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ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE BASKETBALL MEDIA CONFERENCEFebruary 13, 2012Leonard HamiltonMIKE FINN: We're now joined by Florida State head basketball coach Leonard Hamilton. Coach, just a brief opening statement and then we'll go to questions. COACH HAMILTON: We played two games since the last call‑in. We lost on the road to Boston College, a team that played exceptionally well, really shot the ball extremely well. Then we had a bounce‑back game against Miami, a game that we felt was very, very important against a Miami team that's playing very well. It was a very hard‑fought game, a game once again that could have gone either way, like most of the ACC games could be going. We were able to make some plays at the end of the game that gave us a chance to win. I was pleased with our kids' ability to bounce back from a loss on the road, come back and play against a very good basketball team that was about as hot as any team in the league and come away with a victory. I'm pleased we were able to do that. Now it's back to the grind, look forward to playing a game this weekend, and hopefully we'll be improving playing these couple games at home. MIKE FINN: Questions for Coach Hamilton. Q. First your reflections on the first meeting with Virginia Tech, what stands out about them? COACH HAMILTON: The first meeting that we had with Virginia Tech, we didn't know where we were. We were coming off a very disheartening loss at Clemson where we had gotten beat by 20. I'm not sure Virginia Tech really knew who we were. We didn't know who we were ourselves at that time. There was a tremendous sense of urgency for both teams. I thought both teams fought very hard. In many cases I thought they may have outplayed us there for a lot of the game. We went out and made some great plays there during a very important stretch where we got two or three baskets in a row, got a couple stops, hit a couple free throws towards the end, we were able to win. It was another one of those games that could have gone either way. We were just fortunate to come away with a victory. Q. How about the matchup in the front court? What do you recall about their front‑court players? COACH HAMILTON: When we try to evaluate teams, we don't necessarily look at individual matchups, we look at our defensive schemes against Virginia Tech's defensive schemes. It's not any one particular player because they have guys who come in and out of the game. They have players that will come in and hurt you. You never know what foul trouble is going to be like. So we go into each game trying to evaluate their strengths, weaknesses, what they're trying to accomplish. It was our defensive schemes against their offense and vice versa. Obviously, everybody has tremendous respect for Green. Like most teams they have guys who are stepping in and out of those led roles from game to game. They have some talented players and you never really know who's going to have a good night from night to night. That's why you have to be prepared to go out and defend them and everybody has to be on the defensive focus. Q. As you look at those matchups, is keeping them out of the transition game important? COACH HAMILTON: I think the overall total defensive package, if you're going to win games in the ACC, you can't allow people get out in transition. You also need to make sure in the halfcourt that you defend them. If they miss shots, a team like Virginia Tech, offensive boards, they had 18 offensive rebounds last night in another ACC blow‑out that they won by one point. I think you have to play the complete game and the total game every night out against the ACC. If you play good half‑court defense, you give them transition, get good stops, don't block out, if you come down, we didn't execute on the offensive end with Boston College, you have to play on the offensive and defensive end. If you falter in any of these areas, these teams are good enough that they'll hand you your hat and show you the door. Q. The first meeting with Virginia Tech, that was the beginning of your surge. Did that game kind of show you who you were and you formed your identity there or in the weeks that followed you've evolved and you're a different team than you were? COACH HAMILTON: Unfortunate for us, we're still evolving. Even though we've had a hot stretch here, I still believe that we can continue to improve. We're not anywhere close to being as good as we're capable of. We have not been consistent enough in any one particular area, other than we've been pretty solid on the defensive end, but we've been inconsistent in a lot of areas. We're still searching, trying to find our true identity. That's one good thing about this team. Even though we had some measure of success, we realize that we still have a lot of room for improvement. As we look at the remainder of our schedule, every game you play takes on added importance. So we still are realizing that each game takes on a different personality, everyone has different strengths and weaknesses, and we have to take whatever adjustments, as we approach the Virginia Tech game, because it's different than the Miami game. Miami had two big guys inside, great three‑point shooters. As we sit down and assess Virginia Tech, there's different areas where they might be stronger. Every game takes on a different personality and you have to be prepared from the outset to make the adjustments throughout the game in your game plan in order to stress the weaknesses of your opponent. Q. You've built your program in stages. This is the first year you've been contending for the regular‑season title. I was thinking about that with the loss at Boston College. Is that a lesson that these guys have to go through to learn that when you're in that contending stage, you get a target on your back, it becomes even tougher on the road than it is normally when you're just a good team? COACH HAMILTON: I do think there's some added motivation and respect that people give you when they see you're contending at the top of the conference standings. There's no question that it's easier to motivate your team, especially when you're a team that's trying to move up the ladder. That's a total mental adjustment for our team especially because we're always trying to catch up with other people. We're not accustomed to being in spots with people where people are coming at you with the aggressiveness, with the focus that people seem to be playing with now. There's another mindset that you have to be in. We're learning. That was a great lesson taught to us at Boston College because they were at their very best. They hit 10 threes on us. They were attacking the basket, were extremely sharp. We weren't quite as sharp. That's what is going to happen to you in the ACC. You're absolutely right. That's a learned mentality that we have to progress in a rapid fashion if we're going to keep pace with the two teams we're in competition with and fend off some of the teams that are sitting right there close enough that if you stub your toe, they'll replace you. MIKE FINN: Coach, thanks for being with us. Good luck this week. COACH HAMILTON: Thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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