	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 31, 2011

Seth Greenberg

SETH GREENBERG: I was pleased with the manner in which our guys responded this week after a tough loss against Georgia Tech in a game that we did not do a very good job of executing in the last six minutes, and a lot of it has to be you've got to give Georgia Tech that credit for really getting after us and getting us out of our rhythm.
But I thought against a very good Miami team, a team that competes hard and makes shots and is 11 points away from having a really special season, I thought our kids really did a nice job. We took care of the basketball, we did a better job attacking their zone. We were active defensively, and again, this time of the year, I really believe you're not reinventing yourself. There's going to be no revelations. It's all about little things. You're trying to improve in small increments, whether it's one more possession guarding the ball a little better or closing out with a little bit more sense of urgency or getting one more block out.
And then keeping your team on an even keel, which I think is imperative. Every game takes on a personality of its own, and keeping your team in the present is probably everyone's focus. And it's hard. It's hard for the very, very best teams to just compete and play at a high level.
There's so many distractions the kids have and they're getting pulled in so many directions, and that's why you see 11 or 12 of the top 25 teams losing in a weekend, and there's a lot of parity, and it's happening across the board, not just in the ACC but all over the country.

Q. If you wouldn't mind just talking a little bit about Victor Davila and his progress, what he's giving you, what you need from him.
SETH GREENBERG: I think he's really taken huge steps forward. His sense of urgency on the defensive end really has been magnificent the last month. He's giving us a legitimate guy on low block that can score the basketball. He's 3 for 9 yesterday from the free-throw line away from having I think his fourth double-figure scoring game. He gives us a presence defensively in the low post. He's rebounding his area. He's becoming a guy that on penetration can finish. He's a very reliable front court player.

Q. How much has he progressed since he arrived?
SETH GREENBERG: I think significantly. I think in every aspect of his life quite honestly. He's a guy that has really worked hard academically, and now he's a model student. I mean, he just does what he's supposed to do when he's supposed to do it, he's where he's supposed to be when he's supposed to be there.
He's matured. He gets it, and he's a guy that probably was not spoiled by the recruiting process. He wasn't spoiled by all the different groups that pull at you. He's not a product of anything but just being raised by good people and making good decisions, and so he's really grounded, and I think that's enabled him to improve.

Q. What are your kind of keys, concerns to defending the Wolfpack on Wednesday?
SETH GREENBERG: Well, I think we're sitting here all morning watching them. They're really a gifted offensive team. I think you've got to start with Tracy Smith. He's so efficient when he catches the ball around the basket. He can face you and drive you, he's got jump hooks, he's got little fades. But I've been really -- Scott Wood stretches your defense, and you've got to arrive on the catch with him and try to make him catch it out of rhythm, maybe a little step further, but that's hard because he's got great range.
You've got to contain Harrow. I know he didn't play this weekend, but he's really explosive off the dribble. I think Lorenzo Brown is really a talented player. You've got to keep Leslie off the glass, which is important. Howell gave them a great boost the other day in the Miami game, and he's a guy that's gaining confidence. So they've got a lot of pieces.

Q. Going back to Victor real quick, how much of -- you said he's sort of grown up and he's not a product of sort of the system that a lot of players come from. How much of that do you think is due to him growing up in Puerto Rico rather than the United States, and how has he sort of developed a rapport with his teammates considering there was I guess a little bit of a language barrier at first?
SETH GREENBERG: Well, there was really not. Victor's English has always been good. When he first arrived he had AD, so no one knew what they were talking about. Victor's English has always been pretty good.
The family he lived with in North Carolina really just did a terrific job of keeping him grounded and making sure that he was accountable and responsible each and every day to his academics and making good decisions.
But you know, again, it's not just -- he spent three years in the States if I'm not mistaken, and he's just -- he's a very low-key kid. He's extremely mature. He's very family oriented, and he gets it. Again, it has nothing to do with basketball. He's a man now. I mean, he's very low maintenance.

Q. It seems like he's got the footwork, he's got the moves down low. Sometimes he has trouble catching the ball. Have you guys worked on that at all this year? Seems like in recent games he's gotten better about securing the ball and going up strong with it. Have you guys done anything specific the past few weeks working on that?
SETH GREENBERG: Just telling him he's got to slow down. You've got to look the ball in your hands. Look the ball in your hands, slow down, let the play happen. Sometimes he gets a little anxiety of trying to make it happen too quick.
I don't believe someone has bad hands. I think people aren't as patient in terms of looking the ball into their hands and they're pulling away or not shortening a pass or meeting a pass. And a lot of times those passes, like yesterday we had some really outstanding interior passing, and those are hard to catch. You've got to react. I've got to go maybe visit with a sports science guy and figure out how much reaction time you need to catch those interior passes.

Q. I'm working on a story about Georgia Tech's issues trying to win on the road, and I wanted to get a take on your experience from the past when you've had a team struggle. Do you try to change things up, different routines, anything to get a spark, or is it more like you were talking about in your opening comments, just trying to stay on an even keel and hoping that something clicks?
SETH GREENBERG: Yeah, we're very routine oriented. Yeah, I just think the biggest thing that you have to do when you're on the road is you've got to limit your time on the road. We practice here and then we travel, have a dinner when we get to our destination and prepare from there.
One thing we have tried to do is we try to practice as early as possible on game day, and the reason behind that is to try to get our guys rest, which I think is important rather than a lot of times they give you that practice time from -- if you have a 7:00 game from 1:00 to 2:00, then you're rushing back to the hotel, then everything is rushed. But I think it's a mindset of doing -- to win on the road, you've got to make free throws; you've got to defensive rebound; you've got to take care of the basketball. I think that's imperative. And then down the stretch you've got to execute.
I mean, there's no secret formula, and you've got to have good players. All that stuff -- I was actually talking to Wimp Sanderson yesterday, he did our game on radio, and it's amazing how much better your team plays on the road when you've got really good guys.

End of FastScripts

ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297