HEAD COACH JON SCHEYER
On how Dariq Whitehead and Dereck Lively II still grew as players while recovering from injuries:
“Well, the main thing is being at every practice and that’s a time of the year when you install your offense and defense. And so just for them to understand, strategically, what we’re trying to do, and then really, I don’t know if they got sick of Nick Potter, but Nick for us, he’s our sports scientists and physical therapist and those titles don’t do them justice. He brings a ton of value to our team and so every day he’d be working with them on the side, in very, very specific basketball movements to get them ready. And so when they came back there’s a shape to improve but physically the way they were moving was really good for us.”
On what areas he thinks the team has grown the most and what areas still need to grow more:
“Knowing how to play together has been the biggest growth for us. Beginning of the year, you want to do those things, but you don’t know how individually and then you don’t know the guys around you what strengths they have. And so for us, we’re at a point now we know the strengths of our team. Our rotation has been more dependable and consistent because, from our aspect because we’ve had so much influx with lineups and injuries. And then on the defensive end we’ve grown. Especially protecting the basket, that’s been a weakness for us giving up points in the paint when we’ve lost. And so for our games, especially as of late, we’ve done a much better job keeping the ball the paint.”
On how Virginia Tech got into the paint and shot well from three in the first matchup this season:
“We gave up both against them and that’s not a good recipe. Started with [Hunter] Cattoor going crazy. [Grant] Basile of course had a really good game. But they can score down in the paint. And for us, it’s really staying true to who we are as a team and we want to defend the three point line. Of course, they’re gonna make some threes, it’s what they do. But can’t give up layups. You can’t give up layups and win big games. And so for us, building our identity. That’s something we’ve talked about. We need to continue to do, even if it’s a team that shoots a lot of threes like a Virginia Tech.”
On where he thinks the team is health wise:
“We’re in the best spot we’ve been and we need to continue to move that way. We want to do more practice to protect their…
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