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ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE BASKETBALL MEDIA CONFERENCEFebruary 25, 2013Leonard HamiltonTHE MODERATOR: We have with us now Florida State head basketball coach Leonard Hamilton. Coach, a few comments about your team, then we'll open it up for questions. COACH HAMILTON: We have a quick turnaround after playing in Blacksburg yesterday. We have a team that's probably playing as well as they played all year, Wake Forest. We didn't play well against Wake Forest the last time we played them. So obviously we need to have very good practice, very focused practice. Wake Forest is playing with a lot of confidence. Even though they play extremely well at home, they played a lot of close games with a lot of good basketball teams. We know we need to be at our best if we're going to be successful against a team that's upset Miami, which was playing probably as well as anybody in the country. THE MODERATOR: We'll open it up for questions. Q. Coach, talking about Wake playing so well at home, they beat Miami, beat State, took Duke to the wire. Do you see a difference in how they perform home and away? COACH HAMILTON: I think it's a combination. They have a couple of veterans and then they have some young players that adjust mentally and emotionally. I think that has as much to do with it as anything else. As they mature, learn a little bit more, as they grow through the season, I think they'll understand the focus, the intensity, the togetherness and the communication that has to go on with young teams having to go on the road and be successful. This is a tough league. It's kind of unforgiving. There's no doubt when you go on the road for the first time with new players, they're adjusting. We've experienced some of that ourselves this year. They are now coming together. In the latter stages of the season, we all should be about as mature as we're going to be. Hopefully we'll catch them still recovering, still improving. We haven't played as well at home this year as we have the last six or seven years. We know it's still going to be a challenge for us. Q. I've asked a lot of coaches. A lot of teams are playing much better at home, even more than normal. You are not the norm. You've had some of your best games on the road. Is there any rhyme or reason to that? COACH HAMILTON: We're an altogether different team this year with seven first‑year players that are adjusting on the road and at home. We've been hitting and missing with Terrance being out, Ian not being able to practice. The only two veterans we have are Michael and Okaro. We haven't had a lot of ability in our leadership only because we have two guys that have been there and done that, so to speak, that are actually active. So I think it's a learning process with us. I think we're getting better, playing better at home and on the road. We're just not playing well enough for 40 minutes. We started three freshmen in Blacksburg. I was really pleased with all the progress my young kids are making. We have those periods in the game where we're not quite together. You have four or five possessions like we did, all of a sudden they make you play. It's a learning process. I think as you'll see, Wake Forest has some talented young kids, you're going to see them continue to improve like other young kids in the league, be more consistent on the road, then get back to playing well at home. Q. How do you gauge where your team is right now overall? What can you take away from this season? What goals are there still to accomplish this year? COACH HAMILTON: When I look at our basketball team, I'm seeing the progress Bojanovsky is making, the progress that Ojo is making, two international players who are not only adjusting to American ball, they're adjusting to what we're asking them to do. I feel comfortable. I look at Bookert, Thomas, all our four of our freshmen are playing well. Montay Brandon was trying to learn to become a point guard on the job. We moved him off the ball a little bit. All five of those kids are making tremendous progress. The thing that has concerned me the most is Ian Miller has been so consistent with us over the last number of years, now he can't practice at all, and he needs to be in rhythm. I never really know going into a game how he's going to respond when the only thing he's been able to do is warm up the day of the game and play, which kind of keeps us out of what we have been expecting. I'm gauging by how well we're executing, the fewer mistakes we're making now than we made earlier in the year, the ability to stay focused and play with an intensity for longer periods of time. We've been here before. I've never had this many first‑year players all at one time in our rotation since I've been at Miami. I'm still holding out that we'll finish the season strong going into the ACC tournament and perform well. Regardless where we are in the end, I'm sure we'll be playing in somebody's tournament. I'm anxious to see how we do in the post‑season. I still think we have a lot to play for. I still think we can continue staying focused. We've been in this situation as a staff before. To be honest with you, our freshmen now are playing much better at the same stage of the game than the freshman group that we lost. We lost six seniors that weren't even close to where these guys were in their initial year. THE MODERATOR: Coach, thanks for taking time being with us today. COACH HAMILTON: Thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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