to
04:38 just stay in your bubble and not worry about that?
04:40 - I don't think we're affected, we're locked in
04:44 with what we got going on, we let everything handle itself,
04:48 but we just gotta go out there and do what we can do,
04:51 play hard for our codes, go out there and try once again.
04:54 - When you talk about the loopholes defensively,
04:58 are there specific areas where, you mentioned
05:01 that was a big focus of practice,
05:02 but are there a couple things you can point out
05:05 as just issues that you need to have corrected soon?
05:09 - I can just say one thing we've been focused on,
05:11 just the lack of effort, just the lack of second effort,
05:14 chance on defense, I can say just to help,
05:17 we even have the bad backside help,
05:20 we've been really keen on that,
05:21 that's been really a main thing we've been working on.
05:24 - I guess, at the start of the game against Kentucky,
05:28 there was, you all had really well,
05:32 I guess, a really good play on defense,
05:35 just how does it change going,
05:38 like as you get further into the game,
05:44 do you just see it as you guys being like a worn down,
05:49 or is it just teams are just scheming it better?
05:54 - Could you say the question again?
06:00 - Yeah, so like when you have those good stretches
06:03 of like playing on defense, is it the case
06:05 of the teams are just scheming you guys better
06:07 and late in the game, or is it that you guys get tired
06:09 or just have breakdowns?
06:12 - I would say, I would say that we kind of have lapses
06:17 through, so you just gotta play a whole game of defense,
06:22 like how you were saying, just try our best
06:26 to play defense that way.
06:28 - Anything else for these guys?
06:32 - Notre Dame hadn't been having a very successful season,
06:35 they just beat Virginia by 20,
06:36 I'm not sure if you watched the video,
06:38 what did they do well that enabled them to do that?
06:41 - They shared the ball, they were locked in defensively,
06:43 they made a lot of shots, but on the defensive end,
06:47 they were locked in the whole 30 seconds
06:50 of the possession, every possession,
06:52 so if we can do that, I think we can do what they did
06:55 and go out there and probably land every play.
06:57 - Does that mean being locked in,
06:58 like not leaving guys on the three point line,
07:00 or not allowing drives, or what's the most important thing?
07:03 - Locked into your matchup, locked into the scheme,
07:05 locked into the scout, I mean, yeah,
07:08 like if you're leaving guys on the three point line,
07:10 that's not locked in, so, you see that.
07:13 - All right, thank you.