Pour one out for the final ACC coaches' teleconference of 2014-15
Opening Statement
We're coming off a good road victory, and I was real impressed after watching the tape. We played a great team game. Moved the basketball really well, shot a high percentage, took high percentage shots, and played good defense. We're going into a home stand now with two top 10 teams, and certainly we're going to have to play well to beat either one of those teams.
On comparing the defenses of Virginia and Kentucky
Well they're very different. They're both outstanding obviously, but their defensive schemes are very different. Kentucky will get up on you, they'll switch a lot, and then they'll send their shot-blockers to go protect the rim. Virginia doesn't have that type of shot-blocking capability. They rely on five people playing the basketball, rotating properly, and making it difficult to get anything in the paint. So they're very different, but they both excel in achieving what they're trying to accomplish.
Why Louisville and Notre Dame have had so many overtime games
You know it's just been great basketball games. It's always been from five overtimes to just great, great games. One of the things about Notre Dame is that when they trail, they're never out of it because their three-point shot is such a great happen. They pass, cut, and they shoot it so well, so you're never out of the game. If you want a victory against them you have to play all 40 minutes, and then some more sometimes with the overtimes. It's just one of those great rivalries where every game is exciting, a lot of anxious moments, and certainly we've always enjoyed playing there as well as home against them.
On lessons Quentin Snider learned on Saturday
Well he keeps picking up his dribble, and point guards can't do that. He's got to learn to do what Peyton Siva did -- when he goes in the lane if he doesn't have anything to continue dribbling back out. Or then to learn what Chris Jones learned -- to pivot if you pick it up. One time he got trapped at halfcourt right before the half, and he could have just pivoted and thrown a bounce pass and run the clock out. Instead he floated the ball, as well as Chinanu did that.
He has to learn how to run a pick-and-roll better, because he goes wide and he doesn't run his man off. That's something all freshmen have to learn. And then he has to learn when he gets into the lane, if he doesn't have anything, he's got to learn to create something by dribbling it back out, as well as pivoting when he gets into pressure so he can fight off the defense. Ninety percent of the time when you get trapped you should throw a bounce pass, but you never float a ball like he did in the game.
On scoring in college basketball
Obviously there is a problem. I was involved in a committee to improve scoring in the NBA, and the only thing that changed anything was calling the game tighter, getting the defense off the players, and allowing for less physicality. I think in the college game it's a little bit different. I think the shot clock allows for the scoring to be a bit lower. I think they'll finally change that this year.
That's one factor, the other factor is that defenses are so good that they don't give you the lane, they don't let you get into the paint, and what happens is basically you're not getting in the paint and shooting has gone down. More than any other period in my 40 years of coaching, I haven't seen this type of shooting in the last year or two. Where it used to be you had three great shooters on the court at once, now if you have one, you're lucky. And the teams that have four are the ones that really excel. So I think the shooting has really gone down.
I think the shot selection has gone down -- for instance when we take a challenged shot, we are less than 11 percent this year. Normally we're less than 20 percent, now we're less than 11. So I think it's shot selection, the shooting ability of players, the shot clock, and then of course the defense is absolutely outstanding.
On the importance of seeding in the ACC Tournament
Well, we've won the Big East when we've had to play four games, and we've won it where we had to play three. So I've seen both, but I would much rather have the double bye going into this situation than anything else. We realize that we're ahead of North Carolina right now, but we also have to play Notre Dame and Virginia.
I think it's important, but I don't think it's earth-shattering for either one of us. It's probably going to help us with seeds if we can get the double bye. But I think we're looking at anywhere from a 3-5 seed, both of us, depending on who gets hot at the end of the year.
