	products recent interviews FastScripts archive about ASAP Sports

Our Clients:

Browse by Sport

Find us on

Subscribe to RSS

Click to go to
Asaptext.com

View our
e-Brochure

ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE BASKETBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

January 17, 2011

Seth Greenberg

THE MODERATOR: Coach, if you could, a few comments about your team and then we'll go to questions.
COACH GREENBERG: Sure. I was pleased with what we did the other day. We made shots. It's a make-and-miss game. If you're making shots, everything else becomes easier. Making seven threes in the first half, and we had excellent ball movement. We shared the ball. We were unselfish. I thought we were good in our initial push.
I was not pleased with what we did defensively. I didn't think we guarded the ball as well as we needed to in the zone. I thought we fouled too much, and we did a better job of rebounding the basketball.
But the team we're playing on on Thursday is really a terrific basketball team. The only losses they have are teams that are going to be outstanding teams in the NCAA Tournament.
They're as efficient an offensive team as we've played against this year. They play to their strengths, they get the ball where they want, when they want to get it there. I think their guards are developing. And, obviously, Williams is just a load down in the block. He's really a terrific player.
I'm impressed with how hard Gregory plays. I'm impressed with the patience and the poise that Tucker plays with. Again, they've got a lot of bodies and a lot of different guys that are contributing.
The more I watch Maryland, the more I think they're efficient. They're efficient in transition. They've got three seniors that are playing like seniors. I think Bowie's maybe the most underrated player in the league in terms of how hard he plays, and he does exactly what Gary wants him to do, so we've got a challenge.

Q. Can you point to issues within the ACC that's causing I think a league rights struggle? I know injuries have been a factor particularly with your team. But are there other issues that are causing problems for the ACC, why there aren't that many teams ranked?
COACH GREENBERG: Well, you can't control who gets ranked. Every league has teams that have losses now, excluding one or two. I think that obviously there is greater parity in college basketball. Everyone wants to point to the ACC. I don't think it's an ACC issue. I think it's across college basketball.
For whatever reason, the kids aren't as consistent. You don't see teams playing as consistently. It's a make-and-miss game. Everyone wants to take a shot at the ACC and look at percentages.
But I take this Maryland team and quite honestly North Carolina. Georgia Tech played a heck of a game. They made shots. Sheppard got hot as good as North Carolina could be. You know, they lose. It's just the way it is. Boston College has had a terrific season, but Miami's a very good basketball team. Boston College can beat Texas A&M, but going to Miami's tough.
So we have a number of teams that could be ranked in the top 25. Just because they have losses like other teams and other leagues have losses, unfortunately our teams are not getting that recognition.
I think that we've got very good basketball teams in our league. I think we've got a number of teams playing at a very high level right now. And I think that the next 12 days, it's going to be hard to win games.

Q. Among the folks that have criticized the ACC, I talked with Billy Packer recently. He says the ACC overall isn't getting the players it used to. Is that fair? Do you agree with that?
COACH GREENBERG: I don't know how much Billy follows recruiting, so I couldn't tell you. I'm not a recruiting guru or historian. Maybe you could call all of the recruiting gurus, because I'm sure those guys of great players have coached a lot of great ones too. I didn't know Billy still followed basketball.

Q. Talking about the challenge of Maryland. What about Jordan Williams? He's been giving people a lot of problems this year. What troubles has he posed to you?
COACH GREENBERG: He's a terrific player. He's got unbelievable hands. He pursues ball out of his area. He rebounds on out of his area, and has the ability it to score over either shoulder, which is really good. He's got a nice left-handed jump hook. He runs the court hard, and he's a big body. He's just a terrific player and getting better.

Q. Given that perception, whether fair or unfair, that the ACC is down a bit this year, how important is it going to be for teams to have wins over ranked teams when it's time to sort out the NCAA field? And I'm you thinking in particular of Maryland given its so many close losses, but losses nonetheless to four ranked teams now, maybe five?
COACH GREENBERG: Again, I don't sit in that room. If I sat in the room, we'd have a couple more NCAA bids. But I look at Maryland and I look at Cal last year, I think Cal was 1-7 last year if I'm not mistaken against the top 50. And you can probably do the research better than I can. But they were able to get in.
Maryland, again, if they want you to play a good schedule, you play a good schedule and one team wins, and one team loses. Losing on the road at Villanova, that's not embarrassing. They played their tails off. It was a terrific basketball game win or lose.
You could walk away from that game, and if you didn't know the final score, you'd walk away and say, boy, Maryland, they are an efficient, hard-playing, tough basketball team. Unfortunately, they didn't win the game.
Again, it is such a fine line between winning and losing at this level or any level. It is what it is. It's one play. I look at our season. Whether it's the Purdue game, it's one play, or the Carolina game, it's one play.
So there is a very fine line. That doesn't mean Maryland's a bad basketball team. That doesn't mean Maryland's not worthy to be one of the better teams in the country. It just means they made one less play.

Q. Can you update us on Jeff Allen's physical condition. He was battling a pulled groin?
COACH GREENBERG: Yeah, Jeff's going to have to deal with that the rest of the season. He practices about a third of the practice. We really limit his reps. He's dealing with it with pain medication for games. It is what it is.
When you're playing, now we've got 15 games or I'm sorry -- we have 13 games. I don't even know what we have left in the next six or seven weeks. It's not like we have time for rest, so we're just going to have to manage it with limited practice, and make sure the things he does in practice are meaningful and he's going to play through it. He's a pretty tough kid.

Q. When you lose people, other people have to step up. Is there anybody you've seen that has elevated his game in the absence of guys like Hudson and Raines?
COACH GREENBERG: Hudson, Raines, Thompson and Chaney. But, Manny Atkins is a very competitive kid. He's a tough kid. He's a confident kid. He's a great teammate, and he's played well. Jarell Eddie the last week has really played better. He's learning how to play hard.
We're playing two sophomores and two freshmen and four upperclassmen. We need our sophomores and freshmen to contribute. Obviously, the more they play -- and then Erick Green, I mean, Erick Green has been probably the most productive of guys that we needed to step up. I mean he's playing with poise and confidence. He's defending. He's really making good decisions. He had the five assist, no turnover game the other day.
I think we need all of them, quite honestly. We need all of them to step up. I tell the kids all the time that every single night someone has a chance to come off the bench and have an impact in the game. Each night we need someone, and hopefully more than one to do that.

End of FastScripts

ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297