ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP

March 9, 2022

Steve Forbes

Jake Laravia

Barclays Center

Wake Forest Demon Deacons

Postgame Press Conference

Boston College - 82, Wake Forest - 77

STEVE FORBES: Yeah, congrats to Boston College. I thought they did a great job of challenging us at the rim defensively and then finishing at the rim on offense. They did a really good job in defensive transition. We're pretty good in transition, and when we were in transition, we could get baskets, but I thought they did a good job of getting back. They got downhill on the drive, and I thought their bigs played really well, especially the young guy -- his last name is Post. He did a really good job, I thought.

We had a 10-point lead with 6:05 to go, and we just self-destructed defensively. We couldn't get no stops. Couldn't get any 50/50 balls. They were more urgent and I think they scored eight out of their last ten.

We called a play for Jake and Alondes to finish the game in the time-out. We came out and got a stop. I had a couple time-outs. We already had it called. I probably should have called time-out, I'll take the blame on that, maybe get a better look. It was a pick-and-roll with him and Alondes, our best two players and he refused it, went downhill and charged.

Jake and Alondes together had -- our two primary ball handlers had 11 turnovers and our two seniors, Daivien Williamson and Isaiah Mucius, 2 for 14 from the field. It's going to be hard to win that way especially in a big game like this.

I thought for the majority of the game, their physicality bothered us. We didn't play through contact very well, and then when we go 13 for 24 from the free-throw line, it's just a bad recipe.

Credit to Boston College, and they have won two games, and Earl has done a really good job with this team.

I'll open it up for questions.

Q. Steve, maybe it's a little bit of a lazy leap to make, but was there too much rust for you playing the first game in a week?

STEVE FORBES: I don't think so. I'm not going use that as an excuse. I felt like we needed it. Jake was beat up a little bit. We had some other guys, Dallas hurting, Dream hurting. I thought it was good.

We didn't go hard -- we practiced and then we ratcheted it up on Monday, and they didn't come ready to practice. No, they did well yesterday. They were fine. That's not the issue. That's also some motivation by me and the media to try to get them to understand that we have to play.

I don't think so. I mean, you could ask the players, but personally I think it's just -- we didn't play well, and Boston College played better.

Q. With Alondes, were those just cramps, and how limited was he in the last couple minutes in overtime?

STEVE FORBES: Yeah, he was cramping up. He was very limited. I had to stay involved in the game, so I wasn't really sure. They were just telling me when he was ready.

He hasn't really had a problem with that. I don't remember him having a problem with that all year. I don't know why now. Maybe he was dehydrated. But he definitely -- it affected him as far as his just availability, but I thought when we made our run, he wasn't in the game.

A credit to Cameron Hildreth and Damari Monsanto coming in there and really sparking us to that run, and I thought they played really well off the bench.

Q. Jake, it seemed like you were one of the only players who was like in your normal flow offensively. What was working for you out there, and how did you try and get your teammates involved when some of their shots weren't falling?

JAKE LARAVIA: Yeah, I kind of -- I think I got off to a pretty slow start in the first half, and then I kind of got it going there at the end.

I mean, I believe that it can't just be me scoring, so when I see no other players on this team, talented players that I know can score that aren't scoring and I have to get them the ball so they can get in their flow, too, so our team can get in a rhythm.

Q. As a team you guys shot 2 of 10 in overtime. Were you not able to get the shots you wanted or were they just not falling?

JAKE LARAVIA: I mean, I think it's what Coach was saying, their physicality, we just weren't finishing. I think there were some shots we took that weren't at the right time where we could have taken a lay-up but we shot a three instead. But yeah, shooting 2 for 10 in overtime is extremely unacceptable and we're not going to win like that ever.

STEVE FORBES: I thought it was a big play when we got the steal down five, I think, and DeMarr missed a wide-open three, which he should take that every time. I remember that being a really good shot. After that I'd have to go back and watch to be honest. I think we cut it to five, I called time-out, and for some reason the referee didn't give it to me, which is unbelievable that I was standing there calling time-out, and I signaled time-out and he didn't give it to me. That's unacceptable.

Q. Jake, Coach called it self-destructing, but from a player standpoint, how would you describe what happened after you guys got the 10-point lead? And Steve, all five of your guys had four fouls going into overtime. Did that affect the aggressiveness?

JAKE LARAVIA: For the first part, I think we just got too comfortable. We saw we were up 10 and we started playing lackadaisical, kind of started not playing defense, and we just weren't there, I think, all game, and the result was like that.

STEVE FORBES: When you're up 10 you've got to get a couple more stops and it's probably over. You get 13 to 15 or 12 to 15 at the last media, you win that media time-out and then it's going to be hard for them to come back.

We just gave up drives to the baskets, and-ones, gave up -- I think Galloway made a big three. Foul trouble, yeah, it's an issue. We were deep in it for -- I don't think we've had that many guys with four fouls all year.

But give them credit, the way the game was being officiated, they were driving it and getting fouls, so we probably weren't as efficient as them, and when we were, we didn't make free throws. We only made 13 of 24. It's just going to be really hard to win that way.

Q. Do you still feel like this is a tournament team, that you deserve to be --

STEVE FORBES: I think we're one of the best 68 teams in the country for sure, but I'm not in the room. The narrative for our league hasn't been very good, and so I'm not holding my breath. Do I think we should be? Yes, I do. But I don't get a vote. We'll just have to ride it out and see, but listen, we were safely in the tournament according to some expert on Wednesday, hadn't played one game, and we were almost out of the tournament before we played today, so I don't understand how we can be penalized like that, but I guess we can.

If you look at our efficiency on offense and defense, we're one better teams in the country. We've got efficiency in offense around top 20. So top 50 in defense.

But here's the thing about the profile. They're going to try to find something that don't look good. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I don't think there's 68 teams better than us, but we're about to find out.

Q. How much of the next four days are you going to pay attention to what's going on and pay attention to bid stealers and things like that?

STEVE FORBES: Probably not because I'm not in the room, and neither is everybody else that's talking about it. It's just too much anguish to watch it. We should be -- it's on us. We're in control of our own destiny. That's what you play for, and we didn't control our own destiny, so now we're not.

For me personally I probably won't watch one game. I'll probably just -- I don't know what I'll do. I'll figure it out. Maybe it's not to be repeated, but I will figure it out, trust me.

Q. You briefly mentioned the narrative that this is a down year for the ACC. I'm assuming that you don't subscribe to that, and if so, why not?

STEVE FORBES: I think it's because Miami and Wake Forest and Notre Dame are in the top 5, and it's not the typical teams that you see in the top 5 every year, so I think it's just the narrative that we're not as good a league because those teams are not in the top 5.

Now, did we -- we had some tough losses in the non-conference, but the whole thing is not based on non-conference. Teams get better and get worse. There's a lot of teams I see that are in the tournament that are not playing well right now and have sub-.500 records in the conference, but they won one or two big games in the non-conference. Big deal.

I think our league beat Kentucky and Gonzaga, I'm not sure. But we lost some money games at home. Those hurt and that hurts your overall profile. That's where our league messed up.

For us we didn't play a very tough non-conference schedule, but I don't think there's anybody in here that thought we should. We had nine new players. We didn't have any losses in the non-conference. We did our part. We didn't have a marquee win, either, but I didn't know Oregon State was coming off an Elite 8 with about four starters back. I didn't know it was going to be like that. You can't predict that.

So we did beat a Northwestern team that was good at that time, and I think sometimes the narrative is different because I think it depends on when you play a team. When we played Northwestern, I'm going to tell you right now, they're pretty good. When we played Louisville at the beginning of the conference, they were undefeated and still had their coach.

Sometimes it depends when you play them. That's my opinion. Again, nobody cares what my opinion is, but since you asked, I'll answer the question.