Josh Pastner spoke to the media on Thursday ahead of the Jackets' strip to Boston. The team will remain on the road until the season ends (assuming they lose in the ACCT) at this point as they will go to Greensboro from Boston.
Pastner said the Syracuse game was a near perfect performance and he wishes they could bottle that, the school game record for threes, the career-high games for Miles Kelly and Kyle Sturdivant scoring, the triple-double for Ja'von Franklin and a career-high 8 assists for Deebo Coleman
"We were at the depths of the ocean at one point this year and we resurfaced for air. That is not easy to do," Pastner said of his team breaking out of the swoon post-Miami to the Duke game. "It is hard when you've hit the depths of it and you are trying to swim up to get some air. I'm really proud of our guys."
Pastner said that BC has come on and Earl Grant has done a great job. He said that Quinten Post (16 ppg, 6 rpg) their center was one of the guys he tried to recruit out of HS and he left his family on vacation in Florida to be in Atlanta for his official visit and it didn't help and he went to Miss State instead. He said he is really good and they really wanted him and it showed in recruiting you never know because he is played very little at Miss State, but their evaluation was correct that he could play at a high level it just didn't happen until the last two years at BC. BC has good guards and they've won big games. They will have to be very good to beat them.
Pastner said coming out the half he has had the S&C coach Eddie Dimas work with foam rollers, stretching and theraguns to get guys loose faster out of the half because they struggled out of the half in January, they talked about adjusting time at the half and trying everything to start faster, so this has worked to this point to keep guys warm to keep momentum up.
Pastner said they've done more 5v5 practices in practice lately, they did a lot of examining and they did more halfcourt drill breakdowns in practice, less about the opponent and more 5v5 and getting up and down.
Pastner on Deebo Coleman's value, Deebo is an integral part of what they doing. If you told him they scored 96 points and he had just 8 points and was 2-11 from three, he wouldn't believe it. He took a huge charge in transition and played great defense and he has been very unselfish. He said even when guys struggle they've had shots to win games like Deebo and Lance Terry combining for just 3 points in the Pitt game, they had a chance to win despite that. It shows the team has gotten better even when one of the best guys is off shooting or scoring and it shows Deebo's value making winning plays that maybe don't show in the box score. It doesn't always have to be about points, he will score at times, but he is making winning plays and that has helped change who GT is.
Pastner said he was tough on Deebo to be a tough hard-nosed guy who has to win 50/50 plays.
Pastner said that Kyle is playing the best he has in his life and he has been one of the better guards in college basketball the last few weeks. Some of it is about getting older and they've developed him and Coach Anthony Wilkins has done a lot with his development and that has been a staple of their program. Kyle is a testament of that. What he is doing now wouldn't happen last year and part of their success is their guard play.
Pastner would love to have Kyle back for his covid year.
Pastner said he really shortened the rotation, but guys know they will be able to play long stretches on the floor. He said they are not worried about Saturday, they'll have two days before they play FSU or VT in Greensboro. You can't get to Saturday if you don't win Tuesday and you can't keep going if you don't win Wednesday after that so they will sort it out. He likes where they are with cardio. If they keep winning they'll adjust.
Pastner said no update on Deivon Smith yet, he is day-to-day they wanted to see how he felt on Thursday. Deivon is really good and he will fit in where he left off before his injury, but he has been out for a while and he has to also get his cardio back up too when he comes back.
Pastner said on Franklin, he has been playing at a high level over the last month, he has been outstanding. It took him time to adjust and he didn't play at Auburn and he was injured at his JUCO and he played at South Alabama then he had the groin injury and then the flu after that so it took him longer to adjust and he has just taken off. He deserves to be first-team All-ACC Defense and the way he has played the last month he might be first team All-ACC, where GT is in the standing and the slow start he won't get there, but the last month of the season he has been first-team All-ACC overall, he deserves to be first-team All-Defense either way.
Pastner said that Tristan Maxwell is really talented and he has improved, he didn't get the opportunity the covid summer and that set him back, he is really talented and was the POY in NC, but sometimes things take longer for some guys and he thinks his best basketball is ahead of him. His ability to feel the game and score is tremendous and he has made real strides. He had a foot injury post-covid and that set him back and that summer is so important for incoming guys and he missed that time. Tristan is a really good player, he will be a good player and will improve, but in college you get 4-5 years and sometimes things happen later, he is a believer in him and he has helped GT win games before, there have been things outside his control, but they've shortened the rotation and it is working and they've found something that is working, but he has to stay ready.
Pastner said the Syracuse game was a near perfect performance and he wishes they could bottle that, the school game record for threes, the career-high games for Miles Kelly and Kyle Sturdivant scoring, the triple-double for Ja'von Franklin and a career-high 8 assists for Deebo Coleman
"We were at the depths of the ocean at one point this year and we resurfaced for air. That is not easy to do," Pastner said of his team breaking out of the swoon post-Miami to the Duke game. "It is hard when you've hit the depths of it and you are trying to swim up to get some air. I'm really proud of our guys."
Pastner said that BC has come on and Earl Grant has done a great job. He said that Quinten Post (16 ppg, 6 rpg) their center was one of the guys he tried to recruit out of HS and he left his family on vacation in Florida to be in Atlanta for his official visit and it didn't help and he went to Miss State instead. He said he is really good and they really wanted him and it showed in recruiting you never know because he is played very little at Miss State, but their evaluation was correct that he could play at a high level it just didn't happen until the last two years at BC. BC has good guards and they've won big games. They will have to be very good to beat them.
Pastner said coming out the half he has had the S&C coach Eddie Dimas work with foam rollers, stretching and theraguns to get guys loose faster out of the half because they struggled out of the half in January, they talked about adjusting time at the half and trying everything to start faster, so this has worked to this point to keep guys warm to keep momentum up.
Pastner said they've done more 5v5 practices in practice lately, they did a lot of examining and they did more halfcourt drill breakdowns in practice, less about the opponent and more 5v5 and getting up and down.
Pastner on Deebo Coleman's value, Deebo is an integral part of what they doing. If you told him they scored 96 points and he had just 8 points and was 2-11 from three, he wouldn't believe it. He took a huge charge in transition and played great defense and he has been very unselfish. He said even when guys struggle they've had shots to win games like Deebo and Lance Terry combining for just 3 points in the Pitt game, they had a chance to win despite that. It shows the team has gotten better even when one of the best guys is off shooting or scoring and it shows Deebo's value making winning plays that maybe don't show in the box score. It doesn't always have to be about points, he will score at times, but he is making winning plays and that has helped change who GT is.
Pastner said he was tough on Deebo to be a tough hard-nosed guy who has to win 50/50 plays.
Pastner said that Kyle is playing the best he has in his life and he has been one of the better guards in college basketball the last few weeks. Some of it is about getting older and they've developed him and Coach Anthony Wilkins has done a lot with his development and that has been a staple of their program. Kyle is a testament of that. What he is doing now wouldn't happen last year and part of their success is their guard play.
Pastner would love to have Kyle back for his covid year.
Pastner said he really shortened the rotation, but guys know they will be able to play long stretches on the floor. He said they are not worried about Saturday, they'll have two days before they play FSU or VT in Greensboro. You can't get to Saturday if you don't win Tuesday and you can't keep going if you don't win Wednesday after that so they will sort it out. He likes where they are with cardio. If they keep winning they'll adjust.
Pastner said no update on Deivon Smith yet, he is day-to-day they wanted to see how he felt on Thursday. Deivon is really good and he will fit in where he left off before his injury, but he has been out for a while and he has to also get his cardio back up too when he comes back.
Pastner said on Franklin, he has been playing at a high level over the last month, he has been outstanding. It took him time to adjust and he didn't play at Auburn and he was injured at his JUCO and he played at South Alabama then he had the groin injury and then the flu after that so it took him longer to adjust and he has just taken off. He deserves to be first-team All-ACC Defense and the way he has played the last month he might be first team All-ACC, where GT is in the standing and the slow start he won't get there, but the last month of the season he has been first-team All-ACC overall, he deserves to be first-team All-Defense either way.
Pastner said that Tristan Maxwell is really talented and he has improved, he didn't get the opportunity the covid summer and that set him back, he is really talented and was the POY in NC, but sometimes things take longer for some guys and he thinks his best basketball is ahead of him. His ability to feel the game and score is tremendous and he has made real strides. He had a foot injury post-covid and that set him back and that summer is so important for incoming guys and he missed that time. Tristan is a really good player, he will be a good player and will improve, but in college you get 4-5 years and sometimes things happen later, he is a believer in him and he has helped GT win games before, there have been things outside his control, but they've shortened the rotation and it is working and they've found something that is working, but he has to stay ready.
