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ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE OPERATION BASKETBALLOctober 29, 2014Rod HallLandry NnokoCHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA Q. Rod, the seniors line the backcourt for you. What can you say about the veteran leadership of yourself as well as the rest of the guys on the team right now? ROD HALL: We have a good returning class. I think everybody is going to be more comfortable because everybody got a chance to experience playing in a game. So me being a senior, I think I'm going to have to hold myself accountable to get everybody good shots and make sure we get a shot every time we come down the court. Q. Rod, last year free throws at times seemed to be a problem for Clemson. Has there been a focus on that either in the off‑season or early on in practice? ROD HALL: Yeah, we focus on free throws a lot, getting extra shots all the time. I mean, we focus on it. We take time out of practice and just do a segment of just shooting straight free throws. I mean, we punish each other for it, make sure everybody runs, and just hold each other accountable for it. Q. Rod, you guys made it to New York last year. Talk about that run and how that might help you guys make it to the Big Dance this year. ROD HALL: We had a good run last year in the NIT. I mean, our main focus was making it to the NCAA Tournament but we didn't make it there, so we just made the best out of it and just tried to do the best we could in the NIT. It's going to have our confidence built going into next season because everybody played pretty good, even though we didn't finish the way we wanted to. Q. You lost a really great athlete in K.J.; what will make up his loss leaving early? How do you guys feel you'll take care of business without him? ROD HALL: I mean, K.J. is going to be a tough loss because you can't replace the blocked shots and the put‑back dunks that brought the energy to the team. But we have to focus on the team we have now. Everybody got better over the summer, and we moved the ball pretty well. I think it's going to be a better opportunity for everybody to just take a chance with the ball and just get a good shot. Q. You've kind of always been the floor general for the team, but do you feel like you need to increase your scoring this year with 17 points and everything that K.J. produced? ROD HALL: I mean, I don't think nobody really averaged 17 points this year. I think it's just going to be pretty much balanced out. I mean, I think I'm just going to take care of the things I've been doing, getting everybody shots and taking shots when I'm open. So that's going to be my main focus. Q. The ACC is arguably if not the best college basketball conference. Talk about what it's like playing in the ACC. What do you like about it? ROD HALL: The thing I like the most is every team you play against is going to be a competitive game. There's no games you can really go out and take a game off and just kind of like go through the motions and win the game. Every game you play, you've got to play your best and just compete the best way you can. Q. With K.J. being gone, that's 17.1, 17.4 points gone per game. Who fills in? Where do those points come from? ROD HALL: I think it's just going to be spread out. I don't think nobody is going to get 17 points a game. I mean, everybody gets an extra bucket or two somewhere, we've got guys coming off the bench that can shoot the ball, so I think that's kind of going to make up for it. Q. You've seen the ACC kind of change over the last few years with new teams. What do you think about Louisville coming into the league this season and just having another quality team in this conference? ROD HALL: I think they had a good program going on. I seen them play a couple times when Russ was the point guard. I think it's going to be a good change, another competitive team coming in in the ACC that we're going to have to really focus on and scrap up and play hard against them. Q. Have you had a chance to think about this being your senior year and what that means? ROD HALL: I kind of thought about it. My senior year came kind of fast, and I grew over the years, and Coach really worked with me. So I just want to have the best senior year I can and help my teammates have a good season. Q. What did you learn from a year ago when the preseason people didn't think you were going to do very good in the league and you ended up winning 10 games, going from five to 10 wins in the league? And maybe were some people surprised you finished sixth? ROD HALL: We didn't really focus on that because we had a poor season before last year, so we kind of had a feeling like people was going to kind of put us at the bottom. But that wasn't our focus, we were just going to come out and play the best we can and prove everybody wrong and try to be at the top of the ACC. THE MODERATOR: Landry, your turn. Tell us about Rod. What does Rod mean to this team? LANDRY NNOKO: Rod means a lot. He's probably the most important piece. As far as me, he holds me accountable every day at practice. I really like playing with him. He gets my team its shots, and he's our leader. Q. Landry, how do you describe not just the defense but the offense, as well, for you on this team with you in the middle, the pieces around you? How do you look at the front court right now? LANDRY NNOKO: We shoot it pretty good. I feel like we have a lot, all our players came back, besides losing K.J. I feel like me being in the middle and knowing what to do and having all those guys around me, it should be just as good as we were last year on defense. Q. It seemed like toward the end of last year, maybe a light came on for you. Do you feel like you can make a significant stride this year to kind of fill that gap of K.J.? LANDRY NNOKO: Yeah, that's definitely going to be one of my areas of improvement, and what I've been working on all summer just trying to improve and trying to help my team in some way, especially on the offensive end and trying to contribute every night. Q. Landry, you mentioned your development. I know you've had moments where you showed greatness, and so what's the key for you to become a great player? LANDRY NNOKO: Right now I think it's just listening and just improving, trust the process and listen to my coaches. I don't have it figured out. I've just got to keep listening, honestly. That's all I've got to do. Q. Do you have a sense for the ball? Is the defense set up in a way that allows you to get to the ball with your ability to shot block? Do you have a nose for the ball? LANDRY NNOKO: It's our defense. It's our guards. They put a lot of pressure on the other guards, so usually they just put their head down and try to drive to the basket and dunk. They usually don't make a decision at the rim. Q. How often do you get home? And what do you miss most about it? LANDRY NNOKO: I really miss my family. It's tough. It's been tough, especially the past three years, because everyone is home. My dad just moved back in, and just being away and talking to them, I mean, it's tough. Q. K.J. is gone, but you've got new freshmen that are coming in and integrating. Are there one or two players that stand out right now that maybe we'll be talking about by the end of the year? LANDRY NNOKO: Probably Donte Grantham. He's really good. He can pass the ball and dribble. At 6'8" it's incredible the things he can do. He can shoot the ball real well. Also Gabe DeVoe. He can shot the ball and get to the basket real well. Those two guys are good pieces for us, and they're definitely going to contribute right away for us. Q. What do you want to do this year? LANDRY NNOKO: As far as like our team? Q. Sure. LANDRY NNOKO: Just making it to the Tournament and having the chance to play in March Madness and compete for the ACC Championship. Q. Obviously the top end of this year is really good with the Dukes and the North Carolinas and those guys. Where do you feel like this team fits in this year? LANDRY NNOKO: I feel that we're going to be real good. We've just got to keep working. We have a lot of momentum coming into this season, especially after the run we made in the NIT. We've just got to keep working and try to get to the top. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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