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ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE BASKETBALL MEDIA CONFERENCEJanuary 16, 2012Jim LarranagaCOACH LARRANAGA: Well, we played a NorthCarolina team that I thought played very, very well at home. We looked very much out of sync and ended up not really being very competitive.  Down 15 at the half and never really made a serious run at them. My major concern is we haven't been improving like I'd like to see at either end of the court. We definitely need tremendous improvement at the defensive end, and we need to find a clear identity at the offensive end. With so many moving parts, guys not being there from time to time. We haven't had our top eight guys for practice any time this year for five days, and now we've had four practices where everyone's been there. So hopefully we've made enough practice that we can be more competitive playing a very fine Wisconsin team that's coming off a very, very competitive game with Duke University last night. Took Duke right down to the wire at home. It was a very exciting game to watch. Q. A little earlier on in the teleconference we were talking to Coach Hamilton about their big win. He was saying the long preparation time really helped them out. You've had eight days to get ready or you will have had eight days to get ready for this next game. How big an advantage is it to have that much time? COACH LARRANAGA: Well, for us, it was like playing catch up. It wasn't the way I would have liked it to have been. When you have a group that's played together for a while and then you have eight days to prepare, you can work on some things to fine tune it. In our case, we were really not starting from scratch, but not far from it because so many guys had not ever played together. And we had so many things to work on, that we could really use a whole other week to emphasize some of the things we need to get better at. So it helps. I certainly hope we'll be better prepared to play Wisconsin than we would have been if we only had two days to prepare. But I can see from watching us in practice and watching tapes after a game that there are a lot of areas that need significant improvement. Q. I know everybody plays eight home games and eight away games in the conference. But is it particularly difficult to have to start with two road games? COACH LARRANAGA: Well, I would say for us it could be a very good thing because some of the things that we've been emphasizing defensively, we faced at both Virginia and NorthCarolina. So showing our players video and trying to show them some of the things that those teams are doing that we're not, can send a clear message and send a visual image of how things should be done. But on the other hand, from an offensive standpoint, it was tough because they defended us very well, and we were able to get close enough to have the ball at the last possession against Virginia. But against Carolina, we were out of it at halftime. Q. Nothing you can do about this being where you are. But by nature your road trips are longer, your travel time is longer than almost anyone else in the league. For that reason, is it better to start playing and have two start here so you have perhaps more home games than some years later in the season? Does that make a difference to go and play five of your last eight at home, for example, in some seasons because of the length of road trips? COACH LARRANAGA: Well, you know, going back to starting conference play on the road, we did not have classes. So the travel is really not a problem at all. We have Miami International Airport which is like ten minutes from our campus, and we have a lot of very good, nonstop commercial flights. So, so far, traveling has not been an issue, and having those home games in February or January will, I think be helpful because we'll be back in class and not have to travel. If you have to play everybody‑‑ when you play eight at home and eight on the road, sometimes it can affect you as to when those games occur. But in this particular situation in this particular season, right now it's not a factor at all. Q. One of the things that's happened with Reggie coming back is Kenny Kadji's game has changed. It seems to have helped him out a lot. Can you dress address that? COACH LARRANAGA: Yeah. I think Kenny Kadji was praying for the day that Reggie Johnson would come back and be available to man the center position and take up a lot of space in the low post and guard the other team's biggest man. Kenny is very much a finesse player, a terrific shooter. He's better suited to play the four than he is the five. With Reggie inside, it's chosen his role and made him more comfortable, and given him better shot opportunities. We want him to continue to make progress at the offensive end and really, really work at defending and rebounding. Because when he's not having to battle in the low post the whole game, there are nights when he can crash the defensive backboards and the offensive backboards and be a huge help to us in that category. Reggie is our most consistent defensive rebounder, so even if Kenny does not have a big rebounding day, he's competitive. Q. Looking ahead to Clemson and the problems they present, it seems like they've ratcheted up their defense a little bit after a tough stretch in preseason. Still not the most explosive offensive team, but like Virginia maybe a little bit, a team that depends on defense. Is that fair? COACH LARRANAGA: I think Clemson and Virginia are very, very similar. I would say there is one major difference, and that is Tony Bennett's been there for three seasons, and Brad's been there for two. As your players learn the system they become more familiar, more confident and basically become more accountable. They know what to do, when to do it, and how to do it. And I think Brad's teams show excellent signs of playing defense. They look very similar to Virginia at both ends of the court, and I think they're making progress, and I think that was evident in their performance against Duke today. The Virginia‑Duke game and the Clemson‑Duke game were mirror images of each other. Q. I was wondering if you had a chance to speak to Barry Larkin since his induction into the Hall of Fame came? COACH LARRANAGA: Well, I text Barry, his wife Lisa and Shane and talked to Shane. I've not talked to Barry, but Barry returned my text message. He's obviously very, very excited and proud, as he should be. But he's also very, very humble. To accomplish something like that he knows is very, very special, and he's now in a select group of professional baseball players, and being able to text back and forth with him, he knows that he has all the support of the Miami basketball program. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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