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ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE MEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENTMarch 13, 2019Buzz WilliamsKerry Blackshear Jr.Ty OutlawNew York, New York Virginia Tech - 71, Miami - 56 Q. Ty, what was it that got you so open especially early on in that 11-0 spurt when you were able to knock down those threes? TY OUTLAW: It was really just my teammates getting to the paint and being aware that I'm ready to shoot whenever they kick it out. So we were just getting into the paint with the plays we were calling, and I was just ready for it. Q. How much of what you guys got you clicking on offense in the first half was carryover from what you did well against Miami last Friday? TY OUTLAW: I think we did all right against Miami, but we didn't feel like we played our best. We could have played way better, and that's what we focused on today, playing our absolute best, not really depending on the opponent, just worried about ourselves. I think we was clicking very well for a good bit of the game. Q. Ty, you get that award right before you take the floor; your thoughts on getting that award and what it means to you? TY OUTLAW: I've been through a lot. I'm glad they gave me an award for it, but I wasn't doing it for an award, obviously, but it meant a lot. I always have my team, my family, my friends supporting me, and just to be recognized for it, all the stuff I've been there, was a compliment. Q. Ty was talking about the way you're playing inside and Nickeil driving was opening things up for them. When they started hitting those threes did things become easier for you to operate in the paint? KERRY BLACKSHEAR JR.: I think that we tried to attack early in transition that helped each us. I think when you have teammates like ours, it makes the game a lot easier from the start, whether we're hitting or not, because everybody is a threat. We know that if somebody is hot, that's the person we're going to find. We know that each person is going to make the right basketball play for our team, whether that be taking their own shot, finding somebody else, setting a screen, anything like that. It's just great to have teammates like that. Q. Coach, you're about to have your fourth game in one week and you're playing two opponents that you've -- two rematches. How do you feel about the match-up against Florida State tomorrow afternoon? BUZZ WILLIAMS: It's strange, right? We're living last week in reverse this week. It's never happened. I agree with what Ty said. I think we were better today than we were on Friday. Obviously a neutral site, new place. But it's never happened, so it's hard for me to have the evidence on what to say. But obviously we didn't do very well in the second half at Florida State. So thankful that we have another chance. Q. KJ, they cut it to seven in the second half, then you score seven in a row, you get a dunk, you get a three. What were you able to do in that stretch to kind of gain the separation again? KERRY BLACKSHEAR JR.: I really didn't even know that I scored that much in a row. Just in the flow of the game, we just found good looks. I thought that the intensity on defense led to that run that they made, so I think we picked it up there, then we were able to score in transition at the rim, and finding each other on open shots. I think it started with defense on that run. Q. For both the players, if you guys could just speak to what did you learn from the first Florida State experience, and then what are your thoughts going into that match-up? TY OUTLAW: They're a very hard-playing team and they won't back down. It's never over when you're playing against them until the last second goes off the clock. But they have talent. They won't quit on you, so that's what we have to take from the last game. I think we kind of relaxed, even though we tried not to, relaxed a little bit too much and let them get back in it. We've just got to respect them the whole game and not let up. KERRY BLACKSHEAR JR.: It's going to be a 40-minute dogfight. They're a very talented, capable team. I think that we are, as well. I think it was a good match-up. It was a tale of two halves, and if we keep the intensity that we had similar to the first half for a whole 40 minutes, I think that it puts us in a really good position to win at a neutral site. Q. Guys, what did you like about your defense today in terms of maybe making it a tough shooting day for them, and you've beaten Miami three times now; why is this a pretty good match-up for you guys? TY OUTLAW: You know, our whole defense is predicated on making guys shoot threes and just having our hand up. They're very capable shooters. Of course we did well of contesting, but we just game planned better. Like you said, this is our third time playing them. We know exactly what to say. We've a disciplined team. We have great coaches that tell us exactly what to look for, so we just executed. KERRY BLACKSHEAR JR.: I think this year more than any other year I've been here, we've carried out a specific defensive identity, and I think we've gotten better at that each and every game. What we do defensively is pretty much the same every game. We put different players on the floor for the other team, obviously, but how we want teams to score and how we want to guard teams is the same, so I think that helps each person grow each and every game. Q. Buzz, Coach Larranaga was in here earlier and he said, did Outlaw even dribble the ball once today, and of course he did out on that fast break drunk, but is an ideal situation where he rarely has to dribble because the passing is so crisp and he's so open? BUZZ WILLIAMS: I would say he would answer that yes. If he has space and he has ten toes to the rim, I think he's an elite level shooter. The key is for him to get space, but that space doesn't normally come from him, it comes by penetration by someone else and forcing help. And so I think that was the first dunk of his career off a steal at Virginia Tech. TY OUTLAW: Florida State, my first year playing at Tech, same thing, a steal. But it's my second one. BUZZ WILLIAMS: Two. Sorry I didn't remember. Q. When Ty had to go to the locker room, Isaiah came in and scored seven. I think he's back to back games now with double figures. This is a guy who came very late in the summer, like you've said earlier in the season. What have you seen from his growth to just have this great performance today in the ACC Tournament? BUZZ WILLIAMS: It's the only player in my career that never attended summer school that played the next year. And obviously, upon arrival, we weren't worried about summer school because we did not anticipate that he was going to play this year, and I think the trajectory of the importance to what he gives us is unlike any player that I've seen at his age. I think he's the second youngest player in Division I. So his maturity and handling those responsibilities, and sometimes because he's old and K is old and Five is old and Med is old, sometimes I think our language is so much that I do a poor job of maybe educating Chico on, I'm sorry, I assumed you knew what that was. And so that requires a very high IQ for him to even pick up and translate what it is that we're saying. But he's meant a great deal to us, and I think maybe most importantly, his energy off the bench has really changed us on both ends. Q. KJ, Florida State poses such a physical -- they're one of the biggest teams in the league. What kind of a situation does that pose for you guys where all your front court players will be playing against taller players? KERRY BLACKSHEAR JR.: I think they're probably like one of the biggest teams in the country, but I think that's an advantage that every team is going to have on us essentially. I think all the front court players are going to be bigger. It's a fight that we've been preparing for each and every game. So no different than any other game. We're going to watch film on them, figure out how we're going to attack the glass, figure out how we're going to stop the penetration, and simple as that, I think. Q. What do you need to battle from the first time in Tallahassee in the rematch, and what do you need to do better from the second half in Tallahassee? BUZZ WILLIAMS: Yeah, similar to what K just said, some of that played itself out in today's game, other than the third ATO. When we don't get in rotation, that means we're able to keep the ball high on the floor, that means that we're in the appropriate gaps. That means we at least have inside position to rebound, and potentially it means that the shot that the opponent takes is contested. Where we struggled is when the front line gaps are not doing their job, which forces us into rotation. It's typically these two guys. And so now if they're considered big, now our biggest guys are way out on the floor. And so the shot is probably not contested to the degree we want it, and we're at a disadvantage on the offensive glass. In the first half at Florida State, we were able to keep the ball high on the floor and not get in the rotation. In the second half we did a poor job of that, and their pressure really bothered us offensively the first eight or nine minutes of the second half. Q. Buzz, I'm sure you'll understand with the success you've had these things will come more and more, but there was a report linking you to Texas A&M, that they would be interested in you. I'm curious, do you address that at all with the guys and do you have any reaction to that report? BUZZ WILLIAMS: No, sir, I've never commented on jobs. I don't think that's appropriate by our kids. Where I'm employed, that's just -- I can't control what people say. I've got to make sure I'm doing my best with these guys. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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