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ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE BASKETBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

February 14, 2011

Jeff Bzdelik

Q. Can you talk a little bit about J.T. Terrell and his development? He demonstrated it when he first got there that he could shoot the ball light's out, but the other parts of his game have had to come around and significantly develop. Can you talk about that?
COACH BZDELIK: Yeah, you know, I think J.T.'s a very intelligent basketball player who wants to become a complete player. In high school he was able to -- he just had the green light whenever he wanted to. He took a high volume of shots. Now, obviously, at this level you have to take good shots and in a timely way.
Last game against Miami he had four assists, and his assists were really, really good passes where he had had three assists where he read the defender and how his teammate was being played. They were stunting, and he was able to read the stunt and make passes that led to easy baskets for us. That is an illustration of how he's developing in terms of becoming a better, more all around player.
Obviously, like all freshmen, and particularly with our basketball team as a whole, we need to improve defensively. Containing the ball and having better weak side awareness, and understanding defensive schemes as a team. That's where we all fall short in a huge way. But he cares. He studies film. He's rebounding a little bit better now instead of leaking out.
So in general terms, he's working on becoming a complete player. That coupled with his ability to score will make him a very, very good player.

Q. I know you've only had him for a couple of weeks, but could you talk about the development Chennault has made since he's been able to return to the lineup and play? How is he coming along?
COACH BZDELIK: He's coming along really well. You know, he's played six, seven college games now, so he is really a true freshman. But he's learning how to play off the two feet. He's learning how to make better decisions.
When he first got in there, he would just put his head down and drive to the rim and get caught in the paint with three defenders on him he tried to score over people.
He told me recently that lane really closes up fast now, coach, compared to high school. I said, yes, it does. Not only does it close up fast, but you're talking longer, bigger, quicker athletes down there defending you as well.
There is no way. You can go through all the film you want to, and can you teach them, but until they really experience it, they don't really get it. Tony's improving in that regard in terms of shot selection, understanding where help comes when he breaks down and beats his initial defender.
Defensively he's learning schemes as well with, pick-and-rolls, different regions where those pick-and-rolls occur and also how to defend them properly.
So it's just a work in progress for an entire basketball team, and that is why we've been so inconsistent in our play. Not only from game to game, but within the game.

Q. Could you discuss the quick turn around from yesterday's disappointing loss to having to go down to Chapel Hill tomorrow and play? Could you also discuss the challenges that North Carolina presents?
COACH BZDELIK: Well, I think North Carolina, first of all, the challenge that they present to us is the fact that the defensive transition, they run the ball as well as any team in the country off makes and misses. So they just explode down the court. We really need to explode back down the court in a way that we can be organized defensively to prevent them from getting easy baskets.
The other thing they do really well is they pound the offensive glass with great length and quickness. If you're not set in your defense because they push the ball so hard, then their transition offensive rebounding is outstanding.
We obviously have a hard time or have had a hard time today keeping people off the offensive glass. Teams are much longer and quicker than us -- excuse me -- I would say longer than us. So we really need to carve out space and create space on the defensive glass.
If we just stand there and try to outjump people, that's not going to happen. So I think defensive transition, and defensive rebounding are the two biggest areas that already present the biggest challenges for us.
As far as the quick turnaround is concerned, you know what, that is just the way it is. Maybe it's better coming off a really bad effort on our part yesterday. Maybe it's better that we are playing so we can get back out on the court and just play the way we should play and the way we're capable of playing. Actually, I look forward to the quick turn around.

Q. With the minutes improving for Chennault, how has that affected Harris? Has he been able to adapt going to the off guard position?
COACH BZDELIK: Yeah, I think C.J., him and Tony Chennault in years to come will be a great combination. C.J.'s having a great year in a quiet way. I could stand corrected on this, but I think he might be second or third in the ACC in free throw attempts. And you can correct me on that, I could be wrong. But I know he's up there.
He's trying to lead, he's trying to play a new position. He's trying to mentor the young players. To be honest with you, he's a young player himself. He's only in his second year. So he's really the veteran of this team trying to adapt to a new position. Trying to rally around all these young players and keep them focused and not getting down on themselves.
Every team needs an internal leader, and he's been awesome in that regard. He's trying to do a lot of things for us. He's grabbing rebounds. He's getting to the lane. He's trying to create for others. He's trying to get himself going. He's trying to keep the opposing best guard in front of him. He's done a great job with his attitude and his work ethic. I'm really proud of him, and all this will pay off for him in a huge way down the road.

Q. Regarding the baseball kidney story that got so much fan fare last week. Was there a way that you were able to use a story like that with your players to maybe teach them some lessons that, at this time of the year and maybe when you're going through some struggles, turned out to be beneficial in any way?
COACH BZDELIK: I tell you what, we not only used that story, we use a story a day, really. I think this: It's easy with the public and the media and every time you turn the TV on to see the standings. It's easy for a young team to feel sorry for themselves and say, well, we'll be better next year. We're just really young and use that as an excuse. It's easy to feel sorry for yourself.
True champions, when they get knocked down, they get back up. When they get knocked down again, they get back up. And they keep getting back up and keep getting back up. Sooner or later, you'll throw the knockout punch.
Life, every time you turn around, you see a story that's inspirational to you. We constantly let them know on a daily basis how blessed they are to be at a school like Wake Forest, how blessed they are to be playing in the ACC, how blessed they are to be able to have all the wonderful things that they're able to have and the opportunities that they're able to have, and how many people would love these opportunities.
You need to embrace that and play with a passion and a fire. It's like who is the most dangerous animal in the woods? The injured one. I don't care how big or whatever, it's an animal fighting to survive. If they embrace that, what is defense, what is rebounding? It's just effort. It can't be three guys doing that and two guys feeling sorry for themselves. It's got to be everybody.
We use every story imaginable to let them know how fortunate they are and to embrace this opportunity and to leave it all out there on the court.
As a young player, if you're just going to say, hey, I'll be better next year because I'm young, you know what? You're not going to get any better because you need to take each day and get better.
So, yeah, right now it's as much mental as anything. I think it's not just true of our team, but any team that maybe hasn't, you know, every team's going through some tough times. The ones that fight through it are the ones that succeed.

Q. What's been the bigger challenge? That aspect of things or getting them to deal with the X's and O's better with the individual skills?
COACH BZDELIK: I think personally, I think it's 50-50. Half of this game is mental. Half of this game is mental. It really is.
There is a program in the Big East, for example, Pittsburgh I think it is. I think they might have one of the best winning percentages in the last decade. I'm not sure they've had a McDonald's All American on their team. There's teams that win and they don't have a first round or second round pick, maybe even a draft pick on their team.
My Air Force team got up to 11th in the nation. That wasn't even on more than a two-star recruited player on that team.
It's not about what your high school ranking is coming out of high school. It's how you develop with your mindset, your toughness. It's buying into a team concept. That's what a team is all about, and that's how players get better.
We could talk for an hour about the number of players that have no stars or one star that are playing in the NBA right now. Half of this game is in your heart and in your mind. I believe that.

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