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MAUI JIM MAUI INVITATIONALNovember 25, 2019Mike YoungPJ HorneLanders Nolley IILahaina, Maui, Hawaii Virginia Tech - 71, Michigan State - 66 THE MODERATOR: We'll start with an opening statement from coach. MIKE YOUNG: Proud of our team. We tried our best here against an exceptional Michigan State team. Defensively, I thought we kept them out of the paint. Easier said than done. Such length and size in there with Tillman and a couple of those other guys. I've got good players. It comes back to good players. That guy down there made at least two, maybe three first half threes. This young man is a special basketball player and an old grizzled veteran up there at the top of the floor that kind of keeps things settled for us, and that would be Wabissa Bede. Great win for Virginia Tech, our basketball program, but we got a lot more to look forward to, as does Michigan State. That's probably enough for me. Y'all go ahead. THE MODERATOR: Any questions for the players? Q. Landers, you got a new coach, pretty much new roster, but you guys played so smoothly, like you've been together for years. How do you explain picking it up so fast? LANDERS NOLLEY II: When you prepare and play and practice and go hard every day, guys just start to believe in each other and listening to the coaches, it just becomes natural and you do what you do in practice and that's how you be successful. Q. What did you guys think about that atmosphere out there, playing in the Lahaina Civic Center? PJ HORNE: The atmosphere is pretty cool, something different, something that our young guys will really appreciate when it comes to other games. Q. You dropped on defense a lot to takeaway their break. How important was that do you think of disrupting the flow with what Cassius Winston normally does for them? LANDERS NOLLEY II: For us, I think it was very helpful. That was a part of the scouting report, so we kind of practiced that all week. And it just kind of threw off their rhythm and helped us in the end. Q. Landers, can you talk about that last three, how big was that and how good did it feel? LANDERS NOLLEY II: It was a good play that Coach drew up and I just came off the screen, executed it, it felt good. So they just believed in me and I took the shot, I hit it, we celebrated. Q. For both of you: Michigan State makes a run. What are you guys saying to each other in the huddle to try to regroup as they start to make that run? PJ HORNE: I feel like the game is based off runs. There's going to be times where you're going to be down, but you can't stop fighting. You got to keep defending the whole game. It never ends. You can be up by three with 45 seconds to go and down by six at the end of the game. So it's just a game of runs. LANDERS NOLLEY II: It's a game of runs, but we went in the huddle, Coach just told us stay focused, keep playing defense, next play. That's our motto, next play. And when you focus on the next play, don't think about it. You get another stop, you get another basket, it's right back, the momentum back on your side. So you just got to listen to what the coach is saying and in the end you're going to be successful. THE MODERATOR: All right thank you, guys. We'll take questions for coach. Q. I saw you slap Landers on the back when I asked him about that three and he said you drew up -- MIKE YOUNG: I got nothing to do with it, come on. He was being kind. He's a nice kid. That's a really good player making a big-league play. We thought we could get him behind something, but really good players make really good plays. That was a really good play and probably it went a long way in getting us out of here with a significant win. Q. Could you expand a little more on how quickly your guys have picked up the offense? It's a little bit more than hard work as Landers said. MIKE YOUNG: You know, that was probably the best we have executed. It's so new to them and so, everything is so new. I mean, Wabissa played quite a bit last year. The others did not. So, I mean, the NCAA rules which allow to you practice a little bit now in the summer was helpful, but you're trying to get a number of things in place. But to their credit they have stuck with it and the Horne kid can handle the ball and catch it and pass it and reverse it, which is essential. And he was able to get us to some things that helped and, I mean, and then at the end of the day you got to make some shots. We made enough to win. Q. I talked to you yesterday morning about your team last year and how they moved the ball. That was with a bunch of seniors and guys who had been in your program. How have you gotten them to take that so quickly both just like -- MIKE YOUNG: Well, I don't think, I don't think they know any better. I mean, really. I mean, we played significant minutes with two true freshmen. One that I had taken at Wofford, you know, and that kid comes in here against the Spartans of Michigan State and he chucks in two threes and he scores 10 points and he had zero turnovers and he guards the likes of Henry and some of those other guys. We have no choice but to play sound basketball and not turn it over. We had eight for the game, 16 assists, eight turnovers, nine turnovers. Shot selection is paramount. I thought we got a little wacky in the last six minutes of the first half and there were portions of the second half we got outside of ourselves a little bit. They were a little over exuberant, if you will. But get the thing to Bede, let's run something, let's see what we can get up here, get into that clock a little bit. We had to keep the thing in the 60s. I'm a little surprised that, the score was exactly where I thought it needed to be in the last five minutes and then it gets, they start throwing them in left and right. We made enough to win. But the pace was -- the only chance we had, the only chance we had, if the thing's in the 80s, they would blow our doors off. Good pace for us and I thought would went a long way in dictating that and not allowing them to move so fast in transition where they're elite. I mean, they are really, really good. So hat's off to my boys. Q. You were in a one place in your coaching career for a long time -- MIKE YOUNG: Yeah. Nobody else would have me. Q. Like you said, it's a very young group you're dealing with. What were kind of your personal expectations of this opening stretch of the season including this tournament coming in? MIKE YOUNG: Survive. Just get a little bit better and just play the game the right way, let's see what happens. If we're playing the game the right way and we're playing hard and we're playing together as a group and we're about the right stuff and we're sharing and not turning the ball over, you know, I could have said that last year with that bunch I had. That's what we look for as coaches. And if you do that, you're going to give yourself a chance to win every game. And we have done that through six, but, you know, you go over and dust yourself off and eat a little bit. And you got a heck of a Dayton team. I just saw just a little bit of them versus Georgia today. Holy smokes, are they a good looking outfit. And they have a great coach. So a lot of work left to do. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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