Practice yesterday, first day of official practice, guys competed and got after it, worked hard. Lot of work to do and a long way to go. Great group of young men and a great care factor. Care about doing right, lot of work to do before we open up with private scrimmage, exhibition then real games.
We are a work in progress and we will continue to get better each day.
ON WHERE PLAYERS ARE NOW COMPARED TO MARCH
Compared to where they are now is night and day, do we have a long way to go, yes. To share the ball, high assists on FGs, open man is the go to man, understanding that was hard. They gave the ball a headache and they move the ball on the pass. They are far from that now. I repeat myself a lot.
When they hired me they wanted to hit the restart button, it is a different way for these guys to play from the way they want to play. We still have a long way to go and I think we will get there and people will enjoy watching us and we will get better from start to finish.
ON DEFENSE
I've always been a big believer in defense, we are a long way from where we want to play there. We've spent a long time working on offense and play the way I like to play. I think we have some work to do defensively. We will start to work on defensive things, we have great length and we have some deficiencies in some areas.
I won't have a better grasp until we get to competition against another opponent and who can handle the situation.
ON HIS BRAND OF HOOPS
My teams have been great on high assists per FGs, player movement and ball movement and pace of play. I think if you look at seven years pace of play is big, last year were big on that but worst in shooting, it was unheard of to have that, but it was. You want to force two legit close outs on the defensive end to get in a scramble mode and then you can score. I want our teams to have great pace and the open man is the go to man, turn down a good shot for a great shot and winning 50/50 balls, want them first to the floor to get balls and it is a direct win. I call it space and pace, attack mode, want everything in attack mentality and attacking creating gaps and spacing. I believe in energy. I want us to have energy and lesser talented teams or upset teams, see it in football it is because of the energy level.
ON THE SCHEDULE
I think it is very tough, there are no gimmies, I think the difference between ACC and power leagues, there are fewer differences. Guys play against each other in summer hoops and they go to places that lesser level to get PT, everyone is on TV, the margin is not what it was. I think every game will be a challenge and we will have to play really well with great energy and pace, win 50/50 balls and a slim margin of error, we can't afford an off night. We play Shorter, if we don't show up, we ask for a bad outcome.
ON FRESHMEN
We have a good young nucleus and that will help this year and more so in the future. Good for guys to get a lot of time, it is a startup company. We don't have anyone that can go get 40 and win a game. We have to be a good team, open man is the go to man, we don't have one guy to put us on our shoulders, you can't count on one guy, we have to be a good team across the board.
ON BEING GT COACH
I've loved every second of it. At Memphis never lost 3 in a row and never as an assistant or player in college, even in HS. Biggest transition will be we be picked last and people think we won't win a game in league play, we are underselling and over performing. There could be a stretch where we may not play well, I've always had guys I could say get us 30 and we will win, I have to have great patience, our guys will fight like crazy to win as many as we can. Our guys have gotten better since April, but that is the biggest transition, handling a tough stretch. I've never been picked last, I'm hoping we can over perform.
I'd rather be picked first and preseason top 25, preseason in magazines we are talked about, but it won't be this year. In the future I want us in there and picked to win this and that.
ON GT BEING STARTUP COMPANY DID YOU PICK BRAINS FROM GT PEOPLE WHO'VE DONE THAT
I've done that with GT grads and other people outside of sports who have done it and spoken to multiple coaches who've built things from ground zero, what are the things that need to happen to build the winning mentality and those core missions. We have to recruit really well and get great players. I want our guys to understand and get the distaste for losing. If you don't hurt and have a distaste for losing, we may not be well-aligned. You have to have a self-motivated culture and be internally built to succeed. I try to competing, I learned this at Memphis. Pete Carroll took his NFL experience fired twice, been successful at USC and then Seattle is being competitive in every area.
ON RECRUITING
We've never had so many unofficial visits, it has been a record. We have recruited like crazy, but we have to get some guys. We came in late on the '17 class, we are in great shape with '18, 19 and 20s but we are trying to pick up as much ground coverage as we can, we are chipping away, we need a couple of guys to say yes. We will get some guys and recruit at a high level and get good players and good people, and guys who can put the ball in the basket and are aligned with me for having a distaste for losing and internal motivated, we will get it down.
ON HIS MOTIVATION DAY TO DAY
I have many character flaws and that list is long. One of them for me is I'm internally driven and I can't understand when people aren't like that and don't have pep in their step. People are either on or off the caravan. I have to do a better job with stuff, that is just who I am, positive energy guy and I want our teams to play with positive energy. If you need to be coddled, enabled and babied, I'm not good at that and never have been. Guys I'm most aligned with aren't like that, we see eye to eye on the big picture.
ON WALKING LINE BETWEEN HATERED OF LOSING VS FRUSTRATION
We have good guys and that is one thing about the program. Guys who will work hard and do what you say, but I don't want them laughing on the plane or dancing after a loss. They better fake it if not. If we lose a couple in a row they should hurt. You can't sit in it either, you have to bounce out of it and find a way to get it done, but it doesn't mean you want people to be okay with losing. If we play so hard and do everything we can, you can live with a team being better than us. I think there is some peace about that, but if someone is evenly talented then you blow a game, that's different. I don't want people to be happy, there will be no excuses. It will take some time, we need to be judged on how do we get better, our progression going forward. Our guys want to win, never lost 3 in a row, I'll do everything to avoid that situation.
ON HIM BEING SO TIED INTO RECRUITING TO HIS PERSONA
I've got a great staff, hired great coaches and our young men are great ambassadors for our program. The sell at GT, academics, ACC and Atlanta, it is a triple A. It is such a strong sell and so much in place, we have to keep being outside the box, we have to blow the box up and let's get out there and reenergize people with enthusiasm and that is part of being the HC. We are attacking it every day and it is a major priority for us. We've had some big time people on campus and you see the list out there, we are out there with the best players. The guys ranked one or two, I was told not to waste your time, kids even told us that and we chipped away, top ranked guys are considering us, fighting it, we just need one or two to say yes. In games you only play 7 or 8 guys, you will have some studs and the rest need to do their jobs. We need a couple of guys to say yes and pull the trigger. If you are a local kid or nearby kid why wouldn't you want to come to GT. ACC is best basketball outside the NBA, best TV exposure and you don't have to sacrifice academics, you are set for life outside of hoops and there are more fortune 500 companies here than anywhere other than NYC or Chicago. Fans are thirsty for GT men's hoops to get going, told people just buy two season tickets, once we get the thing rolling you won't be able to get tickets, we need the place packed now so people see that going forward. It is everyone's program, I'm the gatekeeper in the chair and I need everyone on board, people need to be emotionally invested and drag people with you and it will take energy and enthused about it, we have to take ownership of it, we are in this together and get it turned around.
ON FIRST CLASS ESTABLISHING THE CULTURE
Because of NCAA rules, I can't talk particulars, but you can look at who I'm going after. I'm a better coach than at Memphis, one of the biggest things is a line to the head coach, they have to be a line to me, the alignment that works for me, two or three things that are non-negotiable for me, energy and being an energy giver and winning matters. Distaste for losing, you can get the thing moving much quicker, doesn't mean there won't be friction or butt heads.
We are a work in progress and we will continue to get better each day.
ON WHERE PLAYERS ARE NOW COMPARED TO MARCH
Compared to where they are now is night and day, do we have a long way to go, yes. To share the ball, high assists on FGs, open man is the go to man, understanding that was hard. They gave the ball a headache and they move the ball on the pass. They are far from that now. I repeat myself a lot.
When they hired me they wanted to hit the restart button, it is a different way for these guys to play from the way they want to play. We still have a long way to go and I think we will get there and people will enjoy watching us and we will get better from start to finish.
ON DEFENSE
I've always been a big believer in defense, we are a long way from where we want to play there. We've spent a long time working on offense and play the way I like to play. I think we have some work to do defensively. We will start to work on defensive things, we have great length and we have some deficiencies in some areas.
I won't have a better grasp until we get to competition against another opponent and who can handle the situation.
ON HIS BRAND OF HOOPS
My teams have been great on high assists per FGs, player movement and ball movement and pace of play. I think if you look at seven years pace of play is big, last year were big on that but worst in shooting, it was unheard of to have that, but it was. You want to force two legit close outs on the defensive end to get in a scramble mode and then you can score. I want our teams to have great pace and the open man is the go to man, turn down a good shot for a great shot and winning 50/50 balls, want them first to the floor to get balls and it is a direct win. I call it space and pace, attack mode, want everything in attack mentality and attacking creating gaps and spacing. I believe in energy. I want us to have energy and lesser talented teams or upset teams, see it in football it is because of the energy level.
ON THE SCHEDULE
I think it is very tough, there are no gimmies, I think the difference between ACC and power leagues, there are fewer differences. Guys play against each other in summer hoops and they go to places that lesser level to get PT, everyone is on TV, the margin is not what it was. I think every game will be a challenge and we will have to play really well with great energy and pace, win 50/50 balls and a slim margin of error, we can't afford an off night. We play Shorter, if we don't show up, we ask for a bad outcome.
ON FRESHMEN
We have a good young nucleus and that will help this year and more so in the future. Good for guys to get a lot of time, it is a startup company. We don't have anyone that can go get 40 and win a game. We have to be a good team, open man is the go to man, we don't have one guy to put us on our shoulders, you can't count on one guy, we have to be a good team across the board.
ON BEING GT COACH
I've loved every second of it. At Memphis never lost 3 in a row and never as an assistant or player in college, even in HS. Biggest transition will be we be picked last and people think we won't win a game in league play, we are underselling and over performing. There could be a stretch where we may not play well, I've always had guys I could say get us 30 and we will win, I have to have great patience, our guys will fight like crazy to win as many as we can. Our guys have gotten better since April, but that is the biggest transition, handling a tough stretch. I've never been picked last, I'm hoping we can over perform.
I'd rather be picked first and preseason top 25, preseason in magazines we are talked about, but it won't be this year. In the future I want us in there and picked to win this and that.
ON GT BEING STARTUP COMPANY DID YOU PICK BRAINS FROM GT PEOPLE WHO'VE DONE THAT
I've done that with GT grads and other people outside of sports who have done it and spoken to multiple coaches who've built things from ground zero, what are the things that need to happen to build the winning mentality and those core missions. We have to recruit really well and get great players. I want our guys to understand and get the distaste for losing. If you don't hurt and have a distaste for losing, we may not be well-aligned. You have to have a self-motivated culture and be internally built to succeed. I try to competing, I learned this at Memphis. Pete Carroll took his NFL experience fired twice, been successful at USC and then Seattle is being competitive in every area.
ON RECRUITING
We've never had so many unofficial visits, it has been a record. We have recruited like crazy, but we have to get some guys. We came in late on the '17 class, we are in great shape with '18, 19 and 20s but we are trying to pick up as much ground coverage as we can, we are chipping away, we need a couple of guys to say yes. We will get some guys and recruit at a high level and get good players and good people, and guys who can put the ball in the basket and are aligned with me for having a distaste for losing and internal motivated, we will get it down.
ON HIS MOTIVATION DAY TO DAY
I have many character flaws and that list is long. One of them for me is I'm internally driven and I can't understand when people aren't like that and don't have pep in their step. People are either on or off the caravan. I have to do a better job with stuff, that is just who I am, positive energy guy and I want our teams to play with positive energy. If you need to be coddled, enabled and babied, I'm not good at that and never have been. Guys I'm most aligned with aren't like that, we see eye to eye on the big picture.
ON WALKING LINE BETWEEN HATERED OF LOSING VS FRUSTRATION
We have good guys and that is one thing about the program. Guys who will work hard and do what you say, but I don't want them laughing on the plane or dancing after a loss. They better fake it if not. If we lose a couple in a row they should hurt. You can't sit in it either, you have to bounce out of it and find a way to get it done, but it doesn't mean you want people to be okay with losing. If we play so hard and do everything we can, you can live with a team being better than us. I think there is some peace about that, but if someone is evenly talented then you blow a game, that's different. I don't want people to be happy, there will be no excuses. It will take some time, we need to be judged on how do we get better, our progression going forward. Our guys want to win, never lost 3 in a row, I'll do everything to avoid that situation.
ON HIM BEING SO TIED INTO RECRUITING TO HIS PERSONA
I've got a great staff, hired great coaches and our young men are great ambassadors for our program. The sell at GT, academics, ACC and Atlanta, it is a triple A. It is such a strong sell and so much in place, we have to keep being outside the box, we have to blow the box up and let's get out there and reenergize people with enthusiasm and that is part of being the HC. We are attacking it every day and it is a major priority for us. We've had some big time people on campus and you see the list out there, we are out there with the best players. The guys ranked one or two, I was told not to waste your time, kids even told us that and we chipped away, top ranked guys are considering us, fighting it, we just need one or two to say yes. In games you only play 7 or 8 guys, you will have some studs and the rest need to do their jobs. We need a couple of guys to say yes and pull the trigger. If you are a local kid or nearby kid why wouldn't you want to come to GT. ACC is best basketball outside the NBA, best TV exposure and you don't have to sacrifice academics, you are set for life outside of hoops and there are more fortune 500 companies here than anywhere other than NYC or Chicago. Fans are thirsty for GT men's hoops to get going, told people just buy two season tickets, once we get the thing rolling you won't be able to get tickets, we need the place packed now so people see that going forward. It is everyone's program, I'm the gatekeeper in the chair and I need everyone on board, people need to be emotionally invested and drag people with you and it will take energy and enthused about it, we have to take ownership of it, we are in this together and get it turned around.
ON FIRST CLASS ESTABLISHING THE CULTURE
Because of NCAA rules, I can't talk particulars, but you can look at who I'm going after. I'm a better coach than at Memphis, one of the biggest things is a line to the head coach, they have to be a line to me, the alignment that works for me, two or three things that are non-negotiable for me, energy and being an energy giver and winning matters. Distaste for losing, you can get the thing moving much quicker, doesn't mean there won't be friction or butt heads.
