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ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE BASKETBALL MEDIA CONFERENCEFebruary 13, 2012Seth GreenbergSETH GREENBERG: Obviously we are pleased with our win yesterday. I'm not sure it was an artistic success, but it was a success just the game in that we found a way to win a close game and it's good to see Dorian make some plays at the end of the game to help us. Again, it's just a small step forward and we have got a lot of work ahead of us and play a very good Florida State team on Thursday. Then come home, have a quick turnaround right after that with Georgia Tech this week. Our main focus really is just trying to get better, as opposed to worrying about fatigue. We are going to go back to practice today and try to trouble‑proof; C.J. Barksdale will probably not practice the next few days. Obviously he'll be a game‑time decision come Thursday. Q. Following up on C.J., do you guys have any kind of a medical report on him? Do you know anything about his condition? SETH GREENBERG: It's a sprained ankle. It's not a high ankle sprain but it's a sprained ankle. He has swelling and he's in a boot. We'll see what progress he makes. Q. You mentioned a couple of times after the game about wanting more intensity and effort in practice; as a coach, is there anything you do or are there any drills you run that ramp up the effort in practice? SETH GREENBERG: We are not going to roll out the ball and have guys down on the floor or taking torque drills. Again, we are not about gimmicks. We are about just day‑to‑day, doing the right thing, and making progress. You know, again, our effort, and prior to Miami, we had three great days of practice. We are just not as tough as we need to be. And we have got to really redefine for our guys what toughness and playing hard is, and bend the goals to play well, which is obviously something we are working towards. Q. When you are watching practice, what are you looking for for toughness? What makes you say they are getting it? SETH GREENBERG: Well, it's practice or games. It's just being active, alert, not continue to make the same mistakes, having high hand speed and stance, running the court. There's too many‑‑ you don't have enough time. Q. Are you concerned that at this point in the season toughness is a problem for your team or lack of toughness? SETH GREENBERG: There's no doubt about it. I think it's a product of a little bit of our‑‑ despite what some people think, it's a product of our youth. We don't have a dominating, top physical player in our lineup, nor a guy that sets the tone right now, and that affects it. We have got the four young kids, Zegeren has been around a long, long time and has not really practiced a lot and Jarell, and our three upper classmen, they are not the most physically imposing guys that are tone‑setters each and every day in practice. Q. How much do you feel that toughness is going to be an important factor coming up on Thursday? SETH GREENBERG: We are playing one of the more mature teams in the league I would think. Not too many of us have 26‑year‑old former military people on our roster. So you are talking about Gibson; just a long, rangy guy in James; Snaer, who is a physical player. He's a senior. I'm not exactly sure how old he is, because he came over from overseas. I don't know if he's a prep school guy or not. The end of that game ‑‑ I just finishers reviewing the game, it was not a pretty game, had a lot of turnovers. We were not very efficient but we had a chance to win. In the end, James, like he does in a lot of games, whether it's Duke or Virginia or Virginia Tech, it seems like he becomes a dominant player, and then Snaer makes a big shot. Q. Has it been harder than you expected in terms of getting these young guys to play the way that you want them to play, and you sort of know if this sets a recipe for getting wins in the ACC? SETH GREENBERG: Yes, because we have done it with freshmen before. Again, we have done it with freshmen before, when we had more dominating upper classmen. So, yeah, it's been much more difficult than I would have anticipated. We have got young bodies. And when we had those other young teams, we had really, really high‑energy guys. Now, we have good guys‑‑ I mean, I love our team, I really do. But there's not a real high‑energy guy, like a Doron Washington or a guy with a little chip like A.D. Vassallo. So those type of things‑‑ even Zegeren and Jamar (ph) as freshmen, you had Brian Matthews, who was a high, high‑energy guy. And you remember, when Zegeren and Jamar (ph) were freshman, we had the leading scorer in the Big East but we won 16 games. I think that's the biggest thing. We don't have a tone‑setter. Like I said I really like our team and I think that they are making baby steps, but it's been a little more difficult than I would have expected. We are a little bit spoiled. Over the last five years, we have won a lot of games in the ACC. I think we came‑‑ that's not a right. That's something you have to go earn. When you are winning ten games twice in the league and nine games twice in the league, that's not easy. I think we have made it look a little bit too easy maybe. Q. Before I ‑‑ SETH GREENBERG: You find that funny? Q. I found it funny I forgot to ask you the question. I meant to ask you another question. In terms of the quick turnaround, Larranaga was just on this teleconference a few minutes ago talking about he basically had an hour to prepare for FSU because he played you guys at 9:00 P.M. and had to quickly turn around and play in the afternoon. How much of a concern is that playing with less than 48 hours between games? SETH GREENBERG: Well, we'll have our scouting report finished prior to it. The hardest part about that is it's a new opponent. What I mean by that is, again, if we were playing Georgia Tech and it was Paul's team, we would have a little bit of a better understanding of what he wanted to do. But because Brian is a new coach and they have got a new system, we'll have a report done on Wednesday quite honestly. You know, again, a lot of things we are just going to have to defend on principal, but how you are going to play the game, how you are going to approach the game is different when you're playing someone for the first time, because you really don't have a real good understanding of who they are, as opposed to when you play the team a number of times and you have a better feel. Q. A week and a half ago, you had an individual session with Dorian where I'm sure you probably tried to sort of reestablish his confidence a little bit and talk about some things he needed to work on. Have you seen him sort of put use things he talked about and what were the things that you discussed? SETH GREENBERG: Well, we've worked with Dorian for about two and a half, three weeks, getting his release point higher above his head, behind his head, having him release the ball a little bit earlier and cover more ground, putting the ball on the bounce. And again, just to see the ball go in. We spent a lot of time just getting shots up; from errors, I think he can make shorts and see balls go in, which obviously builds your confidence. Yesterday he made the one three, but what he did yesterday is he got to the offensive glass. He made a couple of really, really good drives in traffic. Those are the little things we are working on. Again, I said after the game yesterday, Dorian is going to be a really special player. It's just a matter of time, and a little bit just physically, the maturation process. His nickname is Dodo; probably should be Bambi. He's just got to get his legs‑‑ he's got to get stronger. His skill‑set is fine. He has to continue to develop his shot which will increase his range, and as he gets stronger he'll get it off quicker, and he'll be able to get through screens a little bit better. But he's such a willing learner, and he wants to please and he's willing to work. So I mean, like I said, I think that his best basketball obviously is in front of him, and we'll continue to work with him each day and do our individual sessions and empower him to get him to feel good about himself. That's what you try to do. Q. Going back to Barksdale, can you talk about what he did to earn a starting spot and how important it would be to hopefully get him back? SETH GREENBERG: Well, this game, the more physical bodies that you have on board, obviously the better off you are, there's no doubt about it. Especially when you have nine guys. Now we are down to eight, and you know, with Zegeren and Victor, the only other ‑‑ you know, he was just flying around, he was pursuing the ball on the backboards. He was chunking cutters. He was active. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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