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ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE BASKETBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

March 7, 2011

Jeff Bzdelik

Q. How would you assess where your team is right now going into the ACC Tournament?
COACH BZDELIK: Record doesn't indicate it, but we are seeing signs of improvement. We shot 50 percent from the floor the other day, which is better than we shot in a long time; with the exception turnovers from a couple of young players, we were pretty efficient offensively. We have been able to do a better job rebounding the basketball the last couple of games here.
So we just need to defend a little bit better and take care of the ball a little bit better and continue to improve in areas of execution. And I see signs with individual players getting better, Travis McKie was very special yesterday. I thought Nikita was very efficient; Carson, much improved in a lot of ways.
So a lot of good things that we need to just continue to work and stay focused on getting better.

Q. How has your first season been like you expected it to be and how has it surprised you, too?
COACH BZDELIK: No, it's been a very challenging year to be quite frank. It's been a challenging year with a lot of issues that have nothing to do with basketball. We have had a lot of immaturity off the court. We had the Tony Woods situation. We had some injuries with Tony Chennault. We had a lot of growing up to do in a lot of ways.
So it's been the most challenging year in all my years of coaching to be quite frank with you. We have had some -- I said yesterday, we have had a little resistance from some, and to be quite frank, but we will straighten everything out and we are headed down the right path, I'm very excited about our future.
We have had a lot of bright spots with certain individuals that have really brought in and taken the coaching to improve their game. We'll make sure that as we head forward that 100% for our players that are on our team are into Wake Forest for all of the right reasons.

Q. Just wondering if you could assess Tony Chennault's season, and obviously the injuries set him hit back, but sort of in the second half, what have you seen from him that you like and what more would you like to see from him?
COACH BZDELIK: I think Tony is one of our freshmen; we are about halfway through this season. He's figuring this game out. You know, when you have a foot injury like he had, first of all, there's no way you can be in shape. Yeah, you can do all of the running and the swimming pool and riding the bike but it's not the same, we all know that.
So conditioning-wise, he's carrying about ten extra pounds and he's such a muscular young man -- it's not fat; it's just muscle. He really needs to lose about ten pounds, so that will improve his quickness and speed.
And then the second thing most importantly, though, is that he needs to make better decisions and that will happen as he gains valuable experience. He's such a great penetrator that works his way to the rim that sometimes he gets caught too deep and really has to figure out where the help is coming from so he can find open men and make better decisions, and that will come in time. He's getting better at that.
So it's a huge learning experience for a young man, No. 1, trying to figure out his own game and what his limitations are at this level now compared to high school, coupled with understanding what we need to do offensively.
And yesterday, for example, he was confused on a couple of plays just simply because he has not been running them as often as others. So we came up empty on some possessions but Tony will figure that all out. I'm very pleased with him and he's a young man who will work hard to make sure he is all who he should be.

Q. You talked about your level of frustration, losing a guy who you expected to be such an important piece so early; that has to be up near the top of the list.
COACH BZDELIK: Exactly. Tony was our only guard in the program and when he got hurt it really set us reeling, it really did. Now all of a sudden C.J. Harris has to adjust and he's never played the point before. So we have no depth there whatsoever. So it really put us reeling in a lot of ways. But that's part of sports and we just need to deal with it, and we dealt with it as best we could.

Q. I wanted to ask you, playing the same team twice in five days, that's almost like an NBA thing. I just wonder if anything from your pro experience can give you any kind of edge, playing the same team that you played Sunday.
COACH BZDELIK: Well, if I had Carmelo, I would feel a lot better; I can tell you that.
Just all kidding aside, obviously it's a game where we are going to have to make some adjustments for things that we did not do well the other day. But certainly, I believe that I think it's from a competitive nature, it's fun to play a team a second time around, especially when you didn't have success the first time. It's a chance to throw it up again and play them again.
So we look forward to the challenge on Thursday.

Q. And also, just wanted to on a side note ask about Gary Clark. It seems like as his career ends, he's been playing some of the steadiest basketball of his career; is that correct, or am I misreading it?
COACH BZDELIK: No, he actually -- actually, about two weeks ago, maybe three weeks ago, I was looking at his minutes for this particular year, and his minutes this year were actually more this particular year than they were the previous three years combined. So Gary has maximized his opportunity here this senior year with consistent, outstanding play. You look at his shooting percentage especially from the three-point arc, it's outstanding. Gary has never wavered with his commitment, never wavered with his attitude and his effort throughout the course of the year.
THE MODERATOR: Thanks for being with us and good luck this weekend.

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