|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE OPERATION BASKETBALLOctober 29, 2014Danny ManningCHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA Q. Obviously with everything that you've done in your career, professionally, your players earlier today were talking about that they respect you not only as a coach but because they know that you've done it right. How do you feel the environment has been for you and what you've seen from the players and their responses? DANNY MANNING: Well, I think that's one thing that we put together our staff, we wanted to put together guys that could have an impact on young men's lives. We want to teach the game of basketball and we want to share our experiences there, as well. But we want to make sure that these guys understand that at some point in time, the air is going to go out of the ball. Your body is not going to allow you to play, and you have to be ready to adapt and survive in the world, and that's something that we share with our players because we've lived that life. Q. On a personal note, what's it like to be back in the Piedmont? DANNY MANNING: It feels great. I spent a lot of my formative childhood years in Greensboro, and I've been very fortunate and blessed to be able to go a few places because of the game of basketball. It come back, it feels good, and I'm excited. Q. You entered the situation at Wake Forest after some lean years under the previous coach. Do you feel like you have to rebuild this culture at Wake Forest and kind of reestablish what Demon Deacon basketball is all about? DANNY MANNING: You know, for me, I can't worry about what happened in the past. I can just go from when I got the job forward. The way that we're going to work, the way that we're going to carry ourselves and what we expect from our young men in our program won't change. Basketball‑wise, we expect to win every game. Every game that we play, our expectation is to go out there and win, and that's no different than anybody else. We have to make sure that we put ourselves in that position in terms of our work ethic, our attention to detail, and making sure that we go out there and we do everything we can to sacrifice for the betterment of our team. Q. Obviously not having played a game yet, coaching this team, what have you been able to see from what they have given you, the talent that you have? How would you really define who you have on this squad right now? DANNY MANNING: Well, right now we're still a work in progress. We're like any other team in the country. Where we're at today will not be where we're at in March, and that's always the case. I do like our junior class. Our junior class is the backbone of our team. We have five guys that have been in the ACC action for a while. They understand the rigors, they understand how tough it is to be successful in this league, and they're sharing that message with our newcomers and our young guys, and hopefully this year will be the year that all those experiences pay off. Q. Do you have to prove anything this year? DANNY MANNING: I don't know if "prove" is the right word. I mean, we expect to win every game, and that's our mindset. We have to go out there and put ourselves in that position once we step out on the court. But "proving" is not the right word. I think we as a program, and this is any program, you have to get better day by day, and you've got to see where you stack up at the end. But it's the day‑to‑day improvements that you don't notice until a month or so later when you see improvement. Q. In a league as tough as the ACC, what do you see as being your biggest challenges in rebuilding this program? DANNY MANNING: You know, the ACC is the premier basketball league in the country. Everybody knows that. That's no secret. For us it's just going out there and competing. It is what it is. I mean, you've got Hall‑of‑Fame coaches, you've got great players, you've got rich traditions, and that's what makes the ACC so special. For us and any other team, we've just got to go out there and bring your hardhat each and every game and compete. Q. You touched on the junior class being the backbone. Specifically, do you have one guy that you've seen in practice so far that's kind of taken the lead and being the guy to maybe be your on‑floor, I guess, coach during play, that type of player? DANNY MANNING: Well, the way that I coach, everyone has a hand in the leadership. I believe in balance. I believe in versatility. There will be young men that start the game for us that won't finish. There will be guys that don't start that do finish. And so the bottom line is our team being successful. That's the only thing I care about. I don't care about anybody getting 20 points or 30 points. That doesn't matter to me. All I want us to do is win ballgames. I think the chance of doing that is through balance, because you can never come back from an injury, so to speak, if you have somebody that you need 20 points or 25 points a game from and that person goes down, it's hard to replace that. And so balance and versatility in our system is very important. But all those guys have had their days. There have been days when Codi has been the guy to be the catalyst. There have been days when it's been Devin or Madison Jones or Aaron Rountree. Everyone has a hand in it each and every day. You just have to give us the best that you have that day and help us be successful. Q. What have you learned about yourself as a head coach and how you've kind of challenged yourself early on in your career? DANNY MANNING: Well, for me, it's no different than when I was a player. I'm competitive. I want to win. But I know you have to prepare to win, and you have to take every opportunity that you get, and you have to go attack it, and that's my mentality coaching. I want to push our guys. I want to challenge our guys. But at the same time, I enjoy the game. I love the game. I'm going to smile. I'm going to laugh. But I also know that you have to put forth the work, and that's something that we share with our guys. This is something that we enjoy doing. This is something that we love doing, and you have to enjoy the process. Q. What goals have you set for yourself this season and for your team, as well? DANNY MANNING: Win every game. That's the goal. I mean, every time we step out on the court, we want to win. When it's all said and done, we'll see where we stack up. But there are no moral victories, there are no, "we were close", none of that. We want to win games. As a coach, my first charge is to help our team be successful and win games. My second charge is to make sure that we help prepare these young men for life or in the sport of basketball. There have been a lot of great coaches that helped prepare young men for life that don't have jobs anymore because they don't win enough. You've got to be competitive, and that's just the nature of our business. Q. To circle back on the coaching question, you were a long‑time assistant, and assistants typically sit throughout the ballgame. Have you developed your personality of who you are on the sideline, the type of demeanor? Are you there yet knowing what your coaching style is? DANNY MANNING: Yeah, I know what my coaching style is. I need to figure out a way each and every game to get the most out of our team. The one thing I don't get in coaching is a setup in coaching, like the benches are made for little dudes, and a lot of times I'd just rather sit on the scorer's table because it's a shorter distance to get up than a full squad for me when I sit in a chair like that. I like standing and leaning on the table. You know, for me, I just want our guys to go out and be unselfish in their thoughts, in their actions. I want them to play hard. I want them to buy into what we're doing and kind of go from there. But my coaching philosophy, it's a little different. I mean, every practice that we go to, I put somebody on the hot seat. I want a player to be out of his comfort zone. During the game, we're trying to find a way to win the game and be successful. You know, probably a little bit more laid back during the course of the game, but in practice every day, somebody is on our hot seat, and we're trying to take them outside of their comfort zone to make them a better player. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
About ASAP Sports •
FastScripts Archive •
Recent Interviews •
Captioning •
Upcoming Events •
Contact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links |
|
ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297
|