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ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE BASKETBALL MEDIA CONFERENCEFebruary 13, 2012Steve DonahueMIKE FINN: Thanks for joining us today. We have Coach Steve Donahue from Boston College. We'll go straight to coach, ask for a brief opening statement and go to questions. COACH DONAHUE: We had an interesting week. We played really well I think both games and beat a really talented Florida State team at our place on Wednesday. Thought we played in a lot of ways the best game of the season last night at Virginia Tech. Unfortunately just didn't handle the glass. I give Virginia Tech a lot of credit. They really went after it, hurt us on the glass. Besides that I thought our team did a terrific job and really continues to improve. MIKE FINN: Questions for coach. Q. When you looked at the final play, the tip‑in, what did you see on that play? COACH DONAHUE: I thought we did a really good job on Green. We leveled him off. Lonnie Jackson did a great job with that. We stayed on our men. They shoot a challenged three, which I thought was a great job. Smith did a good job of going underneath the rim. We lose contact with him. Anderson went after it. Dennis Clifford didn't have his balance. Smith, to his credit, he's a terrific offensive rebounder. He has great length and anticipation. He did a much better job of all the guys on the court going after it. It was a soft miss. With a hard miss, they have no chance for that kind of a putback. They had a good look at it, a soft miss, and the kid put it in. Q. You mentioned playing well in both games last week. It seemed a lot of your improvement was on the offensive end. You shot it fairly well against them. Last night you had a season high against Virginia Tech. Is it a matter of repetition for a young team getting accustomed to the offense? COACH DONAHUE: I think it's a lot of that. We're taking care of the basketball. We're making plays for each other. I think we've done a much better job. These are things we talked about all year. We've done a much better job when we drive it. We had much better what I call 'ball toughness.' I think we're spacing out a lot better, getting open looks, cleaner looks. We've just done a really good job of meshing as a unit. We have good inside/outside balance. We have something off our defense as well, easy transition, easy baskets. I've been really pleased with all the guys in terms of their development, in particular Jordan Daniels. He's so quick, he can go by you. He's proven that he can make a three. I think teams are trying to figure that out. If we space people out properly, it can be difficult, because Jordan is doing such a good job. Q. We talked earlier this season in a year like this when you're rebuilding, young guys playing, keeping a positive attitude, not getting buried by all the losses. How important was a week like last week where you beat a top‑25 team, making it easier to maintain that positive attitude? COACH DONAHUE: Yeah, as you said, I've been really not focusing in on all the negatives, really trying to improve and work hard. It's been good. The bounce we had in our step after that game, the level of confidence that the guys exude in practice, just the way they feel about themselves, it just makes for a much better teaching environment. I thought we had great practices. I thought we played really well again last night. I think it has a lot to do with a win. It's difficult to go a couple weeks without wins. You're trying to tell these guys these are things you have to do, why you're doing them. Not to see results is difficult. To have that, I thought it was a fun couple days of practice. We were able to go hard. The guys really have a sense of why we're doing things. Q. You played well on the road last night.  At this point in their careers, is there a big difference between playing at home and on the road? COACH DONAHUE: I didn't think so just because we haven't had a lot of success either way. Sometimes the pressure at home is even worse. That's why I think going on the road it's almost fun for the guys. This is all new experiences. We travel nice. We're kind of secluded. We're in enemy territory. I think it's a good way for the guys to focus in on the task at hand. I think we played well at Virginia, I thought we played well at Georgia Tech at times. I don't think it's home or away for us right now. It's putting in those hours in of experience and getting those results and getting better. I don't know if the place where we play is more difficult for us just because we don't have a huge advantage at home right now. They don't have that sense of feeling good about what they've done at home either. I think it's even either way. MIKE FINN: Coach, thanks for being with us. COACH DONAHUE: Thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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