Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00 >> In the back.
00:01 >> Wait two seconds.
00:02 >> Yeah, in there.
00:03 [BLANK_AUDIO]
00:07 >> Before we get started, obviously I know there may be other questions about
00:10 Dennis Evans.
00:11 And I'll understand fully, you all might want more details, but
00:15 please understand out of respect, Dennis and the family, the coach and I,
00:18 the program, won't be able to add any other details beyond the statement we
00:22 released last night.
00:23 >> Okay.
00:24 >> That will open up for questions.
00:27 >> About Dennis, I know he hadn't played much recently, but
00:31 what's the impact of losing him on the team?
00:35 And then also an update on JJ and Trey.
00:39 >> Obviously, love Dennis, but out of respect for his privacy,
00:45 can't really elaborate a lot on it, but really, really love the kid.
00:50 And as far as JJ and Trey, day to day, Emmanuel, day to day,
00:57 hoping they come back, the next 24 hours are crucial.
01:04 So we're working really hard to get them healthy to where they can give us a lift.
01:09 >> Kenny, what have you missed with JJ being out?
01:13 >> Great question.
01:15 It's funny that you ask the question now.
01:19 But anytime you miss a guy that's been in this program three or four years,
01:25 he brings experience.
01:27 He brings knowledge of what's going on against other teams and
01:32 also what's going on with this team.
01:35 He averages 10 points, five rebounds, but there were games where he was better than
01:40 that.
01:40 His influence on this team is vital to this team.
01:45 And we've been going to war without him,
01:47 hoping and praying that he comes back sooner than later.
01:49 Glad to see him get to the point where he can do stuff on the floor, work out.
01:56 And hopefully, he gives us a spark when he does come back.
02:00 >> Kenny, just going back to Dennis really quickly,
02:05 it seems like to everyone here on the team, I really love being around him and
02:08 that he was just, I love being here as well.
02:11 If you could just give us just a bit of information about how the team took
02:15 the news that he's not gonna be cleared to play here anymore.
02:18 >> Again, I have to understand your question,
02:25 but I gotta respect Dennis and his privacy.
02:28 Obviously, if I'm saying I love Dennis,
02:32 you can imagine what his teammates feel about Dennis.
02:35 So that's the extent of what we're gonna say about it.
02:39 >> Kenny, you've talked about the margin for error being small with this team,
02:44 with the group.
02:44 When you get one injury, it's one thing, two, three, four, it leads up.
02:48 How have the other guys mentally, how have you dealt with that with those guys?
02:52 Cuz you put more on other guys when you don't have them.
02:56 >> I try to have a philosophy of next man up.
02:58 We're playing very good teams.
03:02 And to be honest with you, I need dudes to max out.
03:06 I need dudes to have special nights to lift their team up,
03:12 not just to be average or just good enough.
03:17 You have to, in certain cases, you have to dominate your position, and
03:20 I always say, and one more.
03:21 So dominate your position, and now play another one for the next man.
03:27 It's unfortunate, but it's what the game is.
03:31 Injuries are a part of this game, and that's why you have a roster, and
03:36 the next player gotta stand up and produce.
03:40 >> What do you think of Jovanovic's performance the other night, and
03:43 also your thoughts on he and of course, we're going forward now.
03:46 >> I thought, my first thing how I would answer that is I asked D-Lo,
03:53 how do you feel you played?
03:54 Are you better than what you played?
03:56 KP, I'm a lot better than what I played.
03:58 Okay, I believe that.
04:00 You did some good things, but you also defensively had some lapses.
04:05 We need to cure that up.
04:06 We need to shear that up.
04:07 We need to make sure that you're on the floor,
04:09 you understand what your role is, what your job is, and
04:13 you play with confidence, and you play comfortably.
04:16 Emmanuel the same.
04:17 I need Emmanuel to come in and rebound, bring the physicality to the game.
04:21 And we need his size.
04:25 A lot of times in the Virginia game, you look at it, we're inside position.
04:30 And because they're bigger, they come up with the ball.
04:32 >> Kenny, with some of the things that have happened,
04:37 that are kind of out of your control, like with Dennis's situation.
04:41 Do you ever feel like snake bit?
04:44 Do you ever just come in like it's Murphy's Law and
04:47 like you seem to stay positive, but how?
04:51 How?
04:52 >> Good question.
04:55 To be honest with you, I think you have to believe in what you're doing.
05:00 And you have to know that the kids are capable of doing what you're asking them
05:05 to do.
05:07 Obviously, there are gonna be things out of your control that's gonna happen.
05:10 That's called life.
05:11 And what I'm trying to teach to young people is life.
05:16 We're masquerading it as basketball, but it's really life.
05:19 There are things that are not gonna fall your way at times.
05:24 In the old days, I say the old days, but
05:27 I grew up believing that nothing ever happens great first.
05:33 We're building a program brick by brick.
05:36 So there's gonna be some rocky roads.
05:40 I'm good with that.
05:40 There are gonna be rocky days.
05:42 I'm good with that.
05:43 How do we respond to it?
05:45 How do we fight through it?
05:46 How do we keep believing in what we're doing?
05:49 That's the most important thing for me.
05:51 Hopefully that answers the question.
05:53 >> I guess Kenny, I was gonna ask that, but I guess in terms of a follow,
05:56 has there been times at all this season where it's maybe been tougher than last
06:00 year, especially because you recruited some of these guys in and
06:03 just the ebbs and flows that's come with it?
06:05 >> Hard to say that if it's been tougher than last year.
06:10 For me, it's been about day by day figuring out
06:14 how do I get them to understand winning basketball?
06:19 Day by day, we're a very young team.
06:21 How do I get them to understand what this program is,
06:25 what it's been traditionally?
06:28 How do I get them to understand that how vital they are to each other?
06:34 Guys, I can't overstate that.
06:35 One player, two players can't do this alone.
06:40 It's gonna take every single guy that has a jersey on his back to come in and
06:47 give us something every single day, give us something positive.
06:51 And for the younger guys, for them to learn, they're getting a vital,
06:55 vital education on college basketball at a high level.
07:00 And they have to learn on the fly, and they have to come in every day and
07:05 digest what they're learning and try to get better at it every day.
07:09 >> Kenny, as far as your matchup with Pitt tomorrow,
07:12 both of you guys looking for your first win in ACC play.
07:15 They play pretty efficient defensively, and
07:17 your offense hasn't quite put it together yet.
07:19 So what does the preparation look like for a matchup like this?
07:22 >> Well, first of all, you hit it on the head.
07:24 We both need wins bad.
07:26 They're a unique team in the fact that they're gonna shoot right at 33s a game,
07:33 probably try to get 30.
07:35 They're very good in isolation ball, they're very good in transition.
07:38 They make nine 9-3s a game.
07:42 They average 15 assists a game.
07:45 They're a good team.
07:46 They're a well-coached team and they fight.
07:48 They're scrappy.
07:50 We have to match their energy.
07:51 We have to surpass their energy if we wanna win.
07:54 It's not gonna be easy, but we're capable of beating them.
07:57 >> Kenny, kind of to follow up on how the players are mentally taking the losses to
08:03 the roster, as well as the building losses.
08:06 You bring up a lot of questions about how are they,
08:10 do they understand the magnitude of what's in front of them?
08:13 Are you starting to get some of those answers?
08:14 Are you seeing guys kind of like, okay, the light bulb may be going on, or
08:17 you think there's still a lot to be learned?
08:20 >> Well, when you look at the way that we look at it as a staff,
08:25 we break down the games.
08:27 And when you break down a game and you see, okay,
08:31 you take the emotions out of what you just experienced the game, right?
08:35 So the game is over and you got what you thought the game was.
08:39 So for example, Virginia,
08:42 initially I thought we played pretty good basketball for 12 minutes.
08:47 But when I went through the game and looked at it, it was more like 15,
08:51 16 minutes that we were pretty decent.
08:54 Well, what happened?
08:56 Over a two or three minute period, it went from eight to ten to 17.
09:00 Why did that happen?
09:03 And you show them why it happened.
09:04 Most of the time it's a common thing.
09:08 Turnovers, bad shots, lack of defensive intensity or attention to detail.
09:13 Or rebound.
09:16 So we have to sure up those things and
09:18 hopefully we can lessen that moment of a bad spell.
09:23 Instead of three minutes, maybe it's two bad plays instead of five.
09:26 And learn from that because those momentum changes,
09:31 if they're that big, it's hard to recover.
09:34 >> Kenny, I imagine in October you thought this team would be a lot deeper
09:39 than kind of how everything has worked out.
09:42 Do you have to live with mistakes now because you don't have maybe some of that
09:47 luxury now?
09:48 >> Good question.
09:50 I try not to live with the mistakes.
09:52 I address them.
09:54 But the reality of it is when you're so short handed,
09:59 you have to find a different way to bench isn't always the motivating factor.
10:05 And that's how we deal with it.
10:06 >> Yeah, just going back to the defense,
10:10 it seems like Wednesday that there was a lot of trouble closing out on threes.
10:14 And you spoke to Pitt taking about 30 a game.
10:17 Just how much of it, just how much you are stressing that of heading into this game
10:21 is trying to get guys to close out with just having more intensity in that aspect.
10:26 >> We have to contest shots.
10:28 We have to keep the ball in front.
10:30 We can't give them open threes.
10:32 But the end part of that, the finished product of that is finished possession.
10:40 If a team is shooting 33s, there are gonna be long rebounds.
10:43 That mean guards have to come back in and all five have to rebound.
10:47 It can't be just two or three big guys.
10:49 It has to be all five.
10:50 Guards and wings have to crash the glass and we gotta get out and run.
10:54 >> Yeah, I was gonna ask you about Pitt's rebounding.
10:58 Lead the league in rebounding.
10:59 What do they do that sets them apart, do you think?
11:04 >> Well, offensive rebounding, from what I've seen so
11:07 far in the three games that I watched, consistently,
11:12 they have two or three guys that go to the glass every single possession.
11:17 And they go hard.
11:18 So that creates a situation where you cannot ever ball watch.
11:25 So the ball goes up, they shoot it, and you go to look up at the ball,
11:29 somebody's crashing.
11:31 You have to go find a body.
11:34 And if we can do that, and if we can do that consistently,
11:37 we got a fighting chance.
11:39 We have, rebounding will be a major key to the win of this game.
11:42 >> Can he, as the bench gets shorter, Caleb's minutes have gotten more.
11:48 I don't know that you thought that at the beginning of the year,
11:50 you kind of maybe trying to bring him along.
11:52 What has he done good and what does he still need to kind of work on now that
11:56 he's probably gonna be getting more as the year goes on?
11:59 >> Well, he's learning on the fly.
12:02 The thing that we know that he does well is rebound.
12:05 We need him to be a little sharper and
12:09 know exactly what we're doing on the offensive end.
12:12 The unfortunate situation is, now we are playing him at some five,
12:19 and he's 6'5", 6'6".
12:21 So he has to make that adjustment.
12:25 Like I say all the time when I tell you guys, I wish I had seven Mike James.
12:30 Mike James does not care what position he's playing.
12:32 He just wants to be on the floor, help his team win.
12:35 Caleb now is having to be in that role.
12:38 And he has to come in and help us with energy, fight, defense, and
12:41 rebounding the ball.
12:42 >> Kenny, some of the issues you described sounded a little similar to
12:48 the ones from last year in terms of the fight, things of that nature.
12:51 How do you think you and the staff try to adjust, or how much do you talk about
12:54 adjusting whatever it is you're doing to better connect with them and
12:58 get that message across?
13:00 >> Well, it's constant.
13:01 Again, you're talking about, again, a very young team, first time being together.
13:06 And the reality of it is, they don't all the time play hard.
13:14 And we need them to continue to fight harder and play better for longer stretches.
13:20 When we do, we're competitive.
13:23 When we don't, teams separate from us.
13:26 We show them on film, we talk about it.
13:28 We do a bunch of stuff individually, sitting down with players.
13:32 We do it in groups.
13:33 Everything that we can do as a staff and as a coach, as a mentor,
13:39 we try to address it.
13:41 We do not ever wanna leave anything unsaid that needs to be said.
13:48 Because the reality of it is, if we can get them to get over the hump,
13:53 then maybe they never look back at it, if that makes sense.
13:57 Once you get it, grab it, you never look back at what happened before.
14:01 You got it, you move on, and you're a better player for it, and
14:04 we're a better team.
14:06 >> One more, guys.
14:07 >> Yeah, you said after the game Wednesday that Brandon provided some instant
14:12 offense, but it seemed like he didn't get enough touches there for
14:15 stretches of the game.
14:16 When you look back at the film, just are there ways to do better of just
14:21 making sure he gets a ball in the post, or is that something that you're dealing with
14:25 because of the matchup against Virginia and just the way that they play defense?
14:28 >> Well, Virginia did something that's the ultimate form of respect, and
14:33 they trapped him every single time, pretty much, he caught it in the post.
14:37 And so he created opportunities for us.
14:40 The other thing that he did that was very good that we should have capitalized on
14:46 more, obviously, throwing it to the post, they trap him, he dribbles out,
14:50 we find open people on the other side.
14:52 But also in ball screens, they hard showed, and he popped out and
14:55 he caught the ball on the perimeter, and he made passes out of that.
14:59 That's the sign of a growing young player, or
15:03 a growing player that's not just a post player.
15:07 Brandon is unique in the fact that he can really pass the ball,
15:11 he can put it on the floor, and he's been in college three years.
15:16 So he has experience now, and we're seeing the beginning stages of him
15:20 blossoming into the player that we need him to be.
15:23 >> All right, thank you all.