Virginia men's basketball players preview the 2022-2023 season at media day.
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00:00Speak a little bit about what the last few months have been like for you since since arriving here
00:04from the trip to Italy to all the preseason stuff. How comfortable are you with your new teammates
00:09and the new system and all that stuff? Yeah it's been a lot of fun. Obviously the trip to Italy was
00:14unbelievable and a really cool experience to be able to get closer with the guys and obviously
00:18play. But those 10 practices we got leading up to that was big for me especially being the new guy
00:24being able to learn the stuff that Coach Bennett is teaching. So the summer was really helpful for
00:28me. I got a lot of workouts in with Isaiah and Johnny. They were really helpful this summer.
00:35But it's been a lot of fun. The season's picking up. I'm really excited to get on the court.
00:40How would you assess where you are with the defense especially right now? You know this
00:44program demands a lot on that end of the floor. How would you feel you're getting up to speed on
00:47that end? Yeah I think I'm definitely obviously have things to improve on. I always will. But
00:54I'm pretty confident in where I'm at. Coach Curtis has helped me out being able to move my
00:58feet better. And then just knowing the game of basketball being able to anticipate things and
01:04the mental side has helped me on the defensive end too. So doing all right.
01:08End up in rotation wise? I don't know actually. You know we're very deep this year. We've got
01:16young talented guys. We've got Ben Vander Plaats as a transfer. And all of the six rotation guys
01:22from last year have also grown a lot along with Tate Murray. So I don't know what to expect.
01:29We'll see. You know he jokes sometimes maybe we'll have to play 12 guys. I don't know how much I
01:34believe that. But we'll see. We'll see what happens. He also joked about maybe doing what
01:37he did where he didn't dress three guys every night like in Italy. I don't think you're going
01:41to do that though. No shot. What are your personal goals for this season just in terms of improving
01:46your game? Just do the best I can for the team. I feel like most of us know what I can do for the
01:53team. Play hard. Play physical and stuff. So just try to do that the best I can. And you know when
01:59I get a ball in the post trying to score. So just try to do the right things at all times. I know
02:04it's always it's hard to do everything 100 percent perfect. But that's what I'm going to try to do
02:08which is help the team every way I can. Obviously you go against Caden a lot in practice. How have
02:13you seen his game develop from from last season? A lot. He got much stronger. That was a little bit
02:19of a weakness of his. And this offseason he put a lot of weight on and he got a lot bigger. And
02:25it's even it's harder for me this year to move him around the post even though I still do it.
02:30But that's definitely what improved the most. You mentioned the grind. I'm assuming a lot of that
02:35has to do with the defensive end. How's it been getting adjusted to you know the standard of
02:38defense that Tony demands? It's been good you know. I mean in high school I would say I definitely
02:44was lacking a little bit when it comes to defense. But coming in here with everybody
02:49and like that's the thing when you come in with a bunch of guys and they're helping you it makes
02:54the defense a little easier you know with grinding for that. What are you most excited for for the
02:58start of the season? Most excited? I'm most excited to see JPJ with people. I've been here for
03:04for months and you know the scrimmage was a little taste of it but I heard it was like 4,000 but I
03:09heard 4,000 is pretty light. So I'm ready to see on Monday JPJ with with people filling the
03:15filling seats. Let's just talk a little bit about how it has been the last few months being here
03:20getting up to speed with the college game and just being coached by Tony Benton and the staff.
03:24Yeah it's been awesome. Definitely a big adjustment coming from high school over to
03:28the ACC level obviously. Getting coached by such a great coach and great guy has been a blessing
03:33too because I get to learn from him every single day you know on the court and off the floor too.
03:37I think that's been most beneficial for me. And talk about the defense so far how's it been you
03:43know getting adjusted to pack line and and just the expectations of being able to play defense
03:48here. Yeah that's also been a big adjustment too. It's definitely taken some time since I got here.
03:52At first I was very behind and I think I'm still a little behind but getting better and improving
03:56every day so that's what I that's what I care about most. They don't take a back seat to anybody
04:03you know they're confident they're really skilled players they put in the work you know and I think
04:10defensively obviously it's just a learning curve for everybody who comes in here first and
04:15I don't think they realize it how hard it can be and how demanding it can be from Coach Bennett
04:21but after you know a couple reps in practice and just over the days I think
04:25you kind of just get the hang of it and they've been doing a really good job so far.
04:30As for expectations do you think that this year's team is capable of winning the ACC?
04:35Yeah I think so I think with the experience we have and steps we've taken this summer I think
04:41we can do it. So you were second in ACC defensive player of the year voting last year is that
04:45something that like you want this year is that something you pay attention to? Not much I mean
04:50it was kind of you know I did kind of you know just working the whole year for that just having
04:55that kind of in the back of my head yeah you know you might get it but it wasn't really like
04:59a oh if I don't get it I'm upset because I don't know I do whatever my team wants me to do so
05:05I feel like you know it's definitely there the kind of motivation for next year just to you know
05:09improve my defense even more than last year so it'll definitely be in the back of my mind.
05:14You mentioned you know the confidence you build at the end of the season obviously been working
05:18on your shot a lot this summer talk a little bit about you know change things how confident you
05:23are feeling in your shot coming into the season? The biggest thing for me is changing my mindset
05:28I think that I was worried about you know missing and then things like that just gets in your mind
05:33and you hear about percentages and whatnot so I don't let none of that you know get to me anymore
05:37I play with a certain level of confidence you have to you know be successful. Did you work with
05:42Justin Anderson this offseason how was that? That was a good time I was out there for about a week
05:47working with him there was just a lot of basketball and just being able to see how
05:51pros work and being around certain different type of players and then just also working on my game
05:56is just fun. I expected to have a deeper roster this year with the four freshmen coming in and
06:01Ben Vander Plaats how's it been kind of gelling with those new guys but then the competition
06:05in practice too? Yeah it's been great obviously all five of them are great additions everyone's
06:09super talented so yeah made everything a lot more competitive which I think has been really healthy
06:14and yeah I think everyone everyone's obviously excited to see how they help us ultimately win.
06:19Yeah and then for this season what are your personal goals for kind of improving your game
06:24what are the spots that you really want to hone in on this season? Yeah I think first just
06:28defensively continuing to grow defensively and just creating a bigger role offensively as well
06:34probably looking for my shot more and just doing kind of whatever the team needs in the moment.
06:39And then on the defensive end how's it been kind of getting up to speed with
06:4220-minute system obviously demands a lot on the defensive end how's that been so far? Yeah no
06:46doubt we take it serious in practice and you know I've just been in here every day working on my
06:50defense trying to be the best I can be and as I said for offense it's good to go against a recent
06:54PA but they're really quick really smart on the offensive end so it's good for me to guard them
06:59every day and I think ever since I stepped on grounds I've become a better defender every
07:02single day I'm just going to continue to get better and hopefully I can get some minutes and
07:06you know shoot the ball play defense do whatever. So how much are you looking forward to that first
07:10game and seeing the crowd here? Man I can't wait I've been to a few games you know we always sit
07:14right there and watch the games and it's unreal watching the games from over there I can't imagine
07:17how it is playing in front of 16,000 so I'm really excited and I think we should have a really good
07:21team so I'm excited to get the year going. You mentioned you know this freshman class you guys
07:25are very highly ranked coming in what do you think you know the potential is for you and your fellow
07:30freshmen just over the course of your careers here? I think it's pretty high you know we're
07:34all talented just different ways and special ways it's going to be exciting once we start learning
07:39how to play close bennett we just get to know how to play it would be great. And what are you
07:44most looking forward to this season? Just seeing all the fans here the first game first couple
07:48games especially ACC play I heard it's packed so I'm excited for that just to be able to have fun.