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ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE BASKETBALL MEDIA CONFERENCEJanuary 16, 2012Mark GottfriedCOACH GOTTFRIED: We're coming off a game we played well on the road, so we feel good. For us, the question is can we handle having some success even though we haven't had a lot? We're looking forward to Thursday night. I think Boston College is very much improved even from the beginning of the year until now. They're obviously 2‑1 in the league. A young team, but extremely dangerous because they have bought into everything that Steve is doing. So we know we've got our hands full on Thursday. Q. Coach, I was wondering how you expect number 5 to respond to the discipline you took with him for the Wake game? COACH GOTTFRIED: I think very well. We haven't practiced yet. We took yesterday off and we'll practice today. But my anticipation is that he's going to come back if his ankle is well, which I think it's better and be very good, which he's been for the most part this year. I don't anticipate anything other than that. Q. I wanted to ask you about Jordan Vandenberg. I'm sorry I'm not up to date on this. What is his injury? Is there a chance he comes back or a chance you apply for a medical hardship? COACH GOTTFRIED: No, we'll wait till the end of the year and apply for the hardship. He qualifies under all the parameters. He's had a shoulder injury that's kept him out of a number of games and practices. So I think at this point it's the wisest thing to do on his behalf. Q. Does that leave you a little thin inside? COACH GOTTFRIED: Yes, yes, it does. But, again you always balance what's best for your team, but also you want to do what's best for an individual. I think in this case it's our responsibility, mine, to look out for him. He's missed so much that I think it would be unfair to‑‑ I just think he's behind. It's the right thing to do. I feel that way strongly. Q. Coach, you mentioned Boston College and their improvement and they're doing what Steve wants them to do. I think a lot of fans may not realize how good of a coach he is. As a coach, do you appreciate how they run their sets and how the players listen to him, even despite the start they had to the season? COACH GOTTFRIED: Absolutely. It's interesting, I had him twice when I worked with ESPN. So I really probably grew in my appreciation or respect for him because I did not know his teams that well. He does a spectacular job. You have to remember, he's starting four freshmen. So they're much different now and really in the last few weeks than they were early. When you watch tape of them and watch some of the early games, you can almost throw those out. It's a different team. I think he's an excellent coach. Q. Coach, what did you see leading up to Saturday's game that suggested your team was prepared to put on that kind of defensive performance? COACH GOTTFRIED: Nothing really in practice. I'd like to say we did some magical things, but we didn't. Talked about the Georgia Tech game. I think our guys were very disappointed in how we played. We addressed the issues that needed to be addressed, and we practiced two good days where we were able to really focus in on areas where we weren't very good. Then we played much better. But, again, I don't think there was anything magical or different that I saw in practice. Q. Coach, can you talk about the overall play of Scott Wood? He's shooting 40% from the floor. He leads the league in field goal percentage at 43%. He's shooting 1041 from the line. Almost no one knows this, but he only has 14 turnovers this year in 503 minutes, which is like one turnover every 36 minutes that he plays. Can you talk about his improvement this year? COACH GOTTFRIED: Obviously, I wasn't here last year, so I don't know about that. But I think that he gets better every day. I really do. He plays the game without making very many mistakes. We all know what a threat he is to shoot the basketball. He doesn't try to do things he can't do, which a lot of players do at times. We like to use the term solid, and he's about as solid as you can get in that regard. Q. Regarding Scott and his free throw streak, have you ever seen or coached someone who has approached or exceeded 50 straight makes? If so, do you treat him as the baseball team treats the pitcher for seven innings? COACH GOTTFRIED: I don't think I've had anybody this far. I had Mo Williams who went on quite a streak at Alabama at one point. But Scott is phenomenal. He's the best foul shooter I've been around. With him, we don't do anything different. It's not something that we talk about a lot. I think with all of our players, we shoot a lot of foul shots every day in practice, collectively, all of us. We want everybody to concentrate, and everybody needs to have the objective that they need to improve. That is our mantra every day, and we all have to get better. So we don't really treat Scott any different. It's not like nobody says anything to him or he's a field goal kicker. We just play and he continues to do what he does. Q. To go back to C.J. Leslie, how will you handle that in practice in terms of putting him back in the starting lineup and how you'll use him? Because I think you pointed out, Painter had made the most of the opportunity that you gave him on Saturday? COACH GOTTFRIED: Yeah, he did. There was no question, I was proud of DeShawn. But I told Calvin that was one for‑‑ for one game. We'll go back to normal. I think it was a good confidence boost for DeShawn, and we need DeShawn and we need Calvin. We need everybody. My anticipation is we're right back to normal and let's go to work. Q. Coach, do you track free throws in practice? If so, what is the most you've ever made in practice? COACH GOTTFRIED: We shoot 20 every day and chart them and keep track of them. But that's it each day. I'm sure there have been periods where he's made 20 for 20 on consecutive days and we don't track that though. Q. I know you've had some lineup changes for various reasons this year. Are you the type of coach that wants to keep the same five as much as possible or are you open to moving things around a little bit on that? COACH GOTTFRIED: In a perfect world, I'd like to have the same group, but that doesn't always work that way. Things happen, sometimes it's injuries. You know, we started the year and had a couple of guys suspended by the NCAA. We've had different things. Part of the game over the course of a 30‑game season is you're going to have some of those, and you have to be good enough to roll on. Again, I'm not a guy that makes a lot of excuses. If a guy's out for whatever reason isn't playing, then we have to step forward and play and move on. Q. It sounded like earlier when you were answering Joe, that you said get back to normal. Like you said, in a perfect world you'd like to keep continuity there? COACH GOTTFRIED: Yeah, most people do. Especially if you're winning, when you're winning games. If you're losing, sometimes you want to evaluate your team and maybe shake things up. But I do think players get into a rhythm, even the guys coming off the bench. They really start to understand that groove of when I'm normally coming into the game. So I think there are some positives with that. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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