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ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE BASKETBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

February 14, 2011

Steve Donahue

COACH DONAHUE: Since we last spoke we went down to Clemson and played a very good Clemson team. I thought we could have played better, but I think Clemson had a lot to do with that. Then we came back and bounced back and beat a very good Maryland team that I thought was a good basketball team. One of our better defensive efforts particularly in the second half.
So going forward, obviously, that's where we've got to continue to improve to make ourselves better here for the next month.

Q. This time last week I asked you about Reggie's mini slump. What happened to turn it around or is it just a normal function of guys are good?
COACH DONAHUE: I think in Reggie's situation, everyone's different. But I thought this was all kind of new to Reggie. He's a junior having all this great success. Now we get into a league situation where we're playing great defensive teams that are really focusing on him.
He probably didn't handle it as well as he would like. Obviously we were disappointed in some aspects of that. But I think you almost have to go through that to come back out of it and figure out why am I being successful?
I think that's what Reggie learned. I think he's done a much better job of scoring the basketball without just having the ball in his hands. He had three back cuts for dunks in the game. He had a steal for a dunk. He shot the ball well from three, but I think all those things are getting back to the things he does well.
He's very good on the catch. He's very good at attacking the rim. He's done this quite a bit the whole season. Not only does he score 31, but he does it on 16 shots, which makes it so much more efficient on offense.

Q. How do you just practice with your week off until Saturday?
COACH DONAHUE: I look forward to this. I think it's a great time to get better a little bit. We're going to try to go hard today, Monday and Tuesday. Give them off Wednesday, and do Carolina work on Thursday and Friday.
I'm more used to this. My last 20 years we never had games during the week. I just thought it was always a great chance to get better. And I thought our Cornell team's did that because Monday and Tuesday you could get back to some certain things you want to try or try to work on execution.
We have a lot of things that we can really have a chance to work on without a game on Wednesday. And that's how we're going to utilize it. I think we've got some individual things we have to straighten out, some team things that we can do. I love the opportunity to get a new game on a week during the season.

Q. Any particular things that you see that you're going to hone in on?
COACH DONAHUE: Well, there are a couple. I still think on the offensive end, there are opportunities to show the guys exactly how we can be more efficient. There are times when we do great things. There are other times where I think a simple thing as getting the ball reversed consistently, making the defense go side-to-side at times, we're a little stagnant at points. Especially when teams start to guard, we can't get frustrated.
We talk about the next 20 seconds of a possession where you push it and you don't have anything. What do you do in the next 20 seconds and how efficient you are and what are the things?
So on the offensive end, that is something we can get better. On the defensive end, we're creating different ways for us to somehow be more effective causing some turnovers. We don't do a great job, but when we do, it adds so much to our offense.
We're a good transition offensive team when we guard people better, obviously and get some deflections and cause even double digit turnovers, which we have a difficult time with.
So we'll try some things strategically there. Also just hone in on how important that is as well. Without a game on Wednesday, you've got a chance to really push the guys and try to get better.

Q. Where the heck did John Cahill come from?
COACH DONAHUE: I think he has become a legend here in Boston College history. John, the story with him, is that we kind of knew who he was from high school because one of my assistants is a division 3 head coach at Hobart named Izzy and he recruited him at a Division 3 school. He did not get him, and he decided to come to Boston College.
His family history. Everybody in the family loves Boston College. So John, for three years was a practice player for the women's team one year. When we got here, my assistant, Woody Campman, who was an assistant at Hobart, talked to John, and they played pick-up together. Asked him if he'd like to do it. It was as simple as that.
We knew he was a great kid. From that point on, John has just really made it apparent that he can help us on the court more than just a walk-on who is going to have a positive attitude. He's a good basketball player. He knows how to play. He knows his strengths and weaknesses. More importantly, he knows what his role is on the team, and he knows who needs to get the ball. When he's open, he can make shots. Defensively he's as good as an IQ defensive player that we have. So he'll draw charges as you saw in the game.
Obviously, people look at his size and his overall stature as a player and they probably downplay it. But he knows how to play. He knows how to defend. He goes after loose balls. He does all the thing that's we try to preach to our guys every day and he's made us a better basketball team.

Q. He went to say something in practice in the week leading up to the last game indicating he was going to get some serious minutes. He had not been playing a lot. What have you seen this week or last week?
COACH DONAHUE: He pulled his hamstring and that took him out of my mind probably for a little bit. After the Clemson game, I just thought we needed another basketball player out there that really got what we were doing on both sides of the ball.
I do this to myself, and I'm sure a lot of coaches do, you just try to evaluate why you play certain guys at certain times. I said I don't know why I'm not playing this kid. He's someone that can help us. Not all the time, not every game, but, in general, he's someone that we need to make us better.
For some reason after the Clemson game, I kicked myself and say he could have helped us there. I don't know why he didn't. I thought the same thing after the Duke game on the road.
From now on, I know where he's at. I know what his role is. He'll be effective for us. But that was my thinking. He's back from his hamstring. I thought after watching the Clemson game that we needed someone else at the guard position to help us.

End of FastScripts

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