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ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE OPERATION BASKETBALLOctober 16, 2013Travis McKieCodi Miller-McIntyreCHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA JEFF FISCHEL: Time to talk to Wake Forest. The important first question, Travis, you're running for homecoming king, trying to get votes. Here is your platform. TRAVIS McKIE: All students that are probably not watching, please vote for me. I need to win. Appreciate it. JEFF FISCHEL: Codi, have you voted yet? CODI MILLER‑McINTYRE: No. TRAVIS McKIE: It was yesterday. It's too late (laughter). JEFF FISCHEL: Let's start with general talk about this season. Travis, senior year. Give me a sense of what you want to accomplish this year at Wake Forest. TRAVIS McKIE: This is my last year. I want to help the young guys take that next step. We can be more consistent throughout the season. Last year we made a lot of great strides. They came at a lot of different times. We had one big win, wait a month or so to have another big win. We need to put a string of games together. JEFF FISCHEL: What are your goals, Codi? CODI MILLER‑McINTYRE: I believe just to show our true talents. Last year were flashes of what we could do. I think that showed why we were so good at Wake Forest, what would happen when we would get on the road. JEFF FISCHEL: There were moments at home when we saw how good this team could be. TRAVIS McKIE: We were 8‑1 at home last year. The young guys are more comfortable at home. We weren't very good on the road. I think this year they're a lot more experienced. I think we all are a lot more experienced. We learned a lot from last year. We're trying to make that next push. JEFF FISCHEL: Codi, why is it tougher playing on the road? CODI MILLER‑McINTYRE: Last year we didn't expect it. We thought away games would definitely be like high school. It's definitely not. Bigger stage, crazier environment. I think that comes from us being confident, being sure of the players we are. We have that confidence this year that we developed from last year, that those road games will be different. JEFF FISCHEL: Questions. Q. Travis, last year the Sensational Seven, the freshmen class, a year older, wiser, more experience. How much have those guys grown in your eyes? TRAVIS McKIE: It's night and day. I think it's more mental than anything. I think last year with seven freshmen, they don't know anything. You have to assume they know nothing. I think last year on and off the court you had to worry about them at all time. Hopefully they was making the right decisions. This year they've grown not only as athletes, but students. They have more confidence about themselves. I think it's definitely going to show when the season starts. CODI MILLER‑McINTYRE: It's grown a lot. I have noticed in my teammates how mature we've become in terms of on the court and off. I can tell everybody's confidence level has shot through the roof in terms of knowing their abilities on the court. I think that's going to help so much. JEFF FISCHEL: You've been with Jeff Bzdelik. What kind of impact has he had on you as a player? TRAVIS McKIE: This year he's a lot more relaxed. Last year he was new to the East Coast, I was new to college. We had our transition points, ups and downs. He's more excited to get this year started. JEFF FISCHEL: Codi, give me a sense of coach. CODI MILLER‑McINTYRE: Last year it was definitely tough for him. Seven of us that didn't know a lot. It was frustrating for him to tell us something and we wouldn't do it because we didn't know any better. Definitely this year he's more relaxed as a coach. We can see that up close in person. Q. Is 'relaxed' a relative term for coach? Last year he seemed rather grumpy most of the season. You're saying he's relaxed now. How is he showing that? TRAVIS McKIE: Seven freshmen make you grumpy. It made me grumpy. When coach came down on them, he was also yelling at me and C.J. because we didn't tell them what to do. They've grown up. They know where to go now, what to do. A lot more is expected of them. I think coach is more relaxed because he has a comfort level and confidence level. I think going into their sophomore year, he know what to expect out of them. JEFF FISCHEL: You brought up C.J. First time without your tag team partner. Weird, right? TRAVIS McKIE: It's definitely weird. But I wish him nothing but the best. He's gone. I wish him the best in Germany. Talked to him last week. He's doing well. The whole community loved him. He did a lot for this program. One person can't replace that; the whole team has to. JEFF FISCHEL: What is it like trying to step up and fill that void? CODI MILLER‑McINTYRE: It's a lot. At the same time myself and my other teammates knew what we were getting ourselves into. We decided to play for the ACC when we decided to play for Wake Forest. Something we have to do. We have to work to get that. Q. Travis, is the time now? Is it time to blast through the door with this program and get them back into the tournament, do all the things you want to do? TRAVIS McKIE: Yeah. It's been a long three years. I think we made small steps in these three years. Last year we had a lot of good things happen. Those two big wins at home against Miami, NC State. This year is the year we take that next step, make the push for post‑season play. We try to focus on each day getting better as a team, weights, whatever we're doing to get better as a team. If we take it one day at a time, but definitely this year is the year. JEFF FISCHEL: Codi, do you feel this is the year? CODI MILLER‑McINTYRE: Most definitely. JEFF FISCHEL: You talked about the goals for this year, what you're trying to accomplish. What has the off‑season been like? CODI MILLER‑McINTYRE: The off‑season for me personally has been a grind. I knew what I had to work on. A lot of that was dealing with mental aspects of my life, being able to time management, balance things. That, I couldn't do last year. I reached a point with a lot of practice over the summer I could balance everything I couldn't. TRAVIS McKIE: Also more mental than anything. I workout all the time. That's nothing. But just being a leader, knowing how to talk to these guys. In practice it can get heated. People respond in different ways. I learned a lot from last year in dealing with seven freshmen, knowing how to talk to people. I think this year will be a lot better for all of us, myself included. Q. What would you say to some of the fans that are upset with Bzdelik? TRAVIS McKIE: Come out to the game this year, support. We don't focus on the negative energy out there. We focus on each guy in the locker room just constantly getting better. We're focused on the season. When we win, everything is all good. I think winning is the result that everybody wants to have. We have to put in the work to get those wins. We're doing that right now. CODI MILLER‑McINTYRE: Basically the same thing. Just support us as a team, as a program. That will help us extremely during the game, so... JEFF FISCHEL: Thank you, guys, for joining us here. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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