I had a chance to talk to Pastner exclusively as well as in a group interview format. There are two videos coming from that once I get back to Atlanta as the wifi is dodgy here in the Westin Charlotte. I also spoke with Rodney Howard and Kyle Sturdivant one-on-one as well.
Rodney said they are no longer locked in on a big man coach and all three assistants and Pastner work with each group and they are changing how they practice a good bit as well. He said he has really enjoyed that. They are still using the Princeton system a good bit and he has improved a lot with his part in that, but he said they won't run it through the elbow as much and the team is going to run a lot more and play in transition more. Howard said he feels like he is building on how he ended the season in his offseason work.
Kyle said he has been learning yoga to improve his flexibility and stamina, he said he ran out of gas some last year when he had to play more when Deivon Smith was out with his concussion and he needed to play better and be able to play longer minutes.
Kyle said they really like the new guys Ja'von Franklin and Lance Terry. He said that people are sleeping on Terry a little bit and he will be a nice piece for this team as a guard this year and that Franklin is crazy athletic.
Both players spoke really highly of Jalon Moore and his development. They said he has really leveled up this offseason and they think he will be a major contributor in the near future. Pastner said Jalon has a chance to be as good as Moses Wright.
Pastner has been advocating an expansion of the NCAAT to 128 teams and he thinks that will help amp up interest in college basketball. He made a strong point about how the ACC almost ended up with just 3 teams in the NCAAT last year had VaTech won the auto-bid and another team could've pushed another ACC team off the bubble and then the ACC killed everyone in the NCAAT but because the ACC struggled in December, he said people viewed the league as down instead of having parity.
Pastner said they've opted to hold a scholarship #13 this season. He said it is hard to play that many guys and with the some guys having flex covid years like Terry, Sturdivant and Howard he likes having one to carry over. Franklin is the only guy out of eligibility on the entire roster after this year.
I asked Pastner about Cyril Martynov and he said he may end up playing this year before it is all said and done. He is a guy who will level-up next year because he needs a lot of work in S&C but he thinks he will be a player down the line.
Pastner said he has posters up in the facilities that say "the team is the star", he expects to have balanced scoring every night with some guys flashing here and there, but he does not want the team to play like they did with Mike Devoe and Jordan Usher were guys passed up good shots and opportunities to feed those two guys. He said he is really emphasizing that this year and he wants guys like Deebo Coleman and Miles Kelly to be more aggressive.
Pastner said that Deivon Smith had turned the corner before his concussion and that really set them back late in the year, but he has really been working hard and they are excited about him.
Tristan Maxwell who I get asked about most, Josh said he is doing all the right things and he knows what he has to do to play and stay in the rotation, but he has been handling his business so far.
Jordan Meka has worked hard and he learned a lot from his playing time last year, they are still working on his offensive game, but they feel like he can be a solid piece as a backup big man to Rodney Howard.
Franklin is really blue-collar and grinds hard, they like his game and he should help with rebounding.
Pastner hinted they will get away from the zone some this year and that the zone hurt them with rebounding and instead they'll play more man-to-man and use the zone as a changeup rather than their fastball in baseball terms. He said he wants to push tempo because this team can run so well.
Pastner said all three true freshmen who played last year are really developing well, Deebo, Miles and Jalon and that experience helped them and folks will see major improvement from all three.
Pastner said the offense has been a little ahead of the defense so far so earlier this week they spent 2 hours playing just defense and then a little shooting at the end to set the tone and expectation.
Pastner admitted he likes a 6-7 man rotation max, but they are going to be more like 9 this year because of the way the roster is built. He said they have enough talent to play that many guys and there is not huge separation that would lead to narrowing it down more than that either.
Pastner said that Freds Bagatskis can shoot the lights out of the ball, he just has never picked up a weight Pastner joked. They think he will develop into a good player eventually.
I asked Pastner about calling season ticket holders and he said if his bosses asked him to sweep the gym he would do that too. He is a team player and will do whatever it takes so they had a couple of people on the fence so he was happy to call and talk to them and ask for them to renew their tickets.
There will be more later, but I'm trying to hit the road ahead of rush hour!
Rodney said they are no longer locked in on a big man coach and all three assistants and Pastner work with each group and they are changing how they practice a good bit as well. He said he has really enjoyed that. They are still using the Princeton system a good bit and he has improved a lot with his part in that, but he said they won't run it through the elbow as much and the team is going to run a lot more and play in transition more. Howard said he feels like he is building on how he ended the season in his offseason work.
Kyle said he has been learning yoga to improve his flexibility and stamina, he said he ran out of gas some last year when he had to play more when Deivon Smith was out with his concussion and he needed to play better and be able to play longer minutes.
Kyle said they really like the new guys Ja'von Franklin and Lance Terry. He said that people are sleeping on Terry a little bit and he will be a nice piece for this team as a guard this year and that Franklin is crazy athletic.
Both players spoke really highly of Jalon Moore and his development. They said he has really leveled up this offseason and they think he will be a major contributor in the near future. Pastner said Jalon has a chance to be as good as Moses Wright.
Pastner has been advocating an expansion of the NCAAT to 128 teams and he thinks that will help amp up interest in college basketball. He made a strong point about how the ACC almost ended up with just 3 teams in the NCAAT last year had VaTech won the auto-bid and another team could've pushed another ACC team off the bubble and then the ACC killed everyone in the NCAAT but because the ACC struggled in December, he said people viewed the league as down instead of having parity.
Pastner said they've opted to hold a scholarship #13 this season. He said it is hard to play that many guys and with the some guys having flex covid years like Terry, Sturdivant and Howard he likes having one to carry over. Franklin is the only guy out of eligibility on the entire roster after this year.
I asked Pastner about Cyril Martynov and he said he may end up playing this year before it is all said and done. He is a guy who will level-up next year because he needs a lot of work in S&C but he thinks he will be a player down the line.
Pastner said he has posters up in the facilities that say "the team is the star", he expects to have balanced scoring every night with some guys flashing here and there, but he does not want the team to play like they did with Mike Devoe and Jordan Usher were guys passed up good shots and opportunities to feed those two guys. He said he is really emphasizing that this year and he wants guys like Deebo Coleman and Miles Kelly to be more aggressive.
Pastner said that Deivon Smith had turned the corner before his concussion and that really set them back late in the year, but he has really been working hard and they are excited about him.
Tristan Maxwell who I get asked about most, Josh said he is doing all the right things and he knows what he has to do to play and stay in the rotation, but he has been handling his business so far.
Jordan Meka has worked hard and he learned a lot from his playing time last year, they are still working on his offensive game, but they feel like he can be a solid piece as a backup big man to Rodney Howard.
Franklin is really blue-collar and grinds hard, they like his game and he should help with rebounding.
Pastner hinted they will get away from the zone some this year and that the zone hurt them with rebounding and instead they'll play more man-to-man and use the zone as a changeup rather than their fastball in baseball terms. He said he wants to push tempo because this team can run so well.
Pastner said all three true freshmen who played last year are really developing well, Deebo, Miles and Jalon and that experience helped them and folks will see major improvement from all three.
Pastner said the offense has been a little ahead of the defense so far so earlier this week they spent 2 hours playing just defense and then a little shooting at the end to set the tone and expectation.
Pastner admitted he likes a 6-7 man rotation max, but they are going to be more like 9 this year because of the way the roster is built. He said they have enough talent to play that many guys and there is not huge separation that would lead to narrowing it down more than that either.
Pastner said that Freds Bagatskis can shoot the lights out of the ball, he just has never picked up a weight Pastner joked. They think he will develop into a good player eventually.
I asked Pastner about calling season ticket holders and he said if his bosses asked him to sweep the gym he would do that too. He is a team player and will do whatever it takes so they had a couple of people on the fence so he was happy to call and talk to them and ask for them to renew their tickets.
There will be more later, but I'm trying to hit the road ahead of rush hour!
