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ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE OPERATION BASKETBALLOctober 16, 2013Nick FaustEvan SmotryczCHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA JEFF FISCHEL: Time to talk Maryland Terrapins. I'm excited about Friday night. Your Midnight Madness. Nick, what is that going to be like? NICK FAUST: It will be a great thing. Growing up, I always watched guys playing there. It's going to be a great opportunity for us and something we're looking forward to as a program. EVAN SMOTRYCZ: Fans are excited about it. Plenty of history in that building. Supposed to be packed. Hopefully it goes well. JEFF FISCHEL: Evan, excited to get back on the court? EVAN SMOTRYCZ: Yeah, it's been a great. Like you said, just looking forward to getting back out there. JEFF FISCHEL: The season coming up. Nick, you finished strong. Is that a good building block for this season? NICK FAUST: Definitely. Last season we felt as though it was a couple games we fell short, didn't put us in the NCAA tournament. Coming back this year, it's definitely a motivation for us and we're looking forward to it. JEFF FISCHEL: Questions. Q. It's nothing to do with you guys obviously, but do you anticipate being villains everywhere you go this year? EVAN SMOTRYCZ: Yeah, I think no matter where we're playing, who we're playing, ACC road games are going to be tough. We're looking forward to getting tough road wins and using it as résumé builders. I don't think that it's because our last year in the ACC anything will be crazier than usual. JEFF FISCHEL: Ready for some fired‑up crowds, Nick? NICK FAUST: Definitely. I'm ready for it. Been playing here the last two years. This year we just feel as though we're more mature and our guys have a lot of experience. We're looking forward to those big road wins. JEFF FISCHEL: How does this team change without Alex in the middle, Nick? NICK FAUST: It's a big difference. Alex was a presence offensively and defensively, more so on the defensive side. His presence was a must. This year it's a more so gap‑building defense, building out, guarding, pressuring the ball. It's more so on the ball defense in the past two years where before, it was a lot of help side, things like that. JEFF FISCHEL: How is this team different than last year, Evan? EVAN SMOTRYCZ: We got a lot of guys coming back with major minutes under their belt. Still a young team, but we got a lot of experience. I think that will definitely pay off for us. JEFF FISCHEL: Obviously, Nick, you're one of the returning starters along with Dez Wells. Off the court, what is Dez like? NICK FAUST: He's a funny guy. He laughs a lot. On the court he's just so serious. Dez is a great player. He just wants to win. He always has a will to win and does whatever it takes. JEFF FISCHEL: Evan, describe Dez. EVAN SMOTRYCZ: Dez battles every play. He hates to lose. I think that rubs off on whoever is on his team in practice that day. He definitely gets guys going. He's a big‑time motivator. I think me and Nick are learning how to do the same. JEFF FISCHEL: We talked about how this team is changing a little bit without Alex. Does that mean we're going to see up‑tempo? Is that what coach wants to see? NICK FAUST: Yeah, for sure. Having Evan and Jake, guys like that who can really stretch the floor.  Evan can also play a little five at times. We'll definitely be a running team. Having them two on the court at the same time is dangerous. Leaves open driving lanes and things like that which will help us out a lot. EVAN SMOTRYCZ: I think we have a team who can do a lot of different things well. Real versatile, guys that can score in a number of different ways. As long as we get stops and we're able to get out and run, I think we'll be tough to stop. JEFF FISCHEL: New look this year including 15 schools. Nick, how does this change the conference? You're looking at now three great programs you have to battle against. NICK FAUST: Yeah. They're all great teams. I can remember playing Notre Dame my freshman year. It was a great game. We came out with the win, but it was a tough one. Playing those teams is definitely something we're looking forward to. You come to college to play on the big stage. It will be a great experience. EVAN SMOTRYCZ: I think it's great for the league. I think it's a great chance to get a lot of good wins within the league, build your résumé come Selection Sunday. JEFF FISCHEL: What is it like having to answer questions all day long? NICK FAUST: It's difficult at times, kind of annoying. But it's something you've got to deal with (smiling). The question of the day is, What do you feel is the better conference, ACC or Big Ten? You're like, They're both good conferences. It's a great experience overall, but something you have to deal with. JEFF FISCHEL: Is that the question you've been asked the most? EVAN SMOTRYCZ: Yeah. I kind of have an interesting perspective. Like Nick said, it doesn't really matter who we're playing against. For me personally, I'll just be happy to be playing, period. JEFF FISCHEL: There are a few guys that are transfers. It's not like you're hurt, you have to sit out a year. Take us what it's like through that season. EVAN SMOTRYCZ: Game days are the worst, watching games you could be helping in, feeling helpless. At the same time there's a lot of free time to kind of put towards your game. You're not able to travel. It's a lot of hours in the gym. I think it definitely benefited me seeing the game a different way, being able to devote so much time to improving. JEFF FISCHEL: Are we going to see a different Evan on the court? EVAN SMOTRYCZ: I think I kind of can be able to make the right plays, make easy plays, create for myself as well as others. I think just overall improvements in athleticism, shooting the ball. Everything in general. JEFF FISCHEL: Nick, who is the one guy on the team you think is ready to take a big step forward this season? NICK FAUST: Big step forward, I would say Jake Layman. He's matured a lot. He's knocking down shots at a high rate right now. He's definitely going to be a big contribution to the team because he can really stroke it when it's going. JEFF FISCHEL: People on Twitter love his hair. NICK FAUST: Hair is gone. EVAN SMOTRYCZ: I'd probably go with Jake, too. A lot more mature team. Guys have made great strides. Jake in particular has been playing really well. JEFF FISCHEL: Mark Turgeon is in his third season at Maryland. Nick, talk about how he's tried to build the program in his image. NICK FAUST: Coach just wants a team who is going to be committed to him, committed to what he wants. Over the years I've seen him grow. Actually this year he says this is the beginning where he's been the most relaxed. My freshman, sophomore year, it was more so depending on young guys to come in, step up, make a contribution right away. You have older guys now with more experience who are going to make that step for the team. Definitely having him around and having him believe in us is a great feeling. EVAN SMOTRYCZ: I think coach is first a defensive‑minded coach. Early stages of practice, that's really what he stressed. He made sure he established that before we even started getting into offense. I think we'll be pretty solid there despite losing Alex. We'll just have to focus on ball pressure. Q. How has Roddy Peters looked? EVAN SMOTRYCZ: I think he's ready to help right away. Great in the open court. He sees the game pretty well for as fast as he's moving. Sometimes you have to kind of slow him down when coach wants us to get into a set or stuff. He's learning. I think he'll definitely be able to contribute right away. NICK FAUST: Like Evan said, Roddy is playing pretty well. Kind of has a John Wall style of play. Open transition in the fast court. JEFF FISCHEL: 25 wins last year, but you didn't get into the NCAA tournament. Nick, what are the goals for this team this year? NICK FAUST: The goal for us is definitely to make it to the NCAA tournament. That's the next step for us. Our freshmen year making no post‑season play. We're ready to make that next step. EVAN SMOTRYCZ: I think, yeah, like Nick said, make the tournament. I think we have the strength of schedule that we'll be able to do that and get a lot of strong wins early. JEFF FISCHEL: Good luck this season. Thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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