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ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE BASKETBALL MEDIA CONFERENCEFebruary 25, 2013Jim LarranagaCOACH LARRANAGA: We had a very interesting week. A very, very tough game against Virginia, and then a Wake Forest team that was really, really sharp from start to finish. I didn't think we played as well as we've been playing and ended up losing by double figures. Q. Second time around with Virginia Tech. I want to get your thoughts again on Erick Green, what does he do well? What did you like that he did the first time? What do you need to do more of? COACH LARRANAGA: Well, the first time he had 30 and he just played great. He's a high octane scorer, and he can score in so many different ways. He's distributing the ball, and getting his teammates involved. So he's just a handful for everybody. In open court, he can take you to the basket. He can pull up and shoot a 15‑footer or pull up and shoot a three, if he wants. They do a lot of things to get him open. They keep the ball in his hands an awful lot, and he's just having a sensational year. Q. When you look at him in your mind, is he an ACC Player of the Year candidate despite their record, or are the wins too important? COACH LARRANAGA: Oh, I think he certainly has to get consideration because of the kind of year he's having. So whoever wins ACC Player of the Year will deserve it. There are a lot of guys playing very, very well. I think it just depends on your criteria and everybody has their own. Some people vote because a guy scores a lot of points, some people vote because his team wins a lot, some people vote because they just like the way the kid plays. Q. This is slightly off topic a bit, but with the CAA Tournament being in Richmond coming up for the last time and as somebody who has cut down a few nets and had quite a bit of success at that tournament, I'm just curious about your thoughts on the administration of the event and what kind of tournament it was? Maybe a couple of your fondest or most vivid recollections of the tournament in Richmond? COACH LARRANAGA: Well, I thought, first of all, when I first got into the league, it was a venue that people could get to easily. The league was really based in Virginia with George Mason, James Madison, Richmond, VCU, William & Mary, Old Dominion, so it was great. It was very accessible to all the Virginia fans. Then as the league expanded, it was still kind of in the geographical center of the league with Georgia State being in Atlanta to the south, and Northeastern and Boston to the North. So it still provided a great geographical location. But I think what made the CAA event so good is the fans really turned out. The place was packed. I know especially in my last five, six, or seven years, the semifinals and finals were just packed to the rafters and just great games. Q. If I could sneak one more in. I don't know if maybe getting a chance to win a championship with your son or any of the ones you won with George Evans and that group, see if they hold any special place in your mind? COACH LARRANAGA: I would probably say the one in 2001 where we beat Wilmington 35‑33 in the championship game is the one I remember most vividly because of how close it was. Although the first one in '99 was too when Jason (Indiscernible) hit a shot with a minute to go in the game to seal the victory. So they're all important. They're all great memories. The thing I remember most is how hard those kids played from both teams. Q. Jim, by all indications, Duke's Ryan Kelly is pretty close to returning. Will that factor in to how you prepare for that game next Saturday? COACH LARRANAGA: I didn't hear the question. Q. It looks like Ryan Kelly is pretty close to coming back. Will that change your preparation for that game at all? COACH LARRANAGA: Well, the first thing is we've got to get ready for Virginia Tech. That's our focus right now. Duke is playing great. They're playing great with Ryan Kelly. They're playing great without Ryan Kelly. If he comes back, I mean, that's just another weapon in their arsenal. But they're playing great basketball. They've been in the Top 5 all season long. They've been number one in the country for a good portion of this year. Ryan's a terrific player, and I'd be very, very happy for the young man if he's able to get back and play. It's his senior year, and he deserves every opportunity to play at this time of the year. Q. I wanted to ask about Shane Larkin, and just if there are qualities you see in him or intangibles that kind of indicate to you that he grew up in the environment he did around professional sports? COACH LARRANAGA: Yeah, I think that's the one advantage that Shane has over a lot of guys is he grew up in an environment where he saw how competitive people were. His dad, his dad's teammates with the Cincinnati Reds. He also saw how professional athletes conducted themselves. Shane comes from a great family. They're first‑class all the way. And I think he is very humble. He's very hungry, and he's got an incredible set of skills that he uses not just athletic skills, but mental skills. He has the ability to anticipate things far better than most players. Q. Coming off a loss that was only your first loss in 2013, so I was curious why you took the step of cancelling player interviews this week? COACH LARRANAGA: Well, it didn't really have to do with the loss. It had to do with we haven't had a chance to spend enough time with our team with all the interviews they've been doing. We rescheduled some stuff because we were able to find some time. But at this time of year, teams are starting to really gang up on some of our players and do certain things defensively to us. And it takes some time to prepare our team to practice correctly, and then play in the game. These kids have classes, study hall, tutors, weightlifting. They've got to be in the training room to get treatments. They have to get tape. It's just so much. There is only so much time in the day for a guy. Today they've got pictures. I mean, they're being pulled at so many different ends, and we need time to prepare. The most important thing is for our team to stay focused and get ready for the next game. My staff needed to spend some time watching some video. Q. As you prepare for the Hokies, do you need to extend Erick Green differently in the rematch, or do you feel you made him earn his points in the first game? COACH LARRANAGA: He got 30, so I don't think we defended him at all in the first game. We need to do a much better job defensively. That is one of the reasons why our coaches need to spend some time breaking down video with the players. Because the players need to see that. We've really not had time to do that. So hopefully we'll be much better prepared this time around. Q. I wanted to ask you. A little earlier in your interview, you were asked about Erick Green as an ACC Player of the Year candidate. A lot of us sometimes think the best player on the best team is the best candidate. Can you make the case for Shane as an ACC Player of the Year candidate? COACH LARRANAGA: As I said, there are so many good players. It is really hard for me to separate one of my players from the other. Shane is a huge part of our team. He's having a sensational year and if someone votes for him as Player of the Year, I think it's well‑deserving. But I can see people voting for Durand Scott or Kenny Kadji, because without them, we're not where we are. It's very hard. You look at Jason Plumlee and Seth Curry, one without the other is still not going to be nearly as effective. Erick is in a different situation where he is the primary scorer. He actually produces enough points for two players. When he has 25, I think someone getting 14 and 11, that's normally the leading scorer and second leading scorer on the good team. I'm sure he's going to get a lot of consideration that's well‑deserved. But in Shane's case, he's done a fantastic job of leading us. He's a great point guard. He's a tremendous defender, passer, shooter, and we're in first place right now, so I think he deserves consideration. That said, there are a lot of good guys in this league. Q. I guess the point is Erick is defined by his numbers. He's putting up fantastic numbers. Going to become the first ACC guy to lead in scoring since 1957. Shane is a guy that his value is not necessarily defined by his numbers, especially not his scoring numbers, right? COACH LARRANAGA: Well, I think that's‑‑ the way I look at it is how does a guy impact the game? If you're looking for a Most Valuable Player, well, a guy who wins value in a lot of different ways‑ scoring is one, rebounding is another, assists, steals, sometimes just plain leadership. You can look at Mateen Cleaves from Michigan State when they won the national championship. I don't think he was their second or leading scorer, but he was the MVP, because without him and his leadership, they didn't win. I just think there are a lot of ways to value a player, and I think Shane has so many thing that's he contributes to our program. Q. Wake scored more points and shot the ball better than any team has against you this year. Looking back on it, were there specific things, break downs in your defense that you saw, aside from the other team having just a really good shooting day. But defensively, how do you look back on that game? COACH LARRANAGA: Yeah, we didn't defend very hard. We played standing up. We were not in the stance. We were a step slow. Give credit to Wake Forest, they were well‑rested, well‑prepared. The players were focused and they played with a great deal of energy and they executed their game plan very well. To stop them, we would have had to have been much, much better, much quicker, much stronger, and much tougher mentally. C.J. Harris was terrific. And I think he his teammates an awful lot of confidence with the way he played in the first half, and they were able to keep it going. Q. I don't know if you've been, aside from the coming back after the games, have you been around your guys to sort of Gage what their reaction to this first ACC loss of the year has been? If you can judge their mood at all? COACH LARRANAGA: Well, we gave them yesterday off. But this is a very resilient group. I expect they may know they didn't play as hard or as well as they needed to Saturday, and they'll come back and prepare very hard for Wednesday's game against Virginia Tech. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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