Our presser opened with some uncut thoughts on the ABC broadcast by Damon Stoudamire that echoed a lot of the comments on here. He was not pleased with how the broadcast team talked about Georgia Tech football.
On to hoops, Stoudamire said that they are getting back to work after the Cincinnati and he is extremely excited about the Miss State game that is in the top 25 and they have some great opportunities.
Stoudamire said this is still a process and they are always teaching and the players are still learning different styles of coaching and different methods than they are used to and each day he wants to see them get better. He is seeing the team pick things up and he thinks their best basketball is ahead of them this year. He explained to the team and to the media today he had a lot of games like the Cincy game in the pros when he was on good teams. He lost to the Indiana Paces by 63 and the Cleveland Cavilers by 59 on very good Portland TrailBlazers teams and whether it is a one-point loss or a 30-point loss it is still a loss. It counts one time as a loss. You move forward and put it behind you. He said instilling that psyche with the team is an important part of the process. He said right now he is trying to set up the effort and energy piece of things and that is the rallying cry for the program. You can teach other things, but energy and effort are things the players control. He said they have to be very physical against Miss State when the shot goes up and know where the shooters are on the court and not let bad plays turn into hangovers on the other end of the court. He thinks those hangover plays have been the Achilles' heel for the team so far.
I asked him how he thought Baye Ndongo did in his first game and Damon said because it was a hand injury he pushed him into the lineup more quickly with very little practice because his stamina and legs were good and he expected some turnovers and mistakes, but he thought he played well. He said that he is very excited about Baye and that he can do some things on the court you don't see and that is big. He right now is trying to slow him down a little on the court because he is being a little impatient and not letting the game come to him yet. He looks forward to seeing his growth.
He said Baye plays with a lot of energy and does a lot of great things on the floor and he doesn't want to put a ton of pressure on him, but he thinks he looked like the best player on the floor at times in his first game and his ceiling is very high. He plays with energy and that is contagious for the team.
Stoudamire said he does not have an update on Lance Terry's status. He said Lance really wants to be out there and hopefully he will be back soon, but he doesn't have a timetable yet. He said he doesn't want a nic-nac injury to turn into a season long thing.
Stoudamire said that Tafara Gapare was cleared today to practice and he is back after an undisclosed injury and he is excited to have him back tomorrow.
Stoudamire said this stretch of games is definitely one guys' circle on their calendar, but they haven't talked about it collectively other than the Miss State game. He said that State teams take on Chris Jans' identity and are very scrappy and very tough mentally. He said that he has followed Jans' career from a distance and is very impressed with how he coaches.
Stoudamire said they need to share the ball more and that will improve the shooting, they went from 20 assists to 17 to 11 to like 6 or 7 in the Cincinnati game and they won't win doing that. He said the positive was they hit FTs in the Cincy game but they they've got to share the ball to win.
Kowacie Reeves was the player we got today and he has played Miss State before when he was at Florida and he said they are very physical and always connected on the floor. He said it will be a good challenge for GT to play against them.
Reeves on the takeaways from the loss to Cincy, "you want to kind of flush it but you also wanted to pick pieces and learn from it. I think that we can get better in certain areas that we noticed on film."
Reeves said they need to take care of the ball better than they have been doing so far this year and that will help jumpstart the offense. They have too many live ball turnovers and that is limiting their possession and causing them to have fewer shot opportunities.
Reeves said they need to do a better job at the start of games of matching the opposing team's intensity.
Reeves said the coaches have been focusing on being more physical and limiting turnovers in practice and they started well against Cincy and then didn't keep it up for 40 minutes
Reeves said guys are starting to settle into their roles on the team and the big thing is guys need to do what their role is not and try to do too much.
On to hoops, Stoudamire said that they are getting back to work after the Cincinnati and he is extremely excited about the Miss State game that is in the top 25 and they have some great opportunities.
Stoudamire said this is still a process and they are always teaching and the players are still learning different styles of coaching and different methods than they are used to and each day he wants to see them get better. He is seeing the team pick things up and he thinks their best basketball is ahead of them this year. He explained to the team and to the media today he had a lot of games like the Cincy game in the pros when he was on good teams. He lost to the Indiana Paces by 63 and the Cleveland Cavilers by 59 on very good Portland TrailBlazers teams and whether it is a one-point loss or a 30-point loss it is still a loss. It counts one time as a loss. You move forward and put it behind you. He said instilling that psyche with the team is an important part of the process. He said right now he is trying to set up the effort and energy piece of things and that is the rallying cry for the program. You can teach other things, but energy and effort are things the players control. He said they have to be very physical against Miss State when the shot goes up and know where the shooters are on the court and not let bad plays turn into hangovers on the other end of the court. He thinks those hangover plays have been the Achilles' heel for the team so far.
I asked him how he thought Baye Ndongo did in his first game and Damon said because it was a hand injury he pushed him into the lineup more quickly with very little practice because his stamina and legs were good and he expected some turnovers and mistakes, but he thought he played well. He said that he is very excited about Baye and that he can do some things on the court you don't see and that is big. He right now is trying to slow him down a little on the court because he is being a little impatient and not letting the game come to him yet. He looks forward to seeing his growth.
He said Baye plays with a lot of energy and does a lot of great things on the floor and he doesn't want to put a ton of pressure on him, but he thinks he looked like the best player on the floor at times in his first game and his ceiling is very high. He plays with energy and that is contagious for the team.
Stoudamire said he does not have an update on Lance Terry's status. He said Lance really wants to be out there and hopefully he will be back soon, but he doesn't have a timetable yet. He said he doesn't want a nic-nac injury to turn into a season long thing.
Stoudamire said that Tafara Gapare was cleared today to practice and he is back after an undisclosed injury and he is excited to have him back tomorrow.
Stoudamire said this stretch of games is definitely one guys' circle on their calendar, but they haven't talked about it collectively other than the Miss State game. He said that State teams take on Chris Jans' identity and are very scrappy and very tough mentally. He said that he has followed Jans' career from a distance and is very impressed with how he coaches.
Stoudamire said they need to share the ball more and that will improve the shooting, they went from 20 assists to 17 to 11 to like 6 or 7 in the Cincinnati game and they won't win doing that. He said the positive was they hit FTs in the Cincy game but they they've got to share the ball to win.
Kowacie Reeves was the player we got today and he has played Miss State before when he was at Florida and he said they are very physical and always connected on the floor. He said it will be a good challenge for GT to play against them.
Reeves on the takeaways from the loss to Cincy, "you want to kind of flush it but you also wanted to pick pieces and learn from it. I think that we can get better in certain areas that we noticed on film."
Reeves said they need to take care of the ball better than they have been doing so far this year and that will help jumpstart the offense. They have too many live ball turnovers and that is limiting their possession and causing them to have fewer shot opportunities.
Reeves said they need to do a better job at the start of games of matching the opposing team's intensity.
Reeves said the coaches have been focusing on being more physical and limiting turnovers in practice and they started well against Cincy and then didn't keep it up for 40 minutes
Reeves said guys are starting to settle into their roles on the team and the big thing is guys need to do what their role is not and try to do too much.
