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ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE BASKETBALL MEDIA CONFERENCEFebruary 20, 2012Leonard HamiltonLEONARD HAMILTON: We played two games last week, against a very determined team. We had to come back from a big deficit there in the last minutes of the game, and very fortunate to win that game. They missed free throws, we made threes and made a big shot the end to pull that game out against North Carolina State on Saturday, a team that we have a tremendous amount of respect for; that were five guys averaging double figures. I thought our players rose to the occasion and played basically a really good defensive game. Once we got some stops, got some baskets, we were able to have a surprisingly comfortable lead there, which we didn't expect to happen. We've had a pretty good week. Q. You guys are within two weeks of winning the ACC title and you have your fate in your own hands, and I can't remember the last time Florida State was in that position. Can you address that and what kind of goal that is and what it would mean to win it? LEONARD HAMILTON: Well, it's a goal I think that every team in the ACC starts out with that as a goal in mind.  However, at this particular time during the season, we have not had anything other than the one game at a time approach. This is uncharted territory for us, so to do anything different and to try to anticipate and look forward to, to look too far ahead would be counterproductive for us. We have not played well enough or consistent enough for us to even have that level of confidence. We realize we still have a lot of room for improvement. So even though everybody would like to win, we just have to take it one game at a time. And if there are some opportunities available for us in a couple of weeks, then that will be as a result of us just staying focused and keep winning. Q. You mentioned that you have not been consistent and not taking that for granted. Looking at your shooting percentage the last four games from 39 to 46 to 40 to 49, that variance, is it caused by the defenses you're facing, or is it caused by the execution on offense? LEONARD HAMILTON: Probably a little bit of both. But you know, we have executed pretty well, probably the last ten games. Execution has not been that bad. Turnovers have been a lot lower than they were the first ten games of the season. I think that's as a result of‑‑ it seems as though we have continued to keep finding ways to win, and a lot of the negative things that‑‑ a lot of the things we don't do so well seem to be highlighted more than just the mere fact that we are finding ways to win, when maybe they are not as skilled or not as talented as some people. So we are just trying to use what we have and trying to find ways to win with who we are. There are a lot of things we can be better at, probably more consistent, but this is who we are and we have just taken the attitude that we have to find a wayto give ourselves the best position to win games, and we are finding ways to do that. Q. This season you will be the first program to lead the league the ACC in field goal defense four straight years. Bes the obvious size you guys have had in that stretch, has there been a common thread that's allowed to you defend so effectively during those seasons? LEONARD HAMILTON: We are not doing anything different than we have done the last 15, 20 years. We run the same defenses. We have the same defensive philosophy we had what we coached Oklahoma State and Miami. We have not changed our defensive scheme and philosophy and basically used a lot of the same drills that we have used over the years. So we are not doing anything different. We have not changed anything. I think we might have led the nation in field goal percentage when I was at Miami and we didn't have very much size. I think our system is just‑‑ our kids have bought into it, and we try to hold each other accountable for things that we have as our teaching point. Our guys have accepted it and they try to be consistent with how they execute the defensive side of the ball. Q. Is it more difficult to get young people to buy in defensively than it is offensively? LEONARD HAMILTON: Not really. It has not been for us. Never has been. But we have not had the luxury of not playing good defense. We like our players, but we have not had the luxury of‑‑ we have had guys who have developed over years and guys on the offense, but we have always felt that the things we ask our guys to do physically, they can do. The rules that govern our principles don't necessarily have anything to do with quickness, speed and athleticism. Your ability to concentrate will be consistent doing the thing that physically you can do every possession. Sometimes we come close to maximizing those opportunities and sometimes we are not as efficient. But we ask our guys to just be consistent with their effort and what we are actually doing has worked out pretty well for us over the years. Q. Do you think the players feel more pressure on a game‑to‑game basis and how do you address that and handle it? LEONARD HAMILTON: I don't think we feel any pressure. No one has acted like they felt any pressure. We are not caught up in‑‑ maybe our location is an advantage in some ways, because we are not caught up in the media frenzy of all what goes on in that region between Clemson and Maryland and Virginia and the four schools in North Carolina. We are not really caught up in the day‑to‑day excitement that goes on in that area. So a lot of the things that maybe might be cause them to feel pressure, we are not exposed to. But we are struggling along, just trying to win games. I have not seen any signs that any of our kids feel any unnecessary pressure. I think we make some mistake, like all teams do, and maybe we might make some poor decisions here and there, but I haven't seen any signs of our players acting like they feel any unnecessary pressure. Q. Would you like to be caught up in that excitement, even if it does come with some pressure? LEONARD HAMILTON: Doesn't matter if I like it or not. We are not in it. We are never going to be in it at this particular point. We get tremendous coverage here, but it's not like the one newspaper feels that it's important to have Wake Forest, North Carolina State and Duke and North Carolina all on the same day. But I think if you're in that region and you're around the paper, the Greensville paper or the TV networks, there are a lot of people in those areas and that's what makes the ACC so exciting because of that scenario. I think it's great for our league. I think it's great for the image, the brand. It's awesome. It's just that from a day‑to‑day standpoint, we don't get caught up in it maybe as much as other people. And so that anticipation and‑‑ maybe it's excitement or maybe even pressure; it's not something that'sbuilt as or caused us to be quite as exposed as some of the other teams. Q. We touched on recruiting and location earlier; what would a win against Duke do, being able to go 5‑0 against those North Carolina schools this year? LEONARD HAMILTON: Right now, we are faced with playing a team that is trying to win the ACC title. Obviously on a realistically local basis as it relates right now, it will be one game. It will give us 11 victories with only two losses. On a national scene, I think fortunately for us, we have two of the top four winningest programs in the history of college basketball in our colleague, the flagship programs, North Carolina and Duke, and they have a right to do that. And I try to sell it as much as probably they do wherever we go. And I think it gives our conference a unique and special opportunity to have two great traditional programs in our league. And so I'm very, very fortunate. I think we are very fortunate to have that now. Now, with that said, it gives us more national recognition just to be successful against those caliber of programs. But in reality, it's one game. But I'm sure that from a national recognition, it would mean a lot more from a recruiting base, and just exposure base, to be successful against them. But right now, that won't‑‑ we just want to finish this season. It would mean an awful lot to us to keep pace with the teams we compete with for the ACC title. THE MODERATOR: Thanks for being with us. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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